Well I was going to participate in this 15 kilometer time trial put on by the Gainesville Cycling Club. People show up, they stagger the starts by 30 seconds or so. It's an out and back course. The cyclists can't get to close to each other unless they are passing (ie no drafting).

Anyway it seemed kind of cool so I drove over to the meeting spot even though it was 40 degrees. I swallowed a caffeine pill and took a couple of hits off my Primatene Mist. I was ready to start poppin' spokes. I rolled up thinking "let's light this candle!"

There I was told that the course was 18 miles away from the meeting spot. It would take over an hour to get there. So this was looking like a 3 hour plus event. I had to be at work later and there was just no way.

Jesus, cyclists really know how to suck up the time. Man that's what I miss about running. You just show up, do the shit and you're good to go.

Anyway I called BS on the time trial and went to do my Millhopper loop solo. Saw my man Mark Ou in the Publix parking lot getting ready to run with some friends. He looked like a badass sporting this Fu Manchu beard and white arm sleeves. He asked about riding Hawthorne with us sometime. It could be cool.

Biked the Racetrack loop- 30 miles around midday. I guess Gator Nationals is coming up because there were signs and activity all around the area. 20 mph wind made the first 8 miles fly by. I was cooking at speeds up to 28 mph on flat land. The next 15 miles were biking into the wind and it was tough. The power meter helped because I could tell how hard I was working even though the speed was slower.

Afterward rode over to Bikes and More because part of the hood on the right grip had come off. Keith put it back on like it was nothing. I could hear Paul off in the background giving some couple his classic hard/soft sell. "Well you could get these and they would be fine. Or just to let you know there is a whole 'nother level. Now I personally..."

According to the power meter we each did about 876 KJ of work on the Hawthorne Trail.

I just want to go on record as saying those jive ass turkeys that ride around on bikes with like chain saw motors powering them are really starting to piss me off. What, you're too lazy to fucking pedal? You're defeating the whole purpose and beauty of biking. Shit.

I also want to go on record as saying I seem to be using a lot of profanity of late.

Saw Small Kid with Huge Backpack (SKHB) across the street this morning. He looked even more like an old man than usual because he was wearing these big ass beige old man shorts. I kept staring wishing I could take a picture. Just then he looked up and shot this terrifying glare right into my eyes.

You know me and you know I've seen some frightening things in my life. I'm talking some Blair Witch Project shit. But that little kid's death stare chilled me to the bone. He had these dark circles around his eyes and his skin looked like all the life had been sucked out of it.

Threw me off my game for the whole rest of the day.

Rode the Sempre on the Millhopper loop. 13mph headwind on the way back. Kind of tiring even though I was a couple of minutes off my faster times. Still getting back into the groove from being on vacation. My cadence sensor decided to malfunction at the start of the ride.

Cortina is in the shop. Should I ride the Sempre to work? I think I will.

Bikes and More just called. The Cortina needs a new chain and cassette. I'm also getting a stronger rim to hopefully keep the wheel from going out of true as often.

V and I rode down to the Top again tonight. I had eaten an entire Satchel's calzone mid-afternoon so I wasn't too hungry. I just had a salad. The wasabi green goddess dressing was good. I drank a White Russian followed by a Black Russian. I try to sample a different mixed drink each time I'm there.

Afterwards we biked over to the cupcake place. I have confirmed that the cupcake twins don't live above the shop. I think they have a cupcake intern because some dude in a blue shirt wandered over at one point and asked if everything was ok. We were just spaced out on the bean bags.

In NYC they do cupcake tours of all the notable bakeries. We need to do a G'ville sweet tooth equivalent sometime and hit up Sarkara Sweets, Karma Cream and Sweet Dreams all in one night. That would be the stuff of legends.

Need to drop off the Cortina at Bikes and More because it's not shifting properly. One of the people I rode with this morning complimented the Sempre and asked me where I bought it. I told them B&M and she said she didn't realize they sold Bianchi. Made we wonder if she had ever even been to B&M. That's like saying you didn't realize that Publix sells Coke. I get sensitive about Bikes and More around other cyclists because I feel like B&M doesn't get their due among the cycling club crowd.

Driving to work tomorrow because we are living right after my shift to go to Orlando to visit V's parents.

Rode the sempre for the first time since coming back from vacation. It was kind of weird because some random dude came up behind me and asked if he could ride on my wheel for a while. I was like sure whatever. I guess he wanted someone blocking the wind.

The ride itself was ok. I'm just easing back into things so I didn't go nuts.