Held in Awe: It’s Great to be a Superhero

After nearly two weeks off the bike for a vacation in Ireland, it felt good to get back out there spinning pedals.  It was misty damp, but warm and I eagerly anticipated getting out there to ride with friends.  Mike B said in an email he would be riding.  When I got to the Rusty Bridge, there were no headlights on the horizon.  At 5:46 I pushed off alone wondering if I would be riding my inaugural ride alone.  Soon enough, Mike was there (he slept through the alarm) and we picked up Chip along the way for a threesome.

We talked about Ireland, about the 300k Mike rode on Saturday, and caught up on news.  We rode easy and really didn’t push things hard at all.

In the last month, we’ve decided that Tuesday’s ride would end at the Big Bean for coffee.  We parked the bikes, went in, and sat in the front window area sipping the hot brew.

It was then that the thing happened that made our day.

A boy of about 3 came in with his mother after inspecting all our bikes.  He checked us out and wanted to know if they were ours.  He looked at us with eyes that just couldn’t believe that he met some real cyclists and we briefly chatted him up.  When we finished our coffees and went outside to go our separate ways, he had to come and see us off.  He was simply in awe.  I felt like a superhero, spandex and all.

My parting words thrown over my shoulder were, “Always wear a helmet when riding a bike!”

It was a good morning.

This Ride: 18.8 miles
Month: 18.8 miles
2013: 1964.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 21,737 miles