You Gotta Keep 'Em Separated
Given the circumstances of social isolation and a gloomy March Monday, we made the best of the situation. One bright spot was the addition of Drafter Newbie, LuLu. I was worried about his abilities from the start, as he and Vintage nearly collided making the turn from Elmwood Ave over the curb (because we forgot there was a driveway?) into the parking lot. There are many reasons why this would have been bad: 1) failure to follow the no injury policy, 2) Cronometro's Italian Job wasn't present to do curbside bike repairs, 3) skin to skin contact is forbidden under the current viral attack. Luckily, the boys got their signals straight and reluctantly crouched at the starting line, muscles pumping and thumping in time, they're going the Distance, they're going for speed.The only thing I learned about our Newbie was his occupation, some sort of cyclotron jockey. In my mind, this translated into a tech geek working on peloton development. Cyclotron. Peloton. You can see the connection? So, when he casually asked about my career, I utilized lots of air to drone on about the myriad of initials that have found their way to the end of my name. I was feeling pretty darn good about myself and my tuition dollar to initial ratio, unitl I got home and googled him. Yeah, so I should have used more big words and less air during our conversation. Turns out this dude is a cyclotron jockey... the medical frickin' physics kind with "experience in radionuclide production, accelerator targetry and radiochemistry, as an analytical and preparative radiochemist in clinical and pre-clinical positron emission tomography (PET) scanning environments, in the construction of automated radiochemistry modules for routine and novel syntheses, and bringing PET radiotracer production facilities from bare slab to routine production and research activities." Uh, yeah, so about my initials. Nevermind.Half way through the ride, his Drafter handle was decidedly "Einstein" as he clearly knows enough about physics and gravity not to get dropped. But then I noticed the Lululemon emblem on his cycling pants and his handle changed. No matter that my half century +1 old eyes mistook Novara for Lulu. I can't keep 'em separated. LuLu had taken root.
Our "leave no Drafter behind" motto was mostly adhered to. Booker J showed up on a single speed. Although the 107 mile Dairy Roubaix has been cancelled, he is determined to continue his rigorous training regimen. With a perspiration rate like his, the motto had to be modified: "Leave no Drafter more than 10miles behind ".Hit-the-Wall, living up to his name, went out hard and turned around at the bike path. He sent a curious notification to the blog:
His follow up text, "I just couldn't keep up, so the bike path looked inviting. No beer at the end really kills the motivation, too." Couldn't agree more, Hit-the-Wall.In this trying time, I thought a few motivational videos from Drafter off-spring might brighten your spirits. Coach Arms has almost gone the 9mo distance with Baby #2, and almost went the distance with another UW Badger Women's Hockey title. With the uninvited time off from the rink, she is focusing her coaching energies on muffin making.[wpvideo NSoQlkcd]Pipes uses teaching points from her bike-deer collision and subequent bonk tip-over scaphoid fracture to coach her off-spring's first spring ride. [wpvideo yqjF3TNv]As of now, the forecast for next Monday is sunny and 58. Lots can change, including social isolation protocol. I can't predict if we will be riding apart together or not at all. But, here's to hoping for a Riley Tavern Draft next week.
Garmin link: Riley Tavern 22milesDraft resonsibly,BrickO