Two rides behind me…one big one ahead!

So, with no further ado…  Last Thursday Mim and I went to Sweets for coffee and some major league venting.  Not a long ride but an essential one.  Cycling therapy comes in many forms.

Cycling time: 1:19 hrs.
Distance: 20.9 miles.
Avs: 15.3 mph.
ODO: 3120.4 miles.

On Sunday there was an ACG ride that I could actually make which, with my sportive obsession, is a rare and unusual thing during the season.  Not a bad turnout either.  We were 8…well we weren’t, we were 7, as Jon managed to have a gear mechanical that Paul couldn’t fix even before the Brent Knoll contingent made it to Axbridge, and had to bail.   So…roll call time.  Me, Ian (long time no see, welcome back!), Robin, the triumvirate of fast people – Paul, Trevor & James (*gulp*) and newbie Geoff.  Yep, that looks like 7 to me.

Being as even if we hadn’t asked, Paul would have been on the front showing us how it’s done, it was decided that the village elder might at least get to decide where we were going.  He did start to explain to us, but after a while I kinda lost track, glazed over, and resorted to occasional nodding.  I may not have been the only one ;).  Essentially we were going to ride for a bit, have coffee at Fenny Castle, and ride back again.  Or something like that.

So off we went.  With various exhortations as to how we should remember that G is for group, and stay together.  Etc.  As you can see, it ended up not being quite what was planned.  Neither route, nor coffee stop.  Paul delighted on trying to find roads we hadn’t been down before, especially around Shapwick.  He even succeeded a couple of times.  Then again, it’s nice to abdicate responsibility and just let someone else lead the way, so I wasn’t bothered…I was too busy trying to keep up!

Somewhere along the way we came upon a damsel in distress…having had the chain on her bike come up and get stuck between the rear cassette and the wheel.  Talk about chefs and broth.  Many hands making seriously heavy work.  Rarely have I seen anything as funny as a group of mamils trying, unsucessfully, one by one, to slay the dragon and winning the fair princess.  And that’s not the really funny bit.  That’s coming up.  So various abortive attempts were made to dislodge the chain.  Finally Paul took over and set about trying to get the back wheel off unsuccessfully instead.  All this was being done by those who were somewhat more concerned about getting chain oil on their hands and transferring it to white handlebar tape and saddles, than actually getting the job done, thus using straw, leaves, and various tools (we are evolved after all) to try and prevent this from happening.  Hilarious!  Want to know who actually fixed it?  Me :).  Because I don’t give a monkey’s about getting my hands dirty…so I grabbed the chain, gave it a good yank as required, and voila, job done.  Paul undid the undoing he’d been doing to try and get the wheel off, and the poor, somewhat bemused lass, was on her way again, probably slightly wondering what had hit her.  I wiped my hands on my shorts (I’m a classy bird), and off we all went again.  I may have been sniggering a little…;) *grin*.

I don’t know what happened to coffee stops after an hour…I think Paul, due to his ability to cycle endlessly without rest, underestimated things (or us!) a bit.  He was still quite keen to head for our original destination but I was well past needing my coffee, and it was a while since we’d been to the yurt café.  Yes, I can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s on that funny road by the peat workings after Shapwick and just before you get to Glastonbury.

Actually I like it there.  Even if the arrival of a large number of cyclists (compared to her usual two by two visitors of which there were four) did give the lady behind the counter a bit of a heart attack!  She coped admirably, all things considered.  It’s spacious, outside, in the countryside, and very quiet and peaceful.  Apart from the sound of usual cyclists’ techy gear discussions and one-upmanship ;).  Geoff managed to hold his own both on the ride, and at coffee – chapeau – he’s going to fit in just fine! ;).  We also discussed how ubiquitous smart phones are and whether or not that’s a good thing…while I checked my email, caught up on twitter, and texted various people *grin*.  Oops ;).  Well in my defence, I’m clueless about most of what was being talked about…!

