Zippy Morning

I didn’t think I had it in me.

This morning’s ride started similar to yesterday morning.  The radar showed rain off to the west heading in our direction.  There were light sprinkles by the time we arrived at the Rusty Bridge for the start, in fact the pavement was mostly damp … not quite wet.  I didn’t put on the rain gear this time and as we shot out of the gate I resolved to ride fast.  This was after all, Wicked Wednesday.  We picked up Brian and Chip (on the fixie) along the way, and kept the pace up in the early damp darkness.  When we got 5 miles into the ride, I was pleased to see that we had averaged 19.5 mph!

I chose the shorter route again, remaining on Old County Road instead of hitting the hill in Round Bay.  I was surprised that three others also chose this easier route.  Brian and Mike C blew past me on the hill, and there was another rider on my wheel, but I couldn’t tell who it was in my quick glances in my rear view mirror.  By the time I hit the effective top of the hill on Old County, Mike was about 50 yards ahead of me and I resolved to close the gap.  I reeled him in, and noted that as I did so, the rider behind me fell further behind.  Mike and I finished out Old County and hit the trail again, where we both kicked up the pace once again.  I was amazed that I could do that, since my heart rate had spiked to the limit trying to catch him earlier.  Crossing Joyce Lane, we commented that a fast sprint would allow us to stay ahead of the rest, so we kicked it up again.  As Mike flagged, I passed him and drove the pace up above 25 mph for a time.  By the time we got to the southern end of the trail, the others were still not in sight.  I glanced at my Garmin and noted that for the morning to that point, I had 18.5 mph average.  Soon, Chip arrived saying he was trying to catch us, but on the fixie he couldn’t bridge the gap.  The others arrived a minute or two later.

We waited for the rest to catch up, then proceeded north on the trail.  I maintained a pretty quick pace (for me) in the lead, and then hung on as I was passed.  At Glen Oban, we ratcheted up the pace again.  I noted another 5 mile “lap” was 19.4 mph.  We hammered down B&A Blvd, and kept the pace pretty steady.  From Jones Station Road, Dave was in the lead and I was second.   I held his wheel through all the rollers, then when we got to my little hill, I passed him, discovering at the top that I had pulled all the rest up that hill, averaging 20.5 mph for that hill section.  I got a nice compliment from Chip on the pace I set.

When we arrived back on the trail, I noted that my average for the morning was now at 18.8 mph and soon enough, another 5 mile “lap” revealed another 19.5 mph pace.  That was 15 miles at 19.5 (ish) mph!  I kept pressing the pace all the way home and by the time I had climbed the hill back home, my average for the day was 18.4 mph, my fastest this year.

I logged on to Strava, uploaded the information, and started looking at the stats for the segments I have tracked.  I was pretty pleased with the results.  On most of those segments, I’m gaining ground on my previous best times.  Most of those personal records were set last September – November when I was at my peak.

There were a couple of close calls.  Dennis had a shifting problem and I nearly clipped his rear wheel at one point.  I know I missed it by less than an inch.  The damp roads contributed to another, where my rear wheel locked up as I was braking hard and my front and rear threatened to replace one another.  Quick action saved that and still got me stopped.  I rely on the rear brakes way too much!

All in all, a surprising morning ride for me.  I didn’t think I would have the speed in my after a quick ride last evening.

Oh, yeah, the rain never got to more than a light occasional sprinkle, although I did see a flash of lightening off to the northeast just before we left the Rusty Bridge.

This Ride: 22.8 miles
Month: 74.3 miles
2012: 1672.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,525.7 miles