Every town out there, including Birmingham, has their Tuesday Night Worlds. This is the non-race race where everyone comes out to prove they are The Man (or Woman). Whoever comes out on top gets to be the swinging dick of the local scene until next Tuesday.
The last time I did this ride was about 3 years ago and promised myself I would never do it again...sketchier than any downhill I have ever ridden on a mountain bike.
Boris send me a text while I was at work yesterday to let me know he was doing Tuesday Night Worlds. I figured I might as well, it had been a few days since I got a hard ride in. I was kitted out in my old cutoff Haband slacks and giant backpack full of commuting shit so I knew I would be able to intimidate some folks.
This ride had the same features of the last one I did with the exception of some lady calling me her hero, presumably because of the backpack:
-Fast as hell. Lots of time above 300 watts. Blah. My legs are tired today.
-Street laws were damned from the start. Many red lights ran, this makes me nervous.
-Weaving riders. Ride in a straight line? Never.
-I misjudged how far it was and got home later than I wanted.
So yeah, basically I suck at road riding and would really rather ride alone or with a couple other people. There is a reason I don't race road bikes...well I AM doing the Cheaha Challenge this weekend but that is hardly a race, per se.
The fact that it is not a race does not exclude it from my arbitrary system of goal making for rides. Let's see.
Cheaha goals:
-Do it fixed and don't walk anything.
-Finish in 6 hours.
-Drink beer during the ride and not throw it up.
-Eat my entry fee in food afterwards.
After the Challenge I will hopefully have some good stories and pictures. Hope everyone's Tuesday Night Worlds was as awesome as mine.
You looked pretty gnarly out there.
ReplyDeleteGive me another month or so to get my saddle and legs back into some sembelance of shape and I'll follow you around for some soft core road rides. You can get some light cardio, and I can die.
<3 your old friend
Dude, I'm down...we can even rig up some kind of tow rope system. Hugs and kisses.
ReplyDeleteI was tempted to be an ass when someone asked me if we had ridden that ride before...though the first four miles were a blast.
ReplyDeleteit's just bad for local cycling in general. i think bsny said "stupidity grows with numbers"...or something like that. i've seen perfectly normal people act like jackasses on tuesday...
ReplyDeletePeople love to bitch about Worlds, and there is a lot of jackassery involved--the bigger the group, the harder it is to stay together, and the more people will act a fool to try to stay in the group (run lights, cross the double-yellow, etc.). That said, it is a pretty awesome workout and as close to the intensity of a true road race as you can get. People do dumbass stuff in road races, too. If you're near the front, you don't care what all those people behind you are doing...
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