Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Riding with spouses

My wife and I escaped Long Island's epic heat this week and stopped in Cape Cod for a sample of their 100 degree weather. We packed our bikes and got up early to ride. My wife hasn't ridden in a while and told me she really enjoys biking most when:
  • Somebody (read me) makes sure her bike is sound and inflates her tires before the ride.
  • Somebody (guess who) is "around" just in case she needs a flat fixed. I think she can actually fix a flat if she had to but why would she if I'm around?
  • Somebody (getting the drift on who that might be here) picks a route that she won't get lost on and has little or no car traffic.

Our plan was to ride the Cape Cod Rail Trail together. The rail trail is a former train right of way that got turned into a limited access bicycle path. The trail is 22 miles long and I was going to let her set the pace and the distance (this was a recovery ride for me since I rode hard Saturday, raced Sunday, and rode again hard on Monday). Our hotel is in the middle of the trail and we decided to head west. After a few miles she said that she could turn back since it was difficult to get lost with no turns and I should go ahead to open up my legs a bit. I went a few miles up and then turned it around to catch her. I picked up the pace a little heading back and when I didn't see her I realized she missed the one turn off back to our hotel (so much for not getting lost). Panic quickly set in and I pushed the pace beyond recovery. I found her before I got in trouble.

We did this ride at 630am and it was still approaching 90 degrees when we finished. Tomorrow we'll try something a little different by heading east instead. I think I'm still in charge of pumping the tires though. Hope the temperature cooperates but think that hope is just a wish.

6 comments:

carpeviam said...

Your hotel is in the middle of the trail?! Like, you have to ride around your hotel to stay on the trail?! Who was the designer for that project? ;)

Stay cool.

Patrick Mahoney said...

whats up with the heat? Wasn't the winter pretty brutal as well back east?

Big Clyde said...

Yes, honey-do lists do crossover to cycling sometimes, right?

Still, a nice ride with the spouse is a great thing!

Unknown said...

she misses a turn and it is your fault? Glad to hear that another marriage works this way as well (-;

Al's CL Reviews said...

Of course it is your fault if she misses a turn. That's the rules.

joyRuN said...

LIGHTBULB MOMENT!!!

A dude to draft off of, fix my flat, carry my stuff, keep track of mileage/speed/etc. is what I need to get more comfy on the bike!

Looks like I need to get my hub a bike ;)