Courteous Mass Kicked My Bass

It started out innocently enough...a casual email from my friend Patrick, "attached are the details of the Courteous Mass bike ride. Emily is also planning on going - it's a really easy bike ride, so if it sounds interesting, maybe you and Jonathan could plan on meeting us there."

Little did I know it would be the bike ride now known as the "Courteous Mass that Kicked My Bass."

My plan was to join in on the first mini leg of the 5-6 mile route, that would conveniently take me over to Prince, left onto Milledge, and allow me to turn right onto Hill towards the flat easy streets of my house. With my printed out map cut into a small bite-sized morsel, I was ready to bike a whole mile.



"Do you need a map?" asked one of the BikeAthens volunteers.

"No thanks, I have one," I replied.

"Do you know the route has changed? We're going in reverse."

WTF?!? That meant my plan for early departure was canned. Did I dare attempt the entire ride? Since the route was reversed, there was no mini-leg I could choose that would allow me to turn around and find myself home any quicker than the proposed route. Suddenly the grim warnings of my orthopedic doctor were booming, lecturing me on how I should stay in bed 24/7 in a drug-induced stupor or else I'd have my back fused.

"You wouldn't even make it through a beginner's pilates class," I remembered my EX-physical therapist. That memory pissed me off enough to try the entire route.

We peddled our way through downtown, and zipped our way through campus, under the bridge, around the Ramsey Center, onto College Station, then right onto Riverbend.

Then it began -- the realization I might not make it back home without divine intervention. Riverbend Road may not look hilly from the car, but according to my legs and back, it might as well been a mountain. Half way through the hill, I decided I would walk the rest of the hill. Very soon the mass of riders passed us and it was just me and a very concerned Jonathan. We made our way to Milledge and finally joined the rest of the group. Luckily, the rest of the route was flat and pretty uneventful. By the time we made it to Hill, Jonathan and I left the group to make our way home. I laid under the fan with a heating pad under my back for about 30 minutes, marveling over the fact I made it the entire 5-6 mile route. I contemplated taking a pain pill, but opted for the promise of a cold beer.

Update: Patrick thinks the route was actually 8 miles instead of 5-6 miles.