Another Fast One

I opened the door and looked east.  The horizon was dark and ominous, but the sky above was better.  Double-checking the Ziploc bags that held my phone and camera, I headed off for my Saturday morning coffee and the start of yet another summer Giro Ride.  By 6:35 am I was sitting outside of Starbucks contemplating the rapidly increasing amount of horsepower rolling up to the patio.  It was going to be another fast one. 

We rolled out as usual toward Lakeshore Drive as more and more riders filtered in.  Traditionally, the five mile stretch along the lake is ridden at a conversational pace of around 15 mph.  Halfway to the end I looked down and we were going 23 with riders already forming up into a long slender paceline.  The front of the group was already fifteen seconds up the road.  That was the easy part.  Once we got to Hayne Blvd. the pace went up to 28, then 29, and pretty much stayed between that and 31 mph all the way out to Venetian Isles.  By the end of Hayne gaps were already starting to open here and there, but for the most part the riders in back weren't having too much trouble hanging on because there was a light tailwind and the pace was pretty steady.  Even so, I don't think I ever saw the front all the way down Chef Highway.  When the whole Giro is strung out at 30 mph and going out into the wind to move up is not a particularly viable option, there's not much you can do except to hold on and stay on the wheel in front of you.  I was actually feeling pretty good except for some kind of stomach ache that had been nagging me since I'd started.  Even so, I was nowhere to be found when the front of the paceline sprinted for the turnaround.  I weaved around the numerous riders who'd blown up early and at least put in an effort, but that was about the best I could do under the circumstances.

The ride back started out with a couple of easy miles, but soon enough we were back into the upper 20s.  Things finally started to ease up along the service road(s).  As we went underneath I-10 I looked up and saw Mike W right in front of me practically at a stop.  Shocked, I locked up the brakes to keep from plowing right into him.  Apparently he was having a minor asthma attack.  Anyway, I put in some efforts on the bridges and rode back uptown with Brent, happy to have gotten in a good workout before the rain started.  Tomorrow I'm planning on doing the northshore ride, even though I'll have to rush back across the lake to make a 1:00 lunch thing with my father and some of the family.