What the flu?

So...Mrs. P is sick and odds are she has some form of the flu. Had to happen. She's a nurse and all that swine flu panic had her seeing a ton of patients daily. Now she has a fever and feels like "poop" - her words. Little P is in and out of a fever and I have had chest congestion starting to creep in while riding.

So...I hope everyone gets better soon. Being sick sucks.

This weekend is Monsters and Wheels on Willy (Madison). We have a solid 5's crew going for Monsters. They are hungry. They know who to mark and what to do. They're strong and a little crazy. You'd have to be in order to toe the line with 100 cat 5's in 1 pack. Everyone is going to be so afraid of wrecks that they'll all be pushing to get to the front....leading to wrecks....

Kind of glad I'm a 4 at this point.

Thanks to some great name dropping over at Bike Forums I have been SLAMMED with quotes for bike parts from my commercial site. I've got some great pricing on some niche stuff but I think some people are thinking I am going to like sell stuff below cost. I think everyone is just so used to getting great deals they have no appreciation for how good the deals really are sometimes. Some of the sales are coming through though. Good thing this is just a hobby for me.

Tueesday's group ride out of Penny rd was crazy. It was just weird. We have always passed a lot of team and club riders while riding out there but this week everyone ended up along the same path at the same time going in the same direction. There ended up being about 20-40 riders at different times representing: Village Cyclesport, Verdigris, BBC, Wheel Werks, Spin Doctors, Our precious Bicycle Heaven, Project 5, Chronometro (I think), xXx, ABD, and even a Mack rider I believe. Our shop rides in Geneva/St Charles are pretty well known for drawing a crowd but this was on par. Slower but on par. It was like an underground crit were everyone just met up and decided that it was time to race.

It was fun.

Keep the rubber side down and keep hammering.

BH Ride Report

Great ride. Lots of people showed up. We had close to 30 or so. I thought it would be bigger, but a lot of the guys who usually meet up with us out by the golf course weren't there.

As we were climbing in one section early and heard the unmistakable sound of cleats hitting the pavement. I yelled "RIDER DOWN!" The group sat up for a second....then laid into it.

It was Ara. He got boxed in or something and hit the deck. I floated back to see who it was and saw him rocketing back up to the group. many of the team members floated back to help but he didn't need it. In the end it just left a bunchof guys off the back at a bad time for them. Ara even told them "don't wait for me (save yourselves)."

Speed wise is was slow to wind up. I was planning on leading all of the 4/5's that wanted to ride slower by taking all of the short cuts. I was 1/2 way through the first turn where I was supposed to go straight for the shortcut and missed it. That's when it started to get a little faster.

I was hanging pretty good, but found myself in the wind swinging around in a weird middle section trying to hold on. I held for a while but then my mind just said, "save it" so I sat up and coasted back.

That was when the group hit McDonald Rd and they were GONE. We ended up with a group of stragglers. Alien3 from the penny rd ride was with us. He told me CyLoew had gotten a flat and was out a long ways back (oops....). He said he felt bad for not stopping, but we all know what kind of ride it was. I still felt bad I didn't stop even though I didn't even know until many miles later.

Colorchange, RR, myself, alien3, and some tri guys made up this group. I was feeling good and was looking to take some hard pulls. We started kind of rotating well. I was pulling at 400-500 watts when on the front. We were hauling butt around 30mph all the way down McDonald. We took a shortcut and ended up in front of the main group for a majority of the ride.

Some of the tri guys weren't pulling through and when they did they weren't really pouring it on. That ended up with myself and RR and Colorchange doing a ton of pulls. We ended up really tired by the time we got back into the wind. We started a constant rotating 2 line paceline. Even that died after a few miles.

The group caught us and we motored on in the big pack. Nice. Hit Townhall in the group. It was like a gun went off. Those guys attacked it like date on prom night.

The rest of the ride found alien3 and myself limping back. We made it back into the group when we got back into town. Nice ride. Fast, but it has been faster. Fun. 40+ miles. Even with the soft pedaling in town I averaged over 20mph for the whole ride. Haven't looked at the power data but I am sure it is brutal.

