Day 4

The original plan was to spin around, relatively easy, for a couple of hours this morning. That quickly got shot in the ass last might when The Velvet Hammer said he wanted to go long. I'm down with riding, so I figured it'd be okay...
This morning rolled around and we all met at the gate @ 8:15. TVH wasn't there so Mrs. Der Kaiser rang him at home. Evidently, he consumed large quantities of quality red wine last night and had a bit of a lingering fuzz this morning.
We rolled out and headed for Double Elon. The tempo wasn't overly fast, but stayed steady, with everyone doing their share of the work. Just before the second climb, I went to the front a took a long pull. When we got to the climb, I stood up and stayed in the big ring about 1/2 way up and then heard a loud "Prrrang". I didn't break a spoke on the PT wheel, but it definitely isn't true anymore. I sat down and pedaled up the rest of the climb. I don't need to break a spoke way out in Eastover and be forced to call the H.O. to come get me. She's already a bit pissy about the ride schedule over the last few days anyway...
After we crossed 378, the tempo picked up and we rode paceline at between 37 and 40 kmh all the way to the GMart. A stop for replenishment and we were on our way.

The remainder of the ride was 30-33 kmh. After 4 days on the bike, it was harder to go 30 kmh than 40.
I rolled home with 3 hours of ride time and right at 60 miles. It was a really good ride!

Stacking days like this really helps me, so we'll see how I'm going in the next couple of weeks. I plan on doing the crit tomorrow night. Nothing like ending a 5 day block of training by racing for an hour!

Or, I could have gone to Michgan with Mandrus for the weekend. He did 4 centuries in four days. He'll either be flying, or shattered when he gets back. Il Professore went to Savannah for a century on Sunday. The problem was the 6" of rain they got Saturday that flooded downtown. I wonder if he took a snorkel...

Congrats to Levi Leipheimer as well. He finally gets to pull on the Stars and Stripes...! Now if he'd just tell us who the F he's riding for next year...