Weds: The Potomac river parts and I fly into National Airport. I’m thinking to myself as I walk off the tarmac, ‘Why is it so dang hot and humid, isn’t it the end of September?’ Dad calls and gets lost in the new terminal, so I have to hump my luggage and a bike wheel around the Airport while looking for the Silver Fox, my Dad. We finally run into each other and head back to what I can call home.
Dinner consists of baked potatoes, steak and corn with a lil Yeungling to polish it off. The Silver Fox and Toni are so ecstatic that I flew home on my own with the reasoning being to catch up with Family and Friends. Its been two years since I have seen an oak tree and I’m so disillusioned that I think its only been a year. Dad retires early and Toni lends me the keys to her newly aquired and uncrashed Prelude. Off to buKit’s for microbrews and bullshitting about old times and tactics for the TDH. I finally retire at 3:00am.
Thursday: I sleep until two in the afternoon, unwillingly. I wake up astonished to see the time. Shove a few bowls of cereal down my throat, tear into my bike box that I shipped out and start building the Spooky. An hour later and I am on my old race rig for the first time in over 7 years and am on my way to WakeTink. I ride up Pickett road, out 236 and dump into the backend of Wakefield. The looks I got from motorists on the way to WakeTink, did not surprise me as most of them only know what a gas and brake pedal looks like. I feel better for having ridden to the park rather then driving.
I ride into what used to be my local stomping grounds for Mtn. Biking in Virginia and find to my amazement that some mtn. biking group has finally taken it upon themselves to organize the miles of switchbacks, short decents, and steep uphills into two loops. I ride along for a while and begin to really enjoy the feeling of dirt under the tires again. Colorado does not really have dirt, we have sand and rocks mixed together to make up 99% of our topsoil. So with new delight I rip into the turns and giggle like a kid as the bike holds lines like no other. I am beginning to run out of steam and start feeling a bonk coming on. I pull over and look at the time. It’s only 5:30pm, there is more daylight left so there is more riding to be done. I ride to Accotink hit a few loops, stop at the train tracks and watch a train roll by. Its now 6:30, i’ve been out since 3:30pm.
Mistake#1: Well after 3 hours of riding, two bowls of Count Chocula, a piece of toast with butter and jam and as many gu’s as I could slam, one could only guess what happened to me. BONK.
I pull over after I get back to Wakefield Park, grab my cell phone and call the buKit. I meander my way up and down Braddock Road until I find Wakefield Chapel Rd. which will lead me to salvation. buKit’s house. Time to refuel on Dominos and Microbrews. I call the folks to let them know where I am as soon as it gets dark and let them know I will be enjoying a fine dinner at the buKits house. My plans have been up in the air since I got to D.C. as I have not heard from Jim yet and do not know wether or not he will have some time to spend with an old friend on Saturday and Sunday night. Since Toni wants to go to Capt. Pell’s Crab House for dinner one night, I figure I’ll eat at buKit’s house this night and go out for Crabs on Saturday night. After I finsih laying out plans for future dinners with the family, I take a bite out of the best dang tasting Domino’s pizza and my cell rings again.
Its Big Jim. Plans change. Jim wants me to hang out with him and his wife on Saturday after the Furnace and play golf with him and his dada and my dad on Sunday. Out the window goes the plan for Saturday’s Crab Feast. I commit to Jim’s agenda, call the folks and reschedule Crab Feast for tonight. buKit transports me back home. I go out and enjoy a dinner of Maryland crabs with Toni.
Mistake #2: I’m still bonked, and I’m thinking halfway through my 8th crab, I need carbs. No luck, only seafood and fried food and coleslaw can be found on the menu. I go to sleep satisfied and full, but have not replenished my supply of carbs for the next days ride.
Friday: BuKit arrives at shortly after 1:00 in the afternoon. We rally the gear together, and head out on the Tour of Fairfax.
Mistake#3: It’s been over 8 years since I have ridden this ride, and I remember most of it being mud and rolling to flat and no more then 4 hours of riding.
We’re cruising down the W O & D and hit the Reston Skating Rink which leads to the sinlgetrack entrance which will eventually lead us to Great Falls. buKit asks me along the way if I know where I’m going. I mention something about knowing where I am by line of site and the markers I once used when making this ride. I think I got a vote of no confidence as buKit reminded me progress stands by for no one and things change – FAST. However I assure the buKit we are not lost and will be just fine. We ride and ride, and ride some more. Come to a creek crossing and I rode on through the creek and up to the other bank.
buKit rolls right up after me and we have to push the bikes up the other side of the creek’s embankment. Once this lil obstacle is cleared buKit notices I have a flat tire. We get it worked and the new tube is ready to get inflated by a Co2 cartridge, or so I thought. I crack the cartridge and release the plunger. Co2 fires off everywhere. I think my eyelashes froze together for a few seconds. Well we pump it up and off we go. We end up at the Great Falls park much on some light lunch and head back to home.
Remember Mistake #1 through #3? Well I ate as much as I could for breakfast, and as much as I could while out on the ride, but still managed to BONK. I find my 2nd, 3rd and 4th wind only to barely be able to roll into Vienna on the W O & D. bukit comes to the rescue with a Red Bull, I didn’t sprout wings, but I manged to make it home without falling off the bike from exhaustion.
buKit rolled home to attend to family and feed the lil ones. I must admit, I’m feeling poopy and spent and all I can think of is how am I going to be able to drink some microbrews if I can’t even hold my bike up.
I get ready to head over to buKit’s for a BBQ and I figure its time to pull out the secret weapon and stop by Performance Bicycle on the way.
Secret weapon you ask? Well it comes in a dry powder mix form and consists of more carbs, electrolytes and potassium when mixed with 16 oz of water then a human can consume in a day. My secret weapon is of course CYTOMAX. One can costs 20 bux and will last about 2 weeks. Well that night I ate as much as I could (the burgers were delish lynn/buKit, thx again!!). I also drank as much CYTOMAX as I could. This results in me consuming half of the $20.00 can. A one week supply in less then 6 hours. I went to bed content in knowing that the Furnace will not rear its ugly head at me and I will decimate anything that throws a challenge at me the next day of riding. I fall asleep with sounds of 495 wisping me back to childhood memories.
I will add one more comment in order to give you another side of the Furnace Stories, very shortly.
Nature
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-bukitnote: Nature originally published this as a comment to my entry, but I thought it merited it’s own entry. Thanks Nature.
