There were a few key players missing when I rolled up to the Starbucks for my pre-Giro coffee today. As I later discovered, once the sun came up, the nose piece for my sunglasses was also missing. A race over in Dothan, Alabama, must have attracted a few of the regulars. The missing riders, as it turned out, didn't seem to have much of an effect on the speed.....or common sense. It was actually a pretty good Giro with nice warm weather, a clear sky, and a moderate breeze. The pace was fast but reasonably steady. For some reason, however, the front of the group seemed intent on riding through red lights and stop signs, mostly right in front of traffic.
When the group came to the intersection with Chef Highway there were cars coming from both directions, but the front of the group decided to ride against traffic on the shoulder of the road on the wrong side of the neutral ground rather than stop. So of course the riders who did stop to wait until it was safe to cross had to chase for about a mile. I think that little move set the public image of cyclists back about two months all by itself. Later, when the sprint for the Goodyear sign started (with a healthy tailwind) a few riders pulled out into the left lane right in front of a truck. I myself figured that the Goodyear Sign sprint wasn't worth dying for today. Anyway, despite all of the needlessly dangerous stuff and an average speed that must have been at least 24 mph, the lack of crosswind kept practically the whole group together to the end today.
I spent a few hours in the afternoon balancing on an extension ladder priming and painting the trim around some porch screens I replaced last weekend. My feet hurt. Tomorrow I'll probably just do the Giro Ride again so I can attend to some other domestic duties.
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