The coffee was ok, the tea came in a large pot, the cakes looked nice, and generous, and holey crap, have you seen Trevor’s cream tea??  Wow!  I couldn’t eat that on so many levels! 😉

Right.  Already later than planned, and with places to be and brownie points not to be wasted, it was time to head for home in a more direct fashion.  Having managed to stay together as 7 on the way out, the same could not be said for the way back.  After a while Geoff and Ian dropped back a bit togehter, Paul and Trevor and Rob overtook me after I tried my best on the last fast bit, and dropped me, and so James and I sort of oscillated around in the middle somewhere.  I’d love to have had Paul around to chase down the bypass to try and get my segment PB, but I stopped at the parting of the ways to say farewell to Robin, Geoff and Ian, and never caught the others back up again.  Darn…another time, right? 🙂  I tried…but no joy, and after a little while spent catching my breath, and pouring sweat, in the Square, I headed for home on my own.  Nice route, nice ride – thanks guys! :).

Cycling time: 2:20 hrs.
Distance: 38.0 miles.
Avs: 16.2 mph.
ODO: 3158.4 miles.

I don’t often get out with the ACG these days due to the number of sportives I’m doing.  This weekend I actually had a weekend “off” and the ACG had a ride, and two plus two equals four.  Turns out I wasn’t the only one around.  Dave M was route creator, having been asked not to make it 100% hilly.  We were joined by Gary, Paul, Jon, Jeannie and Martyn.  Six plus one equals seven then.

At some point does realism become pessimism?  Is being realistic actually being defeatist, and at some point is is actually self creating and perpetuating?  I got told off for being realist the other day, I was trying to explain to someone that I just ride my bike a lot, I’m never going to win medals, and that I’m happy to accept that and get on with enjoying what I can do.  That this was not false modesty or being humble, it’s just the way it is.  What would be the point of aiming for something I’d never achieve?  Maybe if I’d discovered cycling twenty years earlier…  Let’s face it, at the moment, it’s a miracle I’m riding the bike full stop, which was part of the point I was trying to make.

It’s fair to say I’m in the middle of a bad pain patch…and the last thing my seriously dented if not totally lacking PMA needed was to be constantly dropped by the ACG, which was, inevitably, what happened.  It’s not their fault though, it’s not like they do it on purpose.  Especially when it’s really just because they are much better than I am.  I may have felt awful, and whimpered my way up most of the Gorge, but actually, according to Strava I made it up there with one of my best times, so it wasn’t so much that I’m not very good, I’m just not very good by comparison – they’re all pretty impressive!  One day, possibly soon, it seems likely that the pain will actually stop me riding.  I don’t think saying that is wrong, or going to make it happen, it’s just realistic.  This was not that day.  In the meantime I have to do what I can do, while I can, and make the most of it, even if it hurts.

So I made it up the Gorge, to meet the others waiting for me.  I made it up the killer steep wall after Butcombe Church without walking.  I made it up everything.  The whole route was a bit lumpy, though Dave had spared us somewhat compared to his usual, as promised.  There was also a nasty headwind.  But the weather was sunny and everything was gorgeous and better out than in.  So I didn’t apologise or explain, I caught up when I could, and sometimes they noticed I was missing and waited for me.  I could have used a coffee stop earlier in the ride – we didn’t make it to the Rock Cafe Café until 2 hours in…but I didn’t throw my toys out of the cot and head for home, though I was sorely tempted to.  And I’m glad I didn’t, as sitting in the sun kicking back was very pleasant, and the coffee was just what I needed, even if it wasn’t actually very nice.

Unlike the outward leg, the way back was 50 minutes of fast, flat or down, with a tail wind and that’s where I come into my own.  That I can do.  And I did.  Doing what I can to make up for what I can’t.  I kicked ar*e, and I refused to be dropped *grin*.  In fact sometimes I even led.  It was practically a race, all the way to Priddy, across to the Gorge, down said Gorge, and then the final sprint for home, where I got the jump on ’em and left them for dust….juvenile but satisfying ;).

When Paul finally caught me up, on the way back into town, he called me “super speed”.  Coming from him, that’s quite a compliment.  Thank you :D.

Cycling time: 2:50 hrs.
Distance: 43.5 miles.
Avs: 15.3 mph.
ODO: 2402.80 miles.

Enjoy this trip. And it is a trip. It’s been a mad week. Birthday riding, girly stuff, work drinks, more riding, birthday party, and one final Sunday lunch to round it all off.

On Saturday five of the ACG, with no It, ventured out into the cold and windy for a Glastonbury coffee run. The hard men of the ACG were off doing 80 miles or so around the hills of the Quantocks and Exmoor… Much though I’d have loved to join them, brownie points and diplomacy meant that staying somewhat closer to home would be wise. Plus, let’s be honest, and more of this later, I was a bit too scared to join them. Having read GB’s ever erudite report, I’m thinking I made a good call. Perfection is as perfection does, and I don’t think it would have done it for me.

