Tuesday Kevin channeled his inner Hincapie; Thursday something went awry because I felt really strong

Yep, a couple days behind… again!

Tuesday, we saw Karen show up for the first time in… months? Karen and (younger) Kevin create a pair that I can’t possibly keep up with, but I did, for a while, as we all rode together up Kings. I knew I’d blow sooner or later, so decided to try something as we approached Huddart Park. I thought it might be fun to distract them, make them forget that I was there and see if they’d pull a “Hincapie” and just ride away. How to do that? I told Karen she should ask Kevin about his recent girlfriend. Yep. That did it. The two started talking, I no longer existed (because anything over an 80% effort and I’m gasping for air like a fish out of water…so obviously I’m not part of the conversation), and off they rode. Why is this a “Hincapie?” It’s a reference to a promotional ride George Hincapie held for AMD employees, back when AMD was a sponsor of US Postal (yeah, the “Lance” days). George was doing a “no drop” easy ride up Old LaHonda, socializing with the AMD folk, when his cell phone rang. George took the call, forgot about the people around him and went into his “idle” mode… which was much faster than anyone could keep up with.

This morning it was the two Kevins riding with me, a very different version of me than Tuesday. Can’t exactly say why. Both Kevins were feeling a bit sluggish, but me? I don’t know why, but I felt like I’d found my legs again. I was doing intervals up Kings! Serious hard efforts, then ease up to wait for them, then go again. I haven’t felt like that on Kings in ages.

Kevin enjoying breakfast at Alice’s
We had to make a stop at Sky L’onda so (younger) Kevin could use the facilities there (think “bad peaches” Greg LeMond story) and, I really can’t tell you why, it just seemed like the thing to do was stop at Alice’s for breakfast. Kevin (pilot) just stayed a while for conversation, having eaten before riding. Some people do that I guess; for me, I can do 30 or 40 miles on a cup of coffee and a granola bar. But this morning, at Alice’s, it was (more) coffee and a stack of blueberry pancakes. (younger) Kevin had French toast and a side of sausages. We actually gave up riding the West Old LaHonda loop for breakfast, something I’ve not done before, but just seemed like the thing to do this morning.

I am a bit curious how I might have felt on West Old LaHonda, but I wasn’t about to ditch Kevin & Kevin to find out. I’ll save that for another day. I wish.






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