Strangely Reluctant

It wasn't particularly cold this morning, but it was still just a little colder than I'd been expecting. After I opened the door to ride I turned around and grabbed my Pearlizumi vest. Perhaps it was the humidity, but for some reason it seemed colder than the thermometer, which was hovering around the 50F mark, seemed to indicate. Of course it might also have been the fact that it was pitch black outside without even the slightest hint of dawn in the eastern sky. Whatever it was, my legs seemed strangely reluctant this morning. I suppose I must not be quite as recovered from last weekend as I'd hoped.

The group numbered about a dozen today, and after a sluggish start the speed steadily crept up until we were consistently in the 25-27 mph range. I think we had a very, very light tailwind, and there were a couple of guys on time trial bikes, but even so I was surprised at how lousy my legs felt. Riding in the cold and the dark are definitely not very high on my fun list, and I was glad we had Brady along with his industrial strength helmet-mounted headlight because for a while we were going a whole lot faster than would have been safe with the three or four anemic little blinky lights we had among us. The ride back was noticeably slower but still not what you'd call easy. So anyway, at least from a "perceived exertion" perspective, it seemed like a pretty good workout.

This afternoon I'm heading out the the Lakefront for an evening training ride with whoever shows up. I'll have to drive home first since I have the car here at work, so I haven't decided if I'll then drive or ride out to the lake. Probably drive, though, since it'll probably be dark before I get back home and it'll still push my day's mileage up to 65 or so. At least the temperature has warmed up and the sun has been out, so perhaps the old legs will be a bit less indisposed after hanging around doing nothing all day under my desk.

Ed N., who cracked his Bianchi 928 last weekend in the Rouge-Roubaix (probably when he crashed) is looking for a replacement 55cm frame that won't require a bank loan. He's got a TT bike on hand, so at least he's not sitting on the couch eating chips!