Road of Shedded Pain

 
Between MacArthur and Lake Hefner there is a small little road that barely any motorists have used.  I'm almost certain more cyclists have used it two fold. The street name is Canal Rd.  The canal is what feeds Lake Hefner.  There is no natural run-off rain water for the Lake, so it has to be force fed.  This is fitting for this stretch of road.  All cyclists have some part of a route that they don't like.  I don't care how happy go lucky a person you are.  One part of your ride is a bugger.  I always thought it would have been Independence and NW Expressway, but I'm used to it and good at handling traffic.  No, my beast is Canal Rd.

What is it about this SHORT, LITTLE road that just drains me?  Every time I get there the wind is blowing against me.  The pavement is rough and seems to slow me down.  It is BORING.  It is a transition zone.  I takes me between the lake and my gym.  When I leave the gym to get back to the office I'm on this road shortly.  The gym crushing my soul and my muscles, I'm in weak form and this road laughs at me.  There is never ANY ONE else on that road.  Maybe 4 other people (cars and cyclists) in the three years I've been keeping track have been on the road at the same time as me. 

Maybe because I'm leaving people behind?  You know how there is this whole perception that you are only trying to race against yourself?  That is a whole bit of hog-wash.  You always want to catch and pass the person in front of you.  You never want any one to pass you.  So why is this road hard for me?  Maybe because I am catching my breathe after chasing down people way faster than me. 

There is a sick satisfaction a person can get by passing someone that looks faster than them.  If you pass a pack of guys wearing lycra and matching logos in their early thirties you feel good about yourself.  But God forbid you let them pass you back.  You have to keep pounding away on those pedals until your exit so you look fast and you motivate those guys to get better so that they can keep up with you.  So Canal Rd is my exit in which I catch my breathe, drop my head in relief and my MPH drops at least 5 units. 

I also use Grand Blvd as an impressive exit.  :)

I think this is why I dress in a mixture of road bike and mountain bike clothes.  In the instance I do get passed the person is a bit confused.  They see someone on a road bike, but someone that is not 100% road bike committed.  I'm not the guy that looks like I should be fast.  I'm the guy that is road biking because Bluff Creek is too muddy.  DAMN MY EGO!!!!

So here's to you Canal Rd.  You bastard, I shall cross you many times in the future, but one day I will have the last laugh.