Weekly Beatdown

It's definitely allergy season. Yesterday I could barely drag myself out of bed and two of my co-workers were sick too. The pear trees are blooming. I don't know if it's pear pollen or if they're just harbingers, but man, it's miserable.

It was also 40 degrees this morning and I couldn't bear the thought of riding to work, so I didn't get my usual warm up before the group ride and frankly, I'm stunned that I didn't get dropped. It took me a few minutes longer than I expected to get home and another few more to get out of the house. I rolled up right as the group was leaving. One minute more and I'd have missed them. They were especially fast today, or maybe I was just especially slow. It felt fast. I took my turns but I didn't even try to bridge up to the breaks. We got split at a traffic light after the Elmo Road climb. Maybe 10 riders got out ahead. JMill put down the longest, hardest pull I've ever seen anyone do on that ride and got them back in sight. It was inspiring, but I was next and all I could do was hold the distance for a few hills. After that, we never saw them again.

At the end, I held it together over Sawnee Mountain and managed to get in good position for the sprint, even put in a test break, but this one guy had been pulling really hard since we came off of the mountain. He didn't look like he wanted to let up, so I faked like I was going to jump, then didn't and he held on for the win. It seemed like my little maneuver might have bought him the second he needed, but it's hard to say for sure.

On the ride home I felt allergied again. The little rollers in the neighborhood felt like climbing Sawnee. No good. I hope it's a little warmer tomorrow morning.