Bikers learn early on that riding in a Paceline is key to saving time and energy. However, for some of the PCRs this lesson is a difficult one to learn. Mr. MBA/The Mechanic has been trying to teach BIG MAN all week the proper process for signaling when you want to have someone take over the PULL. BIG MAN has been working hard at this and started to get "tennis elbow" so has decided to ride in the back and not have to worry about the "chicken wing" signaling.
Yesterday's ride, like last week's, was another lesson of what happens when you don't stay with the group. (There was a sighting of Coach Craig riding alone to avoid being left alone.) Prez. Hale, stayed-up until midnight watching "The Founder", the story of Ray Kroc, and woke up at 4:00 AM so excited to ride the proposed route to Henefer and back. Let's just say, Prez. Hale has had better rides. The discussion of what was learned from Mr. Kroc was an interesting one that BIG MAN and Prez. Hale had prior to reaching Big Mtn summit. He even shared the TATS prior to reaching the summit.
All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake up in the morning to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they dream their dreams with their eyes open, and make them come true.
- D. H. Lawrence-
Focused as he sometimes can get, Prez. Hale opted not to stop and continued his ride down to East Canyon... "What's The Deal"??? The three left behind said, "No problem, we can catch him on the downhill", which they did. As they pulled off into East Canyon like they ALWAYS DO, Prez. Hale, rode by again and said, "I'll meet you at GRUMPS", a store named after bikers that only get fours hours of sleep. The three being left behind again, stopped for water and a quick snack and continued their ride towards Henefer. After reaching Hogback Summit and still NO Prez. Hale, a joint decision due to time to get back for HONEY DOs was made to turn around.
Prez. Hale finally made it home, but learned that four hours of sleep and riding alone is NO FUN. The others worked in tandem to ride up the back side of Big Mtn, well the older of the two did, while younger legs, Queen of Wraps, waited at the summit talking to fancy car owners trying to figure out how he can buy one of those. The ride down Emigration was a treat, as the trio ran into a celebrity couple and stopped for pictures, of course.
Every
single day of our lives we make choices.Most of them are seemingly inconsequential, and a few, although a not
apparent at the time, are of great moment.Some are good, others bad.You
decide the answers to the following multiple choice questions:
Should
the PCRs Follow BIG MAN to Ogden? The
PCRs allowed BIG MAN to be their leader (well, kind of) yesterday. Many of them mindlessly followed him like
sheep early in the morning, but it turns out not early enough. Some of us almost missed the train ride
back. One did!
Were
No-Show PCRs Smart? Mr.
MBA rebelled and chose an easier route, and did not even bother to tell his
bike buddies he was going to be a no-show.
Read on and decide whether you think his classless act of not telling
his buddies he would not be there was smart.
Was Failure of a PCR to Read and Heed BIG MAN's Counsel a Bad Choice? BIG MAN sends lots of communications to his
flock, some by email, others voicemail, yet others by texts, and if you are
real unlucky, like Jean, some in are in person.
His outreach is so broad and continuous that one of his aliases is now
“White Noise”. So it is no surprise that
one of his sheep neglected to read or followed all of BIG MAN's instructions,
particularly to dress warm Saturday. As
a consequence Prez. Hale is being treated for hypothermia.
Should
the PCRs Ride Down Ogden Canyon During the Ogden Marathon when the Police Order
them NOT TO? On
Friday BIG MAN was forewarned that the Ogden Marathon was routed through Ogden
Canyon at the same time the PCRs would be riding down that narrow canyon. And as predicted, when the PCRs arrived at
the mouth of Ogden Canyon they were ordered by the police not to ride down the
canyon with the runners. It was 11:30
and they had to be at the Ogden train station by 12:00, when the FrontRunner left the
station. The next one left at 1:00. So there was a lot of pressure to keep moving. Not to worry, BIG MAN's persistence, personality, humor and good looks paid off
and the police gave the PCRs a police escort down the canyon. (True Story, and BIG MAN was riding shoulder to shoulder with the office yelling to the runners, "YOU'VE GOT THIS" and cheering on the volunteers at the aid stations. You would have thought he was the marshal of the event.)
Should
Bruner Allow Himself to be Separated from the Rest of the PCRs? Once the PCRs got out of the canyon they
sprinted to the train station. After
all, they did not have a minute to spare.
Bruner, rightly thinking there was a shorter path to the train station
paused to think about the smart choice, which separated him from the
group. Bruner was right, but his
hesitation cost him valuable time.
Should
the PCRs Abandon the Pirates’ Code of Ethics?
Gordon Smith aka the “Hammer”, BIG MAN and Prez. Hale arrived at the train station. Bruner was
nowhere in sight. Hammer, BIG MAN and
Prez. Hale had a snap decision to make. Do
they wait for Bruner and be another hour late or jump on the train without
tickets and beg for forgiveness from UTA.
