Oval Ride: Burning all the matches

The Oval Ride was slated to be a throw-down today. There were prizes up for specific sprint lines throughout the entire 80 mile loop. For me, I had no thought of going for any of these.....but rather to merely survive with the lead group. The large group of like 25 riders rolled east out of Fort Collins at around 10:10 AM. The pace was mellow....and the riders were chatty. As the temps began to warm, we turned left onto Hwy 14. The pace was still mellow. Then I started noticing a squishy front tire. Loosing air slowly I pulled over and began to fix the flat. The kicker is that this ride does not stop for flats. So, I was gunning to get the flat changed. By the time I got the tube changed out, the group had gone up the road and turned the corner to head South. I jumped back on the bike and began to chase back up to the group. I was at a total disadvantage chasing solo.....and the group rode pace line with over 20 riders. As I chased, I could see the group waaaaay up the road. Then, as I road through Severance, CO the rear tire started to loose air. WTF! This tire change went fast and I was back on the road....and even further behind. What caused the flats? Goatheads of all things.


So, for the next 2+ hours, I chased solo. This would be the view I had...nose to the stem. I went about as hard as I could and still finish out the ride. In hopes of catching up the lead group, I took the low road around Carter Lake.......still no other riders. As I rode through Eden Valley, I was caught by the lead group of like 6 guys. I rode with them for a while....and even got back in to my chase pace. But, the damage had been done. All the matches I had for to day were burned. Along with a few other riders, I lost contact with the group rolling up past Horsetooth Mountain Park. Ugh....


The black box shows the actual group ride time. The 2 flat tires are visible as the yellow line that drops to the bottom of the photo early in the timed ride. I stopped the SRM interval before I was caught by the leaders, so that explains the jump in power at the 4 hour mark.

Chasing today, I couldn't get this out of my head. It's from Carmichael's twitter feed...
"Good day of training for Lance...45min climb after 4hrs in his legs, solid pace, 359avg watts for 46:44, not bad for nearly 40yrs :)"

Matches were burned.....and fitness was achieved. Just wish I could have ridden with the group and spread the fitness wings. Oh well, tomorrow is some of the same......4 hour ride with a zone-3 two hour tempo thrown in.

Must eat.