Fast Giro Season

So dark this morning. Leaving the house at 6:30 with both lights flashing I looked up at the grey sky and wondered if I'd still be dry when I returned. I made my way north toward the lake, pushed along by a nice little tailwind, heading for the Saturday Giro Ride. At City Park I was glad to see nice fresh asphalt that I hoped extended all the way to the lake. A silky smooth road and a tailwind - it was like gliding on ice. Halfway there and Brett came up from behind, feigning a surprise attack. I looked over at him, smiled, and said, "Virgin asphalt!"

It was clear today that we are getting into Fast Giro Season. Although the winter Giro rides can have their brutally fast sections, they also have their easy sections. As spring approaches, though, the fast sections seem to merge together and the easy sections get a lot shorter and a lot less easy. So it was today. Out on Hayne Blvd. we slowed down to maybe 27 mph as we passed a big group of triathletes, and that was probably about as slow as it got until the turnaround out at Venitian Isles. On the way back there's a sprint for the Goodyear sign, and I overheard the Midsouth guys planning their leadout. So when they went by, I latched on right away. Just as I did, I saw Diego desperately looking for a way to get on, so I let him in ahead of me. I guess I wasn't really committed to the sprint because the next time it surged, after one of the leadout guys dropped off, I let it go.

Now normally there is a nice slowdown after that sprint, but today a group just kept going. I quickly found myself in the second group, chasing with Mark and a few others all the way to Bullard. I thought they would ease up at that point, but next thing I knew they were pulling away again. We finally caught them just before turning onto Hayne Blvd. The pace finally eased up a bit and most of the group came back together. In fact, I was kind of surprised how many survivors we had as we cooled down along Lakeshore Drive. These guys must be getting in shape or something. It was a good workout today.

So I got home well before the rain which, at 5:30 pm, is still falling. Hope I can ride tomorrow.