CyLowe and MJH2 came rolling in together. Nice move by MJH2. He's always been good like that.

Now...trail ride with little P this morning. Hit the shop in the afternoon...racing in Madison tomorrow and hopefully Sunday as well. Here's to a good and safe weekend for everyone!
....oh yeah....and check out my site. Click on some of the advertisers links if they interest you...hopefully you know why. Custom wheel build quotes, etc.

BH Ride tonight

I am getting psyched for the BH ride tonight. Just about everyone is planning on showing. The weather is good. This could be crazy. Still debating whether or not to do the "rip your legs off total Cat 1/2 full on race world championships" or to split off and do a 4/5 "development" ride.

Probably a little of both.

5 o'clock. Parking lot. Here.

7 Cylinders

I'm firing on 7-cylinders. More than the 6 banger from last year, but not yet full power.

Did the Penny Rd Pub ride tonight. Barrington area ride I did all last year. Wind sucked. Dan, colorchange and myself headed out. Dan put the hurt on quick.

I popped a couple of times - feeling the overeating from the holiday at my parents. I kept crawling back though and found I was recovering quick. Pop, climb back, lay on a pull. It was nice.

CC hurt. Dan hurt towards the end. Epic. Mid summer speed in full winter gear in April. We finished close to 21 with only 3 guys in the wind and cold.

7-cylinders. ....can't wait to see 8.

I'm riding...

40-ish degrees. Overcast and windy. Raining off and on for what seems like a couple of days. Most everyone has backed out of the planned rides for this evening.

Wussys.

I'm riding.

Postponing

I have been postponing my Psimet Invitational ride report. Don't know why. Just tired I guess. It seems like a monumental task. I know it doesn't have to be, but just doesn't seem right if I don't do it up right.

So...it's coming...

Right now just trying to enjoy the winding down of the road season. Last night's group ride was fun. Colorchange attacked on a downhill before the big climbing sections. I followed mainly because any advantage I can get for climbing will help me stay even. The attack was on a long slight downhill so it didn't cost me anything energy wise to go there. I usually spend my time on and off the brakes through there anyway.

I hit the first climb behind colorchange, but he slowed at the top kind of waiting for the group. I yelled I was on him and we went. We traded on the other climbs and really pushed it for a bit once we realized we were gone. Worked it a bit like a race. Felt like it. Was fun and a nice preview for this weekend.

We ended up passing alien2 who had come out later and was riding the course backwards to find us. We slowed up for a while to let him swing around and catch up. Then we started shooting the crap about the race he did this last weekend. It's on the same course as my race on Saturday. We slowed enough that it was definitely the end of the break by the time we turned South off of the hilly leg.

I felt good. I am not in as good of form as I was a few weeks back. Little P has been sidelined with a massive fever/ear infection. Others around me have been really sick as well. I had a small fever for a little bit before the ride. I just hope I don't go into full sick mode before during or after the races this weekend. A 4 stage race split over 2 consecutive weekends at the beginning of fall gives you tons of risk for getting sick.

In general I would be really happy with a top 10 overall for the series. That will most assuredly require a top 10 for the road race - which is double points. I don't know if I can do it, but what can I do but try. The TT and the crits don't bother me.

The TT is 10 miles. It will take at least a 25mph TT to take the top spot I am guessing. I don't have that in me, but I have done some near 23 mph ones...I might be able to do a 24 mph one if the wind cooperates and if I can borrow some Zipps (last TT I did a borderline 23 in the pouring rain with regular box section wheels on. Sat up in every turn and slowed to a crawl to stay upright....and it was 24-ish miles long).

The crits are like 8 miles long unless they make a last minute change. It will take like 15-20 minutes. I can ride at killer speeds for that amount of time. MJH2 has already decided to try to make it fun, and I am with him...especially if I screw the road race the day before.

I won't win anything (especially if I think this way). I might have a chance if it comes down to a sprint and I am in position, but the odds of that are pretty slim. I also think it there won't be a ton of riders doing all 4 events so that may give me a slight advantage.

Like I said....I would be extremely happy with a top 10.

