Saturday's Ride
Most sane people are probably sleeping in on a Saturday morning, not me, Saturday mornings generally mean riding my bike along beach road with Lenny. Pick-up time 7.30am at the famous Black Rock clock tower, direction dependent on wind, Lenny insists riding into the wind going out, tail coming home. Great plan if the wind doesn’t change direction, but a total disaster when it swings.
Saturday ride is more about a weekly catch up with Lenny. Let me paint the picture; Lenny is seventy next year, suffered several shocking car and bike accidents in his life time, some injuries extremely serious, the most severe being a broken neck, which has left him with virtually no head movement from side to side. Lenny rides a flat bar road bike, which enables him to keep his head up so he can see where he is riding. We have our set sides to the road, I’m on the inside, and this ensures I can call out for cars, red lights or any obstacles along the way. History has shown that when Lenny is riding alone his most serious accidents have occurred, giving me a sense of responsibility to ride Saturday’s even when I’m tired or had too many wines the night before.
Accidents aside our rides are fairly textbook, we head north or south (wind depending) and grind away until we’re back in Hampton for our coffee at Sebastian’s. You’ll see us around 9.30am sipping coffee out front discussing the worries of the world in some shape of form. I won’t tell you how far we go because if you are a keen cyclist you may work out our average speed (it rather shocking), however it doesn’t help that Lenny insists on grinding away in the big ring; he hasn’t grasped the concept of higher cadence equals quicker leg turning, equals faster ride!
Truth be known I love my Saturday ride, it’s not about riding for me, it’s about listening to Lenny’s words of wisdom, some days I may seek advice, other days just listen or share stories and events, and sometimes it’s just too darn windy to talk, peddling along in a comfortable silence like two old bats who have known each other a lifetime. What’s special about the Saturday ride is that I’m lucky to have a dad to ride with, how many people do you know who get to ride with their dad, these are the kind of days I will look back on and miss with warm tears, these are the moments in life that are simple yet so special. Yes, riding on Saturday is a ritual I will continue until the physical challenges prevail, and even when I am too tired or haven’t had enough sleep, I will get up and meet dad on Beach road for yet another Saturday ride.
