Bike ride from hell

My thighs are killing me.

I rode 45 km (about 30 miles) in the Kent countryside on Saturday, 9/10, for a charity that one of my colleagues was sponsoring. Basically the ride involved going from one old church to another, gathering signatures/stamps, and then getting my sponsors to donate based on a per church type number. The money then goes to an organization that preserves old churches in Kent.

The churches were beautiful and the parishioners were very hospitable, providing biscuits and squash (cookies and juice) to feed the hungry bikers that were showing up en masse on their doorstep.

However, my colleague friend lied. He said that we were going to take a relaxing ride through relatively flat English countryside, no rush, no fuss. Little did I know that my colleague was one of those people who banged the drum on those boats to get the rower-slaves to row faster. His being German also didn't help, as we had to be super-efficient and hit every church on time so that he could meet his church quota. And who defined flat English countryside as steep uphills? Me on my mountain bike just could not cope. Fast tip: knobby tires are not so good on steep asphalt roads.

By the time we were done and had back-tracked to my colleague's house, I was dead. I had lost all feeling below my hips. And I had been shown up by my colleague's 16 year old daughter, who not only cycled up ALL the hills, but did seven more churches than I did. Guess going from 0 to 45 km in one fell swoop causes great distress on my flabby human engine.

This picture is of me and one of my other gullible colleagues (he's Singaporean) that got trapped by the preview tales spun by my German colleague. Don't you just love my stylish bike jersey (Scotland's flag) and bike shorts. And what about my Singaporean colleague's weightlifter's outfit. Snazzy Azerbaijani fashion. Also note, very importantly, the V-Power sponsorship ad on the thigh of his bike jersey. I know, I know, you can't gaze too long at the picture or your corneas will melt, but take a quick peek anyway.

More stories to come of this very eventful day (and others like it). Stay tuned!