Riding Bikes with Runners

That title holds the dubious risk of defining people by their activity, said someone who gleefully accepted the moniker the-guy-on-the-bike, but I suppose there is a difference between a runner and simply a person who runs. The former has an opinion, something to say, about shoes. Just ask!

I like runners, and, in case you're inconceivable imperceptive, I also like bike. Heck I even have an opinion, lots to say, about bikes. You needn't even ask. So, one thing that gives me great pleasure is mixing two things I enjoy, such as riding bikes with runners! At times I've joked that I really started running as a way to infiltrate that group of athletes and convert them to bikes.

The problem with that joke, aside from lacking humor value, is I can't convert people who are already singing in the choir. It turns out, a lot of runners already ride bikes, so I just need to convince them to ride with me. This post may serve as the start of a running tally of the runners who've show the lack of judgement to join me for a ride.

One who comes to mind, and I may be able to claim a conversion, is my friend Kevin. Kevin is one of the people who was there to support me as I recovered from being hit by a car, and he was my chief training partner as I prepped for the Seven Sisters race in the spring, about nine months after I was taught to walk again. Kevin is quick, really quick, but his goal for that race was to finish fifteen minutes behind when I crossed the line. This is someone who would regularly drop me going up the hills, so I convinced him that mountain biking might be great training for descending while trail running because it forces the brain to process terrain at a much higher speed than ever seen on foot. It worked! He now has a mountain bike and has even ridden with me.

That same spring, Kevin and I kept meeting Brian by chance on our runs, and after four weeks of that, I finally asked for his phone number so we didn't have to rely so heavily on fate. Brian is now a good friend, and I've learned that before becoming the guy who pretty much owned the Vermont 100 running race, he'd started as a road bike racer, so before long, some of our runs would finish with heading back out to mountain bike the same trails.

Another biker is also one of my oldest running friends from back in my Connecticut residence days. We met at an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party more than a year into my status as single after a rather, well, a breakup with a lot of interesting stories. After our chance connection, I was telling friends I'd met the love of my life, but there were just two problems: He's married. When I later told him, another Brian, and Laura that story, they laughed and let me know he used to kid her that HE was the one who'd received the number of the guy with the abs! My ugly sweater was also exceptionally small and short.

I still think of my friend Pete as a biker, because that's how I met him, and too much running in his younger days means he can't really run at all now, but, really, he was a runner first. I also by chance rode a little with Bonnie. Our paths crossed on the road when she was using a bike to help recover from ACL and MCL surgery. It was later that night that I had my one ride with another running friend Liam, as we both rolled down to Northampton together after leaving the Tomato Party I'd been targeting when I saw Bonnie.

And yesterday, I added another runner to my list. Matt's the one who joined my accidental first, and so far only, marathon distance run (I've done more a couple times, but that doesn't count), and after winning Saturday's 50k event, he'd decided time on a bike would offer gentler recovery, and not only that, he was willing to do that ride with me. I'd proposed meeting on Pearl Street, but he'd heard there was a bridge out there, so we met in the center of South Hadley (the rather fishy place I call Shad-ley).

Of course, on the ride to meeting, I was wondering if the bridge work closed to cars might still be sneakily navigable by bike, so I asked Matt if he would be game to give it a try, pointing out that my feet were already wet from the day's earlier squall, so dipping a toe wouldn't bother me. Saying that Matt is game, as a general rule, is an understatement. He ran the length of route 10 in Massachusetts, largely because it was such an awful thing to do, so yes, we headed for Pearl Street, and my feet needed only hop a one foot rivlet to avoid addition wetting!

Yes, we hoofed this section.

My list will contine to grow as I gleefully ride with more of my running friends, and there are two in particular I especially look forward to adding. 1) Steve who joined me for my two hiking solstice outings, including the longest-night adventure. He already bikes a bit, and we've talked about a summer solstice tour of riding all six New England states in a day. 2) I want to see Colleen (who's old bike Bonnie was riding) on a mountain bike. That'll be another conversion, but I suspect the person, who was selected to the US National luge team after what started as a family joke, that person might discover a knack!