It was a light night tonight in terms of turnout - there was no Allen, no Mike, no Rand, and no Miller. We did have the addition of Arlene and Kathy (though it would have been nice to see Robin too).
It was cooler again today, the winds were light and out of the northeast. I would categorize them as favorable, though not necessarily overly so. It wouldn't cause any trouble for the ride at the least.
We rode out leisurely, everyone chatting, not thinking much about what was to come. Practically everyone had either driven several hundred miles, participated in a hot event over the weekend, or both, so it was not likely to be a fast ride. On top of that, John T. was under the weather.
Kathy and Arlene rode to Bromer, then turned back. The rest of us made our way to the tree, stopped, and decided what to do. There was a bit of confusion at this point, as Jimmy assumed we'd all ride as a group, and I assumed we'd have two groups. I was perfectly willing to pull more in Miller's absence, so it was no big deal to go in a smaller group. The first group took off.
That's when I noticed there were only three of them. DfO stayed with us, making four in our group. Then I turned and saw John T. leaning over his bars. He told me then he wasn't feeling all that great. Glancing up, the other group was still getting organized by the start mark. "What the heck, let's just ride with them!", I called. And we set out to catch.
We reassembled within a mile, Galloway's surprised face turning just as I caught on, and Dan was still on the front. He pulled around 23-24 mph from what I could see. Strunk went next, and he did more or less the same. Galloway took his turn, a little faster 24-25. I called the numbers back to Jimmy, who was behind me, saying this would be my pace.
Galloway handed over atop the first hill (past Bromer), and I was on. This is an easy stair-step downhill, and I contained the pace. It was a glide really. I held a smooth pace until we hit the Lost River hill, where I tried to let the high speed from the hill slowly bleed down over the valley floor. By the base of the bridge hill climb I was at 25. I told Jimmy I would hand over after we topped, and that we would go smoothly up the hill.
The speed dropped to maybe 19.6, which was as fast as I dared push the group. I figured it would fragment a bit, we'd top, allow it to gather again, then I would tap. I was happily surprised to see the whole group intact and in a very organized line as we topped. That's the fastest we've ever taken the hill without losing anyone, I'm practically certain!
Jimmy took it from here. He did a great job maintaining the pace, and carried it through the last climb of the course. He beat himself up a bit later because he didn't stand on the pedals on the last climb, but he carried us over in a nice pace and didn't break up the group. I thought he did just fine.
John T. finally got his pull, a short segment to the break line. It actually wound up being a bit longer due to traffic - there was a car behind and a car ahead, so we had to wait before we could break. I was a bit worried the one behind would force us to wait too long, giving the true sprinters the edge (read: Jimmy).
I don't possess the explosive power of a Miller, and Jimmy was already on my wheel. There was no real chance to drop him at the start, because he would be watching for my move. The only thing to do was jump up on the pedals and hope for the best.
Pulling wide to the side, I went for it. I took it to 31.7 (last number I saw) and passed the line. Settling back down to aero, I looked under my right armpit (the best way to look behind while in aero) and saw a front wheel waving back-and-forth behind my rear wheel. Someone was there, probably Jimmy, and I had to decide what to do. The ride's pace had not been enough to hurt him, so he had plenty of gas. Should I let off the gas, feign weakness, and jump on his wheel when he passed, or should I put in another burst and try to break him outright? I went for the latter - and it worked.
For the last 100 meters I could look back and see no wheel. I had the gap I needed. First place! I looked back and was surprised to see who claimed second - Dan Dyke! Dan had managed to get Jimmy's wheel, Galloway was boxed in by Strunk, and that left the three of us duking it out. Jimmy was played out by my second surge, and Dan was there to clean up. Great job!
Of course we did the run afterward, followed by a nice meal at Wendy's. I wore my McDonald's into the store, tempting fate, and the result may be that I might have a line on a Wendy's jersey. More on that later.
Ride Data.
Run Data.
It was cooler again today, the winds were light and out of the northeast. I would categorize them as favorable, though not necessarily overly so. It wouldn't cause any trouble for the ride at the least.
We rode out leisurely, everyone chatting, not thinking much about what was to come. Practically everyone had either driven several hundred miles, participated in a hot event over the weekend, or both, so it was not likely to be a fast ride. On top of that, John T. was under the weather.
Kathy and Arlene rode to Bromer, then turned back. The rest of us made our way to the tree, stopped, and decided what to do. There was a bit of confusion at this point, as Jimmy assumed we'd all ride as a group, and I assumed we'd have two groups. I was perfectly willing to pull more in Miller's absence, so it was no big deal to go in a smaller group. The first group took off.
That's when I noticed there were only three of them. DfO stayed with us, making four in our group. Then I turned and saw John T. leaning over his bars. He told me then he wasn't feeling all that great. Glancing up, the other group was still getting organized by the start mark. "What the heck, let's just ride with them!", I called. And we set out to catch.
We reassembled within a mile, Galloway's surprised face turning just as I caught on, and Dan was still on the front. He pulled around 23-24 mph from what I could see. Strunk went next, and he did more or less the same. Galloway took his turn, a little faster 24-25. I called the numbers back to Jimmy, who was behind me, saying this would be my pace.
Galloway handed over atop the first hill (past Bromer), and I was on. This is an easy stair-step downhill, and I contained the pace. It was a glide really. I held a smooth pace until we hit the Lost River hill, where I tried to let the high speed from the hill slowly bleed down over the valley floor. By the base of the bridge hill climb I was at 25. I told Jimmy I would hand over after we topped, and that we would go smoothly up the hill.
The speed dropped to maybe 19.6, which was as fast as I dared push the group. I figured it would fragment a bit, we'd top, allow it to gather again, then I would tap. I was happily surprised to see the whole group intact and in a very organized line as we topped. That's the fastest we've ever taken the hill without losing anyone, I'm practically certain!
Jimmy took it from here. He did a great job maintaining the pace, and carried it through the last climb of the course. He beat himself up a bit later because he didn't stand on the pedals on the last climb, but he carried us over in a nice pace and didn't break up the group. I thought he did just fine.
John T. finally got his pull, a short segment to the break line. It actually wound up being a bit longer due to traffic - there was a car behind and a car ahead, so we had to wait before we could break. I was a bit worried the one behind would force us to wait too long, giving the true sprinters the edge (read: Jimmy).
I don't possess the explosive power of a Miller, and Jimmy was already on my wheel. There was no real chance to drop him at the start, because he would be watching for my move. The only thing to do was jump up on the pedals and hope for the best.
Pulling wide to the side, I went for it. I took it to 31.7 (last number I saw) and passed the line. Settling back down to aero, I looked under my right armpit (the best way to look behind while in aero) and saw a front wheel waving back-and-forth behind my rear wheel. Someone was there, probably Jimmy, and I had to decide what to do. The ride's pace had not been enough to hurt him, so he had plenty of gas. Should I let off the gas, feign weakness, and jump on his wheel when he passed, or should I put in another burst and try to break him outright? I went for the latter - and it worked.
For the last 100 meters I could look back and see no wheel. I had the gap I needed. First place! I looked back and was surprised to see who claimed second - Dan Dyke! Dan had managed to get Jimmy's wheel, Galloway was boxed in by Strunk, and that left the three of us duking it out. Jimmy was played out by my second surge, and Dan was there to clean up. Great job!
Of course we did the run afterward, followed by a nice meal at Wendy's. I wore my McDonald's into the store, tempting fate, and the result may be that I might have a line on a Wendy's jersey. More on that later.
Ride Data.
Run Data.
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