Just getting to the park turned out to be impossible for some of us tonight. Highway 60 is in the process of a chip-n-seal treatment, and the crew was directly in front of the park applying the heavy coat of tar as our starting time drew near. Allen, Strunk, Galloway, Jarrard, Jimmy, Rand, and Robin got into the park; Miller, WinD, John T., Dan, and I went to Huck's in Orleans. DfO met the other guys out on the course. We finally all joined up near 337, and our wagon train made its way out to the county line.
It was an impressive sight to see so many bikers out there! It would make setting up the workout a bit more complicated, but that's a problem we like to have. There were riders of all levels, which is good news because it is more inviting to beginning riders to know they won't get left behind.
The real issue was what type of workout we should do. Realistically there were only going to be 10 possible riders for the pace line. That number is a bit large due to the oscillation that sets in when the number gets that high. This is exacerbated by the various fitness levels of the riders AND relative experience. There would be virtually no chance of holding the line intact throughout the ride, so risking unnecessary wrecks for an unattainable goal didn't seem reasonable.
We had two reasonable was to go. First, we could time trial. This is an individual event, so there would be no risk of wrecking others. The other way to go would be to split the group in half and have two groups. This was thrown out to the group, and the majority favored two group pace line. I'd have to agree with this based on the direction of the wind. Though light, there was enough headwind on the route to make a good effort for everyone difficult (and discouraging). Better to go with the pace lines.
The ladies turned back before Bromer, and Rand went his usual solo at the turn. Galloway, Strunk, Allen, and Dan followed a minute or so later. We planned to give them a bit more time, maybe a minute-and-a-half, but DfO needed to make a last-minute adjustment to his bike. That stretched us out to two-and-a-half minutes, and a dead stop start at that. The chances of catching the first group seemed slim.
Our order, as determined before, was Mike, Jimmy, DfO, me, Miller, and John T. As we rounded the corner onto 337, DfO said, "You're not going after ME, are you?!" The last two weeks I've followed him, and my first pull is where he got dropped. "Ok, I'll go in front of you." Now our order was set.
When we were determining who would go in what group, I stated our group would be going 25-26 mph. Mike took it up to 25+ and held it there nicely for a great 2-minute leg. Jimmy followed up with a solid 24+, also for around 2 minutes. My leg began as we were heading into the turns leading into Bromer. I brought it back up to 25+, held it through Bromer, then began to accelerate as we headed west out of town. We entered the first hill at 26, and I started watching. I could see DfO's shadow, and I watched the distance open. I backed down. He slowly caught back on, then I edged up again, perhaps 23-24 mph. He fell again, this time for good. He pulled out and was done.
I don't feel good about that. I know he doesn't care, but it does bother me a bit. I'm going to be certain to position myself away from his slot next week.
Down to five riders, I rode a bit further and then tapped. Miller came on, started 26+, then settled down a bit into the high 24's. His computer was dead, so he had no idea what he was riding. He was followed by John, who had a solid high 24 average ride. He too sported a dead computer, so hats off to both guys for pulling blindfolded.
Mike's 2nd turn was just past Pumpkin Center turn, just as the road turns north and pitches up slightly. This was directly into the light headwind, but in my opinion made it one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) pull tonight. He took us through the rollers to the lip of Lost River Valley before handing to Jimmy.
Backing up again, I had a guess when John T. was pulling that Jimmy would rotate into his 2nd pull in time to do Lost River Hill. I told him I had no trouble doing it, but he'd need to decide well in advance what he wanted to do.
Now Jimmy was gliding down the big drop, then husbanding his speed as best he could across the flats of the valley. I estimated he had to the big tree to make up his mind. If he went beyond that and tapped, getting dropped was a certainty. I was totally fresh.
He tapped before, so the hill was going to be mine. I held constant speed until I heard the call, then I picked it up. I hit the bridge around 24-25 mph, but tried hard to hang onto as much as I could. Two-thirds up is the moment of truth, and we still had over 20 mph. At this point I knew we could get over the top above 20, so I kept at it. This was also the point we caught and passed the first group. We topped at 21 mph, Galloway waiting on his troops to regather themselves.
