Tonight's ride again started out up Prospect Street, a brisk pace as we turned right onto Shopping Plaza Hill, as soon as we hit the downhill the attacks started coming fast and furious - 1,2,5 riders took flyers down the hill, these sandbaggers obviously didn't belong on our ride.
And then we got to the stop sign and I started my rant - I tend to get a little jacked up on these rides (the 2 pre-ride Jet Blackberry GUs with 2x caffeine doesn't help the HR, but it does prepare you for a lot of other shit you're going to encounter on the ride) so the adrenaline overtakes common sense - who knew the A ride was doing damage control by trying to get by us as quickly and safely as possible.
I stopped and yelled at Krysten and a couple of other guys before Luch pulled up and yelled at me for yelling at his ride. Next week I'll know.
But yelling was in order over the first several miles of the ride.
As we pulled out of Mechanic across 70 the shit started happening - on the front as we went across 70 onto Old Union Turnpike I tried setting a quick tempo pulling the group up "that hill", keeping things in order, single file, nice and orderly. But it wasn't to be, I heard the gears clicking and the attacks coming, F me, this stuff isn't supposed to happen at mile 4, but it did, and the strong guys rode away while the rest of us tried to maintain order.
This happened again.
And again.
A group of 4 or so, I won't mention names Moeckel and Zim and the other two I didn't catch were ripping it apart as we headed down towards Shirley Center, and then across the tracks all the way until we regrouped at 2A.
That's when the GIRL got things under control - short pulls so we can all work together as a group to keep things fast and organized - emphasis on the organization.
Finally things started to work and work well.
Obviously it wasn't going to last - we still had that bitch of a climb on Wallace Hill Rd ahead of us, but the next couple of miles things settled down, and we all started working together and it was fun again.
And then we regrouped, waited for the traffic to pass on Main St., I think we all enjoyed the recovery - rolled across onto the start of the climb.
This is where stuff was going to happen.
And it did.
F me, I hate this road, not that it's so steep, I actually enjoy the steep stuff because it happens early on.
But when that section is over and done with you look up and all you see is this long stretch of road that seems to go up and up and on forever.
And that's when the head goes down, the lights go out and the saliva pours down the side of my face like my favorite dog, Shawnee's Bermese Mountain Dog Junior (shameless plug here):
I was somewhere in the pack, maybe 5 or 6 off the front - buried it, lights out, puke zone, I wanted that hill bad - I managed to pick off 1, 2, 4 riders, I still don't know who the rabbit up the road was, probably TC, maybe someone else - I started counting pedal strokes, 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, my head was down and I have no idea if I was closing the gap or not (probably not) - I'd settle for 2nd.
Closer to the top, I could feel it, I had at least a 20 meter gap on everyone else - only a couple hundred meters to go.
And then I knew it was over, I heard the wheels twisting over the pavement, where the hell did they come from, in my mind I had opened up a 1/4 mile gap - reality is often different than perception. Wake up call! I was about to get smoked, 1,2,4 riders picked me off, I managed to pull a couple back, in the end I think it was a draw between about 6 of us.
Recovery time at the top before heading down that hill where it gets real fast again - just watch out for the potholes and the seams in the pavement, don't want to hit any of that at 40mph (I don't think my dental insurance covers road damage) - I was on the good wheel, JC, nothing to worry about, but even JC gets caught up in the unforeseeable - I don't know how I missed catching his wheel at the bottom, but thankfully I did because that would've been a real buzz-kill (like when you're 17 smoking weed with your buds in your friend's basement and all of a sudden through the smokey haze you see his mother standing there with "that look" on her face - not that I've ever been there mind you, but I know people who have).
No matter - we survived it. The GIRL said we were going to Charlie's house, so I was pretty stoked, looking forward to some burgers on the grill and a couple of cold ones. It sucked knowing Charlie wasn't going to be driving us home in his Honda after Sunday's mishap, but maybe someone bought Gene's Suburban and we could toss the bikes on the roof for the ride back to Gear Works.
What the GIRL meant to say was we would be riding BY Charlie's house, not actually stopping for BBQ and beers - more suckage.
Oh well, we made it down Dudley - headed down 119 for the .10 miles before taking the left onto W. Townsend Rd. Supposedly it was going to be excellent stretch of pave', (freshly paved and real fast) - but those first several miles were like riding the Arenberg section of Paris Roubaix (the toughest 2.5km of the race) - we were doing well riding the cobbles until we had our first mishap of the night, not one, but 2 flats. I noticed Tom Stevens had one, and then further back I could see another group. Tom's self sufficient so I rode back to the other group.
