A Weekend of Riding

Saturday
well i finally hung with the lead group in the old denver spoke training ride. as usual the cold never burns off til about eleven o'clock so i'm bundled with the jacket even this time! man it was cold, busted out the balaclava mask (apparently the terrorists first choice when it comes to fashion statements), neoprene booties/gloves, but forgot my ipod-oh well. i can't wear arm warmers under the jacket because it gets too hot.
anyhoo the ride takes off ten o'clock sharp and we're rolling down the road. a guy in front of me has so-so pack skills. he does one of the peloton no-nos in which he's brake happy, causing me to brake and i'm sure down the line they're squeezing the lever pretty hard. even going out they pick up the speed. my goal here is to not pull-at least not yet-but to survive til the climb up to arrowhead golf course.
i make it further than the last two previous attempts (on the climb) but i pop ugly with that effort. i was about to give up when a second group (last time i was it) passed me with some numbers. so i close up to them, get my second wind and make it to the top where the leaders are waiting. they don't wait too long and it's off they go again. i remembered this time i'm sticking with them because they like to attack on the downhill. i play it safe by knowing where the sidewinds are this time so i'm behind somebody rather than blocking for some unknown rider. it's nutty, with the sidewinds nobody wants to start a second echelon, they'd rather string it out and gutter the field. strong but exceptionally unsavvy pack riders.
as we enter the park we're doing all manner of yellow line violations. if i were a motorist i'd be pissed at these yahoos. i also remember the sprint finishes are pretty dangerous too. too dicey to invite a crash on a training ride. nobody sticks to their line and it's a beehive sprint to the imaginary finish line inside the park. not wanting any of this crashfest peek-a-boo--nothing like crashing in the spring and healing 'til april--i raise my hand like i have a mechanical, notifying the pack i'm fixing to go slow so do the reverse parting of the red sea for me please. once i'm lanternerouged, i glue up to the back and motorpace-safely might i add-to the end of the ride. yea! i finally finished a group ride with the leaders. there were about 40 of us this morning.
Sunday
i get up early to make oatmeal and my son comes down from upstairs and we have lovely time together-just the boys. i take off, nine o'clock from morrison and it's FREEZING! i hate it when the forecast says 50°F but that's probably at three pm. it's nine o'clock and it's miserably cold. oh well. off i go to meet the boys at starbucks. kenny being the class act, orders a french press for us but i forgot the bean they used. it was exceptional. so exceptional it made my heart get all jittery with a wee bit of gastro-intestinal distress (at least i had some turbocharging in the hills) to boot. when i make french press coffee the taste is coarse but the tannins are present. this batch was smooth and the tannins were floating away at the top refracting colors if you angled your stare just the right way. deee-lishus. it's still freaking cold when we leave the starbucks...
we climb up deer creek. on the way up some subaru guys pass us-nice guys. kenny and i wait for christopher at the high grade turn off; that's where the subaru guys are waiting too. so off we go and we're just tagging along with the subaru guys. after a while the pace picks up and people are slowly dropping off. i finally pop with about a 1/5th of a mile left; kenny was climbing like a fiend. at the top we regroup but i had to cut the ride early. kenny and christopher popped over parmalee gulch, climbed towards kittridge and descended back into morrison. i just busted a righty-tighty on 285 and exited morrison where i parked my truck.

great ride.

my legs hurt and my post ride ritual of tea and cereal's commencing. jamming to some radiohead's hail to the thief and contemplating cleaning the house. wouldn't you've guessed it? it finally warmed up...