half of paul's first

connect.garmin.com/activity/101673155

i met up with dan and brandon a little after 6:00 this morning and rode with them over to paul's house. i hadn't met paul before, just heard of him through dan. paul is a junior at kansas state studying pre-dental, so he's a young buck with energy to spare and a desire to excel. dan was taking him on his first century ride and invited brandon and me to accompany them for part of the ride. brandon took in the first seven or eight miles before he had to turn around and head back into town to get to work. i rode the first 50 miles and then drove dan's car back into pratt.

as far as the actual ride is concerned, it was one of the best 50-milers i've ever done. i felt great on the little hills we encountered. the three of us worked together well in a paceline and brought our average up tenth after tenth. there was one section somewhere after lake city where i kind of bonked. i just couldn't climb for three or four hills. dan and paul were nice enough to slow down and let me catch them on the downhill sections.

we rode into medicine lodge a little before 9:00. i rode a few tenths more to put me over 50 miles and then stopped with an 18.7mph average. it was hard to drive away. if i could've continued on at that pace, i would've had my best century time ever. oh well. can't do everything. there's work to be done. (50.06 miles @ 18.7mph)