Though I had the day off, it was anything but restful. It started with dropping my mother off at the hospital for a medical procedure. I left her there and went to a doctor's appointment for my yearly exam. That went very well - enough so that I captured some money from my insurance plan!
After my appointment it was back to the hospital to retrieve mom, take her home, then head home for lunch. My original plan was to get all this done, have a block of time in the afternoon to run, then go to my eye appointment. I wasn't left enough time to get the run and be cleaned up, so I skipped the run.
Eye appointment completed, my eyes were so dilated I couldn't be outside for a time, so the second part of my plan, to ride early, was out. That cut my workout to a simple 30-mile ride from Spring Mill. As it turned out, it wasn't so simple.
Six of us showed. There was Miller, Jimmy, Allen, Troy, John T., and me. There was also a steady SSE wind with strong gusts and ample cloud cover. This would make for great pace line conditions, IF we could get out there fast enough to beat darkness. For the second week in a row we were forced to bury our heads a bit and pace line out to the start.
I took the first pull. It wasn't really fast, only between 17-19 mph, but the wind made that difficult for some to hang on. My intent was never to drop anyone, only to lift the overall pace a couple miles an hour to buy us some time. I held it for just west of Bromer and handed off to John T. I could have held it all the way, but I was afraid of burning my legs off completely before the hard part ever started. We had some horses there, and there was the real possibility of getting dropped if I wasn't on my game.
So John T. took a turn, passed to Miller, who passed to Troy. That got us to the county line, ready to make our plan. Only thing was, there was no plan. It's March 18th. Who could have imagined we would be doing organized lines already?
I'd been on the front long enough to know the headwind had been substantial, and it would be a perfect night for Troy to take the KOM. I hadn't felt good all day, at least not enough to feel ready to take a crack at an early season time trial, but I knew Troy could. I was too late - he'd already done 30 miles, been out on the course, and took a swipe at it. I'm guessing if he put his back into it at all he's the new KOM, but I digress a bit.
The other guys seem ambivalent about what to do. I got the sense Miller didn't want to time trial, Troy was waffling, John T. wanted a group, and I knew Allen and Jimmy wanted a group, so in the end all but Troy did group and leave. I had declared I was time trialing, I didn't care what anyone else did. Troy acquiesced and offered himself as rabbit (but would also take another shot at the record).
We gave the group a big head start - at least a minute or more. I gave Troy the same gap, figuring I would never see him again. I wondered too if I would catch the other guys, because working together they could probably easily hold us both off. What the heck, we show up to work hard. It was a carrot.
Troy flew away as I knew he would. I found it hard to accelerate, normal for this time of year, but I did eventually get the speed up over 30 mph down the straightaway. I didn't seem to be making much on either Troy or the group, in fact Troy seemed to be pulling away, as I thought he might. I just kept cranking, giving it a chance, waiting to see what might develop.
By the time I entered Bromer I could tell I was beginning to take time out of Troy. I couldn't even see the group, they were so far ahead, but I was yo-yoing with Troy a bit, slowly but surely drawing him back. There was no telling if the gap would close altogether, but it was closing.
In the Lost River Valley a couple of things happened. Troy caught the group, and he stayed with them. I wondered if that might happen. He'd ridden awfully hard before, so I'd wondered how much gas he would have to push again. In his place I probably would have done the same thing. Now it was clear that not only would I catch the group, unless Troy broke away, I would catch him too.
As we started climbing Lost River Hill the group started looking back. They'd spotted me, and whether or not they were pushing to stay away or just watching the show didn't matter - I would pass them. It looked like John T. was on the front and Troy and Allen on the back. I wondered what would happen when I went by.
Before I got to them Troy jumped off the end of the group and sprinted up to catch John T. John T. had broken away, perhaps 50 yards or so. I don't know if he saw me and decided to hold me off a little longer or just wanted to be on the front with John T., but I heard some "DfO" comments floated afterward.
The pass occurred pretty much right atop the hill. I got back down into aero, pulled wide left and went around the tail end of the group hard. A little further down the road I caught the other two. By then I was up to 28-29 mph or more, solid speed, but not nearly enough to hold them off. And I didn't. Before long I could hear John T. talking to me, and I heard Troy's voice too. That was fine by me; it didn't change my individual effort so long as I didn't allow them to pull or allow myself to be pulled.
Of course in the final sprint they both whizzed by me effortlessly. I had no intention of following them, mainly because I really couldn't, but also because to do so would have meant taking their draft. Nope, that wouldn't be fair.
There was no way to know at the time if it was a winning effort. I'd been faster than Troy on this turn, but he'd gone alone earlier and I suspected much harder. He wouldn't have had to be much harder than this trip to take the crown. Still, there was no shame in the effort. Wind aided? Of course! That invalidates the whole thing a bit I suppose, but what I think was positive was how quickly I got back into the groove. The focus, effort, and appetite were all there the moment the ride started. On top of that, I was able to hold the effort the whole way without blowing up.
What might it have been without the wind? Probably more like 25-26 mph, I'd guess. I still can't climb all that well yet, and lactic acid accumulates very quickly. My top-end speed isn't here yet either. My main strength at the moment is endurance - whatever speed I do have I can hold for long periods of time.
The group had a solid ride - Allen, Miller, and Jimmy came in over 25 mph. I didn't hear any complaints.
