Fast Summer Giro x 2

It was full gas the minute we hit Hayne Boulevard on Saturday. I knew it was going to be fast, but my legs were having a hard time believing it. Earlier, when we had turned onto Lakeshore Drive and I felt the 10 mph tailwind and looked around at the three or four riders on time trial bikes, I thought "this is going to be fast." It was.

The "warm-up" stretch along Lakeshore Drive that is usually completed a nice easy conversational pace was instead done at a speed that constituted a definite breach of protocol. That was the first clue. The second clue was was the kind of clue that is like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. We hit Hayne at 30 mph and the speed just kept going up from there. I was sucking wheels like a pro, but within a couple of miles the long string of riders was already starting to fracture, and before we got to Bullard there was already a split. Naturally I was on the wrong side of it, but the riders behind it weren't giving up easily. When we hit Bullard Big Phil was on or near the front and there was a car somewhere in the intersection. We slowed down a bit and Phil somehow had to bail out to the right, going right into the corner gas station. I looked back and saw him coming back onto the road and thought he at least had a chance of catching, but a few seconds later the pace picked up again. The guys in front didn't know. I looked back again and knew he wasn't going to be able to catch. The front of the second group hand pretty much given up hope of catching the break, but we were still going 28 mph. After we made the right onto Paris Road, Pat rode up to the front and got them to ease up long enough for Phil to catch. The break was just a spec way off in the distance by then anyway.  Even so, there was still enough horsepower in our group to keep our average speed on Chef Highway at 27 mph. Despite the headwind on the way back, we did a lot of it at around 25 mph, at least until we got back to Hayne Blvd. where it finally eased up a bit.

Sunday morning at 6:10 am I headed out to Starbucks for another Giro beating. To blocks from home I passed a couple of girls passed out on the sidewalk in front of a house. It looked like they'd just bailed out of an Uber and didn't make it to the front door. One was basically naked. I just shook my head and continued on since there was a woman dog-walker heading their way and besides, I hadn't had my coffee yet. Priorities, you know. When I got to Starbucks I checked the weather and saw that the wind was already at 10 mph from the WNW, so it was basically going to be a repeat of Saturday. With the Team Time Trial coming up in a couple of weeks, there were a few strong riders on their TT bikes. I knew what that meant.

For some reason I was a little more motivated this morning, so I stayed closer to the front on Hayne Blvd. It was even faster than Saturday, with an average speed of 32 mph for the 5-mile stretch. The rest of the way out was not much different. The average speed all the way out to Venetian Isles was 28 mph which was almost the fastest we've had this year. Things were a little easier on the return trip. By then it was getting pretty hot, around 90F, so combined with the headwind, there was a lot keeping things from getting out of hand. I was still feeling OK and somewhat uncharacteristically got into the paceline at the front for a while. For the first time in a while I went through a full large water bottle and most of a small one. Must be summer now.