Saturday November 5, 2005 we did an official bike club ride.  Not sure why, but we skipped last weekend so this was our first ride in a couple weeks.  Joining me were Bob, Pete and Steve. 

The weather forecast for this weekend was calling for rain later in the day on Saturday and high winds with more rain on Sunday.  We figured we had better start out early in hopes of finishing before the rain started.  We made plans Friday night that I would pick up Bob at his house at 8:30 am and from there we would head over to Pete’s to get him around 8:45 am.  Next stop would be Steve’s before heading over to the trail. 

When I left my house around 8:25 am it was fairly warm, temperature in the mid 50s, but it was already starting to rain.  It was a very light misty type rain.  I was hoping it wouldn’t rain any heavier while we were out riding.  We lucked out and the rain totally stopped for the rest of our ride.  As I got close to Bob’s house I noticed Bob was already out riding toward me.  This is unusual, normally I have to wait a couple minutes for Bob to finish getting ready once I show up.  Apparently Bob thought we were meeting Pete at 8:30 so he was expecting me a bit earlier.  

Since it was already relatively warm and the temperature was predicted to get to 60 I dressed fairly light.  I had on shorts with two thin wicking shirts and a light weight jacket.  I also had a pair of thin cotton gloves to protect my hands from the cool breeze.  Bob was also wearing shorts, so we were thinking the same. 

We headed straight over to Pete’s house.  We got there a couple minutes early, so Pete wasn’t quite ready.  Pete’s garage door was closed so I honked my bike horn to let him know we were waiting.  The garage door opened, but Pete didn’t show up for a few minutes so apparently he needed a little more time to get ready.  I think Pete sometimes isn’t awake for more than a minute or two by the time I show up.  Pete finally stumbled out into the garage to see what we were wearing.  He was surprised to see we had on shorts.  Pete had long pants and a shirt with sweat shirt and a medium jacket.  He asked me if I thought he would be warm enough, I told him I thought he would be plenty warm, I actually thought he would be sweating after just a few minutes from too much clothing.  Pete was sporting one of his attractive dew rags and he brought his heavy gloves. 

With Pete finally ready it was time to go get Steve.  Pete went in Steve’s garage to knock on the inside door to let Steve know we were there.  Steve was just about ready, he already had his bike out in the driveway before we arrived.  The last time we were waiting for Steve, Pete fell off his bike on the edge of Steve’s driveway.  This day Pete almost fell when getting back on his bike while right next to Steve.  Luckily Pete stumbled and caught himself before falling.  If he had fallen he would have taken Steve out with him based on where they both were.  For Steve’s sake I’m glad Pete somehow maintained his balance and didn’t go down. 

Finally all four of us were out in the street riding over toward the trail.  Pete was very anxious to have breakfast at the Greek Island.  He even got a little concerned when we headed to the trail, because this isn’t the most direct route to the restaurant.  Pete also had a return he wanted to do at Dick’s Sporting Goods, so this gave us a destination with a purpose.  Bob and I both wanted to ride a bit before eating because we were concerned the rain might come sooner and cut our ride short.  So we finally all agreed to go to Dick’s first and then get breakfast at the Greek Island on the way home. 

Pete also was making strange comments about some new record that was going to be set today.  He wouldn’t elaborate, so I had no idea what was brewing in that unique mind of his.  The rain continued to hold off and the sun even came out for a few brief minutes so it looked like we would definitely get in a whole ride. 

I had taken the previous day off work as a vacation day.  Bob and I did a nice run to downtown Rochester and we ended up meeting Bob’s daughter Jennifer and his grand daughter Alexia.  Our run ended up being a total of approximately 6.1 miles and Jennifer was nice enough to give us a ride home after lunch.  One of the places we ran was through Rochester park. 

As we rode toward downtown Rochester we rode through the park again, basically the same route Bob and I had jogged the day before.  Continuing on our way to Dick’s we cut over to Rochester Road and rode up the hill just after the bridge.  This hill is relatively steep and Pete just didn’t have the energy to keep up with us so he took his time and met up with us at Dick’s.  

Since Pete still doesn’t have his own burrito basket on his bike I was carry the bag containing his return in my burrito basket.  I figured to save time I would go inside and start the return while we waited for Pete to catch up.  I went to one of the check outs and told the girl I wanted to return whatever it was, I didn’t pay any attention to what was in the bag.  Pete had the receipt in the bag and it was a cash sale, so I figured this return would be easy.  How wrong I was, nothing is easy for me when dealing with stupid store policies.  I gave the girl the item and the receipt.  She asked me for my name, I said Peter McDonald.  Then she asked me for my driver’s license.  I told her I rode my bike and I didn’t have it with me.  She said that was OK I just needed to tell her my address.  Well, I know Pete lives on Grayslake, but I don’t know the address, so I said I live on Grayslake but I am really bad with numbers so I don’t know my address.  This seemed to confuse her a little so she went over to a manager and told her the situation.  Next she asked me for my phone number, again I told her about my problem with numbers and that I didn’t know my phone number.  When ever I call Pete I just use the speed dial, so I honestly don’t know his home phone number.  The manager was listening to me this time and she came walking over with a sour look on her face like I had just committed some heinous crime.  She asked me if I had the receipt, to which I replied of course do you think I would even consider bringing something back to this store without a receipt that would like be a federal offence.  She didn’t think I was funny, she told the salesclerk to do the return since I had the receipt.  It was just at this time that Pete finally arrived and walked up.  Pete asked me what I was doing and I told him I thought I could save us some time by getting his return started.  I handed the item over to Pete and said here you can take over, I think they are mad at you, and I walked away. 

