Early Bird #4: blah, blah, blah.

It started to rain about 10 minutes leading up to the 5s race and that made me wonder if it was worth it to even take the chance. These races can be sort of sketchy anyway so add in rain and the increase in wind and I figured it was a disaster waiting to happen. I went to the start anyway, go figure.

I was shivering at the start line and of course there was a 15 minute lecture on the hydro-dynamic features of bots dots. I know these guys have the best intentions but I'm pretty sure it just makes the field act even more stupid. And is it just me or does everybody like to ride right down the middle of the road and over them? Seriously, we have two lanes, just because on your morning commute you aren't allowed to ride down the middle of the road doesn't mean you need to make up for lost time on Sundays.

So, like I said, it was rainy, windy and cold. I think I mentioned cold, if not, it was cold. The first 20 minutes were insanely pedestrian and there was some fat guy who confused himself for General Custer whenever someone would go up the road he'd demand that nobody chase. And, everybody listened, including me, but I at least shook my head in disapproval every time. With five laps to go I decided that I was going to give the old flyer move a try with 3 to go. The field had slowed to a crawl every single lap coming down the home stretch because of the headwind. I usually go backwards in headwinds but figured I could ride faster than 18 by myself so I'd give it a go. Coming into the start/finish with 3 to go the group did not slow down. And, like the big fat idiot that I am, ignored this factor and stuck with my original plan devised on an entirely different set of circumstances.

I jumped from about 10 back. Got a gap, sat down to try and ignore the lactic acid starting to pile up. This was about the time that I noticed my heart rate monitor telling me I was going to die soon. 199. I stayed away for about another minute and realized that even if the group wasn't chasing I burned every match I had in my book pushing through the wind to that point. I sat up, got caught and then made a half assed effort of 13mph chasing to get back on for about 10 seconds.

I soft pedaled to the start/finish where a lap later I was greeted by the grunting of fat boy General Custer winning with the least impressive sprint I've ever seen in my life. Oh well, I guess the early birds are designed to teach you lessons. The one I learned today, don't stick to plans when the scenario changes. Oh yeah, and the other one, which I really already knew, don't trick yourself into thinking you're a power guy just because the field is going slow.