Lummox

I'm so incredibly bored. It's the slowest time of the week - the hour and a half before being set free for the weekend. SO DONE. I did, thankfully, get some riding in this week and I hope to get a couple of rides in this weekend. On Monday I managed to coerce my friend Lisa into riding with me at Powhite and Kenny came along to stretch his race-battered legs. It was a jaunty hour of me being fresh as a daisy and taking on all the spiderwebs because I was the leader. An easy ride, but just what I needed to get back in the swing of things. Plus, Lisa and Kenny are both good company and don't seem to mind how slow I am on the hills.

On Tuesday I packed up all my bike stuff (full size grampa car = mountain bike fits in the back seat!) and, after work, drove the 20 miles out to Poor Farm park for the weekly group ride. I was wise enough to pick a slightly slower but still challenging group and felt pretty good, though I'm suddenly being all wussy about the logs this season. I used to ride anything and I don't get why I'm all log-shy for no reason. Hmph.

One of the members of Tuesday night's group was a woman about my age who just started riding about a year ago, weighs about ten pounds, and seems to be able to kick my ass. How unfair is that? Maybe she just rides a whole lot more than I do, but it seems like there are some people who are genetically meant for sport and others who are genetically meant for reading a book in the dusty corner of the library. I'm very clearly in the latter group, but for some reason I just refuse to accept it. I don't know that I was ever meant to be an athlete, but I can't stop trying. It's what makes me a true Lummox.

What, I haven't told you about the team I'm on? Team Lummox! No, kidding. It started when our friend Scott, nicknamed "Lummox" because of his gangly stature, made himself a jersey with a logo he designed and a picture of a big lummoxy creature on a bike with Bettie Page flung over his shoulder. We all joked that he should start a team and make his design the official jersey. So we did. Team Lummox is all about not taking yourself too seriously. It's a team for people who wouldn't otherwise be on a team. Our Jersey completely kicks ass, assuming you have a sense of humor about that kind of things. Here's what it looks like:

And this is printed on the back:



The first race I ever won as a Lummox was because I was the only one in my category who showed up. THAT is a Lummox win, for realz. I mean, what can you even say? At least my race time was faster than some of the beginner men, I guess.


Have a good weekend, kids! Go ride your bike.