It was a hot night, and, with a strong group of 15 riders we were in for a fine evening of riding fast and suffering. Ain't cycling grand?
Things were pretty much as per usual in the early miles, and, as I rode along side Marc B (who made his first Tuesday ride, barely!)he asked what he should expect...translation: when is the first attack...and, I remember saying something about things picking up on Patterson. And, things did pick up on Patterson. As we rode up the 2nd rise it looked as though Bryan and Jim were at the front and raising the pace. Keil and I were riding together and he said something about "is that Rick at the front", and, I wasn't sure what Rick he was referring to, or, if he was being mockingly facetious... The pace was quick to the intersection with Cheek, and, riders were already off the back. It only became more fun as we shot down Cheek. A break was forming, and riders were fighting to stay on. At this point most of us were working hard, but hanging in there. We were still together, for the most part, but, a small gap eventually formed as we approached our turn. The ride took it's true form when we came to Hereford, with a group of 5 riders at the front turning hard, but, the rest of us had to hold up for an oncoming car. This caused Ty to continue riding past the turn, and, he had to struggle for the remainder of the ride getting back on. (This was unnecessary, and, there will be further discussions on riding courtesy, e.g. when riders at the front realize that others were caught by traffic they need to turn down the throttle to give them a fair chance to get back on...if, that is, this is possible.) The ride began to fragment with riders struggling to catch the group in front of them, and, eventually the lead group consisted of Bryan, Jim, Steve, and Marc, with Keil, Chris, Bert, John, forming a 2nd group. Behind them was myself and Ty, and the remaining riders somewhere in the mix. (I know that there are inaccuracies here, but, it is what I observed, and what I could piece together from other reports...I think we all get the picture...) Eventually the 2 front groups came together and rode up the Doc. Ty and I picked up Chris and rode together until I fell off on Patterson. It did get frisky up the Doc among the front group, which now included Tony, with some surging, and attempts to go off the front. For the most part I think that there were some tired legs, and, most attempts at going off the front were going to get pulled back. (In the words of Fabian Cancellara: if you are going to go off the front you have to be 100% committed to the effort...I am not sure that any one in the lead group truly believed that they were going to get away...) Tony rode off the front on the final stretch up Carpenter Pd.(after being encouraged by Bryan to attack), and he stood away for an impressive amount of time. But, he was reeled back in, and the sufferfest was over. As hard as we all worked the average pace for the lead group was only 22.0. I am sorry, it just seemed faster. (Especially for those of us who were dropped...) Rick -- 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]
