R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Played hooky this afternoon, and went for a training ride with my VQ (Vision Quest) Coaching teammates, ie: Stan-O-Leeni, The Badger, Lotte & The Young One.

They had some structured workout to do, especially The Young One, and I tagged along. Sprint after sprint etc. I asked The Badger what his plans were, and he said, oh, just a recovery ride, about 60% of maximum effort is OK with him, as he said his legs were really tired. Then I saw IT, the infamous "Badger Grin" coming from under his sunglasses.

Great! I knew I was in trouble. Stan-O is recovering from 6 broken ribs, a punctured lung, separated shoulder and a broken collarbone, so how fast could this ride actually be?

FAST & FURIOUS. Stan-O is an android, The Young One, well he's young, and can recover from an effort in about 2 seconds, The Badger got caught in his own lie, but is as tough, well, as a Badger. Effort after effort. They knew I was hurting, and turned it up, again. Crap!

We went an hour out, turned around, and did a rotating paceline back, about 25 mph.

I informed The Badger that I had paid my phone bill, and could now make outgoing calls. He got it after a minute, as I would be "calling" him on the way back in, for the final sprint into town. If he had the strength, he could answer the phone, if not, it would keep ringing. I may not be the bus driver right now, taking them to school, but at least I am the janitor, cleaning up the halls.

With 2 miles to the sprint, I informed all those involved that there will be a sprint at the end to the "stop ahead" sign. Letting you know right now, so there is no excuses, no whining, no nothing at the end. I proceed to suck wheel, in the draft, as The Turtle is wide, and not very sleek in the wind. Stan-O & The Badger try to stick it to me, as they need to have 2 on 1 to match my broken leg & lack of power. They then force my sprint with 300 meters to go.

Turtle = Victory

Badger = Sadness & Defeat