Nice bounce-back ride for me today, doing a solid longer effort with the time available to me thanks to Brewers and Packers on the air this afternoon, with very little show to prep. 48 very interesting miles. Sit back and I'll take you through the adventure today...

Arm warmers up and on the road, taking it easy while shooting for about 50 miles today in the sun. It's cool at only 63. It would jump about 10 degrees by the end of the ride today.

The plan was to do a 7-Mile Rd. route and maybe throw in a little extra if I felt the need to get closer to 50 miles.

Interesting sight on the way down along the MUP in Franklin. Coming at me from the opposite way a woman was riding with earbuds from an Ipod in, wearing big sun glasses. As I got closer I saw her shake her head violently, then scream as she threw off her glasses. Must have been a bee that freaked her out. Of course at this very moment she has no control of her bike and is heading right for me! I sped through and kept going clean. Had I heard any sort of crashing noise behind me I would have stopped, but all was quiet and I figured she was fine.

The real story comes on the way back. I made my loop around 7-Mile Rd. and was nearing the turn for Oakwood Golf Course. I figured I'd take that to add my miles on, filling a water bottle there as I had done in the past. But wait, what's that ahead down the hill? Two guys riding quite a ways ahead. I'm going downhill, so I decide to pedal through and see what's up with these guys, wondering if I could catch them.

The turn for Oakwood came and I had to make a decision. Stick with my original plan and go there or  use these guys as my carrot and just keep going the same way back that I came. I blew off the golf course stop and tried to gain on these guys. I was into a little headwind and doing low 19's making very little progress. These guys were riding pretty fast. Coming up to the Milwaukee County Sports Complex I could see that the traffic lights ahead were going to force them to stop. It appeared that was going to be the only way I would catch them, which I did at that point.

As I rolled up from behind as they waited for the light to turn it quickly became obvious to me...these were NOT GUYS! Two women, both making me seem like I am dressed like an eskimo compared to the shorts and sports bra tops they had on. That's it. The lead one had an unreal tan. There was not an ounce of fat on her bronzed hour-glass shape. And she was a stud! She pulled the entire time up the path for her friend with me in tow a bit off the back. 19.2-19.5 the entire time. She worked a bigger gear, not a spinner. Her friend seemed to struggle at times to stay on, but stay on she did. I couldn't pass without making some sort of huge effort, so I just hung in there riding 19 mph with them.

After a time I wondered if the sun-tanned carrot thought I was some kind of dirty old man just enjoying the view from back there. (scratch that....and make that dirty 'middle aged' man)...Anyway, it started to make me feel a little creepy about it. But what's a guy to do? After several miles I could see the pattern as we rode. Every guy that rode past the three of us from the other direction was checking her out. I guess when you dress like that and look like that on a bike you know guys are going to do that.

Then all of the sudden I heard a noise behind me....then next to me. Another guy went whizzing past all three of us from out of nowhere. As he got up next to tanned carrot he totally checked her out. Too funny. I thought about grabbing his wheel, but then decided that to put out that kind of effort to go low 20's at this point in the ride would be too much. I stayed in line behind the girls.

There's more....

The three of us stopped for an intersection, no words spoken, then took off onto the path again. But this time the guy was way way up ahead. The girls didn't start out fast, and at one point I almost took the lead. I actually just wanted to do golden-tan carrot a favor and pull for them for a while to return the favor. But she started crankin' again so I just dropped into line. A little ways up the road she slowed a bit and I did indeed go around.

So now I figured it was their turn to check me out as I lead them out for a while. It didn't take long before my next incident popped up. A lady on roller blades up ahead. I signal behind my back to warn the roadie girls behind me as we pedal along doing 19's again with me on point this time. I yell out to the blader, "On your left." She prceeds to stop in the middle of the path, look back at me, then starts to roll across the path right into my path! She throws her arms up in the air as she rolls right at me saying she is sorry. It seemed clear that she did not know how to stop and was NOT in control of herself. I hit the brakes pretty hard and jumped onto the grass to avoid hitting her. Yikes!

I waited to hear anything back from behind me, but all I heard was the sun-tanned carrot saying something about the rollerblader being dangerous. I never came to a stop. But once I was clear of it all I cranked it up. I guess I was angry with that whole deal and decided to just mash it and see if I could catch the dude in the wind jacket that had passed me earlier.

I busted it with pretty much anything I had left in the tank, and all that got me was going about 23 mpg, panting in and out of the saddle as I saw the guy ahead and was closing in on him. On a left-hand bend in the path he shoots me "The Look" now. Well, you know what that does to me. He's on it up there. He knows I'm on it back here trying to catch him now. I closed the gap to about 100 feet when I ran out of path. He continued, while I had promised myself that I would stop for a banana and Bloks in this spot before hitting the road home.

Of he went. I'll call that a catch.

I leaned on a big rock and ate my banana. A few minutes later the girls shot by on the path. What a wild chase that whole thing was. My compliments to whoever you are out there, both on your tan and your riding ability. Nice job.

Into Whitnall I went next, turning three laps of the crit course before filling a bottle with water on a brief stop in there. On my last lap on a fast downhill wooded area there was a deer on the side of the road doing the classic deer in the headlights at me. As I aproached it in a hurry I thought, "You better jump INTO the woods and not back ONTO the road and INTO ME!" She did jump into the woods and all was safe.

Nothing unusual for the final 14 or so miles home. The chase had been run. The ride had been done. The carrot today, quite the incentive.