The group rolled out at a easy pace. Everyone had their chance at the front as we rolled north to Wellington. Past Wellington the pace went up a little bit....but it wasn't bad. North of Wellington the road starts to roll a bit. This is were the effects of the weekends training was felt. I had no power to get up these damn rollers with having the legs fill with lactic acid. Sure enough, I pulled through as we crested the over pass to Owl Canyon Rd, and put my legs into a debt they could not repay. BMC rider Garcia and a couple others went to the front and the pace went to another level. The group was single file and some riders were struggling...including me. Soon enough one rider was out the back.....then Tyson...then me.....then Ben. As I looked up the road the group was pulling away so fast. I kept pushing forward in hopes of other riders "popping" and a 2nd group forming. I made it some 18 miles north to Buckeye Rd before I realized I was not making any ground. So, I turned around and did a hard tempo back to Fort Collins.
On the way back, I met Tyson who was one of the other riders that got dropped. He made a u-turn and followed me back to Wellington. At Wellington, he turned off to head home on the north side of Fort Collins. As for me, I kept heading south trying to get as big of an effort in as my legs would allow. After all, I was trying to empty the tank. I felt good cruising at 25-30 mph. Funny thing is...those speeds were not fast enough to keep up with the lead group tonight. I finished my effort some 20 minutes from the house. This gave me time to spin down the legs.
And to make the night complete....how about a flat rear tire as I roll through Timnath. A whopping 10 minutes shy of the front door.
Here is the power file for what portion of the group ride I survived...and the hard tempo effort home. As always, it means nothing to you...but a lot to me.The hard training block will be capped off tomorrow with intervals in Poudre Canyon. Then its time for a well deserved recovery session.