The First Day of 08

'Twas the first day of the New year,
when all through the roads,
cyclist were stirring, even those toads (aka Fat Frogs).
The tights were stretched over the legs with care,
in hopes of keeping warm out there.
The Wheelmen were riding in a group with no haste,
while visions of miles kept them at this pace.
And Tim and Jennifer on their tandem, and me on my fixed,
had just settled in on a New Year ride with bikes mixed.
When out of South there arouse such a gust,
we filed in one line for it was Creeds or bust.
Up the Pungo Ferry Bridge we flew like a flash,

...okay I give up.

I'm not a poet (obviously), but I figured everyone would be writing about New Year's day rides and I wanted mine to be a little different. The Virginia Beach Wheelmen (some of us) met this morning at 9 to ride the "Pungo Hangover Ride." Its much like the "Pungo Hell Ride", but slower.

The Players:
Tim Shockley
Jennifer Shockley
John Gray
and myself

The Scene:
Pungo. From Redmill, over the Pungo Ferry Bridge and back.

The Equipment:
Tim and Jennifer on a tandem, John on his road bike and me on my fixed gear. We like to mix it up.

The "no shows":
James Goyet chose to ride in Suffolk near his house. I can understand not wanting to drive too far for a ride. Good day to spend with the family.
Jon Nisbet is out of town and was with us in spirit since he was probably on his bike at the same time.
Mike Tamayo...I don't know. He is only two weeks away from graduation from the Chesapeake Fire Academy. We can cut him a little slack for a few more weeks.

The Hangovers:
I had a little to drink last night. Woke up with Mr. Hanky's cousin...the New Year's Poo. But recovered well and felt good.
Tim had some girl drinks at my house last night. He was probably still on a sugar high.
John worked on the medic last night in Suffolk and only got 3 hours of sleep.

The ride:
We kept the pace easy, but the wind still made the ride challenging. A lot of other riders were on the road. We saw Tripower guys and Fat Frogs (sorry for the toad comment, but I needed a rhyming word). 40 miles on the fixed gear for me was tough. It was almost harder on the return trip when we picked up the pace and I had to spin faster.

Overall it was a very good 4 days of training for me. It was a good way to start my aerobic base building and muscular strength phase of training. Now the temperature drops...the indoor trainer will be heating up though.