...then it's on to learning how to cross race. This would be the equivalent of a runner trying to learn how to swin in order to do "try"-athlons. Knobbies and mud....ewww. So NOT me, but they are still mostly road bikes and the bikes look HAWT.

Besides...Carpentersville will have beer this year.....

Spicy

That was one spicy ride this morning. It took a while to get over the facts that I didn't get to bed until 1:30-2:00am ...because I was working on the long overdue wheels de aham. 5:00 came awful quick.

It was a ride with colorchange's club. He was there as well as aham (really just there to pick up wheels, but decided to ride...since he was already there and all) and about 7-ish other Spin Doctors riders.

I was wearing arm warmers, knee warmers (which on someone my height with my short legs really qualifies them as full leg warmers or something out of flashdance), vest, and was contemplating toe covers. It was COLD! Too freeking cold for this early in September. When I got home my trainer said...."see....you'll love me again someday soon. You'll see." *shiver*

The ride was 'brisk'. They usually start slow (so I was told), but I think aham and I helped push it a bit. There was no wind. Freeky fog, etc. By the time we got to the point where they normally take a natural (that's biker talk for peeing in a field - I do it while rolling) they were all saying it was the fastest they had ridden that route...ever.

I was just rolling along. The route is my kind of flat on roads I have ridden a ton so I knew where the features were, etc. I took short token pulls up front mainly due to not knowing the route and not knowing how high they were going to dial it up to later. Aham was riding well too.

Up Allen rd near Hampshire one of their guys started to do some attacking. That hurt. Later a lot of us admitted we were either getting light headed, dizzy or seeing spots there. "On the rivet" so to speak. From there it was "attack, bridge, repeat" for most of the rest of the ride. By the time we got back they all made it official...fastest ride on that loop...ever for most of them.

There was climbing, but only like 1,500 over 50 miles so needless to say I was there and hanging well for 99.9% of the ride. Knowing more of what to expect I could go back and do more work. So where does this ride rank for me?

Hardest

• Bicycle Heaven (Cat 1,2,3 sharks in chummed water - total class of their own)
• Racing
• Penny Rd (Cat 3,4,5 Fast and climby)
• Spin Doctors (Cat 3,4,5 Faster but flat with attacking)
• Century riding
• Village Pedaler (Saturday ride with some friends)
• Trail ride solo
• Trail ride with the family

Easiest

Tomorrow is the Harmon Hundred. Looks like we might get wet. I am on form and liking it. I have not been there all year. I hope to push it into overdrive for Fall Fling.

Scale said 172 last night.

The day in psimetville....

Group ride last night = good. Stayed on the whole way. Outclimbed a lot of people (even a few on Braeburn - wtf). Won final sprint - well accepted it when it was given over by the alien.

I was feeling good and can only chalk it up to finally being able to string 2-3 days of riding together - total shocker, but looking at my logs I haven't ridden on 2 consecutive days in a LONG TIME before now.

Thursday is BH ride.

I am winning the battle of the scale. Consistantly says 175 now. Been seeing some 173 and 174's. Still have my fat belly, but I am starting to think that will never go away. I felt the lighter weight on the bike too. Strength has been increasing so I feel like the loss has not been at the expense of muscle.

I had another meeting with the man to continue our discussion from last week. Didn't see the point and know it's just one of those "methods" for handling conflict situations that he most likely learned in a seminar. "Confront the issue head on and then give them a week for reflection then revisit the issue." I'm good in negotiations because I know when I am being played. What sucks is knowing that I am being played, not wanting to stoop to the level of playing along, and knowing that if you don't play along then no good can possibly come of that.

If de-motivation was a food, I would now be fat(er).

Holiday Weekend

So far it's been OK. I was able to lace 95% of aham's wheel. It's official....I HATE paired spoke drillings. Oh...did I mention I have like 3 or 4 more sets coming through a group buy direct from Taiwan. :(

Went on the Village Pedaler ride yesterday. Typically this has been a group ride for any and all. A fun kind of ride where there is a no-drop rule. Back last year CyLowe, Voldemort, and I were among the fastest on the ride. While it was fun to be in that position on a ride it doesn't do much for your fitness. More of a fun ride.

