It was pure heaven this morning.
Up before sunrise for coffee and NPR...met Mark at the Dunkin' Donuts and Jeff at Starbucks. The sun was bright and the air was crisp. We caught Kevin on Ravenswood, and just before Warren Park, JT rode up beside us. Nobody else was at the corner, but soon a large Wicker Park group rolled up, and we just hung out for a bit as everyone caught up after spending most of the last 4 weeks riding indoors. The ride commandments were recited by brother Kirby and off we went.
Easy pace, spinning fast, with one flat tire and a crash onto the shoulder aside, we rode smoothly up to Highland Park with no gaps. The fresh, cold air felt good in my lungs, expunging the accumulated dust and stale air, and the ropes of my legs flung about and loosened up. Rode easy into the coffee shop, having to piss terribly. We visited with the VW-Trek guys a bit, drank espresso and joked around before a group headed long.
I'm glad I'm on a rest week. I have not felt better since November, strong and lean. I've been getting lots of sleep and flexibility, I've lost over 15 pounds, and feeling my fit onto the bike forming nicely. I begin the build phase next week, increasing my workload by about 15% for two weeks before camp, and then it will almost double the week I am in California. Some guys had their rest week last week. It will be tough to have three weeks on and then go to camp. But, in the end it will still be extremely fun for all of, and we'll all get the sleep and relaxation we'll be begging for when we return. For Hillsboro is less than two weeks after.
Still, it was time to rev the pistons a bit. True, I should've kept it steady the whole time, but you need some mental work as well, and what the hell do we ride this many hours for if it can't be fun, right? So I took a long pull once onto Green Bay, and then sat in and let some newbies attack early, then riding a wheel up through the gap. But right before I jumped and cleared everybody else, Kyle let loose off the front and got off too big a lead for me to catch him in time. So elementary (and not very fast), but it felt soooooo good to actually feel the ground moving again under my wheels!
The mocha and canoli at the ICB have never tasted finer, and a breakfast of hearty rye French toast awaited me at home. A gourmet dinner and more wine than is necessary will be had with friends tonight, and then another two hours tomorrow with Jeff, and...viola! Another red "X" on the calendar.
13 more to go.
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