Back in the Saddle

I'm almost back to normal (or at least I think I am - how would I know?). After a little scare when spinal fluid started draining out of my ears on Monday (Oct. 23) the recovery rapidly advanced. The headaches are gone. As are the nausea, drowsiness, bed spins and blind spots. As of today the only lingering effect is an occasional dizzy spell, and they're minor and very short lived. The scrambling of my internal thesaurus seems to have straightened out as well - for a while I was having a hard time finding the needed words when speaking.

I got back on the bike on the 21st by doing an easy 30 minutes on the trainer. Then 30-45 minutes on each of the next couple of days. Made 30 miles on Thursday which included 10 miles outside. Friday was a great day when I rode 34 miles outside on a relatively nice day in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin. It felt good to be back on the bike. The easy riding along with long, slow walks through and around Egg Harbor really worked to clear the brain of the cobwebs.


Mile 8938, sand dunes at Moonlight Bay

The crash has put me behind on the goal of 10,000 miles for this year. The good news is that I was fortunate to be able to pile on some serious mileage before the crash. As of today the mileage so far in 2006 is 8981. I had hoped to exceed 1,000 miles in October but with two days left in the month and 119 miles remaining it seems doubtful. I should be over 9,000 by November 1st and even though the weather is getting worse and the days shorter I'm feeling good about being able to ride the remaining 1,000 miles before New Year's Eve.

A big and heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent get well notes and messages. It really helped during the dark days.

Saved by the Bell

Laying in a CAT scanner at 3 o'clock in the morning was never very high on my "To-Do" list. But last Tuesday night, or, rather, Wednesday morning, that's exactly where I found myself. Watching the x-ray tube spin around my head I couldn't help but wonder, and worry, what was showing up on the computer screen of the technologist behind the lead-lined wall. Hours earlier Barry, Darin, Russ and I had meet in Menomonee Falls to do another night ride on the Bugline trail. We'd done this dozens of times before and we were expecting the usual good time. But midway during the return leg something went wrong.

Russ and I were up front with Barry and Darin close behind. Riding side-by-side, Russ and I were discussing and solving many of the world's problems when I suddenly hit a wet, muddy patch. It shifted my path slowly to the left, towards Russ. My initial reaction was to not panic and over-correct. If I turned hard to the right and then hit a dry patch I would go head over handle bars. Plus, I've ridden enough miles with Russ to know that he wouldn't panic either. He'd see me drifting over and simply hold his line. I drifted left for what seemed like minutes but was of course only a second or two. No matter what I did I could not get the bike to stop going slightly to the left. Now, almost upon Russ I decided to lean my shoulder into him so that we would gently bounce off of each other. Russ had the same idea but there was a problem - we were not shoulder to shoulder. I was slightly behind Russ and when I leaned I merely leaned onto his back. This did not provide the slight bump-off and while we both tried to stay steady on the bikes at some point I knew I was going to lose control and crash. That's when the lights went out.

When I came to I was sitting on the trail raising my arms to show that my collarbone wasn't broken. Then I was standing by my bike watching Barry re-adjust the brake hoods and front wheel. Then I was riding home. I kept asking where we were and what we were doing. I couldn't understand Darin's comment that I had driven to Menomonee Falls to ride my bike. That simply didn't make sense to me.

Here's what I missed; when my bike touched Russ' the bikes got tangled and out of control. Russ bailed off to his left, bruising his elbow. I fell hard on my right shoulder and hip and then my head whipped into the ground. My helmet striking the ground on the upper, right side. I was out cold for a minute or two, appearing lifeless - face first on the ground. The other guy's initial reactions were to call 9-1-1 and Russ even said that for a moment he was worried about how the helicopter would get to us, on a narrow trail in the woods. As they gathered around me I rolled onto my back and began moaning. Seeing that I was alive they began talking to me to see how I was. Barry suggested that I get up if I could because he was worried that I would get cold and start drifting again. He thought it better to keep me engaged and active. I was initially making non-sensical comments but apparently I was coming around pretty quickly. At least most of the way around. Russ remarked that it was amazing how fast I seemed to be coming back. I recall none of this.

