I really enjoyed getting in some miles with the group this past weekend. Sure, Saturday morning was a bit chilly, but by the time we had finished our Starbucks stop it was beautiful. Sunday afternoon's weather was even better. If you didn't ride on Saturday, you missed The Foxinator unveiling his new machine. A Trek 5.9 or 5 point something?! It is a sweet carbon ride with all the latest gizmos for rider comfort and convenience. It even has some kind of an integrated computer thingy that figures everything including the current years taxes.
It is one snazzy "steed", (his word, not mine), to be sure and will make it even tougher for Coolio to get revenge on La Petit Alpe Duez when they compete in their grudge match in a few weeks. Left Lane loved everything about Tim's new ride except the color, stating it was, "Coolio-esk", (meaning, he doesn't like the color). I was wondering about the benefit to The Foxinator when he was evidently suffering like a dog up the hills in UWF and Scenic Hills. It is very uncharacteristic for the big Dale, (uh, Clydesdale, not Chip and Dale), to struggle up the hills. However, once on Ten Mile we discovered that his rear brake was rubbing terribly and causing no minor amount of effort for him to just keep up with the peloton. He remedied the situation and was back to his old self at the front of the pack. He even took an unannounced sprint! (See the definition on the page below) Did I mention he was the only competitor in said sprint.
The only other antics to report was the Left Lane's breakaway with about 5k to go. He usually does something like this so it was no surprise to the bunch. However, we had a neophyte named Steveo with us, so I pulled up next to him and explained the pace may get a bit "sprightly". Which it did. The chase group was sure that the breakaway artist had taken a particular shortcut in his effort to widen the gap, therefore we did as well. Whether we did or not, he didn't have a chance. We were packing too much horsepower in the group with the likes of Big Motor, Gianni and The Foxinator himself who was feeling much better now that his wheels were rolling freely.
We swing back on the course from our shortcut and look up the road only to see it vacant! "Man, that dude has gotten strong", expressed Gianni. "No way! He couldn't have gotten that far ahead! He must be..." We all looked back at the same time to see the Left Lane himself coming up behind us. Apparently, he had not taken the shortcut as we had suspected. This was, in fact, the second "out of character" episode for the ride. Uh, we don't call him Left Lane for nothing!
As we hit Langley, Big Motor went to the front and the pace did get a bit "sprightly". We were doing 23-24mph as we rolled along and onto Spanish Trail and then the final turn unto Maygarden, the "Jam Lane" itself. Now, the pace picked up in earnest. (For those of you who have ridden the Figure 8 in the summer months, there is no explanation needed, as you know the pace and the pain!) Through the first S curve Big Motor was doing his impression of a suicide pull with head down and stompin' on it. He pulled all the way to the top of the second S curve and then...Katie Bar the Door!
Gianni went around him to the right because I had eased up on his left with the hopes of blocking him in a bit. The Foxinator jumped on Gianni's wheel and I hopped on his. "Who let the dogs out?!"
Gianni had quickly gained a 5 meter advantage with about 400 meters to go. The problem was, the gap was widening. I was waiting for big Tim to close the door so I could ride his wheel up to Gianni and hopefully go around them with 50 meters to go. It wasn't working to my plan. Rats! "Plan B must be implemented immediately", I heard the Bridge call down to the Engine Room. I clicked two gears and did my impersonation of Mark Cavendish. (Although, not quite as fast...a mere 36.8mph max...not bad for an old fat dude in the middle of February, however just a few mph short of El Marko, the Mansk Missile) But...enough to reel in Gianni for the win and to obtain the Sprint Leader's Green Jersey, at least temporarily. Good fun!
Sunday afternoon saw a couple of riders out for the ride we haven't seen for awhile. Yes, David "Lawman" Carroll and Bobby "Coolio" Cooley. We did a loop of about 25 miles called Manzeire Lane: Home of the Bro at a moderate pace. We had advertised an easier pace because it was rumored that El Rondo Martino was going to make his peloton debut...or re-debut. However, we never saw the boy.
Generally speaking, we like to do an easy pace(16mph or below) on Sunday afternoon's unless just the regulars show up. Then, we will keep the pace a bit in the moderate range. (17-20mph) The goal on Sunday afternoon rides is to allow those who haven't ridden much or are just getting back into riding to come out on a group ride without getting "hammered". (No...not that kind of "hammered", that's for AFTER the ride. This "hammered" is uh, meaning dropped or the pace is so high they wish they were getting dropped and therefore wanting to get the other kind of "hammered" after the ride)
Seeing that there were no newbies we kept it around 17 to 20mph with a couple of visits into Anaerobia just to see the view. We rolled to a stop at the end of Palafox to take in another kind of view and headed back home. Oh, as a side note, there was one sprint in which Subway Mark Calvert and myself were the sole contestants. It was so close that neither of us could call winner, so we settled for a draw. Although, from his perspective 70 meters back Left Lane thinks Subway Mark won...who knows?! Good fun regardless.
And more to come this weekend! Hope to see you soon out on a ride or at least I hope to...
See you out on the road,
Bob
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