The Lunch Ride

'Tis the season for the legendary Colorado Cyclist lunch ride. When the business slows down during the fall and winter, we are afforded longer lunch breaks. So, we plan the lunch rides. In the past we have had legendary cyclists along for the ride. For example, Mountain Bike Hall-of-famer Dave Wiens has joined us for a flat, windy jaunt through the old prairie east of town. He was on a cross bike and we were on skinny tires but that wasn't enough of a disadvantage..he worked us! World Mountain Bike champ Alison Dunlap has spent many a lunch in Palmer Park with some of the luckier Colorado Cyclist employees. Sometimes her husband, Greg Something-or-other tags along to kill us with his sick manuals and technical ability.

Today, well, today Dave is at home in Gunnison taking care of three wild boys with his awesome wife, Susan.  And Greg and Alison are getting ready to crush a bunch of Michiganders in The Iceman Cometh mountain bike race. So I decided to head over to Palmer Park and recruit some riders in the parking lot.

Here is who I found: Donny and Kandi. Kandi is a Bicycle cop from Michigan who is here visiting friends. She told me that before she was a cop, she was a meth-addict with little to no future prospects. She overcame that addiction by riding a bike and eventually became a bicycle cop to help arrest meth addicts. Ironic. I guess she got pretty good at it because she sure can ride a bike!

Here's Kandi puttin' the cuffs on a techincal ledge section.

I'm seriously considering taking up meth so I can overcome it and ride as good as Kandi. Damn.

Donny is a traveling Industrial chain-lube salesman originally from Pueblo, Colorado.

Here is a sample of Donny's wares.

Apparently Donny makes a lot of money selling this product because he told me he spends the entire month of July just riding his bike around France. Ka-ching!

Here's Donny on his Frannkensteined Tomac single-speed. I guess he's a pretty good garage mechanic as well.

Both of these riders were well above average in bike handling and fitness. They probably could be Pro bike riders if they wanted to but they chose a different path. Makes you wonder how many desk-jockeys have the VO2 of Lance Armstrong and the bike handling skills of John Tomac but choose to live a very different life.

Maybe next time I will ride with some famous Pro riders....here's hoping!