I was ready for a long ride, and when there was a mid-week email about extending the Saturday Giro out to Fort Pike and the Rigolets bridge, I was happy to throw my name into the hat. But the morning started off overcast and chilly, and the first thing I thought as I rode away from the house was, "maybe I should have worn the long tights." It's one thing to be cold at the start of a ride on a sunny day; quite another when the sky is uniformly grey. On the plus side, at least I'd gotten the central heat fixed after if failed to fire up Thursday night - the very first time we ever turned it on. It turned out that back in June when it had been installed they had wired it up with the polarity reversed. It was rather amazing that the A/C had worked. So anyway, when I got out to the lakefront I stuffed my vest into my pocket and merged in with the large Giro group that included a number of triathletes.
The group was particularly lackadaisical today. Some of that can probably be attributed to the cool weather and holidays, but I think a little credit might have to go to the tri shorts some of the girls were wearing. A little while after we got onto Hayne Blvd., Mike W. rode off the front of the slow-moving bunch. I picked up the pace a bit and next thing I knew I was alone. VJ was up the road with Mike by then, so I eased up to get back into the group, but then Jay and Mark rode up to me and said that nobody was interested in going fast and they wanted to at least get in a workout. So the three of us rode a nice paceline at a moderate speed eventually catching up with Mike and VJ. By the time we got going on Chef Highway, the group was out of sight and it was just Mark, Jay, Mike and me. I was figuring we'd ride together out to Venetian Isles and I'd wait up there for the small group that was planning on continuing on to Fort Pike. Then an oncoming big tractor trailer made a fast turn right in front of us and when I sat up and eased over onto the shoulder, I punctured. Jay and Mark stopped with me to change the flat, and unfortunately the first tube I put in went flat also, so by the time we got going again, the group had not only caught up with us, it was a good two minutes up the road.
The group was particularly lackadaisical today. Some of that can probably be attributed to the cool weather and holidays, but I think a little credit might have to go to the tri shorts some of the girls were wearing. A little while after we got onto Hayne Blvd., Mike W. rode off the front of the slow-moving bunch. I picked up the pace a bit and next thing I knew I was alone. VJ was up the road with Mike by then, so I eased up to get back into the group, but then Jay and Mark rode up to me and said that nobody was interested in going fast and they wanted to at least get in a workout. So the three of us rode a nice paceline at a moderate speed eventually catching up with Mike and VJ. By the time we got going on Chef Highway, the group was out of sight and it was just Mark, Jay, Mike and me. I was figuring we'd ride together out to Venetian Isles and I'd wait up there for the small group that was planning on continuing on to Fort Pike. Then an oncoming big tractor trailer made a fast turn right in front of us and when I sat up and eased over onto the shoulder, I punctured. Jay and Mark stopped with me to change the flat, and unfortunately the first tube I put in went flat also, so by the time we got going again, the group had not only caught up with us, it was a good two minutes up the road.
Luckily the others who were going to Ft. Pike waited for me, so we had a pretty nice ride out to the bridge, interrupted only by occasional moments of terror when speeding convoys of mud-hauling trucks would speed past us blasting their horns. By the time I got home, after a quick stop at Starbucks, it was about noon, I had well over 80 miles on the odometer, and the sun was finally shining. Hopefully my legs will still be OK for tomorrow's northshore ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment