Tom's Riding Journal

February 2006

The UBG Cycling Club

I enjoy looking back a year or two ago remembering when I first met most of the people who comprise The UBG Cycling Club and our MS150 team. Most were inexperienced cyclists; many were brand new to the sport. On some of the club rides from the store it was hard to ride slow enough for some of them to be able to keep up. Now when I ride with those same people I am blown away by how far they have come in their cycling. A lot of them can really haul ass, and all of the club riders that have ridden with us consistently for six months or more are able to keep a respectable pace and handle their bike well enough to ensure that they will not be dangerous in a group. What I’m saying in simple terms is that a lot of people came to us with no confidence in their cycling skills and lacking any knowledge of the sport and over the course of six months to two years have become fit, more physically coordinated, more hip within the circle of cycling culture, more confident and more social. We have a tight little group that likes to hang out together on and off the bike and we ride really well together. The cool thing is that new people are continually joining and becoming similarly transformed. It’s kinda’ like a makeover. Judy is in the fashion industry so she really digs all these makeover shows on TV and I have to confess that I’m a fan of those “…Biggest Loser” shows where overweight people compete to lose the most weight. It inspires me to see the people on that show change their bodies and their lives. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying our club members have anything like the physical challenges of the people on those shows and of course some of them had ridden for years and challenge our best ride pace. However I am proud to say that many of them have significantly improved their lives in one or more areas as a direct consequence of being part of our club. I can’t take credit for the transformation except that I started the process by forming the club initially; then the club took on a life of its own and it is responsible for all the benefits it imparts on its members. I have also had a makeover of a sort courtesy of The UBG Cycling Club. Before I opened the store I was a traveling sales rep for Trek. I drove all over Texas and Louisiana spending many hours alone in my car interrupted by short visits with bike dealers. Then I would ride mountain bikes mostly by myself. The only real friend I spent any time with was Judy; otherwise I was pretty much a loner. That was ok with me at the time but now I have a whole group of friends that I ride with and sometimes hang out with outside of riding. They are all members of The UBG Cycling Club. A better group of friends cannot be found.

We are not a racers club. There are plenty of those in town. No one on our club races bikes, we are a social club that rides. Our club meetings are held on the road and in some cases on the trail. Our group is a welcoming and encouraging bunch. They all ride road bikes and keep a pace that allows for conversation and clowning around. To me it kinda’ feels like a family and that is not any kind of sales pitch. It’s not a group for everybody but everybody is welcome to join us so they can figure out for themselves if we are their type of group. For some people we are too slow, for some we are too fast. For some people we talk too much and don’t take riding seriously enough, however I have to say that we are all dedicated to cycling and for most of us cycling is a year round hobby.

To those who have been a part of our club for a longtime now, I thank you for making the club what it is. To those who have just begun to ride with us, I’m glad you found us.

Well we completed our first supported UBG training ride of 2006 on Sunday 2-5.We had 43 riders and 3 sag drivers. Our sag drivers did a great job making sure everyone had the support they needed and I thank them. The Waller course was well laid out and provided some gentle hills to add to the challenge and the gusting wind added something else. We had a number of riders who were riding their longest ride ever and I congratulate them on their accomplishment. I got started a bit late because I had to return to my car after I had ridden about a mile down the road and then in my haste to connect with the group I neglected to look at my map and missed the first turn. Consequently I rode about 10 miles off course before I made it back onto the route. As I rode through a little town called Field Store looking from side to side at all the beautiful ranch property that lines the street, I noticed a Buddhist retreat. Curious I took a long look as I was riding by and I happened to notice a pale skinned shirtless man shrouded in a fog of incense smoke sitting cross-legged before a statue of Buddha playing some sort of stringed instrument. As I continued to focus my gaze I had a sense of familiarity creep over me and then it hit me-that was Rocket over there in some sort of Zen trance. He must have wandered in there to get a drink or something and got caught up in the spiritual aura that seemed to float like the incense smoke over the place. I quickly pulled into the little compound and snatched Rocket and his bike up and dragged them back into the street to continue the ride. He didn’t say anything for the next ten miles but when I looked at him I could see that his cadence had smoothed out considerably and his upper body seemed more relaxed as was his breathing. I resolved right then and there to buy a little dashboard Buddha statue for preride meditations.

Rocket continued with a steady smooth rhythm and just rode away from me meter by meter until I could no longer see him. So I was riding solo again just enjoying the scenery thinking happy thoughts noticing how beautiful the sky looked, the swirl of the clouds, the fragrances of nature. Eventually I saw a large group of riders moving fast in a well ordered pace line toward me and as they approached I marveled at the synergy of the pack- all the components working together to increase speed and efficiency. As they flew past I took in the swooshing sound of the thin tires on the pavement and I imagined the pack resembling a kinetic embodiment of the Nike Swoosh symbol. I saw in my minds eye a huge Nike swoosh sweep by me and when I looked close I could see familiar faces kind of’ popping out from the swoosh looking over at me and mouthing greetings. Then it was gone and I looked down to my computer and noticed my speed had dropped to 8 miles an hour and I felt a powerful hunger descend upon me. Luckily one of the sag vehicles pulled up at that moment and I jumped in, gobbled a handful of Little Debbie Star Crunches and fell asleep.

That’s how the first ride went for me.
Tom