Last night was my first night out to the Mueller Monday night ride. I decided at the last minute to ride, so I grabbed my Bianchi Veloce and headed out. I arrived just in time to air up the tires and jump on the bike as the main group headed out. I talked with Jim Varney for about 60 seconds as the group headed for the Elm stop sign. As the group accelerated out of the intersection, I recall thinking "oh, crap! this is going to hurt" and I also remembered this photo of a rocket bike thinking, "I'd have a hard time staying in the pack even with a rocket bike!"
I watched as the pack sprinted out at a 33mph clip leaving me and several other riders off the back within a matter of seconds. Without being properly warmed-up, I was busting at 28.5mph and learning very quickly I was going to get caught in "no man's land." Determined to make this a strong ride, I made a decision that I use the ride as a chance to run sprint intervals. Each group between me and the leaders became a 'town sign sprint.' I slowly picked off riders of lesser speed, not in an attempt at bravado, but rather for the fitness benefits. I continued to do this for the rest of the ride until I got reeled in by a pack of 5 riders (three of whom I had passed on my own.)
We finished the ride strongly and overall had a pace of 21mph for the evening, which included a considerable amount of time coming home into a direct headwind. It was a great ride with almost perfect weather.
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