So there was Rob, Grant, Ian, Gary and me. All handicapped in one way or another, be it lack of mileage or injury or whatever. Ah, apart from Rob that is. He was just a machine. It was another day for trying out the summer bike, probably just in the hope it would make me faster. Plus it sure is pwerty :). We went straight there, over a hill, and straight back across the Levels. It was less about the ride, more about the coffee. Because they do do good coffee, and I still love my Orangina chaser. Sometimes history is important. As the residents clearly know. Glastonbury never disappoints, and with streets full of groups of medieval festival attendees, roaming free and dressed accordingly, it once more lived up to expectations. As I went down the stairs to the toilet, I passed a medieval princess.  I thought she looked weird. She no doubt thought I looked weird. It worked on some level.
 

Cycling time: 1:43:41 hrs
Distance: 28.9 miles
Avs: 16.7 mph.
ODO: 1171.55 miles

And then I came home, and after some considerable faffing, had a massive (by my standards) birthday party. Brought to you by the letter F. With frock, FM heels, fabulous friends, fizz, the number forty, and…my very own rock band. Well, mine as in they did what I wanted them to, up to and including requests as previously arranged, and also repeats on the day. They rocked. We rocked. My mother may well have thought I was mutton dressed as lamb, but it was my party, so no-one else was impolite enough to say so. Not while I was listening anyway ;). Although I wish I’d had more time to talk to all the lovely people who came, it was, not unlike a wedding reception, exceedingly difficult to talk to everyone. And why talk when you can dance? I’m not the most sociable person in the world (*understatement alert*), and I love, and so miss, dancing… So I did what I was there to do. Me and a little girly posse danced the night away. Hey, it’s my party, and I didn’t feel like crying ;). At some point even Figgy joined us…everyone’s allowed occasional moments of insanity right? ;). I had an totally awesome night, and I walked home some time around midnight, with a hand full of purple helium balloons, still on my feet. A night well spent :D.

Still hate photos!

So there you go. It’s been a week of not normal. Which, sad though it may be, kinda left me looking forward to getting back on track. It’s the 1st of April, and mama didn’t raise no fools…  Mutton clearly, but not fools. Time to get back to the gym, the training, the riding, the miles. I’ll take the pills when I need to, and if the choice is between pain with wine, and pills without, now that this week is history, the choice will always be pills. Time to get this show back on the road. It’s got to be all about training, eating the best I can, sleeping, and looking after me.  Because I need to do what keeps me sane, and riding the bike is it.

I’ve been letting what’s going on with me knock me down, and I don’t think I’ve been fighting hard enough against it. I’ve been letting it get to me mentally, and it’s been quite some time since I felt much by way of PMA, or seen any signs of mojo. My physical performance hasn’t actually been as bad as I’ve thought or felt it was, but my head has had me in in some funny places. I’m pretty sure my future holds a heap more interesting pills, probably surgery, maybe other stuff…but that’s then and this is now. I know there will still be days when you’ll find me curled up in a dark corner whimpering, mentally and/or physically, but you know what? Not every day. And even then, it’s just pain, right? One day at a time, and every day should stand on its own merits. Time to MTFU and fight back. Remind me I said that…

I have the Joker next weekend. I have been massively fretting about it, but as of today I’m feeling a bit better. It looks like I’ll have company, at least at the beginning and maybe even the end. Even if I do the full route with all the scarey extras, it’s “only” 120km. I just don’t feel ready for 100 miles yet, and was having a huge mental block about that. I also did a better than expected gym session today. So, with all that considered, I feel a little, maybe even a lot, better about it now.

Here’s two things I have learnt this week.

• Sometimes when it feels like it’s hard work, it’s because you’re working hard, not because you’re crap!  Although sometimes it’s because you’re crap ;).
• It is possible to pogo in killer heels to Enter Sandman. Twice. Turn the volume up, click that link, and enjoy. I did. 🙂

It’s been one of those weeks.  Which means it’s been a non-riding week.  This is not a situation that should be allowed to continue for too long…and what better a way to rectify it than to ride with others on a sunny and wind free Saturday?  OK, so it was a bit nippy…but that’s what layers are for, and I have lots of those.  However such a combination of conditions apparently also equates to foggy…which meant much pre-ride faffing trying to find a back light in working order.  I ended up nicking MaxiMe’s rear Knog light as my Topeak one has decided that functioning is no longer something it feels like doing.  Too much British weather for it, it would appear.  Something else I need to buy for the bike then; a list the currently includes brake pads, chain, rear mech, and rear wheel…and that’s just the winter bike!  Looks like I need to start saving…*gulp*.

