Wednesday

Smiling Jim ready to roll into the wind

Good morning! We all know what day it is, so I will let that one go for a week or two. Wow, it's nice and cool out there this morning. It's been such an unusual summer. I wonder if we are going to get any prolonged periods of heat? If so, I hope it waits until after John's Ironman Louisville, which is a week from Sunday.

Last night six of us rolled out from church: Tim G, Jimmy, Scott, John, Rand, and me. I did a little work before that, arriving back at church with 14 miles, wanting to total 50 for the evening. I saw Roy there, and then I saw Roy drive off. He left his shoes and helmet at home. No ride for you! (soup Nazi voice) I know that was frustrating. My guess is Roy rode from his house.

It was windy last night, just as we thought it would be. I think NW winds are not much fun on our course, which runs mostly SE. It means you get a nice push out, but then you have to pay for it. I would prefer to work into the wind and then ride back with it, but, hey, you get what you get and do what you do. I know Ironman Florida could be a windy ride.

Our Tuesday night rides have really evolved over this season and last. We used to ride out casually and at a relatively slow pace to the county line. Then we would either time trial back as individuals, spaced by about 45 seconds or paceline in a group or groups. Sometime last summer we started riding harder going out. I think Strava had something to do with it - ha ha.

This year, an Ironman year where everything is a bit ramped up, we have been going out hard and returning hard. Then at Bill's initiative we started formalizing this by going back to the finish line of the time trial course and making it a double -- going hard 10 miles out and then turning and coming back hard for the 10 miles. No stop at P tree. Just do it. I think it has been helpful.

Last night we went back to the pre-double time trial effort and simply rode the wind out informally. John, Scott and Jimmy took off hard, around 28-30 mph. I stayed on for a mile or two but fell off. It's too much for me. Rand and Tim came from behind and passed me along the course. To use Jimmy's word for the evening, I felt a bit lethargic. Oh well, I made it out to P tree.

Once there we decided to stay together to fight the wind back. We made a vow initially, but someone in the group had a strong aversion to the word. We then made a pact, but that changed to a "loose agreement" to stay together on the way back. In other words, "Don't drop Allen." I pulled first and probably pulled too long and hard, because once I got back to the back and hit the Bromer hill, I was breaking the loose agreement, falling off the back.

The other guys slowed a bit, and I got back on. After that I was fine. The wind was pretty strong. Overall it was a fun ride, followed by a trip to Wendy's for some of us. Today is a run. I have a breakfast meeting, so I am trying to figure the scheduling of the run. Tune into tomorrow to see what happens! I hope you can sleep tonight.