After a few more minutes my head cleared enough that I knew where I was, who I was, who I was with and who the President of the United States was. I still couldn't understand where my car was. And my head felt like it was in a vice.

The guys were discussing the options to get me out of the woods and to medical help. I wanted to keep moving and insisted that I could ride out. Riding, I hoped, would clear my head even further and the closer we could get to civilization the better. Darin rode next to me and continued to ask me questions to see how my brain was working. I could remember things from months or years ago but I couldn't remember much about the past three days. The guys were still discussing whether to call for help or ride to Darin's (about 2 miles away) to reassess. I insisted that we go to the parking lot and tried to prove that I was okay by naming my daughters and my dog. They relented but refused to allow me to drive home.

After a somewhat blurry ride to the parking lot Russ rode home to get his car. Darin took command of my car and drove me home, with Russ right behind.

By the time we got to my house I was actually feeling pretty good. A head-ache, to be sure, but coherent with bright and alert eyes. We stood in my garage explaining to my wife what had happened. We took a cursory look at my helmet which appeared to be intact, with some scratches and dents on the outer shell.

I took two Tylenol and went to bed. I awoke at 1:30 am with my eyes spinning, nauseous and unable to sit up. Something was definitely wrong and since head injuries are not to be trifled with there was growing panic. I was fighting the fine line of going unconscious. My lovely bride made the quick decision to get me to the emergency room and in about 45 seconds she had my 12 year old and herself out of bed, dressed and helping me down the stairs. It was a real battle not passing out. Spinning eyes and terrible pain accompanied the dark curtain that was closing in on me.

I was cold, clammy and shivering uncontrollably when we arrived at the hospital. In the ER department I was quickly given a once over by a nurse and a doctor and then hustled into the CAT scanner to see if there was any brain damage, bleeding or other neurological disorder.



Technology is a great thing and being able to have a radiologist review the images just minutes after the exam is a wonder of modern medicine. The images are sent over the internet to a display system at the radiologist's home where he/she can review them at anytime. Even at 3 o'clock in the morning. The only thing that concerns me is that I've never been very coherent at 3 in the morning and here I was relying on some radiologist, having just been woken up in the middle of the night, to review images of my brain and provide an accurate diagnosis. Be that as it may, the word came back that I had suffered a Grade 3 concussion, the most severe form of concussion. The good news is that there was no hemorrhaging or deformity. I should make a full recovery, although with some symptoms not appearing for days or even weeks, only time will tell for sure.

The blunt force trauma of my head hitting the ground did bruise my brain on both the left and right sides. The right side as my head smashed into the ground, and the left side as the brain rebounded against the left side of my skull. There was also some minor swelling (no surprise to me as it felt as if my head was going to explode).



I was given some Tylenol and told to go home and rest for a few days, and to be watchful for symptoms of neurological dysfunction; memory loss, loss of motor skills, slurred speech, vomiting, spinning eyeballs and convulsions (don't those sound fun?). My wife has been staring at me ever since. Barry, Darin and/or Russ were checking in from time to time as well.

Wednesday was awful. I couldn't open my eyes without causing searing pain. Any movement - any, would cause nausea. Constant ringing in my ears. Thursday began the same but by evening I was feeling better. Even went for a short walk to get some fresh air. Ate a little food. I thought the worst was over but Friday morning brought a repeat of Wednesday and we discussed another visit to the hospital. We fought through it and by Saturday afternoon there was marked improvement (I even rode for 30 minutes on the indoor trainer) and as of 6:00 pm Sunday there has been no relapse. I think that the worst is over.

As my head healed I noted the other injuries that had gone unnoticed; abrasions and bruises on my shoulder and hip. And abrasions on my knees, elbow and pinky finger. As my brain cleared those little pains became more evident.

