Droppage

The Giro Ride group was smaller than usual this morning, and I was expecting a smooth ride with little fireworks. When I mentioned that to Tim during the warm-up on Lakeshore Drive, he looked over and said "Well, I was kind of thinking about making a few efforts today." I probably should have taken him more seriously. Soon after we hit Hayne Blvd., the pace started to ramp up. I was way at the back and not paying very much attention to what was going on up front. Soon the group started to stretch out into a long single line. I was behind Donald and was wondering why he was leaving a two bike-length gap in front of him. Well, trying to figure Donald out is a losing proposition, but by the time I finally went around I had to put in a 31 mph effort to catch. Moments later I realized that the group I had just caught was itself getting dropped. As I went past I heard Butch say something like "go get 'em, Randy." Another 31 mph effort got me up to a few more riders, but, like before, they were also in the process of being dropped. Another effort like that was not in me today, and although I was with VJ, it was clear he wasn't interested in closing the gap, so I watched the front group ride off into the distance as we headed down Paris Ave. We were officially Droppage. We ended up with a little group for a while, and then Donald came by and basically attacked! Then, most of the way down Hayne, Donald towed the group. Every now and then he would surge three or four mph. Go figure. So anyway, we turned around and got in with the main group. They were going easy for just a little while, but Tim was not writing any hall passes today and kept pushing the pace. Eventually he and a few others went off the front and I found myself with Butch and Jaro doing a very half-hearted chase down Hayne. For reasons unknown, I was feeling like crap the whole ride.

As soon as I got home, The Wife wanted to drive up to Baton Rouge to visit her mother. Suffice it to say that the rest of the day was pretty much of loss. Half an hour of sitting on I-12 at idle speed because of a tractor-trailer that had caught on fire, a long and painful trip to Picadilly Cafeteria, etc., etc.

The question now is whether to go ahead and ride tomorrow's Century ride. A few of the guys are supposed to be doing it. The only real problem is that the weather is not looking good and is guaranteed to be getting worse all day. 40% chance of rain at 7 a.m., 60% by 9 a.m. 70% by noon.