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I ride bicycle...... a lot. Not for general transportation, but because it's an intense hobby of mine. Check out my signature. This summer I and 7 friends (4 of them gay) cycled across Missouri and back just for fun. (Pedal faster, I hear banjos-a nod towards the movie Deliverance.)
This month I rode 3 century rides in the past 3 weekends, 100 miles a ride. Yesterday's ride was particularly interesting. I rode the Three Creek Century out of Carlisle Pa, starting about 7:15 am. After warming up, I settled in to a comfortable pace when this group of 7 guys blew past me on the left. I pulled out and settled in about 25 feet behind them. After about 5 miles the guy in the back invited me to join them, because it would make an 8th person, two rows of 4 people. The idea behind this is the front riders actually do the heavy work for a while and the riders behind get a rest because they are not pushing against the wind. When the first riders get tired, they fall to the back of the line, the next rider does the "pull" for the next few miles. Each person in turn takes time at the front to do their pull. Just like geese in a V formation.
We are about 8 miles down the road when the guy who invited me to join has a flat, and I stop to help. As we work to fix it, we chat. I ask him where he is from, and he tells me the group is from the Carlisle Army College. I didn't mention before, but you will notice in the picture that on the back of the seat tube is my rainbow sticker. Yes, I have been slowly coming out in subtle ways. When he says they are all members of the Army War College, I think, "Oh, shit! I wonder if anyone has noticed the sticker."
We get the tire back on the bike, and head on up the road to the rest of the group. I rotate to the front of the line to do my pull. Some time after that, one of the guys who is obviously the "lead bully" of the group starts talking trash about gays in general. I have no idea if he noticed my sticker or not, Not everyone is joining in the trash talk. This begins about mile 20, and only he and one other guy are chiming in. The group though is still friendly to me, even the guys who are talking trash. I can't say I was uncomfortable or upset, just felt really out of place.
Now, there's one thing I do very well on a bicycle. I climb very well. The hills in my usual rides are up to 17% grade. These guys were complaining about 8% grades. Basically my revenge was every time we got to a hill, I pulled out and pulled the guys who could keep up, up the hill. It took only a few of those to basically make the other guys shut up. The old, skinny guy can really book up the hills. After mile 30, there was no more trash talk about gays, because the guys who were doing that were left wheezing up the hills after me. Oh, they were at least 25 years my junior.
The best part of the ride was they quit after 50 miles, I finished the whole 100 miles in 6 hours even. 3,600 feet of climb, all on the day I turned 57. There's a lot more cycling in my future.
Thanks for reading.
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Cycling is the one sport where a guy can shave his legs, wear spandex and bright colors, and be accepted.
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