For the first few days I couldn't look at a computer screen without getting sick to my stomach but this morning I was well enough to do a little research on concussions. Go HERE for Mayo Clinic's overview and HERE for a cycling specific article covering concussions, along with other cycling related injuries. Fairly scary stuff, particularly the discussion surrounding what is known as "second impact syndrome", which, "occurs when a person has recurrent head trauma while still recovering from a concussion. A seemingly minor trauma or bumping of the head in these people can lead to devastating swelling of the brain, which could prove fatal." Yikes!

What have I learned through this experience? A few things;

1) If a head injury leads to loss of consciousness, even for a second, it's best to get that person to a hospital within one hour (the so-called 'golden hour') so that potentially serious damage can be mitigated. I didn't do this and maybe it's being overly cautious but it has now become a rule for me and for anyone that I'm with. If you go for a ride with me and you get knocked out - I will take you in. I want you to do the same for me. And don't argue with me, it's a rule. Your brains, and your life, are precious.

2) Having a spouse and/or family that loves you and cares about you is an easy thing to take for granted. Don't.

3) Those silly little sayings that we hear all the time are based in truth; Getting your bell rung. Knocked the living daylights out of him. Out like a light. Head scramble. Re-boot. Out cold. All true. Seeing stars? Probably true, I just don't remember it.

And that helmet? Three days after the crash I took a good look at it and saw that both major structural ribs on the right side of the Bell brand helmet were cracked clear through. Without a helmet that would have been my skull.

Saved by the Bell (helmet)

Monday (Oct. 23) Update:

Feeling a wee bit light-headed today but pretty good overall. Cycling buddy Aaron asked a good question about the wisdom of riding at night and whether or not darkness played a factor in the crash. Great question, Aaron. And one that a guy with a clear head would have taken note of!

When we ride at night we all use headlights mounted on our handlebars. This lets us see the trail boundaries and any major obstacles. Does it light our way? No. Did it contribute to the crash? I'd say yes. Had I seen the slippery patch I probably would have prepared for it. No guarantee that I would have noted it in the daylight since some things are not obvious, but I'm guessing that I would have. In any event, darkness was definitely a factor. Could have seen the slippery bit, could have found a place to bail, could have seen the ground rapidly approaching my head.

Does this mean that trail riding at night should be avoided? No. But it does mean that I need a better, more powerful light. My current one is a little Cateye designed primarily to let cars and pedestrians know that you are coming. For that purpose it works well as it's very bright to the eye - it just doesn't cast a very wide or bright beam on the ground in front of the bike. Maybe something like THIS or THIS?

Does $200.00 or $300.00 sound like a lot for headlights? Consider this; I am self-insured for healthcare purposes and my little visit to the ER is going to run about $2000.00. Not to mention the pain, lost days and potential future complications. Even if you've got great health insurance coverage, $200 or $300 is a small price to pay if it can help you avoid my little experience. What's that saying? Oh, yea. An ounce of prevention...

Click on "Comments" below and let us know your suggestions for the best and brightest lights for bike mounted trail riding.

When the Gales of November Come Early

The weather around here continues to be crappy. It seems that we had October weather in September and we're now having November weather in October. We've already had numerous overnight temperatures that dropped below freezing, two days of snow flurries and 15 of the 16 days have had below normal temperatures. I just can't wait to see what November brings.

I still managed to get in 241 miles of riding last week; 10-42-47-37-50-30-25. The most difficult day by far, was Tuesday. Barry and I had decided to do an early morning run on the Bugline Trail. Since our meeting spot was within a mile of where my accountant has an office and since I needed to stop by the accountant to see if I could afford that new Powertap I made the bold decision to ride my cyclo-cross bike from home to the trailhead, ride the trail with Barry, then to the accountant's office, then home. Hey, if reducing fossil fuel emissions by riding a bike instead of driving a car can help stop global warming, I'm in! Of course, that decision was made Monday night while I was nice and warm, snuggled in on the couch with my lovely bride.

