Following the Butterfly

Sunday evening was me time as my wife and both kids were in Vacation Bible School (VBS). I got them safely off and then quickly changed and got my bike stuff together and then off to the beach.

It was a great night – traffic was not too bad and there was NO wind. All the flags were hanging straight down – no wind at all. I wanted to get at least 20 miles done and would have really liked to get 25. I did about 3 miles on the small ring and then changed into the big ring and was tooling along at around 17.5 miles/hour. I was feeling really good, my legs felt strong and my heart rate was right where I wanted it and then… she passed me…

I don’t know her but I love her. She was on a Giant road bike, she was blond, she was wearing black biking shorts and a green sports top, and had a butterfly tattoo right in the middle of her lower back. She actually apologized as she passed me! I quickly realized – this was my chance to draft a stronger biker! I put my wheel on hers, concentrated on not loosing the butterfly and oh my, what a ride. We were averaging just over 20 to the south end of the island, made the turn around and I stayed with her back to the stoplight (a total of about 4 miles). I lost her in traffic and could not make up the distance (I hate traffic lights) as we went to the north end of the island.

I tried to speak to her at the north end as we both were trying to re-hydrate but she took off before I could get a chance to say thanks for a great ride.

I ended up with 24 miles by the time I got back to my car and still managed to beat the family home from VBS.