Throwback Thursday

I have been wanting to take the old Merckx out for a while. Poor old bessy has been relegated to the training stand for the last two years without ever tasting any pavement. Today she ate it up with pleasure! A pleasure for me too... a bit wobbly at lower speeds, but then solid as an ox as the speed goes above a crawl. I even dragged a pedal in a curve - I was getting so confident and throwing down the power. Nice to feel the ride of a metal frame again... don't get me wrong, I much prefer the newer "plastic" ride and the new bike is much more proficient and easy to ride. Just that... yeah, it was nice when, too...

Then, I got sort of bent out of shape at a driver who didn't see me and entered into a roundabout and then stopped midway right in front of me as he was unsure about directions. Almost comical in hindsight the look on his face as I skidded straight toward his door and window. Boy was I angry. Then I made the mistake to yell the F word as he was driving off and I was getting under way. It wasn't so much intended for him as much as to blow off steam... but he heard it anyway and skidded to a stop, threw the van in reverse and shouted at me. Funny Italians.... they hate the F word (actaully starts with a V in Italian). He was absolutely in the wrong and then feels he needs to avenge himself for a silly word. I thought he was going to come after me to run me down.... haha, I waved him off and kept riding without looking back.

Shortly after, I pulled off at my favorite stop to take this picture of the Merckx among the rapeseed and let the breeze blow over...

Update: A few more.