Tuesday dawned cold (26 degrees) and windy (30 mph, gusting to 38), putting the wind chill factor or "feels like" temperature at 14. 14! But I had made a commitment so off I went, headlong, straight into the southwest gale. I was cold within minutes even though I was wearing; thick wool socks, shoes with toe covers and neoprene booties, bib shorts, windproof, full length tights, Defeet undershirt, heavy Patagonia thermal shirt, the heaviest windproof cycling jacket that I own, skull cap, balaclava, helmet with cover (a true fashion statement) and Pearl Izumi Lobster mittens. It's difficult just to get on and stay upright on a bicycle with all of this stuff on; yet I was still cold. All you can do is get as low as you can and keep the pedals turning. 10 miles in I had lost feeling in my fingers, toes and nose, and my eyelids were covered in a light crust of ice. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of a tailwind on the way home. At one point I needed to pee. Frostbitten fingers and toes are one thing but a frostbitten Mr. Happy? I held it.

I had finally warmed up a bit 13 miles later when I met Barry at the trailhead. The sun was up and over the clouds that hover over Lake Michigan during the winter months and it had warmed to about 30. But the wind was still howling. Riding behind Barry on the open stretches and getting some protection from the trees in other sections the trail ride wasn't too bad. The cold did force us to stop in at the coffee-shop at the Merton end of the trail for a spot of coffee to warm the bones. We stopped just long enough for our muscles to lock up so even though we had a tailwind on the return leg it still took a few miles to get the legs loosened up again.

Back at the trailhead Barry and I went our separate ways as I headed to the accountant's office for bad news. Hearing that the Powertap purchase would have to wait wasn't the bad news; that the wind had now swung from the southwest to the northwest was. Instead of a rapid cruise home I was now faced with a 30 mph frigid broadside. Instead of coasting, my now completely trashed legs had to grind away as I leaned left into the wind. During some stretches I was leaning at what felt like a 45 degree angle just to keep upright in the wind. Had the wind let up or stopped, even momentarily, I would have flopped onto the road. It was so bad during some stretches that through ice encrusted eyes I could see automobile passengers pointing at me and shaking their heads. Dumbfounded that someone was actually out in this crap.

I finally made it home 47 miles and almost 4 hours since pulling out of the garage. I was completely and utterly wasted. For two days walking on a level surface was difficult. Going up or down stairs was out of the question. I am considering a move to a single-level home. My head was pounding and my shoulders and lower back screamed in agony. Riding 100 miles in the summer is much easier than half that distance in this winter crap. And it's only going to get worse. Yikes!

Elvis Goes to Lambeau (and gets paid to do it!)

It's official; Elvis has signed on with one of the world's leading photo agencies as a photographer covering the 12-Time World Champion Green Bay Packers. This past Sunday was the first assignment and you can go HERE to view some of the results.

Apologies in advance for the watermark on the images (I tried to make it as unobtrusive as possible) but the agency frowns upon free distribution of copyrighted images. If you would like a print of any of these send me an email by clicking on the "Email" link at the bottom of this page (or by going HERE) and I'll see what I can do.

The Bugline

Thanks to my good cycling buddies I enjoyed an excellent bit of riding during the first week of October. Daily mileage of 86-20-41-26-42-44-55 gave me 314 for the week and put me at 8404 for the year. Only 1596 miles to go!

With snow and 35 mile per hour winds forecast for Wednesday and beyond, Darin, Russ, The Boss and I decided to get some mileage in Monday night by riding the Bugline Recreational Trail. If you live in the area don't let the information suggesting that the trail is closed concern you - it's all rideable. It's a fun trail to ride with a mountain or cross bike and at night it gets even better. Flying down the trail in the dark adds a bit of uncertainty to the adventure. Darin put it best when he said, "I feel like a 15 year old kid". Indeed!

