Friday, June 1, 2012

Bob

This is getting to be a theme, male riders joining the Bettys. Maybe WE are special. Maybe we do have something to offer other than a pretty face. Maybe we can hang with the Bros.
I mentioned Bob in my very first post. He is a colleague of Brown and mine and more importanly an avid biker as well. (His name is really Joe but since he is riding with the Bettys we’ve nicknamed him. It sounds better too, the Biking Bettys and Bob, don’t you think?)


The year before last he decided every Friday would be a century ride (100 miles). I hope he does it again this summer because Barbie and I are interested in having a positive experience riding 100 miles. We did the Raven Rock Ramble with Barbie’s dad last year as our inaugural century ride and it was not pretty. In our defense we really didn’t train like we should have and paid dearly for the judgment lapse…never again.
He's back!

Back to Bob, he has taught me all I know about climbing hills. Barbie, on the other hand, is a mountain goat and knows how to work the hills.  I am like a baby lamb that would rather lay down in a meadow than grind up a hill.  So Bob has taken all the Bettys on a ride of nothing but hills to hone our skills.
So here is the secret, ATTACK the hill. As Bob likes to say, “Get after it!” Torture is how I would sum up the experience but incredible progress was the outcome. While I still dread seeing a hill just ahead, I can do it with less trepidation than before. If you are wondering where Brown stands with hills, let's just say she doesn't care  two cents about climbing hills or attacking them, for that matter, and is happy going at her own "pokey puppy" (her words not mine) pace to the top.
Barbie, Bob and I rode a 25 mile loop the other day and boy did it have some hills.  We haven’t ridden together in over a year because Bob broke his back. It wasn’t biking related but nonetheless still bad. Bob rode this challenging course (lots of hills) and there is no doubt about it,  he’s BACK !
So here’s to Bob for getting back in the saddle and re-joining the Bettys on our riding escapades.

Blonde