|
||
|
|
|
|
I was feeling frisky today. In the morning, I played tag with Julie. It started innocently enough, when I pulled out ahead of a paceline that was forming. I don't really like riding in pacelines, because you spend the whole time staring at the wheel ahead of you, trying to match the speed and the line of the rider ahead of you. You're always worrying about what the riders ahead and behind are doing, and you can still end up going down like Lois and Topper yesterday. Yes, when it works well, it's poetry in motion. But it's not my thing. Anyway, I pulled ahead of the paceline to get some breathing room, and Julie (who is training for the Paris-Brest race in August) took this as the signal to attack. So I passed her again. And so it continued for the next 15 miles, at 24-26 mph. I even held back a couple times to invite her to pass, so I could blow by her again. Rob turned out to be following us the whole way, and he attacked shortly before the sag stop. I countered, and rolled in right ahead of him, totally spent. I'm not competitive; I just wasn't going to let him get there first. After the first sag, I was riding with Jim and Dutch John, two of the strongest riders. We were cruising along and chatting, at 21-24 mph. It just felt really comfortable. Dan was right with us, but Andy fell behind. Second time today that I dropped him. Sorry, Andy. But it just felt so effortless; we ate up 30 miles like it was nothing. This is Amish country. We passed a couple of buggies on their way to Sunday meeting. Back in the field where the meeting hall was, there were about 10 buggies lined up - Amish parking lot. The second sag stop was at the White Turkey Drive-In, about a mile from the state line. To make up for last night's problems, Bruce bought us all root beer floats. I also had a really good - and inexpensive - cheeseburger. Stayed with Andy and Dan for the rest of the day, and just coasted in. Against expectations, and in direct contrast with last night, the hotel is really nice, probably second only to the first hotel, in Millbrae. It's also right in the heart of downtown, which the Millbrae hotel wasn't. Lois limped in to dinner, two hours late and with the help of Vicodin, but walking on her own. |
|