Robin's Bikes and Fitness

After much internal debate the fat guy decided to go to the 7:30 a.m. ride at Robins Bikes and Fitness. The fat guy was extremely nervous do to the very nature of cycling and the lack of clydsdale riders in most areas.

Upon arrival the suspicions were confirmed as the two or three who had arrived were extremely atheletic looking and more than likely at average to better than average cycling weight. Over the next few minutes some more came in and you could distinguish the vacationers from the locals. Pretty much by the fact that the vacationers were the only ones talking to each other as the locals went on about thier business.

We started the ride and eventually formed into a pace line. The fat guy has never done a pace line of over 5-6 people so he was very nervous about one that contained around 20. After a while things settled in the fat guys tum tum and the ride was very enjoyable. The beauty of a pace line is that the people in the middle or back exert about 40% less energy than the ones in front. So we were cruising and not really feeling the affects. Which can be good but also bad because you don't get the same workout.

We went on for several miles until we came to a neighborhood where I was told everyone would do a 3 mile sprint and we would meet up at the end. Not knowing the area at all the fat guy decided to take off on his own and try and at least keep the fit riders in the view. This worked well except the fat guy started really huffing and buffing and with about a half mile left, about 4 dudes in a pace line flew by me like I was standing still. That wasn't fun.

Fast forward to the third day. . . The fat guy and another from Georgia decided to do like the day before and draft off of each other, it worked great and we stayed above 22 mph the whole time.

On this day I think the locals decided to have a race at the end of the sprint. So we are all grouped up together from pretty much the get go. We were flying. . The fat guy was waiting for the break away but it seemed as though it wouldn't come. So the fat guy took advantage and stayed with the group. Then it came to near the end and all of the sudden the atheletes took off. It was very impressive. The best part. . .the fat guy was very close in the end. The fat guy poured in off and overtook many riders. At the end, Robin, the owner told the fat guy "nice job". That meant a lot to the fat guy and it felt like quite the accomplishment.

The fat guy has a massive power plant. There is virutally no fat on the legs. Once the pony keg is gone the fat guy will be a force to be reckoned with. The speed on this days sprint never dipped below 27 mph for the 3 miles. It was awesome.

The Promised Land

The fat guy has just had the best week of cycling to date. The fat guy took the family down to Destin, Fl. for spring break. Under concealed protest (don't want to go there) from the fat guy's wife he took the Trek down to Destin along with all the baggage and the family.

The first two days were spent riding on HWY 98 which for anyone who has been down there is not the lightest traffic in the world. It can be down right dangerous. The first day was spent riding across Destin Bridge towards Okaloosa island. This was a fun ride and the traffic wasn't horrible since it was early on a Sunday morning. Going across the Destin bridge was fantastic! This was about a 12 mile ride and would have been longer if the territory was better known.]

Day two sees the fat guy traveling towards San Destin. The fat guy's wife wanted to go to the outlet malls the day before and we noticed it was around a 15 mile round trip. This day was different since the traffic was MUCH worse.

The fat guy really wanted to find a safer and better route and had made attempts before leaving Murray to find out if there were cycling clubs. The Destin Chamber of Commerce was nice but had no clue as to any routes and there was no time before we left to contact Ft. Walton. One thing is for sure, if there were any, you could not even google them. Nothing, nada, came up.

As far as bike shops, all google produced was Billy Bobs Bike-o-rama where for $30 a day you could rent a fancy beach cruiser or a moped.

It was on the way down to the outlet mall that the answer finnally came. On the right side of the road, there it was. . . .Robin's Bike and Fitness. You could tell it was a real shop from the highway.

The fat guy's wife let him drop them off that evening and go to the shop to have a look see. When asked for a ride map I was told by Amy that a group left from there every morning at 7:30 a.m. and did a 30 mile route. I made sure of the average speed and decided to try it.

The story will continue in another post. . .