What with the moisture in the air and everywhere, by the time I got to the Square it was hard to tell whether it was really, really, foggy, whether my glasses were covered in mist, or whether my contact lenses were just having a bad day.  A combination of all three methinks ;).  See what I mean?

There were five of us today, which meant that deciding where to go took at least twice as long as it sometimes does.  Probably more.  I didn’t really care, as I was just happy to let someone else decide and go along for the ride, as it were, though I did have an urge to stick my fingers in my ears and sing la-de-dah everytime Martyn mentioned Canada Combe.  Be proud of me – I didn’t refuse, baulk, or veto!  Although I was tempted to follow the sign and go back to bed instead ;).

Meet my fellow riders, or three of them at any rate.  Welcome back Gary, it’s been a while.  The break hasn’t slowed you down any has it?  Then there’s no longer newbie Jon, sporting very fetching matching kit.  I’ve figured out that one of the reasons (and there are many) that he’s faster than me and makes it look so easy are that with that height his legs are at least a foot longer than mine!  And then there’s Chris (aka Figgy) performing kit origami.  We all know how fast he is!  He’ll be the one waiting for me for hours at the finish of the Quebrantahuesos with a well earned cold beer with my name on it ;).  Anyway, considering that I was in blue, weren’t we a colourful bunch?  As we represented all the primary colours, Chris reckoned if we went fast enough we’d just turn into a white blur…*grin*.  That would be a serious case of powerful imagination and/or wishful thinking…

So we rode.  And yes we did go up Canada Combe, and yes I still don’t like it.  It’s steep for chrissake!  But I made it up, slow but steady, as ever.  The legs were happier about it than my lungs were!  It was good to have the big climb of the day behind me, though I might have done it better if it had come after the 45 minutes it takes me to warm up at the moment.  I do love the long straight essentially downwards bit along the top afterwards though – much fun :).  After that it was just a matter of keeping up with everyone, because as I believe I mentioned, none of these guys are slow!  And that includes you Martyn! ;).

Our coffee stop was at the NT café at Brean Down which was, luckily, open.  We sat upstairs for the first time ever, where the views are fabulous.  Why haven’t we done that before?!  Mind you it’s cold up there, and after a while I realised I could see my own breath, and I wasn’t the only one.  With all the windows I bet it greenhouses up there in the summer, hopefully we’ll get to find out at some point :).

We took a circuitous loop home via Burnham, Highbridge, Mark…  The fog came and went, the sun shone when it could break through, and the pace ceased to abate.  But let’s be honest, I kinda like flying along in a group when I can, and working that bit harder is good for me.  I do believe I even had a few zone moments today… :D.  Even better, although I had the odd painful patch towards the end, I managed to avoid taking pills until after the ride, which has to be a good thing.  And, even better, no-one in a white van tried to run me off the road, which is a trend I’d be happy to see continue *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:16:17 hrs
Distance: 36.71 miles
Avs: 16.2 mph.
ODO: 15925.43 miles

Ok, so I’ve been riding.  I need to.  Sportives don’t happen without riding.  But where is the love?  I am so fed up with wind, and rain, and cold, and mud, and the slog…  Please let it be Spring soon?

On Friday the bike was a means to an end.  Mim and I rode to Wells and back, which achieved an errand running goal.  And we caught up on what’s been going on.  The riding bit was sort of a side dish for the main event really.  Time off the bike doesn’t seem to have slowed her down any though.  Is it just me that that happens to?  So we caught up, but not with each other!

Cycling time: 2:02:19 hrs
Distance: 32.00 miles
Avs: 15.7 mph.
ODO: 15863.22 miles

And then there was today, when the ACG rode.  With a predictable weather forecast *sigh*.  I wear my waterproof once in a blue moon.  In fact I can’t remember the last time I wore it – we are talking years here – but I dug it out today.  This was not adding to my sense of joie de vivre, can you tell?  Boil.  In.  The.  Bag!

