Gyro Nation. It was a great night for riding fast, and, we certainly met that objective. The final numbers varied a bit, but I have officially ruled this as an average pace of 23.4 for the lead group. (Please keep in mind that the ride officially ends when we reach Hickory Grove...that is where we take our final readings...)
Things got off to a quick start with a mini-chase early as a few riders beat the light and it wasn't until Coley where the group came back together. We had some company as we rode up 98 on our way to Patterson. With some uncanny timing the big boys from HG were coming up Olive Branch just as we were approaching it from 98. It couldn't have worked any better (for us, that is) since the fast boys pulled in front of us and we were able to ride their slipstream all the way until we split at Hereford. As we rode up Geer I was approached by Bryan, and, he made a suggestion that I make an attack and he will help me out. Now, there was wind in my ears, and I was oxygen deprived, so I might not have heard him correctly, but I am pretty certain that he was attempting to get someone to go out on the attack. Well, it certainly wasn't going to be me! So sorry, Bryan. I do appreciate the offer, and, please give me a couple more weeks and offer again. But, I was just trying to hang in there. At this point we were averaging 24+, and I would guess that most of the group was tiring. It turns out that Keil had enough to surge on Cheek, and, it looks as though Bryan found his man. They had a gap as we turned for home on Patterson. I made an attempt to bridge this gap, but, no go. I was done. It looks as though Keil worked hard to stay in the break with Bryan, but, as Keil reported, they "finished in a unified group". (In that unified group was none other than Hal, our ride leader on Monday's who came out for his first Tuesday ride, and rode very strong. During our ride up Coley Hal stated to me that this was the fastest that he has ever taken that stretch. I guess that he handled it quite well!) We will change the finishing stretch in June by riding past Olive Branch and heading up Kemp to Coley. We will change this finish once more in July by riding past the Doc and heading all the way up Olive Branch. We will continue riding the standard course in an alternating pattern throughout those months. (Everyone got that?) This will give our climbers the edge, and will change the ride dynamics. By August we will be pushing 24 on the standard course. If we ever hit 24+ I am retiring my ride forever! Rick's Ride will go out in style... See you on Saturday. Rick PS. How did Andy's ride go with all of that climbing? I really, really wanted to be there... -- You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected]
