It was 30 and windy Saturday morning, so I headed out to The PowerStation in a futile effort to get away from the breeze. No such luck. Even out there, deep in the trees, the wind howled. And even 4 days past the last rain, the dirt was still wet and heavy in spots. The 'washout', as it is now known, has turned into a section reminiscent of Hoogerheide.
No worries though...choose a line, and keep pedaling...
Out to Eastman and back in. A couple of trips up Gervais, and a parking garage gave me a tick over 2 easy hours. Plenty on a windy 30-40 degree day.
Sometimes I'm surprised about rides. Sunday, on a 40 degree, blustery morning, we actually had a good sized group. Onward towards Lex/Cal.
The trip out was big fun. The trees knocked down the WSW wind, and the sun felt glorious as we climbed over the ridgeline towards Hwy 6.
Once ON HWY6, the script flipped a bit. Block headwind @ 15-20mph was waiting on us. Honestly, it wasn't bad until we hit the farmlands surrounding Swansea. Then it became an exercise in head-down-grind-it-out riding. The stretch is only about 9 miles, but it was plenty. Cal and I were both getting the old 'effort headache', if that's any indication...
Once I'd mopped up the town limit sprint, we stopped at the BP. The plan was to continue on to Pelion for @ 80 miles. That plan changed. TVH said he was going straight back in. After a little murmuring, the die was cast. Il Prof continued on, solo, to Pelion, while the rest of us rolled down 321...with a pretty nice cross/tailwind.
Even in bailing,and taking the "short" option, I ended up with 105km. It was enough.
Gotta say though, sure it was windy, but the sky was big and blue, the sun was warm, and the group was jovial. Can't ask a whole lot more!
I was operational yesterday afternoon. Today, I can feel that I have entered my mid-40s. #stiff Where's that cranberry Red Bull?
As an aside, I had some greasy black shit all over my bike when I got home. Don't know what it was, but y'all may want to wipe your bikes down.
The Tour Down Under started. As Ford and I talked about yesterday, there are only three interesting stages. The crit to open the race, the climbing stage up Willunga, and the last day crit.
Here's the full People's Choice Classic...
Big sprint from the big sprinters! And a 53kmh average. It hurts just to type that...
And how about Griepel's helmet? You can have your Lion of Flanders. I want the gorilla cover!
And CX is wrapping up in Europe. Leuven was yesterday. Great course. Designers should take note...
The outcome was predictable though...
#svenness The guys at Trek are as happy as a puppy who found the cat box.
And with that, I return you to your Monday activities. Mine will consist of trying not to commit infanticide, as the kids are out of school for the next two days. Didn't we just have Christmas break? South Carolina, 50th in education, #1 in your heart!
Gonna be 60 and sunny today. Go outside...even if it's to eat lunch!
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