The rabbits were everywhere and we came real close to broad-siding a white tail deer, as well as the odd pedestrian walking on the middle of the trail, in the middle of the night, miles from nowhere.

The Boss leads Darin and Russ into the great unknown

The eastern end of the trail is only a few blocks from a Starbucks (What place on the planet isn't?) so we stopped in to warm up with some hot chocolate. A fine ending to a great ride.

People Are Strange

Calm before the storm. Mile 8191

I'm riding down the road minding my own business. In fact, I'm peeing off the bike and I glance back just as I'm finishing and notice a biker about a quarter of a mile back who appears to be charging as fast as he can to catch me. Out of his saddle, bike swinging back and forth. I continue at my steady pace. Maybe I know the guy and he's just coming up to greet me. I've been out for 35 miles on a cold evening and a chat with a friendly biker would be a great way to wind down a ride.

Soon I can tell that he's on my wheel. He's trying to be stealthy by not shifting and not coasting. But I can hear his tires scrubbing on the asphalt. He sits back there without saying a word as I pull him up a hill. For the better part of a mile he still sits in my draft trying to be quiet. All of a sudden he swings wildly to the left and sprints, out of his saddle, as if it's the final 100 meters of a race. Out in the middle of the road he's swerving back and forth and every few seconds he glances back to see what I'm doing. Which is what I was doing before, just cruising along on the white stripe on the right side of the road. I note that he is helmet-less.

He stays out in the middle of the road on a steep downhill with a sharp bend. An old woman in a car, also in the middle of the road, is coming from the other direction and they miss each other by mere inches. (Did I mention that he was not wearing a helmet?) He continues to keep glancing back at me. I've never seen anything like it. Not five seconds pass between each twisting of his head. With lots of energy wasted swerving wildly on the road while glancing back all too often, he's making very little progress getting away from me. One thing I've learned in many miles out of the road is that if you're about to pass a fellow cyclist and you have no intention of hanging around for a chat, you pick your moment to pass quickly so that you can get a good gap and not have to worry about the other guy catching your wheel. You also give a friendly, "How's it going?" as you pass by. Partly to reduce the chance of startling the guy and partly just to be friendly.

But none of that friendliness from this tough guy. He's even dressed tough. Black shorts, black shirt, black shoes and black socks. Even his Specialized bike is black. None of which compensates for the bad form he exhibited by stealing my draft without acknowledgment or reciprocity.

He's only about 20 yards ahead of me as we approach the first intersection with a stop sign. He blows through just seconds before a speeding Ford Mustang flies across the intersection. (Did I mention that he wasn't wearing a helmet?) I suspect that the cyclist does this as a way to get that all important gap on me. I stop at the intersection and as I watch him struggle up a small hill I decide that I've had enough of this guy.

The worse thing that can happen after passing someone is to have them right behind you, not losing any ground. So I accelerate to catch him. I sit in my saddle and ride on the hoods - smooth and steady - don't let him think that I'm putting any effort into it. I pull up to within 10 feet of him but stay out of his draft. Since he's still glancing back every 3 seconds or so he sees me catch up and in another effort to get away he again swerves wildly to the left, sprinting out of his saddle. I let him. Sitting steady as a rock on the white line I'm amused as he swerves back and forth out in the middle of the road looking first over his left shoulder and then over his right. I maintain my 10 foot buffer. I accelerate when he does and when he struggles up the hills I slow down.

I begin to think that he'll tire of looking back so frequently and do one of three things; put in a huge burst of energy to finally get away, slow down significantly so that I go ahead of him, or the best course of action; ride next to me and have a friendly chat. With his ego and competitiveness running high but apparently without the strength to accelerate, he continues his wacky pattern. Riding in the middle of the road even as cars traveling the opposite direction pass much too close to him, looking behind as much or more than looking ahead, alternating between jumping out of his saddle and riding in his drops. Meanwhile, I'm in the saddle, hands on the hoods, looking straight ahead, staying a steady 10 feet astern. This goes on for a few more miles.