Without a second thought all three jumped on the train. Hammer, a Doc at the U of U, thought he could
cash in on a valuable benefit of free travel on UTA vehicles offered by his
employer: At last his state job was going to pay big dividends! BIG MAN and Prez. Hale figured they could pay when
they got on the train. It turns out all
of their instincts were wrong. The police
chided Hammer because he did not tap his card on the train door as he entered,
and lectured BIG MAN and Prez. Hale that they should have waited another hour instead
of getting on the train and riding without a ticket. Prez. Hale went to pay for the tickets when arriving in Salt Lake and the BIG MAN was thinking, "What in the Hale are you doing, let's go. We got a FREE ride." BIG MAN started to feel guilty and repentant and went to pay also and Prez. Hale said, "I've got em, Get on the TRAX, I'm not riding another mile." Then BIG MAN understood his reason for buying tickets. Bruner, you should have known you
were riding with pirates. In case you
have forgotten in your old age their code is: “Any
man who falls behind, isleft behind.”
Should you Offer an Officer of theLaw Cash when He is
Threatening to Give You a Ticket? As the officers chided BIG MAN and Prez. Hale for
not having a ticket BIG MAN offered one of them cash, to which the officer
responded: “that will get you 6 months sir!”
If
you want a Quiet Contemplative Ride should you Follow BIG MAN? If you don’t know the answer to that question
by now you are in serious trouble.
In all, it was a beautiful ride and one worth
repeating, after a long period of time has passed so the memory of the pain has
faded.
YIPPY SKIPPY
Can you tell who the brothers are? (I'm cold)
Just a reminder to some of the PCRs that don't know how to read...
The Vistas were UNBELIEVABLE!
Has anyone seen Prez. Hale?
Thanks BIG MAN for making arrangements for a police escort down Ogden canyon...
... and recruiting some new faces to join the PCRs
"it was his idea to ride TRAXs from downtown to Sugarhouse"
His entire life Sexy Legs has aspired to be a great
tennis player like his father Tony, who was one Major shy of a Grand Slam in
the tennis world. Realizing he was too
old to conquer courts of clay, turf and concrete as his farther did, Sexy Legs
achieved his “Grand Slam”, but of another sort, during a heli-skiing trip. After three days of adrenaline highs shushing
down the snowy slopes of Kamchatka, the helicopter in which his group traveled
crashed on the snowy mountain leaving him and his comrades trapped in a
hospital located in the remote town of Petropavlovsk (little Man, you get 50
bucks if you can pronounce that name on your first try without the benefit of
Google). Fortunately, everyone made it
out alive.
In the depths of depression from chiding by fellow PCRs because
the Salt Lake Tribune scooped the story on Sexy Legs, this Saturday PCR’s own
BIG MAN conducted an exclusive, in-person, Barbra Waltersesque (he even looks
like her more and more each day that passes) interview of Sexy Legs and his far
better half, Dinny. During the interview Sexy
Legs beamed with confidence (that might have something to do with the X-rays
taken of him with an X-ray machine of Stone Age vintage used at the Russian
hospital) that he will have a full and speedy recovery and will be back on his
bike in four months ready for LOTOJA and to beat every PCR--even without any
summertime training. Sadly his ambition is
true. What Old Man Bruner said during this
Saturday’s ride is true: “there is no glory beating BIG MAN”. The same is true of all other PCRs. Dinny expressed hope that Sexy Legs will come
to his senses, grow up and limit his “extreme athletic” endeavors to activities
performed on solid unfrozen dry ground (Sexy Legs, tennis courts fit that
description) within the boundaries of the good old US of A. Sexy Legs became emotional as he recounted
the outpouring of the moral and financial support he received from friends and
family. Our prayers go out to you and
your family. BIG MAN guarantees you that
through his persistence, LOTOJA will give you admittance next year without
charge. The following is the riveting
interview:
On a
mundane note, Saturday remnants of the PCRs rode together during the same
time frame, although at different locations.
The Reorganized PCRs participated in the Front Runner Century. little Indian claims he was victorious, but he
did not explain how. The authentic PCRs
started out together on their trek to East Canyon, but then the “great
stratification” began early on. Over dressed
Prez. Hale had to stop to remove articles of clothing and take a picture of the
beautiful sunrise. Like a true band (with
high elasticity) of brothers the others left him behind. Affected by hanging out with BIG MAN for so
long, Prez. Hale went on a photo spree (see the awesome photos below). Mr. MBA
claimed it was just an excuse for him to go slow. Mr. MBA never was very good at exercising
discretion when opening his mouth! The group was also honored by special guest appearances of Mrs. Bullwinkle and her brother TR.
Saturday also marked a milestone in BIG MAN's marriage.He was actually brought to heel by his better half.He cut short his ride at the midpoint to
arrive home safely within the period of time he promised.Jodi, please share with the PCRs the brand name of
the shock collar you used to achieve this remarkable result so that they are better
able to control him during future rides.If
you do, they are likely to be home two hours earlier.But on second thought, maybe you would prefer
that he stay out longer on his rides. They wouldn’t blame you!
YIPPY SKIPPY
Some of the PCRs attract younger/better looking riders