While Pete was completing his return I walked around the store with Bob and Steve.  Steve bought a nice baklava to wear when the weather gets really cold and Bob also pointed out where to find the rubber frames that slip on over your shows with the metal spikes for walking on ice during our hikes in the winter.  Steve is a wise man, he took Bob’s advice and purchased a pair of these spikes, he will definitely appreciate them during our winter hikes. 

After Steve made his purchases the three of us went outside to where we had parked our bikes.  Pete wasn’t there yet so I took his bike and moved it behind a large round pillar about 30 feet from where we were standing.  Bob rode down to the new Sears store, which used to be the old Kmart, to see if they had a food counter where we might possibly be able to get a snack.  Steve took a few pictures with his ever ready digital camera while we continued to wait for Pete.  Finally we decided to call Pete to find out where he was, we thought he might have sat down somewhere in the store and fallen asleep.  Pete answered and he told me he was checking out and would be with us in a minute.  When Pete finally came out of the store he looked around and said, “where’s my bike”.  We looked at him and said we didn’t know, we told him when we walked outside and his bike was gone we thought he had already left that is why we called him on the phone.  Pete looked perplexed, he said why would someone steal just my bike.  You could just see the wheels turning inside his head as he walked a few feet to be able to see his bike standing behind the pillar.  

Once Pete knew where his bike was I asked him what he had bought.  He pulled out of the bag a really good looking Detroit Red Wings red jersey.  When he turned it around we could see it had the number 13 and the name Datsyuk.  He had another jersey in the bag and when he pulled that one out we could see it was the same.  He had bought the second one for his daughter Megan.  Pete has always been partial to the Russian Red Wings, I think his previous jersey was a white Sergei Fedorov. 

Now that we had our returns and shopping done for the day it was time to head over for breakfast at the Greek Island.  Again, Pete was much more excited that normal for this breakfast, he kept talking about a new record, but wouldn’t give any details. 

The ride over to the Greek Island was at a decent pace.  It felt good to get out and actually pedal hard for a few minutes.  We parked our bikes right out side the window along the wooden slatted rail.  We all crammed into a booth next to the window.  I had already eaten breakfast when I got up at 6:30 am so at 10:30 am I was ready for my first lunch.   

Bob ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but without grilling the bread.  This really bothered Pete.  Pete couldn’t understand how you could get a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and not grill the bread.  I ordered a breakfast sandwich.  Pete ordered the breakfast special and when the waitress asked him how he wanted his eggs he said “Rocky style”.  She just stood there looking at Pete trying not to laugh, she had no idea what Pete meant by Rocky style.  Finally she said I don’t what you mean by Rocky style.  Pete wouldn’t tell her, he told her that she should just check with the cook and he would know what Rocky style means.  After all the commotion with Pete’s order I lost track and can’t remember what Steve ordered.  The waitress came back and said the cook told her Rocky style was just raw eggs in a cup.  Pete said that was correct.  She then asked Pete if that was how he really wanted them and Pete said absolutely.  So finally I knew the reason Pete was so excited for breakfast and what he meant by setting a new record today. 

We sat around talking for a few minutes having our usual good time talking about sports and politics.  Luckily we all are interested in sports and that usually consumes a good percentage of our conversation.  They are typically quite fast serving the meals at the Greek Island and true to form our food showed up quickly.  We were all curious to see the Rocky style eggs Pete had ordered.  Sure enough, Pete got a small bowl with two very large raw eggs in the bowl.  I took out my phone camera and Steve was ready with his digital camera, we were both planning to record this event with pictures.  Pete was laughing as he picked up the raw eggs, he was laughing so hard his eyes turned to narrow openings as happens to Pete when ever he laughs or drinks too much.  He didn’t waste any time, he thrust the small bowl to his lips and with three large gulps he consumed the entire contents.  The only disappointing thing was there wasn’t any residue dripping down the side of his mouth afterward.  Pete slammed the bowl down on the table, he stood up and announced for everyone in the restaurant to hear “Let’s see you beat that Tom”.  At first we weren’t sure what he was talking about since there wasn’t anybody named Tom around, but then it came to us that he was challenging my brother and fellow bike club member to match the new record of most raw eggs consumed during a bike club meal.  We all had a good laugh over this activity.  

Pete was obviously planning this stunt for a while.  He came prepared with a pack of Rolaids in his pocket.  A few minutes later he said he was feeling better than expected and probably wouldn’t need the Rolaids after all.  After some encouragement from us Pete did take at least one Rolaids tablet.  When asked what the eggs tasted like Pete responded, and I quote “ It kind of tasted like drinking snot”.  Needless to say it was a little difficult for us to finish our meals, but we did.  I will post the pictures I took with my phone at the bottom of this story.  A few days later Steve dropped off a CD with the pictures he has taken from various bike rides including this one.  I will make a separate age for each group of Steve’s pictures.  You can get to Steve’s pictures from the picture page, follow this link. 

After breakfast we basically rode straight home.  The weather held up nicely and we felt fortunate to get in a decent bike ride before the rain and wind took over.  Following are the statistics from this ride, 14.9 miles, 34.5 max mph, 10.3 avg mph and 1 hour 26 minutes of actual time on bikes.  
David Lindquist