Torture Tuesday

This Ride: 23.3 miles
Month: 532.4 miles
2011: 2,016.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 8,135.8 miles

It was another very warm morning, and I was expecting quite a number of riders out. I was out early and rode about 5 miles before arriving at the Rusty Bridge.  There were only 5 to start and one joined us much later (we took a different route). The day is typically designated “Torture Tuesday” because there is an expectation of some fast riding (which keeps some riders away). One has to be pretty fast to keep up.

As we left the trail, Bryan and Dan conspired to take a different route to avoid Jennings road and its large gravel and poorly repaired sections.  We traveled Truckhouse Road to Benfield and then back to the Trail as it crosses Robinson Road.  And we took it at a pace that I couldn’t hold.  The group waited for me once we hit the trail.  Then on Old County Road, I told the others to go ahead and do the hills in Round Bay, I’d go straight on Old County, and they could see if they could catch me by the end of the trail.  I worked hard, keeping my heart rate in the anaerobic zone, and successfully reached the end of the trail tens of seconds ahead of the rest.

We eased up back down the trail and Brian (Commodore) caught up with us.  At B&A Blvd, the group took off again, and I didn’t even try to keep up.  I did keep the speed up as best I could.  We regrouped again at the trail, and took a relatively easy pace back to the Ranger Station.

As it turned out, this was my ride with the fastest average speed for the year.  It was 17.8 mph over those 23 miles.

It sounds like the plan is to do the Solley Road route tomorrow.  I may offer a slower, easier pace to others since I’ll also be riding this evening.

This evening I’m looking forward to the “Pizza Ride”.