Johnny D

I was so tired while blogging Sunday, I forgot to mention an instant classic rider that was on our ride. By way of background, I was co-leading the ride with Maggie -- a woman I met through the club that did a cross-country ride two years ago. Maggie was in front of the pack and I was sweeping in the rear. At a stop light about 10miles into the ride, she veers into a gas station and the group stops. One of the riders had to go to the bathroom badly. Maggie pulled me aside and asked me if I would tell the guy who went to the bathroom to take off his headphones (wearing an ipod is against NYCC rules). "Sure" I said.

After the guy emerged from the bathroom and got back on his bike I casually introduced myself. "Johnny D" he replies in a thick NY accent. He goes on to tell me that he's not listening to music. That he has the headphones on because he has an earache from being seasick all night on a Tuna fishing trip in Montauk. He also tells me this is an easy ride for him because he isn't feeling well -- that he usually does long and fast rides. Confused by both how the headphones were helping his earache and how he was riding 80 miles after being out all night on a fishing trip, I just said okay and moved on.

Johnny D is a strong rider and he's not afraid to show it. At random times he'd just shoot out in front of the pack as if he had a motor on his bike. We climbed a tough unexpected (albeit short) hill and I tried to make small talk about how steep it was. He fired back with a story about how he rode his stumpjumper up a 30 mile hill one time. He was constantly making quick movements around obstacles on his bike -- on one hand it was dangerous but he was clearly in control of his ride. To this point I thought the guy was mildly entertaining. What came next made him downright intriguing.

Waiting at a light about 40 miles into the ride I smelled smoke -- cigarette smoke. I assumed it was coming from a stopped car but it was pretty strong so I turned around to look behind me. Low and behold, Johnny D is cranking on a Marlboro red. Yes, he was smoking cigarettes on the ride. He held back to finish the smoke. I saw at least 3 or 4 other times when he light up. Then on the way back to the bridge 75 miles into the ride and who knows how many cigarettes, he just blows past me as I'm trying to go as fast as I can. Incredible. And so begins the legend of Johnny D.