I thought this up on a solo training ride, which in fact I won.

There have been a lot of really great group ride wins lately. Lucky. No race fees, no pinning of numbers, no course marshals, just open roads, blown stop signs and intra-category flogging. Good stuff.

Recently I have heard many a tall tale about "winning" the Tuesday ride or Saturday ride, and how said "racer" stuck it to all the other competitors. As much as I would like to brag about being in a break with 2 of the 4 horse-men for 5.78 minutes 3 Saturdays ago, its not really that big of deal, and as soon as I grenaded off the break, it was just as soon forgotten because I almost crashed Abel out into the curb. PS Thanks again for wheel...And if you won on Saturday, the guy who won the race on Sunday, where fees are paid and points received, sat on your wheel and watched you flog yourself in the wind endlessly, just to pass the random fire hydrant or hibiscus plant 3/4 of a tire ahead of that other weekend warrior.

Not to downplay your improved fitness, stamina and gumption for sure. But take into consideration that some group ride participants are following a prescribed plan that does not entail beating up on non-like-category enthusiasts. Sometimes they may be told to "sit in" or complete 3 specific 5 minute efforts or to just ride for fun. Because in fact, they may just be training for something in the form of an organized race or event. These are pretty fun too because you get grouped with people of like-abilities and talent where you can really shine, or in fact, be quite dull.

Anyways, on to more interesting things. I have been winning a lot of rides myself, because I ride alone. But I keep getting stung by bee's. 30 minutes into a 3.5 hour ride is not the best situation to get stung in. And I seem to keep having quite adverse reactions to their nasty venom. Sting #1 selected one of my only skinny spots: my cheek bone. Wham, swelling all around my eye, lids closed and eye oozing, reminiscent of those 14 episodes of pink eye in grade school. (Just kidding, I went to home school and had no friends that I could contract such a lethal virus from) But really, it looked like i took a left hook to my eye hole. Ironic fact: Brian received a bee sting on his temple, resulting in the exact same fat-face situation, although he more resembled Chunk from the Goonies.

Bee sting #2, after a quite lengthy "character development" training ride in the heat of the day, while descending HWY 38 at 79 MPH, bee landed smack on my medial right tibia, another fat-free location. The forth-coming swelling, itching, aching, and misery well, was just that. The next days ride found my calf hitting my bottle cage due to massive edema, which led to spending the rest of the weekend between training and racing in a benedryl induced coma.

Good times, and welcome to summer in beautiful San Bernardino County. Next time I may have pictures, but probably not. Im just too sweaty and smashed out on the rides to fumble with my phone in my "purse" (ziplock bag) to take any worthwhile shots. And yet again, they would probably be just of sweat and the bag if they do get taken.

So there's that. Best of luck in all your upcoming races and congrats again to all your wins.