Monday & Wednesday nights aren’t my favorites, because I know I have to get to bed at a reasonable time so I can get up at 7:05am and not feel like… well, like the last thing I want to do is get up. That pretty much requires that I’m in bed shortly before midnight, and don’t spend too much time reading the news on my iPhone before getting to sleep. But when Tuesday & Thursday mornings roll around, there’s no fear or trepidation about getting out there and being run into the ground by the fast guys, and even when I didn’t get the sleep I should have, I still don’t have that run-over feeling that’s typical on 4 or 5 hours of sleep. When it’s time to ride, it’s time to ride.

Thankfully, now it’s time to ride without rain. We did get a bit of drizzle up on Skyline for a few miles, but it quickly passed, allowing a fast descent into the Sky Londa sprint (not sure whether George took it or I did, and it’s a bit tougher to know than it should be since the finish line is imaginary). Oh, the roll call. Eric, Kevin, Karen, Karl, Millo, Marcus & George.  Updating the status of each-

• Kevin will probably be getting really fast again, now that he’s finally given up on running. Hate that!
• Marcus is fast and undoubtedly will remain fast.
• Eric is showing rapid improvement over the past couple of months; fortunately his focus is more on distance than speed, so I may be able to hang with him.
• George has got a pretty good combination of climbing & sprinting that I wish I still had (and has served him well in races!).
• Karl’s well on his way to coming back after a crash-induced hiatus.
• Karen remains as focused as ever, riding according to her plan. Pretty much impossible to rattle her.
• Millo really doesn’t have to start up the hill 10 minutes ahead of us. 5 might be more like it, and even that’s questionable!

Me? I’m just working on gradually getting my weight back down and trying to not ride up the hill only for speed. I’ve got at least a couple of really long days in the saddle coming up in France and it’s not going to be speed that gets me (or my son Kevin) through! I’m also making commuting to work by bike a regular habit, and definitely feel some benefit from the hard ride back up to my house at the end of the day. Bikes really are useful for more than just recreation.  –Mike–