Drafting and Dogs

The Wednesday morning ride was just what I needed. I'd been feeling kind of "off" all week, and just to twist the knife, my occasionally troublesome right leg had been acting up. I suppose I should get it checked out one of these days, but it's probably either a bulging lumbar disc or sciatica, or more specifically "wallet sciatica." Whatever, it usually just causes some mild discomfort running down the back of my leg. So the ride was smooth and good, as Wednesday rides should be, and by the end of the day I was looking forward to the lakefront training race. When 5 p.m. rolled around I dropped what I was doing and headed for home to change and make my way out to the lakefront.

For a change, I actually got there in time for the start (such as it is). We had the usual cast of characters, although Matt was conspicuously absent (as opposed to conspicuously present as is the usual case thanks to his neon wardrobe). The group did not seem to be feeling particularly aggressive today, so the pace was relatively slow, mostly in the 25-27 mph range, I guess. Naturally, Diego was there, which meant there would be attacks. It was probably his third attack that did it. I had dropped to the back for a little rest as we approached the fountain traffic circle, and was completely surprised when he attacked midway between the levee and the circle. So were the two or three guys in front of me. A big gap opened immediately and I was rather slow to go around and try to catch up. Well, it was too little, too late for me, so after a brief effort I eased up and was soon joined by a couple of others. We quickly started working together and over the next lap or two were gradually closing the gap.

With a couple of laps left, just as we came over the levee near "lovers lane" heading toward the fountain, a little miniature black poodle came darting across the four lanes of Lakeshore Drive right at us. It was like Deja Vu. This brainless dog ran right in front of us. As we grabbed for brake levers, I momentarily lost sight of him as the other riders blocked my view. I swear my collarbone started to twitch! At the last second he emerged in front of me and somehow I missed him, but I just had to take a few moments to coast and reflect on my narrow escape. By the time we all got back together and rolling again, the gap was way bigger than we were ever likely to close, and I was just about to back off and call it a day when a big pickup truck came up alongside. It was Matt. He'd seen what happened and decided to motorpace us back up to the group, eventually easing us up to 30 or 31 mph by the time we finally caught half a lap later. You should have seen the surprise on Kenny's face when we suddenly showed up! There was another attack, and then, after the traffic circle, another one, and when we caught that one I couldn't resist the opportunity to counter with a little slingshot over the levee. Well, any attack by me is bound to be a surprise, and this one was no exception. I guess they all decided to wait and make someone else start the chase, because when I looked back (mostly for help!) there was an inexplicably big gap even though my speed had already dropped down to 24 or so. Since it was the last lap, I decided to keep going to see how long I could hold them off before they came flying past like they did last week.

As I came around the fountain on the last lap they were just entering the circle, but I figured there would be a big attack and they would be coming past me at 34 mph any second. When I glanced back again, just before going over the levee, I could see them coming but this time they had waited too long. Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds an acorn..... To commemorate this rare event while simultaneously demonstrating the effects of sweat on a cellphone camera, Kenny even took a photo.