Spun out, Solo

I needed relief from the maddening chatter in my head. No longer can I drink a glass of wine, pop a pill, do a bong hit, or pump poison through my veins to shut my brain up. I find my relief on a bicycle.

I have time for a 2 hour ride. I kit up in a Hail Satan jersey and stick my headphones in my ears. I grab two bottles from the freezer and load them into the cages on my road bike. I head out into the hot, humid summer air, and begin to pedal. My only focus is to go hard and feel my legs burn, shut my fucking brain up.

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I have no one to meet so there is no rush. I have no destination. I head down Glenway and across the viaduct. I find myself crossing the Covington bridge and head into Devou park. I climb up into the park, a mile and a half uphill. I stay in my big ring, watching my heartrate climb, 160, 165, 170, 175. I stand up and grind down hard on the pedals. I do six laps of the old Devou park crit that took place last summer. I stay in my big ring the entire time, watching my heartrate as I climb the hill, over and over.

I head out of the park and down the hill, the warm air in my face, the taste of salty sweat around my mouth. I remember the day I rode there with Gnome and think about how things should have been. I pedal along route 8 and allow my heartrate to recover. I ride the 10 miles to the ferry, remembering my ride with Gnome some more. I get off my bike and watch the Ohio river as the ferry boat makes its way towards me. I wait. Once across, I make my way home, up Fairbanks to Warsaw and back in p-hill.

My arms and legs are dripping with sweat. My brain is quiet. Goal accomplished.

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Dominic found a great website. Check it out. oldguyswhoride.com.
47 year olds can still fucking kick ass. There is nothing sexier.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/26751175[/vimeo]

I got this video from Dan H. on the Facebooks. The kid is sick. I love the whole video, especially where he starts throwing his bike around. That reminds me of Dominic. I told him he has some mother fucking work to do. Though he doesn’t know it yet, the AM Flat contest has been canceled for Dayton and is being held in Buffalo, NY instead. Bummer for us.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70QzGmYzsYc[/youtube]

I’ll leave you with a gorgeous picture taken a couple weeks ago on the Slow and Steady ride. It was the largest turn out yet – 125 people.

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About Judi

Bicycles are my salvation. They are my way of life. If you don't like it, then you can go straight to hell. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

37 Replies to “Spun out, Solo”

  1. “I find my relief on a bicycle.”

    That’s what keeps me straight and booze free. A long ride clears my head like nothing on the planet.

  2. Judi,

    Have you ever made it out to Indian Hill Road off of the little Miami Bike Trail? There are some good killers out that way. I think that was the name of it though? I lived in Cincy about 12 years ago now, so the road names are a bit foggy.

  3. I’ve been 8 and a half months sober, and cycling has helped to keep me there. Love the site!

  4. @john r – yea i did a bunch of hills out there a couple weeks ago. it’s about 20 miles from my house though. i love riding out there.

  5. “47 year olds can still ride”? Try 60. Not that I do stunts, ever did, would if I could or even want to. But hey-ridin’s ridin’.

    As far as that “nothing’s sexier” part, that shit ain’t worth my time. The woman I love sleeps with me every night, and I’m as crazy about her now as I was thirty-some years ago when I realized she was The One.

    Oh, and she loves me , bike or no bike.

  6. P-Hill. Dirty ghetto Beautiful. Full living. Black. White Tee. Sneaker pimp. Crack whore. Cincy rules. Brick shithouse. I love.

  7. Love your posts judi.
    Rode last night with the fast road group for the first time in two years (I’m one of the old guys – 51 yrs young) hung on for about 18 miles, found out what my max heart rate is – 182. Loved it! Hated getting dropped by a bunch a punk kids (you know, any one under 40) I’ll be back next week and try to hang a little longer…maybe take that first sprint at the “stop ahead” sign at the 21 mile mark, show em the old guys can still rule, course then I’ll probably have to puke my way back home. Haven’t done that in years either, hmmmm? wtf?

  8. Get ’em on fixed gears and hit the woods, Flat Tired. My money’s on the old dog.

  9. That last photo is beautiful. I’ve never been to Cincinnatti but if it looks all golden like that I know I need to see it someday.

  10. To see Cincinnatti just take a peek at the nearest dog’s ass and imagine something 100x worse.

    That saves ya the trip.

  11. @JTE – did you even bother watching that video? he breaks a world fucking record with a 50 foot jump, 12 days before his 47th bday. THAT is rad.

  12. Judi- don’t know how much you follow the men’s racing in Cincy, but one of my good friends from Medical School, Rodney (Rod) Roof, lives in Cincy and races. I know he won the State Time Trial Cat 3 championship on June 23 of this year

  13. @john r — Cunningham. You are thinking of Cunningham. Galbraith has a nice long slope to Miami Ave into Mariemont. Cunningham is an insult to the legs and lungs and it is glorious.

  14. Ha! @Eric, we did cunningham a couple weeks ago. Good one! @bikescag, I know of Rod but we just don’t run in the same crowd.

  15. Hey! Joe went two out of three posts on this subject without mentioning a fixed gear! Nice job, Joe.

  16. And then, only to recommend it to a fellow codger as a means to level the playing field against whippersnappers.

  17. No, I think we’ve already seen too much. One pissed off woman is more than enough, dontchathink?

  18. Judi. As a woman rider here in MT…I envy you. I wish I could hit that sober point…but damn beer tastes so damn good. I get trapped. But truthfully…Im taking you as and example and working on getting there. You are a BAD ASS and dont let people like Joe piss you off. He is just jealous that you can spin your rubber faster than he can. And realizes that we have a really good joke about vaginas…but he will never get it. And he will never be able to reply with…oh well I have this joke about my penis…but its too long to tell…
    Keep it up. I almost gave up on this site and you showed up a while ago.So…needless to say Im still here, reading all undercover and shit. But I look forward to your posts. Your inspiration (even angry as ya wanna be)((anyone who says they dont get angry head is bullshittin ya)) is the shit. And Jon…happy vacation to ya.

  19. Oh yeah..and when you figure out how to shit your brain up…Ill hire you for pointers.

  20. @lopo – thanks for sticking with the site. it’s a privilege to be a part of the dc family for sure. kicking a habit is straight discipline, it takes courage and a certain mind-set. i hope you get there. yes, its a mother fucker somedays, but thats when i tell myself to HTFU and just put my head down and go. good luck, thanks for the comment. ride on sista’.