Looking for the Group

I didn't exactly leap out of bed when the alarm sounded this morning, but after taking a quick inventory of essential joints and appendages my feet did finally hit the floor. Naturally, I'd completely forgotten about getting my bike back into training ride mode, so with time running short I found myself hunting around for blinkey lights, changing wheels, and searching for the least malodorous gloves available. Then I remembered that flat tire I'd had up in Dahlonega and the fact that I'd put the punctured tube back into my seat bag. Hmmm, which one was it? I pulled both tubes out (I always carry two spares) and examined them side-by-side, finally deciding that the one with the unevenly applied rubber band must be the punctured one. I'm hoping I guessed right, but of course I replaced that one with a freshly patched one, so I know at least one of them will hold air. By then, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it out to the Tuesday levee ride in time. It was probably a good thing. Compared to yesterday, however, I was feeling a lot better all-around. The legs were still complaining with hard efforts, but otherwise seemed no worse for the wear, and the sinus headache was, at least temporarily, gone.

I hustled over to the levee, arriving maybe three minutes after the group had departed, and settled in for a nice cruise up the river to meet them on their way back. The air this morning was much cooler and that, together with some sections of tailwind, made for a very nice solo ride. I caught up to Richard H. and rode with him much of the way out to The Dip, where he turned back. I continued, looking up the road for the group on its way back from the turnaround. I was out around the first grain elevator when I spotted the group on its way back, so I made a quick u-turn and jumped into the paceline as it came past. There was a significant northeast wind, so the group was in paceline mode. As we started getting closer to town Howard, as usual, started surging when he'd hit the front, ratcheting the pace up by 3 mph or so and simultaneously providing ample reason for half the group to stop pulling altogether. I hate it when I take a pull and then come back to find the paceline, and my own amount of recovery time, to have been suddenly chopped in half. At one point, though, I found myself unintentionally off the front, so I hope I wasn't doing something similar. On the plus side, I still haven't developed any sort of nasty chest cold, although that little sore throat has now moved down to around my collarbone notch. Hopefully it will resolve before turning into a full-fledged cough. Anyway, much work to do this afternoon, so I'd better get to that.....