Two In A Row

We didn't get very far Saturday...

This past weekend my Son decided it was high time he and I resumed our weekend riding. So despite the fact that I had already wasted myself on a 3+ hour slog in 25-30mph winds, I suited up and went out with him in the afternoon after lunch. The wind had not abated, by the way, but at least we were in town!

I decided to trundle along on my titanium Mukluk and I got stopped by someone with the obligatory questions: Where did ya get that? How does it pedal? 

We got to the downtown area and as we were traversing a street, a big, violent blast of wind came rushing down on us. Now my Son has never liked being taken by surprise, and especially by loud sounds.   I heard him cry out and turned to see him straddling his bike with his hands over his ears, (standard operating procedure when exposed to sudden loud noises for him), and I realized he has never experienced such a wind blast out on his bike. I suppose it is kind of frightning if you've not been exposed to that before.

Anyhow, we didn't get much farther because he was ready to get out of the wind after that point! We found a good place to have our snacks. We hung out and chatted for awhile and then we turned about afterward and headed for the shed. That was okay with me! I was tired out already from the morning's 3GR.

...but we had a good ride on Sunday.

The next day was Mother's Day, and after I cooked up lunch and sent Mrs. Guitar Ted to the library, (she loves books), my Son and I hit the trails again. This time it was a much more tranquil day and we made a big loop around the Waterloo trails along the Cedar River.

Part of every ride with my Son has to include a stop to eat. So I typically bring along some healthy cycling style grub and we find a nice place to sit and chew some Clif Bars, or whatever I've brought along for us. This ride found us stopping alongside the Cedar at a point where there were a few large trees and some concrete blocks set up for folks to lounge on and rest in the shade.

I spied a younger man leaning back on one of the trees looking out at the river as we pulled up. He had given me a friendly wave. I looked again and could see that he was smoking weed, and my nose told me I was right about that, as we were downwind from him. My Son didn't notice anything right away, but the younger man, after seeing we had stopped, got up and moved on down the bank about a 100 yards and continued his activity.

Not that there is anything wrong with all of that, (in my opinion), but I did point out to my Son that putting smoke in your lungs of any sort isn't the best idea. I left it at that. We then continued to munch our snacks as I contimplated the odds of all that happening just then. Then we rode on. The steep ramps to the top of the dike in several places was getting the best of the boy. I tried working with him on shift points. He is getting the hang of it. I'm sure he'll be cleaning those ramps with ease very soon.

We meandered along until we finally reached home and my Son was tuckered out. Another adventure in the books.