Non of us have been making it much this year probably for those reasons, but I knew they have changed the ride a bit (A and B groups) and the routes...not to mention the strongest guy there has been showing at races this year and I was looking forward to shooting the crap with him.

Showed up and the fast guy (I'll call him Pointer :) ) was there. One of the other regulars - shop employee - was out with a broken collarbone - low speed crash while dusting his wheel with his glove. He's very embarassed I was assured. Karrie was there along with Dan, another regular and 2 newbs (blondie and 'stasch).

We decided early on to take a new route that only Dan really knew. We were on roads I have been riding more frequently so I wasn't totally lost. Pretty soon it was apparant that we needed to split into A and B, but we didn't. We just kept riding hard and waiting at each turn. It was like intervals. It was also kind of fun because it gave us time to shoot the crap while waiting.

We rode up Campton Hills Rd - the opposite way I went on the Bicycle Heaven ride on Tuesday. That's a killer series of hills/rollers all together. Pointer and I peeled everyone off on that one while I mentioned to him that I don't like hills....about 1000 times. I am climbing very well compared to my normal self. Still not good, but much better for sure.

There were a ton of groups out there. Most of these groups were Tri groups - that means they are groups made up of 4 or 5 50-80 yr old men in dayglow kit riding tri bars and about 30-40 women of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. Usually 4-5 in the super-model late 20's to mid 40's range. This is where I decided on Pointer's name.

Before I knew it I was leading the combinations of groups all alone. There was a lot of giggling coming from the group behind. I turned and Pointer was chatting it up with a few of them. Ahh...to be young and single. You know you're old and marriged when all you can think of saying is, "so this will run into Ramm or Middleton rd up here right? Is it North or South of McDonald rd.?"

What I really needed was a little "Tim-Tim" directional advise. "Nah, you just have to stay on this until Jefferson then turn right for a little jog over on to the Henderson farm where there's this little kicker of a grade that doesn't look like much but will knock the wind out of you. Also...little known fact but there is a great microbrew based out of the Henderson's barn. Phish played there in 96 as a part of the ____ tour. etc...."

One of the dayglow wrinkle squad thought he'd show these young dumb roadies a lesson (really a kind of pissing match over 'his' women I think) and turned up the pace on the front. We responded. He pushed harder...we responded. Slowly we began this process of shifting, getting lower in position, all nice and easy like. All I could hear was the sound of popcorn popping behind us (people getting shelled off the back). Wrinkly popped and then Pointer and I finally got in the drops and laid it on. It was just us. We just kep climbing in speed. Finally there was a "stop ahead" sign off in the distance. It was on. Out of the saddle. I dropped him, he came back and dropped me...I came back and was about to pass him again when we both sat up for the stop.

Hella-fun. Heard wrinklly telling one of his women "I thought it was one of us older guys when I turned and looked and saw those young guys. That was it." One of our guys came up to us after that and said, " hey I fell off when you guys crossed 30 mph - and that was before the sprint!" All I could do was smile. (BTW - my freeking Garmin 305 is now plauged with the shut off on every bump glitch. SO I fly blind now).

Well....Pointer let the scenery get to him and I really thought I knew where we were....net result=we ended up really far off from where we wanted to go. We broke off from the group. I could have sworn I heard velcro tearing apart when Pointer came along. We cobbled together what we thought would get us back. We ended up near the school on the regular Pedaler route and just followed the normal route backwards.

Finally caught the back end of the rest of the group (who had turned earlier) within a few miles of the shop. Stasch was well out of his element and it was showing. We were waiting pretty heavily for him in the beginning and this route ended up being longer than anyone was expecting. Newbs were out of water...and so was I. I hung back with him to bring him into the shop. I was literally free-wheeling the whole way. It was painfully slow, but I tried to pass the time with some conversation to take his mind off of everything.

At the end I felt like I had a good ride, but nothing real taxing. Turned out to be about 40 miles at around an 18 pace. Not bad considering the hills and the chatting. :) All I could think was...My batterys needed this.

