north with oz

i'm at borders. the air conditioning is working wonderfully. i'm almost fully recovered. rested enough to report on my best showing with the oz bicycle club. i hung with them for 29.09 miles before seeing them ride away.

the ride tonight went north for the first time since i started riding with this club. it started out at a leisurely pace, leisurely for these guys. we were cruising along at 18-19mph, chatting. i met a guy who went to KU and knew a friend of mine who rode for kansas state. (remember mark s who was hit by an suv?) joe and i talked about riding the hills in lawrence. it was great.

the northerly route we took had a ton more hills than any of the southerly routes. one seemed to keep going forever. i hung on and managed to stay on the wheel in front of me the whole time. there were a few accelerations on the way out, but nothing terribly violent. more a friendly game of cat and mouse than a battle to the pain.

i sat in with the main pack the entire way to the turn around at highway 196. after the turn around, the jockeying for position started in earnest. i had to jump out of the saddle a couple of times climbing a couple of short hills and the beginning of the southbound trek, but i didn't get into my red zone until the fourth or fifth rise. it was then that i began to struggle to stay with the lead group. i managed to hold on and even led a bit down one of the hills.

when the road slanted upward again, i pulled to the side and let about half the group rocket ahead of me then i pulled in to the line and climbed out of my saddle. i made it to the top of the hill with the group. the next acceleration was the one that did me in. i'd given it all i had and there was nothing left. the twelve or so remaining riders left me in their dust as they sped toward highway 254.

i reached 254 on my own and pedaled across its four lanes. a little way ahead i could see joe. he'd been dropped too and seemed to be hanging back so i could catch him. i pushed a little harder and soon rode up to his wheel. we rode the rest of the way in to minneha school where we'd started almost two hours before. he rolled on to his home. i turned in and coasted to a stop, exhausted.

whether anyone else thinks so or not, i felt like this was my best showing with the oz club. i'll be back in a couple of weeks to ride with my brother-in-law and my nephew. hope they don't drop me. (37.99 miles @ 21.3mph)