Monday Blues: Name Dropping

Twenty years ago, this week, I got a new bike. It was the blue GT. I have mentioned it before. To this day I regard it as the best bike I ever owned. Frame geometry was perfect for me, and its thin-walled lightness made it uber-responsive to my every demand. My first real ride with it (notice the grammatical choice of preposition - with, rather than on - signifying a more symbiotic relationship) came on the 20th of November, a Sunday that year.

"Did the Park Ride again with an even bigger group this week. Second day with the new bike [look at that, even back then I used the word 'with'] was pretty much superb. After bridging a short gap to the lead group low down on LaTuna, a group that included Olin, Mitch, Darren, Alberto, Dave, and [2nd] Dave (aka, Abdujaparov), I was in damn good company. I finished up 5th behind Olin, Mitch, Darren and an unknown Azteca rider. When the ride was done and we were back at the park little did I know that the day was just half over. With Dave, Mitch and Olin I headed out along Ventura. Eventually out in Tarzana or Encino, or someplace nearby, we stopped at a donut haus for a bit, and a bite. From there we came back to Sepulveda Blvd, up that to Mulholland and then back via that road. I did quite well until Coldwater or Laurel, or some such canyon when Mitch and Olin picked up the pace and left me behind. I should know by now not to believe them when they say easy pace."

Since Olin Bakke, Mitch Boggs and Darren Rogers were an entirely different category of rider from myself it was no small thing to brag about finishing fifth to them. Still isn't, I suppose.

Blue: A color, a mood or emotion, a genre of music. Tune in each Monday for another installment of the Blues, with a cycling twist.