We rode in a circle, as ever.  A foreshortened circle, as the weather meant none of us, apart from the tri-athletically insane, fancied doing much more than riding out, drinking coffee and riding home again.  Off to Sweets where the service was friendly, and, as we were the first there, pretty swift too.  So here we are.  You know who you are…  I wish my hair looked as good as Jeannie’s after hours on the bike though!  Sorry – I’m a girl in case you hadn’t noticed – we think about such things.  Or maybe it’s just me again? 😉


I did my best out there.  Having had a bad Saturday, I’d pre-warned Martyn that I was likely to be a little off form today, and maybe he’d primed his posse, but either way they did a really good job of making sure I wasn’t left all on my own, for which I was very grateful.  I did my bit when I could, and tried not to get too depressed when I couldn’t.  And no longer newbie Jon made sure I made it to our mid way stop – which was daft of him since that meant I could take his subs off him… 😉  But there was nowt for it…  Note to self.  If you’re about to go for a ride, and you know that if you were staying home you’d be taking the pills?  Take the feckin’ pills!

Cycling time: 1:35:16 hrs
Distance: 25.5 miles
Avs: 16.0 mph.
ODO: 15888.72 miles

So when it came to the coffee stop I gave in and took the pills.  And, as it would appear, it is possible to ride on codeine.  This is a positive discovery.  It’s not the Higgs Boson, or the New World, but it’ll do for me.  OK, so it doesn’t entirely do the job, but I’m guessing it makes it easier, without stopping me in my tracks.  Whether or not the same can be said for tramadol is my next experiment…  It’s all part of the journey, right? 😉

Talking of which, the journey home went pretty well until I was nearly home.  It was still cold wet and windy but hey, what’s new?  However on the way back into town, up the road from Cross, a white van came past me at a constant and consistent speed, with literally mere millimetres to spare.  Made me flinch and breathe in…and curse under that breath.  But as he went past I registered the number plate…and it was my nutter of a next door neighbour.  So there’s no way it was accidental.  After all, if proof were needed, he didn’t do the same to Mike who was off ahead of me.  I know, no witnesses, his word against mine, etc…  But I know.  I nearly burst into tears on the spot…and probably would have done if I wasn’t so busy being struck dumb by the concept of someone actually deliberately behaving like that.  And, before you ask, thank you twitterverse for your support, I have no camera, and there’s no point reporting him – the history there is long and convoluted and I don’t want him actually killing me which I wouldn’t put past him…although as he’s a bully and a coward he’d probably do it with his van rather than in person.  I’d still be dead though.  It kinda ruined what had been a better than I might have expected ride, left me shaking, and it took me quite a while to calm down.  I might have coped better if it wasn’t for the whole already being in pain thing but hey, it’s not like you can schedule these things is it?  Anyway…moving on…he’s not worthy of any more space!

I’m very grateful for all the company I’ve had this week, which has kept me out there when I might otherwise have seen the weather and bailed.  And thank you all for looking after/out for me.  I think I probably need to do some riding on my own too though, as all this having to keep up with other people is doing absolutely nothing for my PMA.  I’m doing ok, but I’m still crap compared to everyone else.  However, even though I felt like a sloth going up the Webbington Rise on the way home, I was faster than the last time I did it in January.  Maybe I’m getting better?  Little steps :).

You know that feeling when the train next to you at the platform pulls away, or the car next to you at the traffic lights goes before you, and you’re not really watching, it’s an out of the corner of your eye thing, and you suddenly feel like you’re going backwards?

As I rode up the Gorge, with the water flowing down and across and everywhere, making regular pretty patterns over the road, my eyes got caught by all the going down, and even though at some level I knew I was pedalling, and that the wheels were going round, I had this odd feeling that I wasn’t going anywhere at all.  Like walking up the down escalator.  Hypnotic.  Kaa would have approved…

Apparently I was in fact going forwards, because I made it up.  Up where we belong?  Like any of the ups today, I wasn’t beating any records, but I got there.  Without feeling too terrible.  Without getting off and walking.  I ignored the fact that the other three I was with had left me behind, and focused on how I was actually feeling.  To which the answer was usually ok.  PMA!  It all still works, it’s just that the results aren’t as good as they will be after I’ve been doing it more.  My legs feel stronger even if they’re not faster!  Progress is being made.  After all, it’ll still feel like hard work even when I’m better at it, it’s just that the pain won’t last as long!

