Monday night ride!

Photo: The cockpit of my Sorrento.

Tonight's recovery ride provided some much-needed recovery -- not from a weekend of criteriums and time trials but from packing things into boxes, heavy lifting, and what have you. I decided to spice it up a bit and did the group ride on my knobby-tired heavy-ass, bouncy, fun mountain bike. I've spent far too much time riding the road bike lately and just wanted to have some fun. I knew I'd have no problem keeping up with the Monday night crowd on anything I own. Wednesday? That'll be a different story!

Photo: A pic I snapped over my shoulder. A little sparse for a Monday ride but the lane hoggers are still in full force. I can tell you this: the Wednesday night ride doesn't feel as close and friendly, but people actually listen when you tell them there's a car coming up behind them and to drop in to single file.

Anyhow, it was a fun ride, but I couldn't find my helmet. We swung by Mark's place right after we started riding and he lent me one of his spares. I did a little more off-roading than most of the riders, but there was a guy on a hybrid that seemed to like the grass and dirt a bit, too. While waiting for everyone to arrive, I warmed up not by doing laps, but by hopping curbs and obstacles, and perfecting the art of the track stand on platform pedals.