Who Measured that Thing?

What a fantastic weekend of riding! Great groups, great weather and of course, plenty of peloton antics to go around for all. I think I logged over 150 miles during the course of the 3 day weekend. Saturday we cruised through the group fave Back Door Loop. This loop left Fish and Wildlife at 7am with both the shorter route and longer route groups in tow. We kind of headed in a northwest direction on quiet streets before turning south for the Back Door itself.

We had our typical pre-rest stop sprint with the usual ones at the front whipping the pace into a frenzy. First, "Slim Jim" Britnell cranked it up, then Chris "TT" Johnson took over with about 500 meters left. Then, charging from both sides were Crusher and the Vortex, who crossed the line just about together.

After filling the bottles and telling stories, (mainly about the Bad Mayonnaise and his wheelset...don't ask!) we headed directly to this ride's namesake...the Back Door of NAS. Upon entering the base, Rusty "The Mayor" Rood went to the front and starts pressing the pace. This was met by no small amount of astonishment by the peloton as he usually sits in the back escorting the Bad Mayonnaise. However, with a bit of questioning, it was discovered that The Mayor had actually filled his bottle at the rest stop with some high octane frappacinio mixture that evidently was giving him the boost to the front of the line. (Note to self: when feeling a bonk coming on, check out one of those frappacinio thingys)

Well, before we knew it, a few of the boys were dropping like flies at the back, so we stopped for a regrouping. After a few minutes of nobody showing, Left Lane gets on his phone and discovers that the others had actually headed for the front gate...which we did as well, pronto. (Uh, that's Spanish for those of you less fortunate than my bilingual self. Means: Quickly or promptly.) We all were back together and headed for the Barrancas Bridge. Left Lane pulls his typical Left Lane move and goes for the Top of Bridge Award (TOBA) with about 2 miles to the top...go figure.

The rest of the peloton pretty much stayed together until the base of the climb itself. That's when Crusher, Circle K, Happy and the Vortex charged up the hill in pursuit of the maverick just 100 meters ahead. Although this foursome had the horsepower, Left Lane held them off to win the TOBA by less than 20 meters. His antics had finally paid off! Congrats to Richard "Left Lane" Lopiccolo for his first ever official TOBA! (Not to be confused with a Toga, which he loves to wear at parties!)

The group pretty much cruised back to the start location through downtown. Great ride! All told about 45 moderately paced miles.

Sunday saw a small group of the Mayos, Gehmans, Woodrow and Vortex puttzn around Pensacola at a very easy pace. Great easy spin ride of about 25 miles. We even stopped at the end of Palafox for some stories and some cold Gatorade. Good fun!

Yesterday started out as a ride with great potential. The weather was just about perfect and there was plenty of horsepower in the peloton to pull the bunch along at a good pace. However, what started out good, became a Sufferfest for some. Apparently, there was a bit of confusion on my part as to the distance. Therefore, it was advertised as a 55 to 60 miler. However for most, it turned out to be a 70 to 75 miler in the hot sun. Who measured that thing?

Now, I can't control the weather, but I should have checked the mileage more closely. My sincere apologies to those of you who suffered like dogs. I will be more thorough in the future. Other than the suffering over the last several miles in the heat of the late morning, it was a great ride on a new route. Thanks to Chip "Circle K" Wilson!

The group pretty much stayed together the entire loop. The final few miles a few dropped off by choice and some continued onward. As one rider was overheard, "This horse is headed for the stable!" The beleaguered group, as they made their way back to the finish line, were pondering the thought of a sprint. Could it be, after 70 some miles, that some crazy nincompoop would put the hammer down?! If so, who? The tired group began to look at each other with suspicion as they climbed up Hilltop Road knowing just around the corner would tell the story.

The weary few, (Semper Cy, Danimal, TMC, Lawman, Crusher, Circle K and Vortex), that turned left on Langley, saw Lawman crank it up into the low 20s all the way to Spanish. (Could he be the nincompoop?) After the right hander the Vortex took hold of the reins and pulled this motley crew of only 4 now up to Maygarden. He turned onto Maygarden and tugged on the group into the mid to upper 20s. He takes them all the way to about 900 meters to go. (Surely this is the nincompoop!) From here Crusher pulls up to the 500 meters to go sign at which point the 2 nincompoops, (Vortex and Lawman) combined attack on either side of him. Within a second or two, they both look at each other as if to say, "Oh, so you're the nincompoop!" and immediately turn off the gas. The last of these four exhausted amigos, Circle K, starts to go to the front, but with 400 meters left in this endless Sufferfest, the Lawman pulls off the textbook move and launches his final vicious attack! He looked like a scolded cat charging towards the finish line. He was all over the machine!

Immediately Circle K and Vortex look at each other as if to say, "Well, you going to chase him?" Within seconds, the Vortex stomps on it as if he were the dog chasing the scolded cat. He made up about half of the distance with Circle K in tow. With 200 meters to go Circle K takes the lead from the weakening Vortex. That rascally Lawman was just a few meters ahead now. (I just love this kind of stuff!) However, the two drained amigos with less than 100 meters to go, could see that the Lawman had pulled off the move of the day. He crossed the line first just a couple seconds ahead of Circle K and Vortex. Not far back was the battle weary Crusher.

Congrats to Dave "Lawman" Carroll for his first ever Nincompoop Sprint win!!! Just kidding Lawman, great ride and a great move there at the end! Mark Cavendish would be proud. Big Green Jersey points and bragging rights for the week! Man, what a ride. My legs are still trying to recover.

Speaking of recovery...tonight at 6pm at Firestone and Summit we will have a special "recovery ride" for anyone interested in an easy spin the day after such a hard effort. The pace will not exceed 15 to 16mph. (At least, my pace won't!) We will probably just spin around a few streets in northeast Pensacola...no more than 15 to 20 miles. Hope to see you there!

And, don't forget WERAD tomorrow night! Meet at 5:30pm at Firestone and Summit!!!

See you out on the road,
Bob