Hammer Hundred Report

A beautiful day to ride, with lots of sun, light winds and temps in the 70's.
About 10 people showed up today, 4 of which were women from Verve. After we got up past Wayzata and had fixed a flat, we got organized and started pacelining. It worked well and gave us a little advantage into the wind. Everyone took their turn up front and the rotation was pretty smooth. These were all talented and very experienced riders.
At Hanover we turned and had the wind pretty much at our backs. Not much was happening at first and I was getting a little impatient. I finally yelled, "come on let's go", and the hammer came down. There were 4 or 5 of us who were regulars up front, and we rotated in and out of position easily. Again these were well experienced riders. I was the only one who wasn't currently racing. They all knew exactly what they were doing. We were pushing it hard, and when we got to Rockford, and I was sure we were in Watertown. Once the oxygen started flowing to my brain again, I did finally realize we were on planet earth.
We stopped in Delano for Gatorade, Rice Krispie Treats, and a Baby Ruth candy bar, and then made our way to Watertown. I knew where I was now.
At Watertown some shenanigans took place. Ten of us turned into just two of us. Everyone had looked strong and it was hard to believe we had dropped them, but.... We looked back and they just weren't there. So Dan Schueller and I stayed on course and worked our way together to Mayer and then Waconia. Coming out of Waconia who do we see, but the missing eight. I think they were more surprised to see us, as we were ahead of them, and they had taken a short cut, that lopped four miles off the route Dan and I did. I developed a smug little grin on my face as I realized all I had to do was stay with them, and in reality I was finishing four miles ahead of them. Now that's SAWEEEET!
They didn't make it easy. With some of the hills we came over, I began to worry if I could hold on, but I did and it was painful. Coming out of Excelsior we got on Excelsior Blvd. Just before Hopkins Dan and I were at the front and came up to a stop light. A van was in front of us and started to pull away from the light very slowly. I got behind the van to get a draft. Dan got beside me so we were both getting the draft from the van. Dan was able to stay with the van much longer than I, but we both got quite a gap on the rest of the group. They may not have been trying, but.... So from about Baker Rd to Punch it was just Dan and I, and Dan was at least a half a mile ahead of me. I got onto the greenway before Dan did, and I lost sight of him. Then all of a sudden I see his jersey. He got stuck at a stop and the gap was smaller. I couldn't go any faster though and he was off again. It looked like he was extending the gap ever so slightly on me again. I just couldn't close the gap. I really tried. God he's strong. YES! He got stuck at another stop and I catch him. I pat him on the back, and let him know that I caught him only because of his bad luck with stops. We ride about another mile and a half to Punch and wait for everyone else to show. It took 'em awhile.
I'm very tired, but quite satisfied. 100/22.5 and a 10 mile cool down around the lakes.

The month of May's been very good to me. Five Saturdays. Five Hammer Hundreds. Five averages over 20 mph. Today's average is a PB. This season I've also had 2 solo Hammers come in at a 20 mph average or better and another 1 where I did 99% of the work, that came in over a 21 mph average. Feels Good!