Tow Truckervals

Yesterday evening was my favorite ride of the week. But I think Karma came to quickly cash the check we wrote her on Tuesday.

I was climbing up Aptos Creek, pushing what I could to get a good tempo workout in. Michael was rattling on about something alongside me. I really have no idea what because I don't hear so good when I am huffing up a climb and I've told him so but that doesn't stop him.

So I'm huffing up the climb and about to settle in for the long second half of the ascent, when suddenly I can't pedal anymore. Not in a "oh I'm so tired I can't pedal anymore" sense that usually happens to me, but in a "shit, my cranks won't budge" sense.

I pull over to the side and get eaten alive by mosquitos while Michael tries to figure out what the problem is. Apparently the little doohickie pivot thingie was coming out and touching the chainring bolt thingie. Or something. Fixing it would have involved pulling off the crankarms, or something more involved than we could handle with a mini tool in the midst of a mosquito swarm.

We resigned to the fact that our ride was over. I was bummed that I wouldn't get to the swoopy luscious descent that is the treat of the ride. But...I was a little chipper over the fact that I wouldn't have to huff the last half of the climb with my personal drill seargeant barking "encouragement" next to me. Nothing left to do but coast, downhill, back to the car.

Ahhhh...coast.
Downhill.
Splendid.

But he tricked me.

Michael offered to switch bikes. I was game because that meant that I could pedal downhill, which is fun too. I forgot about the long flat section at the end.

Once the road flattened out, I zipped past Michael, completely forgetting his circumstance. "Heeeeeey!" he yelped helplessly teetering, "honeeeeeeeeey!"

Awwww.

So I backed up. And he gleefully hitched up to me and said, "let's go".

uhh.

tricky.

The rest of the ride out involved me huffing, while I pulled a coasting giggling drill seargeant out of the woods.

He's so going to get it the next time he bonks on a ride with me.