Tuesday. Northwest winds, 10-15 mph. Yup, we were biking from Spring Mill, and it was Pace Line Tuesday.
10 of us made the ride tonight. A Group (as we've all come to call these things) was Miller, John T., Jimmy, Sam, and me. B Group was Galloway, Strunk, Allen, Dan, and DfO. This was settled almost before the ride began.
With the brisk tailwind going out, we all got into a loose line and stayed to the promised 20 mph limit imposed by Jimmy. It was tough. When you're sitting up and coasting uphill to avoid breaking 20 mph, you know it's easy. You also know there's going to be an awful price to pay.
Once at the county line, it was time to set the first group out. Two minutes was the decided gap, and after the time elapsed, the chase was on.
Jimmy started us out with a nice little turn of 24+. It wasn't easy, even in the early going. The wind was strong! He passed on to Sam after a minute (we'd agreed it wise to take shorter pulls tonight), and Sam took it over 25. He tapered down a bit before handing to John.
John's pull was strong in spite of being in the open and in the hardest part of the straightaway heading into Bromer. He held 22-24 mph, and it couldn't have been easy.
Miller took over in Bromer, leading us almost directly into a headwind for much of his pull. He tapped on schedule as we left town, and it was my turn.
I had the first hill, and I wanted to take it as strongly as possible. I was 24-25 going into the hill, but it didn't last. We topped around 18 mph, and it was tough to get the speed up again. I knew it would be - the tailwind had been particularly kind at this segment on the way out - but I felt I was holding up the group because I couldn't better 21.5 mph at that segment. I was over 2 minutes in at that point, so I tapped.
Jimmy took over, and I could see it wasn't just me. He struggled to hold 20, as did Sam after him. John T. didn't struggle though. He kept the steady 22-23 for the next bit, holding a longer pull until Pumpkin Center. Miller was up.
We'd been seeing the B group inching closer to us for some time. At first it seemed as if we'd get them quickly but whoever took over for them halfway to this point was doing a nice job of keeping us at bay. With Miller on lead, it was only a matter of time. I figured we'd catch them during his pull, but he handed to me just after the very difficult north stretch heading into Lost River.
There was no doubt in my mind I would hold the lead until we caught B group, just as I was determined to avoid getting "jumped" by a B team member. We went hard and wide past the group, and sure enough one of the members attempted to attach as we passed. Momentarily it looked as though it might succeed, but Lost River Hill would soon settle that. I went hard up the hill, and despite topping out at just over 15 mph, it was enough to break off the jumper. I was trying to take the speed back up, but Jimmy was beginning to struggle to hold it. I decided to tap and let him lead (and set pace) for a bit.
Jimmy misunderstood and dropped to the back of the line, passing his turn. This put Sam on the front, and he did a great job of pulling again. Unfortunately, he held it too long, tapping himself out with a little over 2 miles to go.
John T. went to work again, pulling us up the final hill. Once again, it was a strong effort, and I had begun to assess my chances for getting a third win in as many weeks.
Miller took over at the top of the last hill, but it was a relatively short lead of half a mile with some trees shielding much of the downhill course he had left. This meant the pull probably wouldn't tax him enough to remove him from the sprint picture. What to do?
At the break hill, I stayed on his tail. I made no move until about a half the remaining distance had passed. I felt if I waited any longer his superior speed would be unbeatable; if I went now, my conditioning might decide the issue.
Taking one last look over my shoulder (thus telegraphing my intent to John T., right behind me) I went. I didn't bother to check to see if anyone was there, because I knew they must be. I could only muster 27 mph in the strong headwind, which was far harder on me than anyone following. If John T. or Miller were right on me, it would likely be child's play to make the move around me at the end.
I went anyway. As the line neared, I kept waiting for the pass that never came. I crossed the line, surprised as anyone, winning the sprint again.
Now to be fair to my compatriots, let me assess how this was possible:
10 of us made the ride tonight. A Group (as we've all come to call these things) was Miller, John T., Jimmy, Sam, and me. B Group was Galloway, Strunk, Allen, Dan, and DfO. This was settled almost before the ride began.
With the brisk tailwind going out, we all got into a loose line and stayed to the promised 20 mph limit imposed by Jimmy. It was tough. When you're sitting up and coasting uphill to avoid breaking 20 mph, you know it's easy. You also know there's going to be an awful price to pay.
