Wheels of Fortune

My wife talked me into going on a bike ride with her tri-club friends today. It is supposed to get as warm as 60 degrees. Usually, this group leaves at 7:30, but a few of us decided 9 am would give it time to warm up. Yesterday, I ran into a friend who told me her husband was going to be riding with my good friend, John today. So, I called John, and told him they should join us on our ride. Later in the day, we saw the time was changed to 9:30 am, so I had to let John know. We get it straightened out, and John meets us, and we have about 8 of us. Just then , his friend Ron, texts him, and asks “Up for a Ride today?” John takes a picture of us on our bikes, and texts him back the answer. Unfortunately, Ron is 15 miles away, and won’t be able to meet us.
We get started riding on the Old Plank trail. Rich is a really strong rider, and takes the lead. One of the women is not so strong, but determined, so our line gets drawn out. We are close to 15 mph starting out. I like these rides, but during my marathon training, I avoid pedaling in the upper gears. They recommend a faster spin rate to simulate the fast foot turnover you want running. I can keep this up for 20-30 miles, but the group is talking about riding to a town called Elwood,

(Map to Elwood), which is about 42 miles round trip. My cross training days are supposed to be 45-60 minutes, not 2-3 hours.
It’s a gorgeous day, and there is not much wind yet. We head west on a pretty desolate country road. Now we start picking up the pace to 18-21 mph. My friend John is 6’6”, and has a really steady pedaling cadence, so he is great to draft behind.(now you know why I invited him!). Actually, John is one of my good friends, and I want to tell him about my unemployment situation – both for ideas, and also for reassurance. We have some in-depth soul-searching talks on these rides, about careers, religion, our children, our marriages, getting older- and the normal, sports, cars, home repairs, funny movies, beers, and our glory days as teenagers in the ‘70’s. Today he tells me that his brother works for Blue Cross, which he thinks is doing well, so I should pass on my resume. A few years ago, I thought that I should learn how to play golf, because that is what guys in business do. I got a book, and went to the range, and I started to try to play with friends. On a business outing with clients, I was awful. I guess I should have taken lessons. It’s not that I don’t like to golf, but if I invest so much time, I want to get something back, like an improvement in my health, or a medal. As I started to get serious about running (which made cycling easier), I found that people I met really wanted to talk about it- my colleagues, and my clients. What I have concluded is what people like about golf is – Camaraderie (including shared frustration and misery); Dedication to improvement; Passion about the journey. Acknowledgement of accomplishments - both your own and others. All of those things are there in running and endurance sports for me, so when I meet people with similar interests or aspirations, it creates a bond. This weekend, I have made two connections related to my job search, and the previous miles I have covered with these guys will pave the way for introductions.
John, Rich and I are leading the front, but we are so far ahead that we have to stop and wait. It sounds like John wants to go for a ride with his wife later, so we decide to turn around at the Chicagoland Speedway on the outskirts of Joliet, which will give me about 28 miles roundtrip. We see another group heading east right before the turnaround point, including one of the triathlon coaches, who invites us to join them for the ride back. We still haven’t sorted out who is staying and who is going, so we wave them ahead. I kiss my wife goodbye, and one of the other guys says “Where’s my kiss?”. I tell him I just met him, but I think he was referring to my wife. We ride back, and John and I hold back to ride with the slower riders. I don’t mind because this makes my cross-training less taxing, and keep in low gear. We reach a point where we have to wait for traffic to cross a street, and we end up waiting for someone in the group who couldn’t make it across with us. When we get started again, John and I are in the lead, and we just get farther and farther ahead. It is only about 5 miles to go, and they know the way. John picks a different street to turn on, and we end up cutting through a subdivision. That’s one of the great things about bike rides with John – he carves out different paths – sometimes we get chased by dogs, or see cows standing in the middle of the road; ride on gravel roads, or pick our bikes up to cross bridges under reconstruction.
John heads off the trail towards his house, and I go back to the parking lot where my van is parked. When I get there, I see John’s wife with their son, riding bikes. I tell her that John just went home to meet up with her, but it seems like they missed the connection. At least I got ride 10-12 miles with my wife. She’ll put on 40+ miles today, but biking is her thing, and running is mine.