Ordinarily, if you get Lost River, you stay in the lead until you can bring the pace back up, then tap. I recovered instantly over the top, then brought the pace back up. I'd looked back and saw Miller was there, so I had to assume the group was still with me. 25, 26, 27 mph... into the rollers we were really starting to cook. I was not pressing, it was all coming so easily. I decided to give up the lead as we ended the rollers and headed into the final downhill before the last uphill.
This was Miller's 2nd pull. He did a good job, but near the top I could feel he was straining a bit. This is where the Jimmy in me came out - opportunity knocked. John T. took over after Miller tapped, and by now opportunity was banging on the door. We were down to three, Miller looked a bit spent, and John T. was burning some of his edge. I was in the perfect spot at the perfect time to capitalize.
John T. didn't lay off. He took us to the break at 27+. At the break I knew to win I had to hit it right away. Any longer and Miller would recover, or John T. could control the pace long enough to out kick me.
When I broke, I went wide and fast to make it difficult for John T. to attach. Miller had no such trouble, heck, I telegraphed my move by looking over my shoulder. He was ready the second I went. John T. was peeled away, so now it was down to what Miller had left. I took it 30+, holding it down the stretch. It was just enough. Miller was coming around, but couldn't quite press pass me. I knew he was there, I could hear his tires, but he was just tired enough not to get back.
The real excitement came moments later. A car screeched to a halt beside Miller, pretty much forcing him off the road. I was 100 yards away, turning around, watching it unfold. This guy was going aggressive, so I was hurrying back. About that time, Miller got on his back, took one more disgusted look over his shoulder, and started to ride away. The guy jumped out of his car and began to chase Miller.
By this time I was close, maybe 20 yards. "Knock it off!" I yelled as I moved quickly toward him. He might have been drunk or high, but obviously he could still count. He had the one he was chasing at 12 o'clock, a biker chasing him at 3 o'clock, and 10 more coming at him at 12 o'clock. He darted back to his car, got in, and peeled out. Sure, he cursed something unintelligible as a parting gift, but no one got hurt.
So, drunken brawl averted, we get down to the numbers.
Group A - Galloway did the bulk of the pulling I am told, and the group was rewarded with a 21.7 mph average.
Group B - Other than DfO getting dropped early, everyone got a couple of good pulls. The overall average was 24.4 mph, better than the last two weeks.
Group R (Rand) - I never did hear his number. He complained his bike only got up to 24 mph on the final sprint, but Jimmy adroitly pointed out he'd pulled all the way. Excellent point!
Run tomorrow, ride again Thursday?
It was an impressive sight to see so many bikers out there! It would make setting up the workout a bit more complicated, but that's a problem we like to have. There were riders of all levels, which is good news because it is more inviting to beginning riders to know they won't get left behind.
The real issue was what type of workout we should do. Realistically there were only going to be 10 possible riders for the pace line. That number is a bit large due to the oscillation that sets in when the number gets that high. This is exacerbated by the various fitness levels of the riders AND relative experience. There would be virtually no chance of holding the line intact throughout the ride, so risking unnecessary wrecks for an unattainable goal didn't seem reasonable.
We had two reasonable was to go. First, we could time trial. This is an individual event, so there would be no risk of wrecking others. The other way to go would be to split the group in half and have two groups. This was thrown out to the group, and the majority favored two group pace line. I'd have to agree with this based on the direction of the wind. Though light, there was enough headwind on the route to make a good effort for everyone difficult (and discouraging). Better to go with the pace lines.
The ladies turned back before Bromer, and Rand went his usual solo at the turn. Galloway, Strunk, Allen, and Dan followed a minute or so later. We planned to give them a bit more time, maybe a minute-and-a-half, but DfO needed to make a last-minute adjustment to his bike. That stretched us out to two-and-a-half minutes, and a dead stop start at that. The chances of catching the first group seemed slim.
Our order, as determined before, was Mike, Jimmy, DfO, me, Miller, and John T. As we rounded the corner onto 337, DfO said, "You're not going after ME, are you?!" The last two weeks I've followed him, and my first pull is where he got dropped. "Ok, I'll go in front of you." Now our order was set.
When we were determining who would go in what group, I stated our group would be going 25-26 mph. Mike took it up to 25+ and held it there nicely for a great 2-minute leg. Jimmy followed up with a solid 24+, also for around 2 minutes. My leg began as we were heading into the turns leading into Bromer. I brought it back up to 25+, held it through Bromer, then began to accelerate as we headed west out of town. We entered the first hill at 26, and I started watching. I could see DfO's shadow, and I watched the distance open. I backed down. He slowly caught back on, then I edged up again, perhaps 23-24 mph. He fell again, this time for good. He pulled out and was done.
