WNW

I walked out of the office promptly at 5 pm, trying to ignore the stifling heat as I made my way over to the bike rack.  For a change, I wasn't running too late for the local Wednesday Night Worlds training race out at the lakefront.  The weather around here lately has been pretty warm, and although we've been getting little afternoon rain showers here and there, it hasn't interfered too much with riding.  I'd done the long levee ride on Tuesday morning, and then the regular morning ride today, and as I rode the commuter back to the house I briefly considered the wisdom of putting in another thirty or forty miles, but really, the training races are just too much fun to pass up.

Back at the house I filled up the water bottles, put on the still-damp gloves I'd worn that morning, and headed off into the Carrollton Avenue traffic.  Somewhere around Canal Street, Jordan rolled up from behind and we rode together (OK, mainly he pulled and I drafted) out to Lakeshore Drive, arriving just in time to catch the group during its half-lap warmup.  The next four 6-mile laps were pretty fast, animated in the beginning by Diego's relentless attacks.  My plan for the day could be easily summed up with, "Don't get dropped."  It wasn't as easy as it sounds, and by the time we were halfway through we'd already shed a number of riders.  Of course, despite my best intentions, I still found myself closing a few gaps and putting my nose into the wind occasionally, mostly when the pace wasn't too fast.  Amazingly, everything was still together at the end.  I think it was Jordan who finally jumped, way too early for me, drawing a few riders with him.  I waited patiently, mostly on Kenny's wheel, and finally but in a little 34 mph effort at the end. It seems lately that I'm only good for about 150 meters or so before I blow up.  There's actually a little video of the finish on the WNW facebook page.