Lying ride leaders……

Don’t ya just love when you go on a ride with your buddies and they constantly lie to you? “don’t worry we’re almost done” "I’m pretty sure this is the last climb on the route” or my personal favorite… "Don't worry, it all flattens out around the next bend"....

One of my good friends is a training ride leader for the upcoming California Coast Classic and although I’m used to him constantly lying about the intensity of the rides we do, I thought that if he posted something on his website, it at least would have a semblance of truth in it……well I was wrong!
This past Saturday, I decided to join one of his rides. And since I haven’t been riding that much lately, I thought I had picked a fairly relaxed one at 44 miles and less than 4K of climbing.
It was only in the van on the way over there that I find out his website had “an error” on it and the route was really going to be 65 miles and 6K of climbing!!! AN ERROR????

Seriously Jer???? I’m supposed to believe you “accidentally” linked to the wrong route?????

Nope, not buying it.

Now, if it was anyone else, I might be inclined to believe it was an accident. But I still haven’t forgotten the time you offered me free firewood and when I showed up to pick it up you pointed at a full grown, HEALTHY oak tree you wanted me to help trim. Or the first ever ride I did with you that was supposed to be a nice easy ride over the Golden Gate bridge and back that I’m pretty sure went up every single mountain in the SF/Marin area. Or what about my first time out Palomares where you and your evil sidekick Mark kept telling me, “don’t worry it flattens out around the next corner”….

Needless to say, I wasn’t really ready to go out and do 65 miles. Especially since my longest ride since the Tierra Bella metric century (in April mind you) has been the loop around Lake Chabot.

All in all though, it wasn’t a bad day. The weather was gorgeous, the route was beautiful and the company was good.
I brought my camera thinking that I’d get some good shots of the redwoods or the coast, but to be honest, I was so intent on not dying on the uphill and so intent on trying to enjoy the downhill, that I only took two pictures all day.