Holiday Weekend

Yesterday the Wingman and I set out for a long bike ride. We sort of improvised the route. Basically the idea was to head out east and after a time limit, we'd turn around and come back. We caught a nice break with the weather and made good time out to Greenport. From there we went south to 25 to come back home. It was at this point I realized we'd been riding with a tailwind heading east. Now we had some wind to contend with. Overall we made some decent time coming back and Wingman even got in front to help pull me home. I was suffering a bit when we got to Mattituck. I've been dealing with a stiff neck/stuck vertebrae the last few days and can't turn my head to the left. I've tried a few things and nothing completely relieves it. So looking over my shoulder was tough. I had to completely turn my body on the bike to look back. Then around the 40 mile mark, it seemed like every muscle in my neck seized up. I called to Wingman in front of me to stop but he didn't hear me. I had to stop to stretch. Hopefully at some point he would notice I wasn't behind him.

Once I stretched out a little, I was on my way. He wasn't too far ahead and used the break to stretch out as well. When I caught up I hopped in front and continued homeward. The hardest part was when we got to the intersection with Brieremere Farms. The traffic was tough, but the call of the pies and cookies was tougher. I thought about the money in my pocket, the time in the saddle, the glycogen replenishing I had to do at the end of the ride. Very overwhelming. Back in Greenport I almost had a moment of weakness. There was a carnival being setup and I saw all of the food trucks. Two words caught my eye:

Oh yes, fried doughy goodness. It reminded me of my grandmother and when I was younger she used to make funnel cakes. Oh man, I can still taste the powdered sugar............

Sorry, got caught in a moment......

Anyway, I opted to ride past Brieremere and come straight home. Wingman had a haircut appt that he was going to be late for. I had an appt with the shower and the couch. Once he left I took a shower and then was out like a light on the couch.

Wingman made it home and we watched the prologue for the Tour de France. It was a short ride (5.5 miles) but we like watching how fast these guys can move. One of my favorite time trial riders is Fabian Cancellara aka Spartacus. We also like Thor Hushold aka The God of Thunder. I love the nicknames in cycling. I would love a cool one, but the only one that seems to stick is "Hero of the Stupid." I just can't seem to shake that one.

Today we went out to take some pictures. Holy cow, it was hot out there. After a while Wingman stayed in the car while I ran out for some shots. We stumbled upon the infamous "shrine" near Eastport/Manorville. Now I'm not a religious person, but I'm not sure I've ever seen more jesus statues in my life and I did 4 years hard time in catholic school. I think shrine is an understatement. I did my best to be respectful of the people that were there. I was taking pictures of some flowers and then turned around and saw a woman sitting with her rosary praying. Whoops. I quietly walked away. 

We went over to Best Buy so I can pre-order my new cell phone. I've been in the market for a while and holding out hope that the iPhone would be coming to Verizon Wireless but I've given up hope. Plus, I like the new Android phones out there. Of course now that I am getting an Android phone, the announcement should be coming any day that iPhone will be out for Verizon customers.