Once they start racing . . . . .

It's still not quite summer around here, which is to say that the pre-dawn temperatures have remained below 80°F. In fact, it was overcast and a little on the chilly side this morning when I went out to meet the early morning group for the weekly Tuesday hammerfest. The speed ramped up fairly gradually today and although it eventually got plenty fast, most of the group was able to stay with it most of the way out to the turnaround. I attribute some of that to the fact that there was little in the way of crosswind today. Lately I have been shifting more and more away from early season training mode and more and more toward harsh intensity. Today was certainly no exception. I closed a few little gaps early in the ride when the pace was quite fast and otherwise did about as much high-level work as I could handle. Granted, I'm still lagging behind a bit and toward the end had to skip a few pulls.

We were just about to go under the Destrehan - Luling bridge when the paceline came upon some pedestrians on both sides of the bike path. Jon and I eased up a little too much as we wove our way through the traffic and quickly lost contact with the group. I looked over at Jon and said, "well, we should still get pack time!"

A little while later as we were starting back downriver, Rob rode up next to me and said something like, "I never have a problem staying with those guys until they start racing." Indeed. Once the races start it always seems like the guys who are doing that every weekend suddenly start making quantum leaps. I think he was referring to Tim, Woody and Jered. The pulls just get a little faster and a little longer, and there never seems to be a break in the speed.

Anyway, despite some really fast stretches, the pace was steady today, making it relatively easy to stay in contact, even for the guys who never really got into the rotation at the front. It was a good one.

So I should be working on updating the LCCS rankings right now, but I went through a couple of bottles of wine with the neighbors this evening and so I'm thinking I should hit the sack and save that for another day.