Back in the Paceline

After a dreary and rainy Saturday, I was really looking forward to getting back on the bike today. The forecast was calling for clear skies, nice temperatures, and a stiff wind. The cold front that had brought all the rain would be in control, and that always means beautiful crisp winter weather around here.

I have to admit, though, that it was not without some trepidation that I loaded the bike into the car early Sunday morning. It was the end of November and the month had not been kind to me, training-wise. I'm sure I missed nearly two solid weeks of riding this month, and if I had any question about whether or not it mattered, I had only to grab a handful of the flab accumulating around my waist. So the bottom line was that I didn't really know if this long ride in the country would turn out to have been overly optimistic. Only one way to find out, though.....

Over at Starbucks, I poured four packets of turbinado sugar into my cup of hot Thanksgiving Blend just as Mignon walked in the door. Some of the other guys had said they might stop by on the way to the ride, but as it turned out we were the only ones, so we headed off to the northshore just after 7:00. She seemed a little worried that she might be getting in over her head on this ride, but I was pretty sure she'd do fine.

Despite a rather strong wind, today's winter training ride attracted fourteen riders, a few of whom were determined to make it a small-chainring day. A few others, though, had other ideas. It wasn't too long before the pace started to creep up and it became clear that we would have a fairly fast ride. Fortunately, everyone was happy to regroup at the intersections, so I guess the various training plans weren't too badly disturbed. As for myself, I was pleasantly surprised that I felt pretty good throughout. The last half of the 65+ mile ride featured a number of fast sections where the group split, but I don't think the gaps ever got to be more than a couple of minutes and nobody ended up riding alone. I arrived back at the car feeling quite satisfied, and I think that if someone had suggested doing another twenty miles I probably would have tagged along. It likely would have been a mistake, of course.

Tomorrow it's back to work. Last week sure did go by fast!