This was simultaneously my most and least favorite part of the camp. I have to mention the lows, as without them the highs wouldn’t be nearly as high.
As I mentioned previously, Team RWB provided bikes for 8-10 of the veterans. Of the early arrivers, only Adam and Yogi needed bikes. Fortunately they were the first to be fit with their bikes, giving them some extra time to tool around the parking lot.
My ears perked up a bit during their fitting when I heard them discussing the process of getting in and out of their cleats. I figured it would be an interesting couple of days with people getting the hang of that and a few wrecks were in store. I think just about everyone who dons them has taken a spill or two.
Yogi was first to be fit, and when he was done he started doing laps around the parking lot. That’s when I got really nervous as he didn’t have very good control of his bike. It looked like he knew how to ride, but hadn’t done so in many, many years. Even more concerning was his apparent lack of what was going on around him. The parking lot borders a fairly busy street in Austin, and he was riding right by the entrance without even checking for cars. This was to be his theme for the bike portion of camp.
On Friday they took their bikes to a big field to work on bike skills. They paired up to work on things like riding touching shoulders, putting a hand on the others back, and actually bumping back wheels. The final drill was one where they would try to bend down and pick up a water bottle on the ground. I was surprised that many of them were successful at this drill, but everyone kept trying until it was over.
Satisfied that everyone had some basic handling skills, Saturday morning we headed out for a big group ride. The volunteers spread themselves out among the group and I positioned myself towards the back. Right away I spotted Yogi and decided to give him lots of room, as he was all over the road. We were riding two across and either took an entire lane, or the shoulder was almost that wide, yet Yogi was taking up that much space. I knew he was going to crash and I didn’t want to get caught up in it, so everyone behind him gave him several bike lengths.
Someone told Yogi that he should try to follow the white line at the edge of the road to try and straighten him out. While this did help, I was concerned with him riding that close to traffic. I could also see that he was in too high of a gear, pedaling too hard and the only way to work on that would be to ride beside him. I pulled up beside him on the traffic side and had him ride near the edge of the road. We spent most of the day in this position.
I tried several pieces of advice for gearing. I think it finally clicked when I suggested he try to pedal as fast as the guy in front of him.
Much to Adam’s chagrin, everyone got a chuckle when he was the first to fail to unclip when coming to a stop. Watching it unfold in front of me I expected a chain reaction. Either people were spaced far enough apart or moved quickly out of the way because poor Adam was the only one who ended up on the ground. It didn’t seem to faze him in the least because at the end of the ride he was still smiling. A bit later Yogi tried the same trick, but the person beside him was solidly on the ground and was able to catch him so they both stayed upright.
After finishing one loop we regrouped into sets of two (with similar strength) to do a second lap. Yogi and I paired up, and grabbed Chris as our guide as I hadn’t paid attention to the route. I would have been fine if I’d gotten off course as I had my phone and throwing in an extra 10 miles wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t think Yogi would fare as well, hence our guide.
Chris and I took turns riding beside Yogi with the other riding behind. I don’t spend that much time sitting up on my bike and my wrists were beginning to get sore.
Adam and Santiago caught up with us and rode for a while as they weren’t sure where to go. Adam was eager to go and took off, so Chris gave Santiago some quick directions and they were off. They ended up missing the a turn, twice, and added an extra 30 minutes to the ride. I felt badly for them, as 30 minutes extra when you haven’t been riding at all, is a long time, especially when you are lost!
At about the midway point we had to do a u-turn on the divided road. We kept Yogi blocked in until it was save then all three of us crossed to the u-turn lane. As we came around the corner Chris and I both stopped to watch for traffic. I’m not sure how it happened, but I looked up and there was Yogi about halfway across the three lanes, with an 18 wheeler coming quickly towards him. All the yelling and whistling failed to capture his attention and he just kept going. Those were the most terrifying moments of my recent life. Maybe it wasn’t that close but it sure scared me! After we re-grouped, Chris and I kept Yogi very close.
If that was the worst part of the day, the best part was watching his face as we rode. He was smiling, and happy, and kept thanking me for letting him come to the camp. This was why I came to the camp: to make a difference in someone’s life, and I was there to see it happen.
We made it safely back to the finish line. While I had enjoyed Yogi having so much fun, I think a part of me was glad that we were through riding bikes at camp.
Coming soon – the swim.
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