It was a new day. There were miles to be ridden, but only so much time to do it, so there was no time to fool around. I hopped right out of bed and dressed quickly, making sure to snap my copper wrist bands into place - no sense letting arthritis get the better of me. Looking around my room lovingly arranged in feng shui energy gathering patterns, I found my ginseng pills. They were difficult to swallow, as were the 15 different athletic supplements I took. Then it was off to breakfast.
My Stewart Smally tapes were a welcome relief to the tension I was feeling... "I AM worthy, I AM a good man, and darn it, people LIKE me!". Ahhhh... nothing like a little personal affirmation. My vegan breakfast cleared my system of toxins, much like my Asian foot waxing I did the night before. I suppose the only thing that relaxes me more is acupuncture followed by the little Japanese girl walking up and down my back.
I returned home, aired up my tires, then it was out the door and to Parkview to meet the guys. They were there; I instantly recognized all their faces and Rand's rump sticking out of his Tracker. We planned to ride down to Mitchell and meet Allen on the way. From there the day was up in the air, other than we had to be back by 11:30.
After meeting Allen, we continued south. There still wasn't much direction in the group, but I figured until the columns of group direction had their summit, that wouldn't change. So Jimmy, Allen, and Scott put their coconuts together and hammered out a plan. I will try to share this amorphous concoction as it developed, morphing from one shape to another from moment to moment.
The original plan called for heading to Leipsic. It turns out there are a variety of ways of getting there, some of them involving going in the complete opposite direction, and I know this because that's what we did. Ah, the joys of following people that live off the frantic excitement of changing directions and plans every few minutes! We headed down the Super 2, cut over to Huck's, crossed 37, then onto 337.
It's fair to note that no less than three times in this span the group busted up. I don't mean a little, I mean a LOT! I tried to rotate front to back over and over, and that gap got harder and harder to cover over time. None of this was done maliciously of course, but it sure made it a different ride depending on where you found yourself. Unfortunately for Allen, it was a tough ride.
With Neil's wedding hour approaching, the decision was made to go ahead and break the group up for good. Troy and Allen went their own ways, the rest of us planned to ride to Livonia and return home. Once again, no plan today seemed to last longer than 15 minutes, and this one was no different. Rand needed a relief stop at the county line, and Jimmy resumed his petition to shorten the ride. Not taking no for an answer, he called for a vote. The majority voted to go back, and so Jimmy ignored that and went to Livonia. So much for democracy! At this point we lost Rand, who had some deal with a cat. Now we were down to five.
As we turned for the return, I jumped on the front. My plan was to ride it on in to Orleans, and if anyone wanted to lead, they could take it from me. I wasn't going to tap though. Everyone seemed up for the line, so I took it up a notch. When we hit the county line we were already going 30 mph; it settled down to between 26-27 mph average, which is where we finished. I couldn't believe it, but we didn't lose anyone along the way. I figured we might, but every time I asked if all were still there, I could hear nothing but "yes!".
We took a short break at Huck's, and we headed home. Scott took forays to the front and still looked very strong despite the distance. Really everyone did. The cloud cover undoubtedly made the ride a lot more comfortable than it otherwise might have been. We retraced our steps back to Bedford, culminating in the final long climb, the Cut.
Roy led out, Miller next, and I was in third position. Roy was doing a fine job, but as we entered the ramp to the Cut I decided to go around and use the placebo effect one more time. Keeping a steady effort, I topped over 19 mph and nearly a 21 mph average. I know it was all in my head and stuff, but that sure felt good.
The rain was upon us, time was running out, but we did do three loops around Hillcrest to guarantee 70 miles. I was going to ride all the way back to Parkview with the guys, but halfway down 19th Street the rain started to come down, so I turned for home and 71 total miles. Moments after I was in the house, the rain dropped in buckets from the sky.
