Cycling Background

Breakfast Breakaway

A few weeks after joining the bike club, on a Saturday morning John and I rode with a friend in the club, Paul K who was also new to the club. The route went out about 20 miles to the west to Oswego; we would have breakfast and then return to the park district.  The designated restaurant for breakfast: McDonalds in Montgomery.  The ride sounded good, but the restaurant didn't.   The route to Oswego first went southwest and the west.
As we rode my brain was working at times consciously and sometimes subconsciously.  On prior Sat breakfast rides we had gone to real restaurants.  In fact one was in Oswego and it was pretty good.  I starting thinking and calculating about how much time we would need to have breakfast in Oswego and join the group before they finished at McDonalds.  While the slower riders were going about 11mph, we were going at 15 or 16.  We had over 12 mi to go so we would gain over 20 min.  If we ordered as soon as we sat down in the restaurant and did not linger over coffee we could eat in 45 or less.  Even though McDonalds is fast it wouldn't be that fast with 15 riders coming.  And some riders tend to dawdle as long as possible at a rest stop.
I explained my calculations to John & Paul.  The worst scenario would be riding home alone.  Since we knew how to get home we opted for the quality breakfast.  To gain more time we sped up to breakaway from the pack; we were on a breakfast breakaway in a small pace line with another rider.  Being focused on a good breakfast we lost track of space and time until we were turning on Main St where the Main Restaurant is.
As soon as the owner (waiter) came we ordered breakfast.  Since there were only a couple of other tables occupied we were served and ate quickly, frequently checking the time.  Within 45 minutes we got back on our bikes heading for McDonalds which was just over two miles away.  The main group of riders were still at McDonalds when we arrived, so we lingered with them for a few minutes before heading back for the park district.

updated: 11 years ago