Tomorrow I plan to run again. I lost some riding miles, so I'll have to look at ways to make that up. I could spin tomorrow night after the run, or maybe Thursday night after the banquet. Ugh. I don't like either choice!
After my appointment it was back to the hospital to retrieve mom, take her home, then head home for lunch. My original plan was to get all this done, have a block of time in the afternoon to run, then go to my eye appointment. I wasn't left enough time to get the run and be cleaned up, so I skipped the run.
Eye appointment completed, my eyes were so dilated I couldn't be outside for a time, so the second part of my plan, to ride early, was out. That cut my workout to a simple 30-mile ride from Spring Mill. As it turned out, it wasn't so simple.
Six of us showed. There was Miller, Jimmy, Allen, Troy, John T., and me. There was also a steady SSE wind with strong gusts and ample cloud cover. This would make for great pace line conditions, IF we could get out there fast enough to beat darkness. For the second week in a row we were forced to bury our heads a bit and pace line out to the start.
I took the first pull. It wasn't really fast, only between 17-19 mph, but the wind made that difficult for some to hang on. My intent was never to drop anyone, only to lift the overall pace a couple miles an hour to buy us some time. I held it for just west of Bromer and handed off to John T. I could have held it all the way, but I was afraid of burning my legs off completely before the hard part ever started. We had some horses there, and there was the real possibility of getting dropped if I wasn't on my game.
So John T. took a turn, passed to Miller, who passed to Troy. That got us to the county line, ready to make our plan. Only thing was, there was no plan. It's March 18th. Who could have imagined we would be doing organized lines already?
I'd been on the front long enough to know the headwind had been substantial, and it would be a perfect night for Troy to take the KOM. I hadn't felt good all day, at least not enough to feel ready to take a crack at an early season time trial, but I knew Troy could. I was too late - he'd already done 30 miles, been out on the course, and took a swipe at it. I'm guessing if he put his back into it at all he's the new KOM, but I digress a bit.
The other guys seem ambivalent about what to do. I got the sense Miller didn't want to time trial, Troy was waffling, John T. wanted a group, and I knew Allen and Jimmy wanted a group, so in the end all but Troy did group and leave. I had declared I was time trialing, I didn't care what anyone else did. Troy acquiesced and offered himself as rabbit (but would also take another shot at the record).
We gave the group a big head start - at least a minute or more. I gave Troy the same gap, figuring I would never see him again. I wondered too if I would catch the other guys, because working together they could probably easily hold us both off. What the heck, we show up to work hard. It was a carrot.
Troy flew away as I knew he would. I found it hard to accelerate, normal for this time of year, but I did eventually get the speed up over 30 mph down the straightaway. I didn't seem to be making much on either Troy or the group, in fact Troy seemed to be pulling away, as I thought he might. I just kept cranking, giving it a chance, waiting to see what might develop.
By the time I entered Bromer I could tell I was beginning to take time out of Troy. I couldn't even see the group, they were so far ahead, but I was yo-yoing with Troy a bit, slowly but surely drawing him back. There was no telling if the gap would close altogether, but it was closing.
In the Lost River Valley a couple of things happened. Troy caught the group, and he stayed with them. I wondered if that might happen. He'd ridden awfully hard before, so I'd wondered how much gas he would have to push again. In his place I probably would have done the same thing. Now it was clear that not only would I catch the group, unless Troy broke away, I would catch him too.
As we started climbing Lost River Hill the group started looking back. They'd spotted me, and whether or not they were pushing to stay away or just watching the show didn't matter - I would pass them. It looked like John T. was on the front and Troy and Allen on the back. I wondered what would happen when I went by.
Before I got to them Troy jumped off the end of the group and sprinted up to catch John T. John T. had broken away, perhaps 50 yards or so. I don't know if he saw me and decided to hold me off a little longer or just wanted to be on the front with John T., but I heard some "DfO" comments floated afterward.
The pass occurred pretty much right atop the hill. I got back down into aero, pulled wide left and went around the tail end of the group hard. A little further down the road I caught the other two. By then I was up to 28-29 mph or more, solid speed, but not nearly enough to hold them off. And I didn't. Before long I could hear John T. talking to me, and I heard Troy's voice too. That was fine by me; it didn't change my individual effort so long as I didn't allow them to pull or allow myself to be pulled.
Of course in the final sprint they both whizzed by me effortlessly. I had no intention of following them, mainly because I really couldn't, but also because to do so would have meant taking their draft. Nope, that wouldn't be fair.
There was no way to know at the time if it was a winning effort. I'd been faster than Troy on this turn, but he'd gone alone earlier and I suspected much harder. He wouldn't have had to be much harder than this trip to take the crown. Still, there was no shame in the effort. Wind aided? Of course! That invalidates the whole thing a bit I suppose, but what I think was positive was how quickly I got back into the groove. The focus, effort, and appetite were all there the moment the ride started. On top of that, I was able to hold the effort the whole way without blowing up.
What might it have been without the wind? Probably more like 25-26 mph, I'd guess. I still can't climb all that well yet, and lactic acid accumulates very quickly. My top-end speed isn't here yet either. My main strength at the moment is endurance - whatever speed I do have I can hold for long periods of time.
The group had a solid ride - Allen, Miller, and Jimmy came in over 25 mph. I didn't hear any complaints.
Tomorrow I plan to run again. I lost some riding miles, so I'll have to look at ways to make that up. I could spin tomorrow night after the run, or maybe Thursday night after the banquet. Ugh. I don't like either choice!
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