Saturday was a beautiful fall day in November. Karen and I rode a LBC ride in the morning. We choose a B ride so we would enjoy the scenery of Lancaster County instead of the wheel and arse in front of us.
As with most club rides, a group of riders push the pace one or two miles higher than the prescribed pace. A good number of riders should be riding the A group (16 mph and up) but do not for whatever reason (start location, "out of shape", timing-need to get errands done, etc). Most people ride the B rides and the group splinters from there.
We had a bit of a head/cross wind for our 34 mile ride to New Holland and back so it was great to have people to ride behind. Or so we thought. With about 30 riders showing up for the 10 a.m. ride, the ride leader ran out of cue sheets by the time we rolled in. The ride started two blocks from my house and at 10 a.m. compared to one of my favorite LBC rides, the Harvest Ride, a 54 mile ride that started at 8:30 a.m. and about a 10 minute ride away.
We hogged the roads for about three miles until the group did some self selecting. Eventually, about 18 riders were up the road with stragglers in between the tail end of the true "B pace" riders. Karen and I rode with a nice group of about 3 or 4 guys that varied as some of them dropped back to the ride leader. Before we knew it, we set the pace and averaged an "A pace" into the winds. I whined to Karen that we could have ridden the Harvest Ride but she reminded me that it would have been a smaller group with nowhere to hide, at an average of 18+ mph for three hours and I would not have been able to sleep in. As with my eating, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, so I tend to take on more than I can handle. My girlfriends always know that if I say; "Hey, lets ride for four hours tomorrow, that usually means two 1/2 hours!
I love how riding in the wind wipes me out. It is such a great feeling. If I am not pressed for time, I love riding in the wind. Two hours were enough as it allowed me time to go food shopping with my homebody, Brad, at Costco buying last night's dinner.
Pork loin baby back ribs. Hmmm. We marinated them with barbeque and grilled them. I peeled and cut up sweet potatoes for sweet potato fries. Oh, I am getting hungry for the meal again. I toss the sweet potatoes in a big bowl with my homemade Cajun seasoning or even season salt would work. This time I used some seasoning that I bought from a home party for Tastefully Simple. I have been slurring my words lately (and that has been without alcohol) and I usually say, tastefully sinful. That's probably what it is since a lot of the products have partially hydrogenated oils and that is a no, no in our house. I am a sucker for the home parties my friends and family host. If I attend, I feel guilty not buying something. So I bought a seasonal seasoning (it's not on their website anymore), Si Si Cilantro, spicy dip mix and it is tasty (and without partially hydrogenated oils). Ingredients: jalapeno pepper, cilantro, salt, lime powder, onion and garlic.
We heated up fresh sweet corn we bought frozen from a local Amish woman. Then Brad whipped up some margaritas for his dad and I. We feasted around our new 20 inch flat screen tv and watch Eli's alma mater, Michigan State play well in the second half to turn around and lose.