Last night was a baseball game. Little P loved it. Ate everything in the place. I have a sugar hangover. Today is a "hang around the house day"

Exhibit A:That was taken a few minutes ago.

Finally got on anti-biotics for the hell that I have been enduring. 3 or 4 weeks in. Dairyland Dare, Team Time Trial, Tour of Oakbrook, various group rides, etc all under the siege of snot. Final phase has been a WICKED sinus infection. Had to do something. Hopefully this will kill it all off and not flat my performance for Fall Fling like some anti-biotics will. Z-Pack baby.

I think we'll hit the trail with the trailer today. I can be a "dad" and still get some riding in. He loves it. Really. I just asked if he wanted to go on a bike ride with his helmet in the trailer...he said....with head bobbing..."uh...YEAH!" "Are you sure?" I said...."Uh ....YEAH!" :D

BTW - aham is getting some good natured ribbing over on Bikeforums...check it out...http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=460040

later.

Bicycle Heaven Group Ride

So...I finally rode my first group ride with my team. I've known since I found out about the ride last year that this is a very high caliber ride. So I knew I was going to be in over my head.

I prepared with a map and made sure I had a blinkie (bike talk for little flashing red light used in low light levels to warn motor vehicles of your presence or to generally increase your visibility - used here to imply that I would be coming in after the main group - in the dark). It was nice to see MJH2 and RR both there for the ride. I pulled the newb move and didn't wear my team kit (still dirty from the race - P U). I wasnt sure what the protocol was and I didn't want to be the guy that wears the shirt of the band you are going to see. Turns out I should have been that guy.

So what is there to tell...um...these guys are indeed all business. There was more slabs of prime grade A racing beef there than at almost anything else I have ever done outside of a race. Oh...and chatty cathys too. Real lively talkative bunch. It was nice because they rollout pretty slow for quite a while and most of the talk had to do with the race that seemingly all of us were in last weekend.

Then they attack. Holy crap Batman. This isn't a quick flyer or hard sprint kind of attack, but rather a slow rolling into pace. The kind where it just keeps going....you hit "kinda fast" and it keeps increasing....you hit "fast" and it keeps going....you hit "this is hauling ass" and it keeps going.....you see stars and start to get tunnel vision.....and there is still a gap.

That kind of acceleration always makes me feel like I am in a slow mo replay of the special effects from Star Wars when they do a jump into hyper-space.

I knew it would happen eventually so I didn't freak out or anything. MJH2 and I ended up plodding ahead. It took me forever to really get my engine running. I have been noticing that lately. What I mean is that it takes like 15-20 minutes of HARD riding before I stop hyper-ventilating and start being able to pour on power, etc without totally popping.

MJH2 noticed that as well as I was wheel sucking him like I was a 2 month old and his wheel was a nipple. All said we ended up doing some decent work. Really cranked out some powerful sections. The effort was similar to the TTT I did with aham a few weeks back. Has to list up there as one of my all time hard efforts speed wise.

It was like being in a race. Actually being in a race. Pegged from the start with absolutely no breaks.

We finished respectfully and got some "meh....not too horrible for cat4/5's" looks from some of the guys. Even got a "good riding" from the shop/team owner as a side comment.

Different vibe. No drinking afterwards, etc. All Roadie. I liked it, but I can't see abandoning "my People" on the Penny Rd Ride. Then again I will get much faster riding the BH ride. So....thinking of doing the Penny Rd on Tuesdays and the BH ride on Thursdays.

....now.....how do I convince Mrs. P that this is something that needs to happen.......hmmmmm

Group Ride 081208

Another group ride is done. Fast. I held on for a long time and was actually climbing really well (for me).

Then I popped. I was so demoralized thinking - Hey I'm going to make it this time....

Then I fired up the Garmin and saw I just set a record for myself on the course. Everyone else just got faster.

I hate pulling into the parking lot within a minute or 2 of the leading group - meaning we were close, but that difference adds up to 1-3mph. Pretty big gap.

Oh well, I never said I was good at this stuff.

