Practically Perfect

I stood there at the door, knee- warmers in hand, weighing my options. It was one of those in-between days when you just know that the right thing to wear when you start the ride won't be the right thing by the end. It was a situation that called for compromise. I put the leg-warmers down and headed off for the Saturday Giro Ride. A few blocks later, riding down Carrollton Avenue under cloudy skies, my chilly legs were already regretting my decision. There was a pretty good group for the traditional Giro Ride, but just as we got going Ronnie flatted. Two inner tubes later when we finally got it fixed, I was getting cold again. We wouldn't see the sun until the very end of the ride today.

With a nagging east wind in our faces and a group that was definitely easing toward holiday mode, the pace remained under control most of the time. Then, soon after we turned onto Chef Highway, a very rare thing happened. The group formed up into a long circular double paceline that included every single rider. Now, this sort of thing happens occasionally, but it doesn't usually last very long. This time, though, it held together for a good three or four miles, and for that time it was a thing of beauty -- a practically perfect paceline. I looked over at the guy next to me and said "this is almost too good to be true." Eventually, of course, as we got closer to the turnaround, the pace picked up, riders started to get tired, and the double line started to collapse, but anyway, it was fun while it lasted. We had a bit of a fast stretch after the turnaround with the tailwind aided pace up around 28 mph, but after that it calmed down a lot and most of the group rode in together.

I'm looking forward to a nice long ride in the country tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be warm and the chance of rain is low, so it should be fun!