A couple of weeks ago I had come down with some flu-like symptoms for 24 hours, pretty much felt terrible. Unfortunately, I seem to be yo-yoing back and forth with my overall feel ever since then. I don't feel sick, I just feel great one day and very sluggish the next, then repeat. The group rides have been going that way too with last Tuesday's ride being pretty bad and Thursday's ride being great, then night was no exception.
I got out for a while early on for a warm-up ride and I was already feeling like a lead anchor with no energy for higher output. After doing a couple of hills and some sprints I began to feel like it was going away so I made my way to
Bike Tech to meet up with everyone else. When we rolled out shortly after 6pm, I knew it was going to be a chore to stay with the group but, it had to be done. We headed North out of Cedar Falls along Union Rd. to Finchford at around 28mph in a nice 13-man paceline. With so many guys in the group, I was getting plenty of time to rest and figured that I may actually be okay. J. Fry made a little attack and a couple of people, myself included, went with although it was a short lived break since we were caught within 200 feet. I was feeling a little better though so after we made the left turn to head West towards Finchford I sat in the draft for just a bit and then launched off the front on a solo break which actually lasted a little bit and then Houlihan caught up so the two of us stayed out for a bit longer. As we made the final turn to Finchford though, three other riders came by and I lost touch although quickly picked up by another group of four riders. The five of us then caught up to the four leaders before I exploded and went off the back. After clearing Three-tier hill and heading back towards C57, another small group of four was created and we began to work the chase doing quite well all the way to Center St. actually. That's where our "Neutral Zone" starts as we roll through Janesville and then head East to Wagner Rd. for the final stretch. The lead weight feeling was coming back and I was unable to hold on after Janesville so I sat up and watched as the paceline motored away into the distance.
My speeds heading South back to Waterloo were down into the 16-18mph area, with a headwind, and I was wishing that I had a riding buddy when I crested a hill to see
Striker, Super Saul, and Bullerman waiting for me. I was very grateful for their kind gesture and made sure to pull my own weight back to town. It was a bit more than I was actually ready to do but, when friends do super cool things like that you have to push it just a bit more. Thanks guys.
Overall it was a pretty good ride, I just wish that I could get a little more consistent with my riding. My recovery rides have been pretty much non-existent lately so that may have a little to do with it too or maybe everyone around me is just getting faster and I'm getting fatter. :)
Read the complete post at http://carlosdajackal.blogspot.com/2008/07/lead-weight.html