Group Ride

Last night's group ride was sweet. CyLowe got a case of the weirds from it though. I was feeling quite good and was able to pretty easily hold on to the pack for 95% of the ride. I gave up my usual ground on some of the hills, but I did actually finish the first one 2nd wheel - big accomplishment for a short fat guy.

There were a lot of new faces on the ride last night. Some were old regulars that many knew. The quick road nazi assessment was indicating that the fred level was rising slightly.

OK - my take on Freds...unlike many other elitist road weenies I tend to actually like Freds. This is mainly because I honestly feel a kinship of sorts with anyone who throws their leg over a bicycle (this obviously removes recumbent riders - which I will now refer to as recumbulators as picked up in the Two Johns Podcast - from my feeling of kinship.) I generally like them.

The ones I don't like are the activist, self appointed safety monitor, retro-grouches that feel the need to spend the whole ride barking at people or trying to convince us that a 5 speed freewheel with friction bar ends is "where it's at". That ship sailed in 1986.

While I am on the topic I feel the need to lob a grenade at a local team. They are on the opposite end of the spectrum but just as annoying. I hate it because they are the closest team to my house and doing their rides would work into my schedule and I do know at least one of their riders, but they are just too freeking uptight. They gives enthuiasts and racers a bad name. They totally eliminate the joy out of riding and make it a task instead of an adventure. Total road nerds.

These are the kind of guys that will bark at everyone, insist that no new riders join up until they have passed some sort of 20 point inspection of riding skills and abilities complete with clinic, ride rigid pacelines with over the top protocols on their normal group rides, and eat their young. They look like a wannabe pro team when heading out on local century rides for Pete's sake. Our buddy on the team skipped one of the best rides we put together all year just because the century ride....CENTURY RIDE that all of us were doign the next day he was going to be doing with this team and had to be able to perform at his best.

Despite all of this they basically suck in every race I have ever seen any of them do. Maybe it's just something about them that ticks me off and I am being too harsh on them, but I don't think I am alone. If you check their site it seems like no one is really active on it anymore and I really haven't seen them at any local races this year. I have to think their membership has to be suffering because they simply found a way of sucking the joy out of one of the most joyous things one can do....ride a bike.

I won't mention the name, but let's just say they all supposedly have a phd.

So where was I......oh yeah the group ride. Fred Factor. The nice thing is that we rolled out uber slow. It was a nice change for me and I think it allowed me to actually warm up before hitting it hard. We did lose patience by the time we turned North. I took a flyer off the front. by the time I turned around we had basically halved the group.

So we get to a road closure. We all kind of knew it was there, but didn't make the necessary arrangements to change the route before actually hitting the closure. So there we are...staring at the construction equipment. Some want to go back up the big hill we just came down. Others want to cross the construction site and keep riding.

hating hills I quickly joined the "let's cross this thing" club. So we did....and ended up doing a little cyclocross. OK...more than a little. Jumping from one submerged rock to the next in a flowing creek with road shoes on is a little dicey to say the least....but it got me out of another climb.

The rest of the ride was fun. Fast and furious. I had brought along another new rider from Bike Forums that I had met during a race in Bensenville last week. Turns out he had a cleat problem right after the cyclocross adventure. By the time I realized he was not in the group it must have been 5 miles or more later. When I asked around no one had seen him since the crossing. I felt like an a-hole for not noticing sooner, providing a route map, and for not going back to find him, but he had said enough on the way up to imply that he was pretty familiar with the area.

Turns out he had an adventure finding the way back to the car, but by the time we rolled in he was there. I promise I'll get him a map by next week...at least of the normal route....sans closure.

So...commute on Monday. Group ride on Tuesday. Commute this morning. Hopefully a commute tomorrow. Even a possibility of a 1/2 commute on Friday. If all of that comes off without a hitch then I will be enjoying the long weekend at the wedding that my wife and I have planned.

Vacation is over

So I am back at work. Moustache is gone. It was starting to come in nicely, but the wife didn't see anything other than White Trash-ness to it. No humor ...

