Today was supposed to be a nice easy, flat ride. We got the flat part right but that was it. The ride was from the shop and I was hoping for 3 hours. It was a nice little group: Mike K, Dennis, Ted, and a cameo by Marc V. We rolled out at 9:00 and everything was pleasant enough. I was hurting form yesterday but it wasn't too bad, plus this was going to be a flat easy ride. We turned left off of Barksdale onto Appleton and this is where Marc headed off. After all he did 5.5 hours yesterday, but it was nice to see him and ride with him for a little while. We continued on headed for Locust Point. We were enjoying a nice tailwind most of the time, with an occasional crosswind but overall it was a good pace. I even said to Mike," it's nice to be able to have a conversation while we're riding.
Next thing I know we were rolling along taking turns at the front and pushing a nice 20-24 mph. This didn't last long enough because we made a turn and then it seemed we were into a stiff headwind the rest of the ride. We went from being in cruise control, to struggling to maintain 16 mph. It was ok for a while because everybody shared the load. We all took turns at the front. We were making our way to De. City and spotted another group ride in front of us. That was it Ted put the hammer down. I guess it's like dangling a carrot in front of him. Turns out it was the White Clay Bicycle club. and catching them wasn't even sport.
That little outburst seemed to something out of all of us. As we headed for home Dennis and I were trying to figure out the easiest and least windy way back. After we figured it out we were off. Once again everybody worked together, short pull then sit in. I was starting to really hurt, I did not bring anything to eat and I was on the verge of bonking. I kind of skipped a pull and just that little extra was enough. We hit Otts Chapel road, which normally is a little rolly but I wouldn,t consider it hilly. But after 3 hours and riding into a headwind it was brutal. I just put my head down, grit my teeth and tried to get over the last bridge. I heard a horn honk and looked over to Keith G, I think he was coming form Fair Hill because a minute later Todd was beeping at us.
As it turned out my recovery ride was fucking hard. We ended up with 3:20 and 58 miles, of which 35 was into a headwind. Not a bad week.
Well I am off to the parents for Dinner so Later.
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