the cool weather brings 'em out

 

Well, it's not just the cool weather that brings 'em out; it's also the fact that, as the weather cools, there are fewer and fewer other options. Most of yesterday's rides got rained out, and my C+ was the fastest ride on offer for today. I've given up on trying to keep the group together; I usually have Joe E to take the fast folks (he took four or five of the faster ones at the start, today), and Dave H and I keep an eye on the slow ones (especially on days when I'm having trouble keeping up myself), and there's a group in the middle that does whatever they do.

Some leaders want to try to keep the group together, and that's OK. But I let the riders come out who come out, and ride the way they can. I get cranky sometimes when they leave me in the dust... but as long as I have some company, I'm usually happy with the way the ride goes.

But I did see a number of riders today, whom I haven't seen since the last time the weather was cool, and there weren't other rides to do. They're generally polite, and let me know about their intentions... 

And I had a good day. As I've mentioned in these posts recently, my performance recently has been unreliable. Theories from sleep to nutrition to clip-in-vs-flat-pedals have been suggested. I think the most likely is when The Excellent Wife (TEW) pointed out that I haven't been riding as frequently as I had been. But today I did well. (I got out for a benighted hour yesterday in ferocious wind. Perhaps that helped.)

At the start:

We did one of my usual routes. When I got to the start, I found I didn't have it loaded onto the GPS, but I knew it well enough, that I only had to check a few times which alternatives I'd put in. That surprises me; I'm usually navigationally hopeless... but I've ridden these roads enough to know my routes. I even know the name of a lot of the roads. (It may not sound like much of an accomplishment to you... but if so, you don't ride with me frequently.)

We stopped at that Sweet Gourmet in Montgomery, where Karen, the proprietrix, gave me a pleasantly hard time.

I've got 33 leads for the year; I doubt I'm gonna make my goal of 40. Alas.

Ride page. Go see how I did.

If you're not in the club, you might wanna join so you can come out. I'll run these as long as the temperature is above about 28F and there's not gonna be ice under my tires.