Coffee and biking don't mix, so I said -- but not today!		Reality-Based Training June 27, 2001 The weather report called for rain, but we sure got more than we bargained for. But if Northeastern Summer weather stays true to character as I remember it, I'd better not let a little rain get in the way of a ride, right? On today's 60-mile ride around Mount Tam and Marin, I was joined by Dale Freeman, one of the AIDSRide training leaders, and two members of Team Wanka, Lisa and Mike. I felt utterly guilty for having invited them all out to a ride besieged by relentless rain, fog and cold wind -- but boy were they all game about it. Midweek ride, not a care about the rain so long as we were spinning our legs or climbing a hill to keep warm: personally, it felt like I was mildly reclaiming some of my early youth. The experience became all the more amusing as we witnessed the reactions of people seeing us ride in that wretched weather. One of the rangers on Mount Tam said it best: "You guys are out of your minds!" Yeah... we were! When the legs needed a rest, only hot beverages were the other source of temporary warmth. The choices were limited at each of our rest stops... coffee it was. Coffee and bike rides are not normally a happy combination in my experience, but I sucked down two cups of coffee mid-ride without a care. During our second coffee stop in Fairfax, Mike invited a friend of his to come hang a while. I was charmed to just hang out and chat with Lisa, Mike and his friend, Jaquie. Much later (when I got home), I discovered that this is the same Jacquie that conducts mountain bike clinics around Lake Chabot (my backyard off-road ride)... I knew I saw that name before. It gets better: we actually met Jacquie Phelan, who once ruled the mountain bike racing circuit and, as I very recently discovered, established mountain biking as the sport it is inasmuch as the likes of Gary Fisher are credited for it. How cool! Mike reminded me of something I sort of believe: "All the greatest lies ever told about the AIDSRides are about the hills." Problem is, the lies can go both ways.
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