Karlos, aka the Naked Indian, is a special character. Part mtb racer, promoter, comedian, explorer, adventurer, family man, friend and male model, he is one of my favorite guys to ride with. Karlos plans to ride the Great Divide route in the near future, and has focused his training on overnight epics and other bikepacking adventures.
Amidst all this, he organizes local events for like-minded cyclists. On Janurary 3rd I kicked off my season of riding with the eponymous Naked Indian ride. This, the second edition of the ride, was made more interesting by adding scavenger-hunt-like elements. The riding itself was a mixture of sidewalk, paved road, sand trap, singletrack and bike path.
As the ride began, I donned my pink cape and pink and lavender tassels that I knew would be key to alienating myself from the other riders so that I could take all the glory for myself.
The plan worked very nicely. The increase in aerodynamic drag caused by the cape and tassels stymied the efforts of the other riders to draft me. After 25 miles or so Rob and I found ourselves alone at the front of the pack while the rest of the pack got lost or stopped to smell the flowers.
We made it to the beer-drinking stop with time to eat and relax before the rest of the pack showed up. I drank multiple beers and when we finally got going again I was probably drunk. Nonetheless, I hammered on and Rob and I broke away again. Rob was not put off by my cape and pink tassels. This was a good thing, for as we rode along the streets of Deltona, with my cape fully extended and flowing behind me like a maiden's hair, women were honking and throwing themselves at us. We had no time to stop and enjoy these offerings for we were riding with a mission: victory. Rob proved to be more interested in watching my cape flutter than winning the trophy, so he helped me find the targets and accrue more points. He also took some excellent photographs. Thanks Rob!
Rob and I pulled into the finishing area to find a magnificent caché of food and drink. When the pack arrived the points were tallied and I was declared the Naked Indian trophy winner.
So, better late than never, thanks to Karlos and his assistants for putting together and running this event. Next up I will attempt to document the next Singletrack Samurai event, the SSAR, which involved more photo shenanigans and beer-drinking (some cycling too).