Trying to piece together some upcoming plans:

• Tonight - Possible wrenching in the shop - Voldemort
• Tuesday - Group Ride
• Wednesday - Possible wrenching in the shop - Voldemort
• Thursday - Possible Commute
• Friday - Possible 1/2 commute then leave for RAIN
• Saturday - Ride RAIN and return to Chicago - and convert bike over to TT setup *pain*
• Sunday - Possible Hampshire TT
• Next Tues - Bensenville Races for Superweek
• Next Wednesday - Bensenville Races for Superweek
• Week off - wife working on the weekend so no rides
• Another TT the following weekend - OR - my boss's son's wedding (also my wife's cousin...long story)
• Melon Metric/Chicago Criterium/Oswego Century the next day(?)
• Elgin Crit the next saturday.

Feeling a little overwhelmed....and excited. I wish there was more time for an escape to Wisconsin mixed in there. Might have to take a 1/2 day and head up there sometime. Part of the wellness program....

Group Ride

Last night's ride was great. I was feeling the awesome.

We actually rolled out kind of slow - lots of new people on the ride. I held back to keep an eye on voldemort (from Bike Forums). It was his first time out on this ride and while he knows the area he was not sure of the specific route. I didn't want to ditch him.

neitsmas held back with me as well. After making it to spring whatever it is it was apparant that the group was on and we were going to be off. Part of me wanted to just hammer back to the group - I was feeling good - but really I thought taking it a little easier with voldemort would be more fun.

neitsmas was in for either. he was feeling the awesome as well. I was climbing like a fool. Better than I have climbed all year. We had lost enough ground on the group that I suggested we cut and do Braeburn backwards. The effect is that it's like taking out the 2 mile section of river rd before the turn on to Braeburn.

When I do this I usually have enough time to get to the bottom, turn around, relax for a bit, drink, etc....and just about the time I start to get a little antsy they come around the bend. Worked again last night like clockwork. I was able to turn around and get a rythum on the hill.

First alien went past with a new alien on his wheel. Then there wasn't much. I was holding my own. Then finally the next alien went past with neitsmas. About that time I started to hear panting. As the rider came by I saw the bike forums jersey...it was CyLowe.

I thought...heck I can even catch his wheel at this point...so I did. Felt good. I usually don't try to push myself on Braeburn. I just spin to the top. Pretty soon we were passing the alien. I thought to myself as we passed...."oh he's not going to let me pass him on a hill"

Sure enough I heard him motor on past in short order. At that point I figured I should cut off a bit - we were near the top and I didn't know what was in the tanks and wanted to hold on for the rocket train back to the pub.

The train did not fail to impress. The couple of times I could look down and concentrate enough to actually read my computer it was north of 25-30 mph. I am starting to know the route and knew where they were going to turn it on, etc. so I was pretty much able to match every acceleration. Then just before 68 there was a little roller (28mph uphill) then they turned it on over the top.

I was expecting a little bit of gas, but I was really impressed. I had to dig deep into my suitcase of awesome to hold the wheel in front of me. That's when I literally got momentary tunnel vision and started seeing little specs/polka dots. I took it as a sign and knew I was roasted. I pulled out of line before I let a gap develop. As I looked down I was coasting and dropping back to 30.

I got enough recovery time that I caught up at 68 and held on to the end. neitsmas took a killer pull and came off the front like a rock. I swear I heard that cartoon bullet ricochet sound as he went by. The train was moving like a fish through water - I was on the fish's tail as it flapped around in an attempt to swin faster.

Back in the parking lot is when you feel the rush hit you. Gotta be like a runner's high. My hands seem to always be trembling after that. Not nerves or anything, but like the low blood sugar shakes I get sometimes when I bonk on or off the bike.

Guess I needed to replenish some carbs. Luckily there was a pub nearby.

On the police side of things we did in fact see quite a few out there in force. They even had a speed limit radar station thingy set up. Don't know how well those things work with bikes, but it said 25 was the speed limit and it was reading a shaky 28 for us. Must have been broken. They did not give us a citation so we must have been OK. ;)

In all we followed all the laws and I actually had fun coming to a stop at every sign. It really helped keep the group together for the majority of the ride.

Voldemort....GREAT JOB! You held on longer and rode faster than my first time out with this group for sure. In a few weeks you'll be the one with a beer in your hand by the time I get back to the car.

