Friday I biked the Race Track loop. I was doing a Bob Seger "Against the Wind" for half the ride but then at the end I pulled a Phil Collins because "Against All Odds" I was within a minute of my best time ever. In the home stretch I was out of the saddle pounding away. Then I heard a loud psssttttt! I had blown a tire. Rather than stop I did a James Brown being chased by the cops and rode on rims the rest of the way rather than stop 20 seconds away from the finish.

I missed my best time but it was pretty epic, like trying to reel in a giant fish only to have it get away.

Fired up about my new bungee cord configuration that keep the panniers on the bike more securely.

Rode with the Gliders this morning- about 30 miles. They ride faster than my previous group the Developers. I was doing well until about 4 miles away from the finish. I had just finished leading the group up some hills on Millhopper road. It was time to drop back and draft off the other riders. A gap opened up and I closed it but on the next hill I was pretty gassed and they got away from me for good. I caught up to the ride captain and we talked a little which was cool.

The Developers ride leader always said don't let a gap open up or your screwed. He was not wrong.

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.