Susan and I have just finished watching Breaking Bad (yes, I know, we're years behind everyone else) and now every slightly shady-looking establishment looks like a cover for a meth lab to me. In particular the so-called sawmill on Old Hempstead, that always has lots of cars parked in front on Saturday mornings, looks highly dubious and I'm tempted to call up the DEA. Kevin for his part is just glad that we've finished the series so perhaps now I'll stop looking for evidence of illegal chemistry and focus on getting my sorry butt up the hill.
Last Saturday we returned to the scene of the crime - Zube Park - for our first attempt at an actual ride, instead of the 30 mile jaunts from my house. I didn't do very well that time, feeling pretty bloody awful by the end and glad to have my domestique encouraging/cajoling me home. So today the plan was "Start slow, finish slower" (copyright K.Crotty 2014) - keep it down to 15mph for the first five miles and then see how we felt.Those first five took a lot longer than normal, not just because of the stately pace. Kevin got a flat after about two but to his credit managed a pretty rapid tube change, certainly more efficiently than Larry (see earlier blog post). We accelerated a little after five but didn't go crazy, and got to the Exxon in reasonably good form. Last week Kevin managed to swallow a large bug at about this point on the ride, and it hurt enough for him to think it had stung him somewhere on the way down. This week I told him to keep his mouth shut and he did, only to have a nasty-looking horsefly land on his left gluteus maximus, an impressive feat for the insect considering we were cooking along at 16mph plus at the time.After our break we opted for the standard route home along Business 290 and then Old Hempstead, which is where I spotted the dubious-looking business establishments. In the run-up to the MS we would take a detour down Mathis road to add a few miles in, but inevitably got chased by a hell-hound that seemed to take a particular fancy to Kevin. These last two runs we decided to keep the mileage down and eliminate the risk of canine assault by staying on Old Hempstead, definitely a good line of scrimmage audible.Our pace was actually pretty good on the run in from Prairie View, even on the uphill side of the rollers, a clear improvement over last week (for me, anyway). But I was still pretty beat when we got back to the car, although it was nothing that a good lunch and better nap couldn't fix.
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