There were Gophers, boys from Nature Valley, a former Grandstay(er), and Amy who represented the Birchwood Cat 2 men all saddled up on their "A" machines ready to ride at Punch. Nature Valley was showing off their new steads as was BK. I had literally dusted off my Orbea (very gently, I didn't want to scratch it) and brought my computer out of sleep mode to represent the Birchwood 50+ers.
This ride was magical, with pace lines, that moved as smooth as silk. Everyone knew what to do. Nobody said, let's do a pace line, it simply started when we got into open country. The skill exhibited on this ride was amazing. Two pretty tough climbs, and 3 or 4 city limit sprints kept the excitement level high. I may have taken the hill out of Carver, it's hard to know when you're blacking out. But I basically got my ass handed to me, on everything else including some just plain cruel short steep stuff. I enjoyed watching the sprints from way back. Muecke and his Valley cohort, were very tough and are in great shape. They're racing in a couple of weeks. Schueller got at least one sprint, Parsons got one, and like I said, the two Nature Valley boys were all over this ride.
The bar is set high for this season by starting out with such a fantastic ride. This is one I'll remember for awhile. And I have to say, Amy was remarkable, she didn't miss a beat, the only woman on the ride, surrounded by 1's,2's and 3's. 80/19.3
2 comments:
80 miles @ 19.3? I'm speechless...it's only March 21! Way to go HL's.
Great ride today Tom. I clocked the middle 40 miles, starting my computer when we started the pace line, and we averaged 22.9 during this fastest part which included the two climbs.
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