The Small Group

All indications were that it would be an awesome day for riding. The 40F morning temperature would be climbing up to around 70, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the wind was relatively light.  As riders began filtering in to the Starbucks patio where the Giro Ride starts, it became clear that almost everyone was planning on "going long" today.  The winter Giro Rides, particularly on Saturdays, usually have a group that goes past the usual turnaround point at Venetian Isles and continues all the way to Slidell. I guess that works out to around 40 miles each way, so for those who ride out to meet the group and ride home afterwards, that can mean a 100-110 mile ride.  Of course, it's dead flat and there's a group to ride with, but still, it can be a hard ride, especially if you have to deal with a lot of wind out there where there's water on both sides of the road.  And there's always a lot of wind out there.  I'd decided to give it another week before venturing out on a long group ride like that.  I'm still getting home with some soreness around my neck and shoulder.

Long shadows as the Giro rolls out along Lakeshore Drive

Since so many people were planning on going long, the pace out to Venetian Isles remained mostly moderate.  Mostly.  There were a couple of surges into the upper 20s, but for the most part we were rolling along in the 22-26 mph range.  When I finally turned around at the usual spot I was surprised how few other riders did likewise. I guess there were only ten or so who didn't continue out to Slidell today. As we started to get rolling again Jeff came up and said there were a few others chasing, so we eased up to let them catch.  In the meantime, Brian had gone off on his own, and when the gap went out to thirty seconds or so a couple of other riders took off to bridge up to him.  The rest of the group just kept rolling along at 24 or so. I contemplated going after them for a while because the gap wasn't really growing very fast.  When we had to stop for traffic at an intersection, though, they pretty much disappeared up the road and we didn't see them again.  I arrived back home with about 60 miles on the computer, as usual.