The police await.

Today marks my return to the local Tuesday night "beat your head against the ground" lung burner we like to call a "group ride." This one runs out of Penny Rd Pub in Barrington....because it can.

This is where I show up, get kitted up, shoot the crap with a few guys, make jokes about how much I suck, how poor shape I am in, etc. Then we go out along Penny Rd and play "Wack a' Wheel" with the moon like cratered surface that is Penny Rd.

Usually a few aliens show up (see pictures from previous posts) and push the pace in an attempt for them to learn more about human phsiology. It's like a big lab experiment. About 5 miles in there is a sprint point. It comes right after a downhill.

I don't know what you know about riding/cycling let alone cycling at high speeds within groups, but there is one thing you pick up quick when you start....if you're fat you descend faster than everyone else, when you're skinny you climb faster than anyone else. Well I happen to be in the fat club (really...seriously....;) )so I tend to roll up quickly on the front of the pack everytime before the long slight uphill to the sprint.

I'm a sucker for sprints. I usually go if the person who goes first is within striking distance and I am feeling it. It's always a mistake...because I seem to always win.

What I win is a first class, all-expense-paid trip into the red zone. I have hit new heart rate maximums here. The thing that really sucks is that then the ride turns a corner and rapidly heads uphill. Remember what I said about fat and skinny riders? Combine the first uphill with a fat rider who is already solidly in the red zone and what do you get? OTB.

For those of you who don't know....OTB=Off The Back. It is that location that cyclists hate to ride in. Almost no one goes there willingly. It sucks. It's demoralizing. You get to watch the aliens softly and slowly float away from you. Hanging just off in the distance. Far enough that you can't draft, but close enough that you still feel like trying to get back on their wheel.

That pain goes on for a little bit and then I totally un-hitch. I then spend the next chunk of the ride riding all out in an attempt to stay reasonably close. I have learned to cut a few sections taking about 2-3 miles out of the ride so that I can meet back up with the group before the "big climb" and the hammer train back to the start.

The problem with riding all out in an attempt to latch back on is the police....rather the locals who don't like us riding on their roads and call the police.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=207853&src=13

The article linked is the exact area we ride in. The picture, needless to say, is not us. There really are about 1000 riders out on thes roads (OK slight exageration, but it makes my point) every Tuesday and most weekend days. It really is probably the most populated area I have ever ridden in.

Last week, after the article came out, the group took it easy. Thankfully I had an excuse to not be there. I have a bad temper and knew better than to put myself in a situation that could bring it out. Even though they took it easy there was still a cop hanging out in the parking lot of the pub when the group returned...giving everyone the "stink eye".

After seeing some of the comments posted on the article I am shocked that the officer didn't take to time to see if anyone was harrased on the ride. This crap is nothing new. Communities have responded like this all over this country. In the end....nothing happens. Enforcement gets stepped up for a while, tickets are written, articles get everyone in a huff, then everything goes back to the way it was before. Why? Because it just so happens that bicycles are vehicle and are allowed to legally ride on the road. That won't ever change.

On top of that cyclists are advocates by nature. It tends to happen when you face death every time you get on a bike. The two sides will never see the other's side. The angry motorists just want bikes off the road....because....they just don't like them and they feel like they get in the way and slow them down (all of the other excuses they use are total BS). Cyclists look at it as a bunch of fat lazy slobs who are in too much of a hurry to get to McDonalds or to the gas station to take an extra couple of seconds, slow down, and make sure they don't kill anyone.

Motorists forget that they are wielding a weapon, and cyclists forget that motorists just don't think rationally when beind the wheel. That's it.

I hate when this crap comes up because NOTHING good EVER comes of it. It's akin to a police mission in the middle east writing tickets to people who are not in the incorrect ethnic security zones....it only gets everyone on edge and invites conflict.

So...uh....anyway I plan on riding again tonight. It's been another week. I am a good steward on the road for both camps. I just need a good road ride before going on vacation and I know I will get on by going....at least until I go OTB.

...but then I'll have plenty of time to stop and smell the roses.