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Over the past two years Lauren has become Team Bicycles, Inc.'s semi-official photographer. She is expected at many races and has sold her pictures throughout Texas.
In 2002, however, she started to ride. Usually she rides a
tandem
with me, however, she has ventured out on several solo rides. She
has done 50 miles for the first time at HHH, 2002 and since.
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Pages of Interest:
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©2002-7 A.G. Hollinger All rights reserved. |
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I
got my first bike, post paper-route, when I turned 30 - a lifetime ago. Now,
I ride for the for the freedom ... the passion of achievement and
competition ... the wonder of the Texas prairie around Palo Pinto as seen
through sweat ... the sense of one-ness with the road, the open spaces,
nature and distance. It is the part of life consisting of exertion,
striving, working, struggling ... of sweat so thick that the white flakes
stiffen my jersey and shorts ... of riding so hard that the color drains
from my eyesight and the beautiful Texas countryside becomes shades of gray
... of seeing the Peloton drift off and me being powerless to stay with them
... or by staying along-side them, inches apart, at 27 mph while others fall
off the back ...for making it up Roanoke Hill with the boys and through the
hills of Trophy Club - with the BOYS! Yes! and sailing home, wind at our
backs, along White Chapel Road accelerating past suburban sprawl and the
normalcy of Soccer Heaven in Colleyville every Tuesday and Thursday of
summer. ...
I ride because I can stay with the big-boys in Rallies, the pay-rides, and
finish with few in front and many behind .... I ride because it is an honor
to be atop my beloved and beautiful white Cinelli Supercorsa (the most
beautiful bike ever made) with its pearl paint and Buick level chrome ... or
to be pushing, surging as fast as I can - only to have my Colnago C-40
(God's own bike) and now my new, incredibly gorgeous C50 laugh at my effort and demand more of me - and I find it.
I ride because my Campagnolo Carbon Record 10 combines world-class
engineering with elegance, grace and
beauty
beyond any other possession ... I ride to see Elvis dance on Mike Reade's
hubs as he flies past me up (or down) the big hill on Route 4 outside Palo
Pinto ... I ride to see the Texas dawn through the mist in the draws along
our route around Eagle Mountain Lake and the Prairie come alive. To make
the 62 miles in Mesquite, through hills and corners, in 2:42 ... for the
smiles, stories and lies at the end of the race/ride among comrades! I ride
because the woman I love, loves me on a bike, whether leading or part of the
peloton or struggling off the back, she knows I will finish - only to go
again - always to ride again. It is not just being over 50 and being able to see
one's shoes and belt, it is not just the exercise to counteract the
sedentary business life - it is life's adventure, its raging spirit, its
exertion with rewards unknown. On the bicycle, maybe throughout my life, I
keep writing checks it takes all of me - my body, mind and sprit - to cash.
