Let's start with Troy, whom I will now give the nom de guerre of "Attila the Young". Not my best work, but let's face it, sometimes graphics are unintentionally funny because they are so unprofessionally completed. See? That's me being ironic there. Layers and layers of funny, like a funny onion.
Back to the point... Attila the Young has been conquering most of the civilized world for almost a month... one segment at a time. He's encroached on all borders, making himself a hard neighbor indeed. Ultimately the reaction was as inevitable as it was violent.
James was never going to take losing segments in his backyard lightly. Word on the street is he communicated his planned counter-attack to a certain well-known minister of a Mitchell church. Vague hints of retribution leaked over social media, and next thing you know, BOOM! Yeah, that just happened! Whut? WHUT?!
AtY has fallen into a predictable pattern though... he forages mostly during the noon hour. This limits the range of his reach, and though he is soaking up surrounding segments, he left his broadside open to a concerted attack this evening.
Concerted might be the wrong word, since it wasn't exactly coordinated per se. Scott mentioned a couple of days ago today may be a good day to go for the Super 2. I agreed, and made a mental note to arrange for it if possible. Things worked out with practice that I could do it, and so I went.
Scott apparently like the idea so much he did the same thing. When I got to Allen's church, I saw Scott's truck parked. Yup, he was taking his shot. He couldn't be too far ahead, given he works during the day as I do. If I hit it quickly, I might get someone to ride with.
The wind was out of the northeast, but steady. I wondered how it would help, or even if. It seemed as if it was beginning to shift east more and more, but I was out there, and I was going to take the shot regardless.
I rolled out onto the straight and hit it. I'd tried for segments in town last night and felt awful - how would this go? Had I left it in town? Soon I had my answer. Before long I was cruising well over 30 mph. Though the effort was hard, it was sustainable. All I needed now was a bit of luck. Please, smooth downhill with no traffic at the S-turn. Please, no cars at the intersection!
I cranked as hard as I could take it, and only encountered mild interference at the intersection. I finished hard and hoped it would do - I was spent! I felt it had to be close. I'd glanced at my Garmin right before the start and a bit after the finish. It had me at about 8:20-8:30 before I subtracted time for the corners... this was going to be close.
About halfway up the hill I saw Scott. He turned with me and we finished a very pleasant 21-mile ride. Yes, he had just completed his attempt at the record, and turned in an impressive split.
Later I was in the gym, and in walked AtY. We lifted and talked for a bit, and then he revealed to me he'd taken two segments today... Industrial Again and Again and Mt. Unpleasant. Of the two, Mt. Unpleasant hurt the most because it was a very difficult segment. However, his impressive speed on it forces me to bow down. I cannot conceive of a way I could ever top his 18+ mph climb up that hill. That ride was big-time, AtY.
Industrial? It was only a matter of time until someone like Jimmy or Miller or John T. took that one.
I hadn't been home yet, so I couldn't be sure I had the Super 2. I sure hoped so though... There were so many unknowns...
7:54. Under 8 minutes is tough. First time in my life I held 30 mph for that distance. Wind aided? You bet! I. Don't. Care. I may not have "earned" that time, but I did ride hard. Whatever it takes to get me out to do that is good.
Now here comes the funny part... while talking to AtY in the gym, he commented he wanted to be able to hold 30 mph for a mile. I assured him HE might be able to do it, because he's primarily a rider, and strong. I would never be able to do it, or so I told him. But I already had. Wind-aided, true enough, but it was already history.
There I am being ironic again...
Lord of the Segments Pt. 5
Even Normdalph’s patience was tried by this turn of events,
but he merely scowled and moved on. Inwardly he did admire Randwise’s steadfast
adherence to the right, even if both of his own hands smarted from his
stubbornness. His thoughts soon returned to more important issues, concerns
which had brought Normdalph to Bedfordton earlier and in more hurried a fashion
than ordinary. There was nothing specific, that is to say there was nothing
concrete in the many subtle signs Normdalph was beginning to uncover, but
pieced together in composition the varied parts began to forebode trouble in
the winds, and perhaps worse, a dark evil. This thought was only a vague fear,
intuition perhaps, or maybe the vestiges of hard sleep and bad dreams lingering
subconsciously into waking hours. But for now, it was time to greet Jimmy.
There would be time to sort this trouble out tomorrow – today was for celebrating.
Jimmy was in his kitchen finishing up his latest loaf of
bread. He was a person without many vices, but unquestionably Jimmy possessed a
particular fondness for bread. Amongst his circle of friends, indeed far and
wide it was understood, when dining with Jimmy, if one wished to sample the
bread, one must do so early. Left unattended, any scrap of bread would be soon
sopping up gravy or egg yolk on Jimmy’s plate.
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