Once at the county line, it was time to set the first group out. Two minutes was the decided gap, and after the time elapsed, the chase was on.
Jimmy started us out with a nice little turn of 24+. It wasn't easy, even in the early going. The wind was strong! He passed on to Sam after a minute (we'd agreed it wise to take shorter pulls tonight), and Sam took it over 25. He tapered down a bit before handing to John.
John's pull was strong in spite of being in the open and in the hardest part of the straightaway heading into Bromer. He held 22-24 mph, and it couldn't have been easy.
Miller took over in Bromer, leading us almost directly into a headwind for much of his pull. He tapped on schedule as we left town, and it was my turn.
I had the first hill, and I wanted to take it as strongly as possible. I was 24-25 going into the hill, but it didn't last. We topped around 18 mph, and it was tough to get the speed up again. I knew it would be - the tailwind had been particularly kind at this segment on the way out - but I felt I was holding up the group because I couldn't better 21.5 mph at that segment. I was over 2 minutes in at that point, so I tapped.
Jimmy took over, and I could see it wasn't just me. He struggled to hold 20, as did Sam after him. John T. didn't struggle though. He kept the steady 22-23 for the next bit, holding a longer pull until Pumpkin Center. Miller was up.
We'd been seeing the B group inching closer to us for some time. At first it seemed as if we'd get them quickly but whoever took over for them halfway to this point was doing a nice job of keeping us at bay. With Miller on lead, it was only a matter of time. I figured we'd catch them during his pull, but he handed to me just after the very difficult north stretch heading into Lost River.
There was no doubt in my mind I would hold the lead until we caught B group, just as I was determined to avoid getting "jumped" by a B team member. We went hard and wide past the group, and sure enough one of the members attempted to attach as we passed. Momentarily it looked as though it might succeed, but Lost River Hill would soon settle that. I went hard up the hill, and despite topping out at just over 15 mph, it was enough to break off the jumper. I was trying to take the speed back up, but Jimmy was beginning to struggle to hold it. I decided to tap and let him lead (and set pace) for a bit.
Jimmy misunderstood and dropped to the back of the line, passing his turn. This put Sam on the front, and he did a great job of pulling again. Unfortunately, he held it too long, tapping himself out with a little over 2 miles to go.
John T. went to work again, pulling us up the final hill. Once again, it was a strong effort, and I had begun to assess my chances for getting a third win in as many weeks.
Miller took over at the top of the last hill, but it was a relatively short lead of half a mile with some trees shielding much of the downhill course he had left. This meant the pull probably wouldn't tax him enough to remove him from the sprint picture. What to do?
At the break hill, I stayed on his tail. I made no move until about a half the remaining distance had passed. I felt if I waited any longer his superior speed would be unbeatable; if I went now, my conditioning might decide the issue.
Taking one last look over my shoulder (thus telegraphing my intent to John T., right behind me) I went. I didn't bother to check to see if anyone was there, because I knew they must be. I could only muster 27 mph in the strong headwind, which was far harder on me than anyone following. If John T. or Miller were right on me, it would likely be child's play to make the move around me at the end.
I went anyway. As the line neared, I kept waiting for the pass that never came. I crossed the line, surprised as anyone, winning the sprint again.
Now to be fair to my compatriots, let me assess how this was possible:
- John T. had what I thought were the strongest pulls under some of the hardest conditions
- Miller rode to Spring Mill from home, and who knows what he did at lunch time
- I might have pulled two of the three hills, but I got to rest from that point on to the final sprint
- Miller keeps getting the bad end of the order (it happens!)
- Oh, and John T. rode 100 miles at 24 mph average on Saturday.
It's tough to take the last pull and win, especially the way the wind was blowing tonight. A win is a win, but don't think I attribute it to anything more than luck of the draw. I haven't ordered my "Pace Line Dynasty Ring" just yet.
See what Garmin has to say about it here.
We ran 3 miles in the park afterward (I know the Garmin said it was only 2.67 - I don't care). After that - Wendy's. It was great, apart from the very sad news the Sweet Potato Experiment (tm) is officially over for Wendy's. Apparently corporate decided there was no profit in it.
Tomorrow night we run Jimmy's speed workout from his office, 5 PM(ish).
Thursday is a ride from Lighthouse, 6 PM.
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