The Rose Bowl Ride - Our local Tuesday and Thursday world championships. 10 laps of the 3.1 mile loop around the Rose Bowl and Brookside Golf Course. This ride is always heavy with fast guys riding to make each other suffer. There was a time I was one of them. These days, however, I was hoping to be able to hide in the group and survive for as many laps as possible, thinking I might last 6, but hoping for 8. Things were all going well in the first couple of laps...and then the split happened. By the time I saw what was going on ahead of me, it was too late to react, and I don't have the fitness to jump across the quickly widening gap solo. I followed a couple of guys who attempted to bridge, but with all the best horsepower up the road (about 20 guys), it was futile. I settled in with the second group (40-ish, maybe more), and surfed the 10th-15th spot. The guys around me were mostly ex-fast old guys (like me) or younger guys working on getting faster. Mercifully, the slightly more moderate pace of the second group meant I was able to complete the full distance without getting dropped, or even being in real trouble. As things ramped up approaching the finish, my old habits found me following wheels and launching a mediocre sprint among other mediocre sprinters defending our egos. Overall, it was a good ride that stretched my current level of fitness, and it was fun to play the sprint game. Total for the day: 45 miles.
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