Strange ride tonight...but definitely entertaining! We left from the church parking lot, about 12 of us, I guess...heading down Ellerbe Road into a monster headwind. There was no joy being in the front. I got to do that a few times. No joy.
So, we're cruising about 23 mph on the flats and Don takes off on a flyer, leaving the group pretty quick. I decided to jump after him since I thought I could do a few hard efforts this evening and then back off for an easier ride. I was a bit surprised I caught him and passed him so that the two of us were off and away. I was getting into a groove when I noticed a huge truck with a flatbed trailer (carrying a really big tractor) about to enter the road from our left. I mean, I'm talking a really BIG tractor/trailer rig...REALLY BIG! And sure enough he pulled out in front of us. I yelled out "Truck, Don!" and slowed down rapidly but I was still alongside the truck as he continued out onto the road as if we weren't there. I watched the entire rig go past me on my left by a couple of feet until it went by and clear. By this time the rest of the group had caught up and took off after the truck, drafting off it. I was nearly stopped and tried to speed it up but I realized it was a useless effort. I caught up to Frenchie, dragging Seth behind me, and the three of us just kept riding watching the rest of the group ahead by a couple of hundred meters.
Seth ended up turning around and going back, so Frenchie and I rode on to Frierson. The wind was beating us up and we knew we weren't going to catch the group. We got to Frierson, crossed the tracks and I decided to keep going with Joe (his other name) to get the miles in and do some hill climbing when we got to Linwood. Then the next calamity occurred...Joe reached for his water bottle and it slipped from his hand. It hit the ground, spinning, and rolled straight to me. I ran over it with my front wheel. Then it hit my rear wheel and got caught under it. I started sliding down the road with my bike fish-tailing side-to-side and I'm looking for a soft piece of asphalt to land on if it should come to that. Then the bottle spits out from under my wheel and I'm still up. Dang, it feels good to have superior bike handling skills! Joe's bottle was destroyed but I was okay! Yay!
For the final weird part of the ride, not long after the bottle incident a rabbit came running out of the left side into the road, stopped and saw us, turned around and shot back into the brush. Joe and I looked at each other and laughed. We were glad we didn't have to run over a rabbit!
So I got in 51 miles for the day counting the morning ride. I'm tired. Hungry. But must stay up to watch the finish of Stage Six of Le Tour. I can do it. I am strong. But tired.
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