JC also flatted.
No worries, Jason Bourgeois was on the scene ready to help. He's a mechanic at Gear Works so I was sure he had matters in hand. JC got the tire off the rim, threw me the flatted tube (which I kept and will frame and hang in my freshly remodeled living room) - Jason was a big help and quickly handed the new tube to JC, who got it on the rim in seconds flat (no pun) - I had Co2 ready to go, JC turns the wheel over, looks good, I'm ready to inflate.
WtF Jason! I don't know if they taught you this in bike repair 101, but whatever tube you gave him, the stem wasn't going to work on a 58mm rim. Me thinks you need the remedial summer school bike repair class at the Mount.
Finally got that straightened out just as Tom was finishing his repair (I assume a tubular).
And then got rolling.
La de da de da, it was a nice leisurely 15mph pace on a road that was meant to be ridden much faster, I had all I could do to stay awake. Who was at the front anyway?
Finally Jeff Robert corrected the problem by going to the front and getting things rolling - and then it got fast again, real fast - and the train was rolling like it should be rolling, smooth and fast.
We were tearing it up, everyone was working the front real hard. I had Noah's wheel which is is a very good wheel to have when your 2nd back - the guy was killing it, he was Mark Renshaw and I was Caviendish on the old HTC train, he buried himself for at least a couple hunderd meters before peeling off, and then I drilled it like I owed it to my leadout man, it was amazing! These things only happen by being in the right spot at the right time, and Noah's wheel was the place to be!!!!!
Too bad I shamed myself later on.
Ho hum, past Coolidge Park, and then up to Boutelle St, I still love riding through the 'Burg, the Spanish fans love to cheer us on and it's great. Boutelle was fast, but too short - rolled onto left onto Summer and then onto Bemis.
Slowed to reorganize one last time before the finishing sprint down Airport Rd.
You just knew this was going to be fun.
REAL FUN!
I rode up and looked for my spot.
Where the fuck was Noah when I need him, I know he was up front but I couldn't find him.
Oh well, there were other wheels to pick.
I chose wrong - too close to the front and the really fast guys behind me, including TC.
Lesson learned, get behind the fast guys, not in front of them.
This is how I remember it, but I might be right or I could be wrong -
I was 3 or 4 behind the lead out man, who I think was a woman (Robin) - as always she pulled hard, I was worried she'd ride the 2 guys behind her off her wheel, but whoever they were held it - she peeled off, I let a small gap open up so she could sneak in and maybe contend for the sprint - so I had her wheel which is a good wheel to have.
The first guy peeled off.
Then the next guy.
Robin was killing it, but it was good, I felt strong and held it, I was ready, she peeled off and I went, hard, and tried to hold on and not think about the small stuff - like dying, but if I had to die it was a good night for dying.
Again, reality doesn't always match up to perception - I thought I had opened a small gap, maybe even more than a small gap, I started to think about the Tuesday night glory, the town line, less than a mile, maybe.
I took a peak over my shoulder, I wasn't sure who it was, but of course they were right there on my wheel.
Decision time.
Instead of pulling for another hundred meters I tossed in the towel and bailed.
I was humiliated, especially when thinking about Noah's pull earlier in the ride.
I'm no Mark Renshaw -
I was dropped like a rock - TC, Moekel, the GIRL, Steve Z, Steve D, many others, they were all over me like a swarm of angry bees. No chance tonight, my night was over while I watched the rest punch it out for the town line.
But there were lights up ahead - they were blue and flashing. And cars coming in the opposite direction.
FPD had a car pulled over - screwed up the last 100 meters of the sprint.
I have no idea who won - in the end what does it matter? And I don't think anyone really cares about the glory - although Alex still kept it going well beyond the finish line, good work guy!
This was one of those nights that had the potential of being a complete disaster but because someone was able to pull the whole thing together, turned out to be one of the best rides ever.
This shit is getting real fun.
Lets do it again next week.
Riders of the night (I'm not going to do this each week, but there were a couple who deserved attention):
1st place - the guy who broke his front cable - he had 2 gears all night and he made the best of them.
The rest:
Jay B - I didn't think he had it in him, but the guy rode hard all night, including the hills. Well done.
The guy I called out in last week's blog, Bill did well tonight - still needs to work a little harder on his pulls, but a lot better than last week's effort.
Noah for making me a Tuesday night hero with the sprint down W. Townsend.
That's all - thanks again everyone for all the hard work and making tonight's ride a lot of fun!
I miss these posts....
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