With a car on my left, which is directly behind him as he's still in the middle of the road, he suddenly and inexplicably sits up on his saddle, raises both of his hands in some hollow victory and lets out a whoop. He thinks that he's just won the race, or the sprint, or whatever other illusion that he's been operating under. With a big smile on his face he points at me and yells something that I can't understand. He stays in front of the car as we approach another intersection and with another car coming in the opposite direction he wildly cuts to the left in front of the on-coming car and proceeds to turn left into traffic on State Highway 60. Cars in almost every direction slow precipitously as no one can figure out just what he'll do next. (Did I mention that he wasn't wearing a helmet?) I stop at the cross road and watch him, still riding against traffic. He once again points at me and yells something that I again cannot understand. What I do understand is that he lost. If you do to another rider what he did to me you must, must, drop the other rider in no uncertain terms. If the other rider can stick to you for miles regardless of what you do, you simply don't have the strength to back up your overly aggressive riding style. You'd be a poser, and you will, as he did, look foolish.

My initial impression of this guy is that he's a real jack. But first impressions can often be deceiving. If you know this guy, point him to this website and tell him to send me an email. Maybe the next time we meet out on the road we can have a friendly chat, agree that we're racing and pick a suitable finish line. Who knows what the outcome might be? Maybe over time we'd even become friends.

Energize! (and other random thoughts)

It will be a beautiful thing to be sitting in my office in Wisconsin for a morning meeting, have lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise on Maui, meet with clients in Seattle and be back in Wisconsin for my daughter's volleyball game. Or, clear the driveway of the overnight snow in the morning, ride up Mt. Lemmon over the lunch hour, coast down Haleakala midday, afternoon tea at The Savoy and then the volleyball game. Private jet? No, not fast enough (Or safe enough as you can read below). What we need is a transporter room like they had (have) in Star Trek. Read HERE to see how scientists are getting closer to making, "Beam me up, Scotty!" a reality. Although it does concern me that "entanglement" is one of the three requirements to successful teleportation.

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Go HERE to view some hilarious made-at-home Star Trek knock-offs.

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I've never been a fan of bike racks for cars but the one in the picture below looks interesting. Too bad it comes on a GM. See more about it HERE.

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You've heard about the mid-air collision in Brazil where a private jet clipped a commercial airliner and 155 people died? Read a harrowing first-person account written by a guy that was on-board the private jet, HERE. Make note that he observes the altimeter at 37,000 feet just prior to the collision. Then read this short article HERE which suggests that the private jet should have been at 36,000 feet. It will be interesting to see if the author of the first article decides to change his mind regarding what he observed.

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Edmond Bielarczyk, Jr., you are an idiot. It's dickheads like you that lead to trouble for the rest of us. Who is this Mr. Bielarcyzk, you ask? He is the lead arbitrator in a case in my hometown in which a school teacher was fired for viewing and downloading porn on his classroom computer, during school hours. The teacher, Robert Zellner, was appropriately fired. But as usual, Zellner, along with the boneheaded WI Teachers' Union who will back any teacher no matter the issue at hand, fought to have the firing reversed. Read the article HERE.

They found a friend in Mr. Bielarczyk who, in his ruling reinstating Zellner, stated that the school district failed to have a clear policy for computer misuse. His brilliant example? Shouldn't looking at stock prices on a school computer have the same penalty as looking at porn? See, he's an idiot. I don't care if he thinks that a "computer misuse" policy should be uniformly enforced or that a policy should clearly identify just how many porn sites visited or images viewed would result in termination. That might sound good in an ivory tower but anyone with 46 ounces of grey matter knows that a quick check of your stock portfolio at work isn't a termination offense and looking at porn is. It's quite simple. Especially when the offender is a school teacher and is viewing porn with children in the room.

