High Noon

My first nooner in nearly 8 months went well yesterday. I could be exaggerating on that number a bit, but for all practical purposes, it is probably accurate. We had a great day to work with, sunny and near 60. I saw a lot of skin on the ride, which is always a treat in Mid-January.

So, the group rolled pretty chill up through the Old # 7, in and out of Harrisburg: things began getting railed up going into Fayette. It was just fake however, as the pace backed off again and we came to a stop at the local Casey's.

Rolling out of Fayette, we had to deal with a pretty substantial headwind. Fish suggested an echelon on the way back. Though I was skeptical (because if you get involved in a paceline on a noon ride, ultimately it turns in to a hammerfest) but none the less began taking pulls. We soon had the pace drilled, and no one was responding to me trying to slow things down a bit. I tucked back into the pack, and chilled out. We came up to a stop to wait for some others, when a local tri-guy rolled up on our group. He was heading back to Columbia so our group invited him to endure the headwind with several, rather than by his lonesome. He was a chatty fella, but just a few minutes of us rolling off, he went around the pack, tucked into his aerobars, and attempted to leave our peleton behind...You just don't do that. Especially to a group of competitive cyclists. So, we sent Jimmy Mc and Tracey across. Call us immature, but hey, you don't poach rides, then attack the guys who gave you an invitation. So, while the two gradually picked up the tempo through the rollers, we got back on the front in our paceline, and slowly brought this d-bag back. After flying by him (and sticking him out of the slip stream) we cruised away at 25+ mph. The pace stayed nailed through some of the toughest climbs of the day.

Guppy attacked on the first big climb of three heading back into the intersection of Big Tree and Home. I countered, but sat up at the top of the hill. BTW, watch out for lil' Fish this season. I can not believe how much this kid has improved over last. He is super strong, and he can ride his bike in a straight line now. Then, we nailed the pace down the hill, and Fish attacked at the bottom...I really did not have much to respond with, so I crawled up the next climb, and did my classic TT chase back up to him. We totally chilled it out up the last climb to wait for the others, and see who would take the turn around the huge tree with us.

So, 82 miles later I was home. You really can't argue with 60 degree days in January; I have a feeling in the back of my head that we are going to pay for it in February and March. I guess time will tell.