A smile, a wave ... and a motor

Cyclists seem to be a naturally friendly sort of people. There's always a wave, a smile, a "hey, how are ya?" when you come upon another rider — unless, of course, that rider is heading up a mini-Mt. Washington, huffing, puffing, sweating and swearing, while you're zooming down at 30 mph.

So, is it just me or does everyone have this kind of reaction when another bike appears on the horizon: I right myself on my bike (instead of slumping over because of the pain), make sure my pedal stroke is strong and smooth, and immediately get my breathing under control so my chest doesn't look like it's ballooning in and out like a cartoon character.

Riding with Mary Jane

Ah, the aromas you smell on a morining bike ride in the spring: freshly cut grass, lilacs in bloom, bacon through an open kitchen window, manure in the rural spots ... marijuana. Yes, marijuana.

Over the holiday weekend I did a 30-mile route that included parts of 202 through Gorham and a stretch of Rte. 22 heading back up through Scarborough and on into Westbrook. It was during a Buxton/Scarborough stretch that a truck zoomed past with the very distinct scent of Mary Jane billowing from its windows.

A week of rest

So the bike stayed in the garage for an entire week. No excuses really, except that it took me three days to recover from the fun of ripping apart the floor of my front porch with my father and laying a new floor down. He was the master cutter of the 1x8s. I was the nailer. He stood up and whipped his tape measure around. I spent four hours on my knees pounding about 12,000 nails into every piece of wood.

My legs hurt, my knees hurt, my butt hurt, my shoulders hurt.

So, no bike.

Make it stop Auntie Em

One of the biggest sucks in biking is getting all gear up, stretched out, watered and pumped only to get on your bike and realize the wind is tossing you around like you're Dorothy no matter which way you turn. You pedal hard when you should be spinning but you're not really getting anywhere and you expect to see the Wicked Witch around every corner. (Oh no, Glenda the Good Witch certainly won't be waiting there.)

What do you do? Turn around, head back to the house and hit the gym instead? Hell no. You keep pedalling, hoping that when you make that left up ahead at the intersection the wind will be waiting to give you a nice push from the back. Well, maybe it will happen at the next intersection. Or the next.

Sign up and ride

So have YOU signed up for a summer fund-raising ride yet? Now's the time to get on board for one of the many events around the state that raise money for worthwhile charities.

You can start with the Women's Ride for Heart Health on June 1 as a tune-up for the Trek Across Maine (June 13-15), use the Tour de Cure on June 22 as a cool down and then get ready for the rest of the summer's schedule:

Mountains? Well ... maybe not

At first I thought I was going to be a mountain biker. The only reason was because I had friends who enjoyed propelling themselves and their bikes over rocks and tree limbs and through wooded trails — and one of them had a bike I could borrow.

Can't say that I enjoyed it much, especially since no one bothered to mention to the rookie that investing in padded shorts was a must.