I've made my decision on the chain ring; it's a slam dunk. The 337 segment today was in neutral to (in places) adverse conditions, and even without going all-out I was able to hold very good speed. The ride up the Cut was icing on the cake. I feel better riding on it, and whether or not that's in my head makes no difference.
Run in the morning, swim and ride in the afternoon. That's the plan!
My Stewart Smally tapes were a welcome relief to the tension I was feeling... "I AM worthy, I AM a good man, and darn it, people LIKE me!". Ahhhh... nothing like a little personal affirmation. My vegan breakfast cleared my system of toxins, much like my Asian foot waxing I did the night before. I suppose the only thing that relaxes me more is acupuncture followed by the little Japanese girl walking up and down my back.
I returned home, aired up my tires, then it was out the door and to Parkview to meet the guys. They were there; I instantly recognized all their faces and Rand's rump sticking out of his Tracker. We planned to ride down to Mitchell and meet Allen on the way. From there the day was up in the air, other than we had to be back by 11:30.
After meeting Allen, we continued south. There still wasn't much direction in the group, but I figured until the columns of group direction had their summit, that wouldn't change. So Jimmy, Allen, and Scott put their coconuts together and hammered out a plan. I will try to share this amorphous concoction as it developed, morphing from one shape to another from moment to moment.
The original plan called for heading to Leipsic. It turns out there are a variety of ways of getting there, some of them involving going in the complete opposite direction, and I know this because that's what we did. Ah, the joys of following people that live off the frantic excitement of changing directions and plans every few minutes! We headed down the Super 2, cut over to Huck's, crossed 37, then onto 337.
It's fair to note that no less than three times in this span the group busted up. I don't mean a little, I mean a LOT! I tried to rotate front to back over and over, and that gap got harder and harder to cover over time. None of this was done maliciously of course, but it sure made it a different ride depending on where you found yourself. Unfortunately for Allen, it was a tough ride.
With Neil's wedding hour approaching, the decision was made to go ahead and break the group up for good. Troy and Allen went their own ways, the rest of us planned to ride to Livonia and return home. Once again, no plan today seemed to last longer than 15 minutes, and this one was no different. Rand needed a relief stop at the county line, and Jimmy resumed his petition to shorten the ride. Not taking no for an answer, he called for a vote. The majority voted to go back, and so Jimmy ignored that and went to Livonia. So much for democracy! At this point we lost Rand, who had some deal with a cat. Now we were down to five.
As we turned for the return, I jumped on the front. My plan was to ride it on in to Orleans, and if anyone wanted to lead, they could take it from me. I wasn't going to tap though. Everyone seemed up for the line, so I took it up a notch. When we hit the county line we were already going 30 mph; it settled down to between 26-27 mph average, which is where we finished. I couldn't believe it, but we didn't lose anyone along the way. I figured we might, but every time I asked if all were still there, I could hear nothing but "yes!".
We took a short break at Huck's, and we headed home. Scott took forays to the front and still looked very strong despite the distance. Really everyone did. The cloud cover undoubtedly made the ride a lot more comfortable than it otherwise might have been. We retraced our steps back to Bedford, culminating in the final long climb, the Cut.
Roy led out, Miller next, and I was in third position. Roy was doing a fine job, but as we entered the ramp to the Cut I decided to go around and use the placebo effect one more time. Keeping a steady effort, I topped over 19 mph and nearly a 21 mph average. I know it was all in my head and stuff, but that sure felt good.
The rain was upon us, time was running out, but we did do three loops around Hillcrest to guarantee 70 miles. I was going to ride all the way back to Parkview with the guys, but halfway down 19th Street the rain started to come down, so I turned for home and 71 total miles. Moments after I was in the house, the rain dropped in buckets from the sky.
I've made my decision on the chain ring; it's a slam dunk. The 337 segment today was in neutral to (in places) adverse conditions, and even without going all-out I was able to hold very good speed. The ride up the Cut was icing on the cake. I feel better riding on it, and whether or not that's in my head makes no difference.
Run in the morning, swim and ride in the afternoon. That's the plan!
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