Can you believe it? Never in the history of ridedom have so few riders shown for a pace line night (except possibly in cases of severe weather). Only John T., Jimmy, and myself appeared at the appointed time and place, but being the fearless vagabonds we are, we set out promptly on time.
The wind was supposedly WSW at 16, but the more we rode, the more it seemed to be more directly south. This was good; it would mean a fast return trip. It wasn't a hard wind, more a nuisance - it was hard to hear one another talk. Probably a blessing for the other two guys!
Even though I've only missed a week riding at home, my routine is all screwed up. I left my water, gel, flat kit... I was completely unprepared for the ride. Fortunately my two friends filled in the gaps, and I was not forced to return to my vehicle. It wasn't too hot anyway, and so as long as we took it easy going out, fluids really wouldn't be a problem.
We turned, and the terms were set - no one was to be dropped. Pull as long or short as you want, whatever speed you want, just don't drop anyone. Jimmy went first, followed by John T., then me.
Jimmy pulled about 2-2.5 minutes on the first ride. The wind helped some, though not as much as we would have liked. At least it didn't get in the way. What did get in the way early on was an Amish hay wagon. It was sitting on 3/4's of the road, not doing anything. Jimmy was a bit indecisive about how to get around it, and our speed slowed as a result. This would be significant to later events. Except for the hay wagon episode, Jimmy kept the speed above 25 the whole way.
John T. took over, pulling about the same amount of time. He too kept the pace above 25, took us through Bromer, and shortly before the first hill tapped off.
He got on the back quickly enough for me to bring the speed above 25 again, even lurching beyond. I was getting a run at the first hill. I always try to hold above 20 on the first one, which usually isn't difficult to do. I didn't want to blast it though... I didn't want the group to break up. We went over at 23, and obviously the wind was helping out.
I began to turn over my options in my mind as we stair-stepped downward at speeds over 27 mph. I was clearly getting an easy pull. I would keep it longer - but how much longer? At first I toyed with passing it off at the top of Lost River drop. Nah. That's still too easy a pull. Midway through the bottoms? Nah, still too easy. I settled on tapping after climbing Lost River. That would give me 2 of the 3 hills, which was fine by me.
All this time our speed had been inching up. After the drop, we scooted across the lower floor at over 30 mph for the most part, slowing only as we headed south into the bridge area (and only because Jimmy yelled at me from behind - I came off the pedals to ask).
Things had been going very well. I really wasn't pushing at all and felt very fresh. Could we top Lost River at over 20? Time to find out! We all cranked, and yes, we made it over! Once atop, I laid over the frame, took it back over 25, then tapped.
Jimmy's second pull wasn't as long or hard because he lost the wind benefit. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't any help. We finally dropped under 25, and Jimmy tapped a bit before 2 minutes.
John took over for the final hill. I really hoped he'd go for it. Our first 2 hills were over 20 - would he take this one that fast as well? He did, and we were able to accomplish the trifecta. He completed his turn on the front by carrying us to the break line.
My strategy now for winning the sprint was clear. I had to hit John T. now, while he still felt a burn. Letting him control pace from the front while his legs recovered was a fool's errand, because I couldn't hope to beat him in a sprint if he did. I hit him right away and hoped to have superior strength.
Though I hit 32 mph, I knew it wasn't enough to break clean of either of the other guys. I was undoubtedly towing them along. What I hoped to be doing was hurting them enough they couldn't break me as they tried to go around. It appeared I might actually pull it off, when I felt something brush my right quad.
Jimmy was moving up on my right side even as I could hear something on my left. I was boxed in at top speed, not a good place to be. If anyone flinched, we were all hitting the deck. I didn't flinch but I did shout some words. I won't repeat them exactly, but if I had a lisp it would have sounded like, 'THIT! THIT! THIT!"
I hit the brake, Jimmy hit his, John T. brushed by on the left to his win. Fair is fair - he's faster anyway, and probably would have caught me. I was just glad to be alive and upright.
We took the lazy ride back in, chirping about what a great ride it'd been, what glorious weather, then Jimmy tried to kill me again. He called a right turn, I was on the left side (as was John T.), and midway through the turn he changed his mind and pulled back to the left. I was almost perpendicular to John T., and it looked as though we were going down. Then I lisped again, this time louder. We got out of that one too, somehow.
I gave Jimmy lots of room after that. ;)
Wendy's was great, and the service was fast. We talked over the numbers - I had a preliminary time of 23:15 on my running watch. Jimmy's Strava gave him 23:14, good for 2nd place on the list (bumping me down). My official (though private) Strava was 23:09. That comes in a smidge under 26 mph, making this a very good ride.