Today was about the odd hill, a few miles, and lots of smiles.  We kinda made the route up as we went, and it looked like this.  We rode, we climbed, we chatted, we enjoyed the sunshine and fought the wind, and we braved the floods.  Does that make us road warriors?

Strava may not think it was a good ride.  But I do, and I know which is more important :D.

Cycling time: 2:02:37 hrs
Distance: 29.22 miles
Avs: 14.3 mph.
ODO: 15748.26 miles

OMG, I actually rode my bike!  Not just I.  We.  We as in G, as in ACG, as in four of us, none of whom have been doing as much riding of late as we would like.  In case you were wondering, that was an example of the art of understatement.  

Four of us.  Me – obviously.  GB – suffering from proper flu, not man flu, not that it slowed him down at all.  Steve – all coiled spring, having been snowed down a bit this week.  And Jon, who probably still qualifies as a newbie for a couple more rides at least, and whom we’ve not managed to scare off yet.  Although he’s very fast and only getting faster so maybe he’ll scare me off instead?  Oh dear…

This is what we did.  OK, so it’s neither inspiring nor exciting.  But it was sunny, and not icy, and I was with friends, and more importantly still, I was on my best beloved bike.  The instant I was back on it I felt better.  Literally, the minute the wheels started turning.  Like coming home, being where I’m supposed to be, where my head is happy.  Man I love riding my bike :).  Even when it hurt, and I got dropped, and it was hard work, I enjoyed it.  I’d have got dropped less if I hadn’t done a pretty intensive gym session the night before.  And if we hadn’t overtaken two oldtimers who then felt the need to prove they weren’t oldtimers at all, and in fact they still had it, and they would use it, and look, we can drop you.  According to a man who is by his very nature presumably better qualified to comment than I am on such things; as the size of the male ego grows the size of the testicles shrink.  Which meant those two had very small balls.  However by the time GB and Steve had chased them down again, and overtaken them in the sprint to Sweets, I would like to suggest that would imply that there were therefore two pairs of spheres that were of considerably less than impressive dimensions by the time they were ordering coffee…

Talking of coffee…  I love Sweets, for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that they’re now selling jewellery ;).  But they’re SO slow!  They weren’t busy.  It’s the first sunny, not icy, weekend in ages.  You know cyclists are going to be coming your way, wanting little more than coffee and possibly cake.  How hard can it be?  It’s just bemusing.  And not a little irritating.  By the time our drinks – yes, just drinks! – finally arrived we’d all well and truly cooled down, and then some, which is not a good thing.  OK, so the coffee was good, but I’d like to enjoy it because of the flavour, not need it because of the exothermic reaction.  And that one’s for you Dad 😉 *grin*.  It took quite some time to warm up on the way home, not helped by the by then properly chilly wind, a wind that had changed direction just to make sure it was a headwind for the entire ride.  Honest ;).

Cycling time: 1:38:07 hrs
Distance: 27.91 miles
Avs: 17.2 mph.
ODO: 15719.04 miles

Whatever you may think of Strava, it does serve a purpose.  In this case to show me that I was actually doing ok out there.  The first climb over the Webbington is nothing to most of you, but it’s a gauge, and it turns out that it was my fourth fastest time up there.  Yes I was trying, but That’s cheering.  It means that some of the new wattage interval stuff I’m doing at the gym might actually be helpful.  And when it boils down to it, it means I’m not as crap as maybe I may have felt at the odd point during the ride.  So there :P.

In other news…the London Bike Show?  Very busy, but oddly boring.  I got to see the lovely guys at Nuun, and then went home and ordered a whole range of their yummy drinks so that I can safely keep hydrated.  I had a chat, and a bite to eat, with the men who immortalise you brilliantly on sportives – SportivePhoto.  But other than that?

There was nothing I wanted to buy, so none of the show offers interested me.  I’m not a bike geek, so I don’t care about the latest sprocket, gadgets, set up, or bike.  I don’t really care that so and so rode that.  I am a bear of very little brain, I just want to ride my bike.  On top of that the majority of people there presumed I was either on a stall, doing something promotional, or someone’s girlfriend.  Let’s just say there was a very heavy gender bias…I might as well have been invisible!  It got so boring I went and looked at boats.  Boats that cost more than my house.  And your house too.  Probably.  Pwerty though :).