I don't feel good about that. I know he doesn't care, but it does bother me a bit. I'm going to be certain to position myself away from his slot next week.
Down to five riders, I rode a bit further and then tapped. Miller came on, started 26+, then settled down a bit into the high 24's. His computer was dead, so he had no idea what he was riding. He was followed by John, who had a solid high 24 average ride. He too sported a dead computer, so hats off to both guys for pulling blindfolded.
Mike's 2nd turn was just past Pumpkin Center turn, just as the road turns north and pitches up slightly. This was directly into the light headwind, but in my opinion made it one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) pull tonight. He took us through the rollers to the lip of Lost River Valley before handing to Jimmy.
Backing up again, I had a guess when John T. was pulling that Jimmy would rotate into his 2nd pull in time to do Lost River Hill. I told him I had no trouble doing it, but he'd need to decide well in advance what he wanted to do.
Now Jimmy was gliding down the big drop, then husbanding his speed as best he could across the flats of the valley. I estimated he had to the big tree to make up his mind. If he went beyond that and tapped, getting dropped was a certainty. I was totally fresh.
He tapped before, so the hill was going to be mine. I held constant speed until I heard the call, then I picked it up. I hit the bridge around 24-25 mph, but tried hard to hang onto as much as I could. Two-thirds up is the moment of truth, and we still had over 20 mph. At this point I knew we could get over the top above 20, so I kept at it. This was also the point we caught and passed the first group. We topped at 21 mph, Galloway waiting on his troops to regather themselves.
Ordinarily, if you get Lost River, you stay in the lead until you can bring the pace back up, then tap. I recovered instantly over the top, then brought the pace back up. I'd looked back and saw Miller was there, so I had to assume the group was still with me. 25, 26, 27 mph... into the rollers we were really starting to cook. I was not pressing, it was all coming so easily. I decided to give up the lead as we ended the rollers and headed into the final downhill before the last uphill.
This was Miller's 2nd pull. He did a good job, but near the top I could feel he was straining a bit. This is where the Jimmy in me came out - opportunity knocked. John T. took over after Miller tapped, and by now opportunity was banging on the door. We were down to three, Miller looked a bit spent, and John T. was burning some of his edge. I was in the perfect spot at the perfect time to capitalize.
John T. didn't lay off. He took us to the break at 27+. At the break I knew to win I had to hit it right away. Any longer and Miller would recover, or John T. could control the pace long enough to out kick me.
When I broke, I went wide and fast to make it difficult for John T. to attach. Miller had no such trouble, heck, I telegraphed my move by looking over my shoulder. He was ready the second I went. John T. was peeled away, so now it was down to what Miller had left. I took it 30+, holding it down the stretch. It was just enough. Miller was coming around, but couldn't quite press pass me. I knew he was there, I could hear his tires, but he was just tired enough not to get back.
The real excitement came moments later. A car screeched to a halt beside Miller, pretty much forcing him off the road. I was 100 yards away, turning around, watching it unfold. This guy was going aggressive, so I was hurrying back. About that time, Miller got on his back, took one more disgusted look over his shoulder, and started to ride away. The guy jumped out of his car and began to chase Miller.
By this time I was close, maybe 20 yards. "Knock it off!" I yelled as I moved quickly toward him. He might have been drunk or high, but obviously he could still count. He had the one he was chasing at 12 o'clock, a biker chasing him at 3 o'clock, and 10 more coming at him at 12 o'clock. He darted back to his car, got in, and peeled out. Sure, he cursed something unintelligible as a parting gift, but no one got hurt.
So, drunken brawl averted, we get down to the numbers.
Group A - Galloway did the bulk of the pulling I am told, and the group was rewarded with a 21.7 mph average.
Group B - Other than DfO getting dropped early, everyone got a couple of good pulls. The overall average was 24.4 mph, better than the last two weeks.
Group R (Rand) - I never did hear his number. He complained his bike only got up to 24 mph on the final sprint, but Jimmy adroitly pointed out he'd pulled all the way. Excellent point!
Run tomorrow, ride again Thursday?
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