The Riel Deal

Spending 3.5 hours on a bike trainer isn’t fun, nomatter how you slice it. But, if you are stupid enough to do it, doing it in the company of others at a swanky health club is the way to go. At the second annual Are You for Riel 100 mile indoor ride at the Wellness Institute, Paul D. did a great job hooking us up with some great videos (sorry Wanda, no porn), cookies, and a big bright beautiful room. The crowd seemed to be dominated by Chicks, which may have something to do with Paul’s many charms.

We watched a Cyclefilm video called Two Roads to Glory. It documents the Col de Télégraph/Col de Galibier climbs from the Tour de France. It looked hard and cold, especially as I did some nice easy spinning from the cockpit of the Giant. I particularly enjoyed it because a number of years ago my brother did those climbs and it was nice to actually see them as he described them.

We also did the newest Sufferfest vid, Local Hero, where you are the National Champion of Sufferlandria, and the entire country is counting on you to smash and conquer the Dutch (and the Ukranians, and the Italians and…) in the World Championship, thus restoring peace and prosperity to the nation. If that isn’t enough pressure, included are sprint finishes against such sissies as Thor, Lamond and Cipollini.

I had a nice long and relaxed ride, good preparation for the 75-100 miles a day coming up in my week long adventure to Arizona in March. I did, however, miss my 6am gym workout at the Hurt Locker, figuring 3.5 hours of riding was sufficient. Imagine my surprise to see Michael K. (a fellow Locker dweller) show up AFTER going to the gym!! He was kind enough to mention that the guys may have called me a wimp for not going. So here is a picture of Michael putting on his shoes.

Huge thanks to Paul and the folks at the Wellness Institute for putting on a great event and saving me from the misery of my own company, at least for a short while. Oh, and for the cookies. mmmm.