Zeroing in on the technical gobbledygook instead of worrying about the safety and well-being of our children should itself be cause for termination. But as a State employee, Mr. Bielarczyk will instead enjoy a lifetime of great pay, great benefits and a rich retirement package. No matter how poorly he performs or who gets hurt as a result of it.

The result of Mr. Bielarczyk's idiotic ruling? Parents are refusing to allow their children to be in classes run by Zellner (do you blame them?). And in reaction, the school board is now negotiating a settlement with Zellner. So here's a pervert who's looking at porn on his school computer while our young girls are right in front of him, and he's going to get a huge check as a reward thanks to morons like Bielarczyk. Will anyone be surprised if in a few years we hear that Robert Zellner is being charged with inappropriate contact with one of his students at a different school that will happily hire him because, after all, he wasn't convicted of anything? Ay, carumba!

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Speaking of idiots, take a look at THIS video.

Just Riding Around

It's good to get what was a crappy September out of the way. Go HERE to see the National Weather Service data for September and you'll note a couple of important items. First, you'll read that we had measurable rain on 21 of the 30 days. Then you'll note that the average wind speed for the month was 8.8 mph. That's average, which means if you take out the overnight hours when the winds are generally calm the real wind for biking hours was probably in the neighborhood of 16 mph. No wonder my legs are tired. And finally, you'll note that the average maximum temperature was 2.9 degrees below normal and 8.5 degrees below last year. If I was writing for the New York Times I would put this on the front page, "End of World Looms as Ice Age Ushers In. Bush to Blame". It would be a typical headline for the Times. Why ring a bell when a gong is handy?

You of course won't hear much about our cool weather. Doesn't quite fit in with the latest trendy fad known as global warming. Remember all of the dire predictions that this year would be the worst hurricane season ever thanks to global warming? The main stream press is pretty mum about it now that they've been proven wrong, aren't they?

But enough of my complaining. Let's talk about riding bikes!

Mile 7987

One of my private goals this year is to ride 10,000 miles. I'm sharing this with you now because I've hit a low spot. My legs are dead and I'm losing focus. With the dear readers of Elvis Kennedy.com as witnesses it will now be harder to quit. I've got 8,000 miles in so far, which is great. It's the final 2,000 with dead legs and cold, crappy weather on the doorstep that's got me concerned.

That's what good cycling buddies like Darin and The Boss are for. This morning my lovely bride says, "I think I hear voices in the driveway". My youngest responds, "I saw someone on a bike. I think it was The Boss". And so it was. I open the door and there's Barry squishing the sweat off of his head. "Why are you wasting a sunny day indoors? Get your bike and let's go, Darin's waiting for us at Starbucks".

It was gloriously warm and sunny as we met up with Darin and headed west with no particular destination in mind. Riding in bare arms and legs for the first time in weeks (and maybe the last time for months) we cruised the quiet country roads and discussed the important issues of our time; bike stuff and women. We rolled by the Holy Hill area and then stopped in at the fabled Dotties for donuts and chocolate milk. Hopped-up on sugar we flew through the lake country and soon found ourselves in Dousman, WI, home of the Bicycle Doctor bike shop. We stopped in to chat with The Doc, fill our bottles and drool over new bike stuff.

On the way home we made good use of group energy by riding in a paceline. Two minutes up front pulling followed by four minutes of rest while the other two guys worked. This is a marvelous system and when you've got compatible cycling buddies who you trust completely it can be poetry in motion. Silently and efficiently we sped along at an easy 23 mph. With beautiful fall colors, a sky so blue that it almost hurt to look at it and miles of open country roads we had big fun as we smoothly changed positions in an anti-clockwise motion without changing the pace. All within an inch or two of each other. As I said - poetry in motion.

Read about the beauty of pacelines HERE and HERE. And about the beauty of cycling in general HERE.

86 miles after The Boss showed up in my driveway I rolled home, chased by a thunderstorm. Here are two photos that I took shortly after getting the bike put away.