Extraction

Wednesday morning cool-down on the lakefront

The week started out well, but I knew it wouldn't last. On Tuesday we had a good-sized group for the morning levee ride, which is to say that there were still more than two of us left to do the full distance. Although last week's wind had died down, it wasn't entirely gone, and even though it was largely out of the north, its easterly vector was hard to ignore on the return trip. I wasn't sure but I thought that might be my last longish ride for a couple of days because I had a dreaded dentist appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning. Fortunately, I'd have time to do the WeMoRi and still get there before 9 am.

Heading back from Ormond Tuesday morning

So I headed out on Wednesday in the relatively comfortable 70°F darkness, arriving at Lakeshore drive in just enough time to catch the group that showed up a good two minutes earlier than usual. As it turned out, things has started out uncharacteristically fast that day, and indeed I would find they would stay that way. In the blink of an eye I went from 15 mph to 28 mph as my lackadaisical physiology attempted to get on terms with my legs, a process that seems to take longer and longer with each passing year. Eventually, though, all systems achieved equilibrium as I tucked myself into the draft back in the cheap seats. I knew I shouldn't stay there, but the pace was fast and I wasn't feeling too motivated, which is always a bad combination. We came back around to Lakeshore Drive where the pace was hovering in the 27-28 mph range, which seemed more than adequate for my purposes that day, even at the back. As we approached the Elysian Fields traffic circle I found myself on Judd's wheel, way, way at the back of the strung-out paceline. As we started around the circle I noticed a gap slowly opening ahead of him and knew I should go around ... but didn't. By the time we'd completed the 180 I knew I was in trouble. I finally went around and made a feeble effort to close, but at the speed the group was going it was clearly impossible, so I backed it off and cruised in the last couple of miles as the group rode off in the distance. It wasn't until we we were on the cool-down and heading the opposite direction that the sun finally came up. The sky was a bright red, which seemed appropriate considering what was to come later that morning.

The visit to the dentist was predictably unenjoyable, as it involved removing a large but cracked tooth using various implements that might be generally considered more suitable for automotive repair jobs. Fortunately I'd been given enough Novocain, or whatever they use nowadays, that the whole left side of my face would be numb until mid-afternoon. It was an easy decision to work from home that day. When the anesthetic finally wore off I took a couple of Tylenol and had a smoothie. So now I'm on Penicillin for a week and then another appointment in two weeks to see how the bone graft is doing. Wednesday night was uncomfortable, and although I skipped riding I went ahead and went to work. That actually went fine. I had another smoothie for lunch and later that evening made a salad for dinner. Surprisingly things were still pretty painful last night so I skipped another day of riding. I'll probably go ahead and do the Giro tomorrow. Hopefully it will all feel a little better by then. 

I've still not ridden the cyclocross bike more than around the block, so hopefully I will be able to take it out for a proper shakedown this weekend. The Swamp Otter races are the following weekend, although I think I will probably be too tied up officiating them to race. Perhaps I will try to make one or two of the Spooky Cross races in Jackson the 29th and 30th, although there could be complications with Halloween preparations since that's on the following Monday. Frankly, one day of cyclocross would likely be more than enough for me.