The wind was supposedly WSW at 16, but the more we rode, the more it seemed to be more directly south. This was good; it would mean a fast return trip. It wasn't a hard wind, more a nuisance - it was hard to hear one another talk. Probably a blessing for the other two guys!
Even though I've only missed a week riding at home, my routine is all screwed up. I left my water, gel, flat kit... I was completely unprepared for the ride. Fortunately my two friends filled in the gaps, and I was not forced to return to my vehicle. It wasn't too hot anyway, and so as long as we took it easy going out, fluids really wouldn't be a problem.
We turned, and the terms were set - no one was to be dropped. Pull as long or short as you want, whatever speed you want, just don't drop anyone. Jimmy went first, followed by John T., then me.
Jimmy pulled about 2-2.5 minutes on the first ride. The wind helped some, though not as much as we would have liked. At least it didn't get in the way. What did get in the way early on was an Amish hay wagon. It was sitting on 3/4's of the road, not doing anything. Jimmy was a bit indecisive about how to get around it, and our speed slowed as a result. This would be significant to later events. Except for the hay wagon episode, Jimmy kept the speed above 25 the whole way.
John T. took over, pulling about the same amount of time. He too kept the pace above 25, took us through Bromer, and shortly before the first hill tapped off.
He got on the back quickly enough for me to bring the speed above 25 again, even lurching beyond. I was getting a run at the first hill. I always try to hold above 20 on the first one, which usually isn't difficult to do. I didn't want to blast it though... I didn't want the group to break up. We went over at 23, and obviously the wind was helping out.
I began to turn over my options in my mind as we stair-stepped downward at speeds over 27 mph. I was clearly getting an easy pull. I would keep it longer - but how much longer? At first I toyed with passing it off at the top of Lost River drop. Nah. That's still too easy a pull. Midway through the bottoms? Nah, still too easy. I settled on tapping after climbing Lost River. That would give me 2 of the 3 hills, which was fine by me.
All this time our speed had been inching up. After the drop, we scooted across the lower floor at over 30 mph for the most part, slowing only as we headed south into the bridge area (and only because Jimmy yelled at me from behind - I came off the pedals to ask).
Things had been going very well. I really wasn't pushing at all and felt very fresh. Could we top Lost River at over 20? Time to find out! We all cranked, and yes, we made it over! Once atop, I laid over the frame, took it back over 25, then tapped.
Jimmy's second pull wasn't as long or hard because he lost the wind benefit. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't any help. We finally dropped under 25, and Jimmy tapped a bit before 2 minutes.
John took over for the final hill. I really hoped he'd go for it. Our first 2 hills were over 20 - would he take this one that fast as well? He did, and we were able to accomplish the trifecta. He completed his turn on the front by carrying us to the break line.
My strategy now for winning the sprint was clear. I had to hit John T. now, while he still felt a burn. Letting him control pace from the front while his legs recovered was a fool's errand, because I couldn't hope to beat him in a sprint if he did. I hit him right away and hoped to have superior strength.
Though I hit 32 mph, I knew it wasn't enough to break clean of either of the other guys. I was undoubtedly towing them along. What I hoped to be doing was hurting them enough they couldn't break me as they tried to go around. It appeared I might actually pull it off, when I felt something brush my right quad.
Jimmy was moving up on my right side even as I could hear something on my left. I was boxed in at top speed, not a good place to be. If anyone flinched, we were all hitting the deck. I didn't flinch but I did shout some words. I won't repeat them exactly, but if I had a lisp it would have sounded like, 'THIT! THIT! THIT!"
I hit the brake, Jimmy hit his, John T. brushed by on the left to his win. Fair is fair - he's faster anyway, and probably would have caught me. I was just glad to be alive and upright.
We took the lazy ride back in, chirping about what a great ride it'd been, what glorious weather, then Jimmy tried to kill me again. He called a right turn, I was on the left side (as was John T.), and midway through the turn he changed his mind and pulled back to the left. I was almost perpendicular to John T., and it looked as though we were going down. Then I lisped again, this time louder. We got out of that one too, somehow.
I gave Jimmy lots of room after that. ;)
Wendy's was great, and the service was fast. We talked over the numbers - I had a preliminary time of 23:15 on my running watch. Jimmy's Strava gave him 23:14, good for 2nd place on the list (bumping me down). My official (though private) Strava was 23:09. That comes in a smidge under 26 mph, making this a very good ride.
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