I paid for taking a week off. The “First Monday” ride wasn’t bad — 23 miles at a social, talkative pace. But last night’s Farmers Market throw down left me hurting. I knew it was going to be fast when I glanced at my computer on the first significant hill and saw 30 mph, but I didn’t expect it to be quite so fast as it was.
Scott and I finally sat up at around 20 miles and waited for stragglers. Until then we’d averaged 21 mph. Taking it easy the last ten miles only dropped our overall average to 20.1. IIRC, that’s what we’re usually doing another thousand miles into the season. The bad part, the hurting part, of the ride was the last stretch of Sandy Ridge Rd. My left calf had a serious cramp and after taking my turn at the front it was all I could do to sit in and soft pedal to the finish.