January 25, 2004

  • I couldn't make the Saturday Lee's ride, but Dave Newman was kind
    enough to write me a report which I will share with all of you. 
    Thanks Dave!

    I saw Paul and Glenn at the Laurel St/Lee's ride today. Things got
    started late because the team guys were shooting photos for their
    sponsors. Once they arrived and finally got ready, the group was about
    18. One guy was in jeans and a baseball jacket. He was wearing a ball
    cap and riding a bike that fit him poorly. It had platform pedals. I
    felt sorry for the guy, but he seemed to know some other folks, so I
    didn't say anything. He got dropped as we went West on Harmony, but
    somehow caught back on (or took a shortcut I think) and got dropped
    again a little later.

    The pace was moderate out Harmony to Shields, north to Horsetooth, then
    West on Horsetooth. From here, the route was the same way the breakfast
    club goes up to Masonville. Everything stayed together pretty good
    until the foot of the first hogback. The Laurel Street guys started to
    pull away, and the group started to string out pretty good. Paul and I
    held pace with a big guy from Laurel St. who I remember from the New
    Year's day ride, and another guy who I also saw on the New Year's day
    ride. Glenn slowed to stay with his friend Audrey, and we didn't see
    them the rest of the day.

    I sucked wheel down the backside of the first hogback and up the second
    to try to conserve some energy. Paul and I were definitely in the slow
    end of the group. The front was completely out of sight when we were
    climbing the third hogback. I put in a little effort there to try to
    bring our group of three up to a group of two ahead of us.
    Unfortunately, I dropped Paul in the process. Shortly after, one of the
    two I had caught got dropped, and soon after that, the other two
    dropped me. At the top, I might have been able to catch back onto the
    two in front of me with a big effort, but I could see Paul behind me,
    so I wanted for him. The two of us worked hard all the way to US 34,
    but I don't think there was any hope of us catching the two in front of
    us.

    At US 34, we paused for a powerbar. Two guys from behind us caught up
    to us there. At that point one of them decided to go back, and the
    other joined us on the way to Carter Lake. He was good on the flats,
    but slower climbing, so Paul and I waited for him at the top of Carter
    Lake. On the way back from Carter Lake, we took a turn that Paul knew,
    which I thought was a better route around Loveland than the ones the
    Breakfast Club used the last couple of times they did Carter Lake.

    On the way back, one other guy from Laurel St. caught us (he said he
    had done the Pinewood/Rattlesnake climb), and since Paul and I were
    dragging a bit, the two Laurel St. Guys dropped us. They waited once,
    and after we dropped off again, a stoplight brought us back together.
    Those guys have great endurance. I broke lose from the group at Trilby
    and Lemay to come home more directly rather than going back to Lee's
    first.

    It was a good hard ride, but it didn't stay together past the bottom of
    the first hogback. It was harder than a typical breakfast club ride, I
    think, and it clearly would have been harder had I been able to stay
    with the front group (or even with a group closer to but not at the
    front). I'm pretty pooped right now, and I don't know if I'll be up for
    a mountain bike ride tomorrow. You should go on over, and I'll decide
    whether to ride or not tomorrow morning when I can test the muscles a
    bit and look at the weather.

    >>Dave