too hot to handle

I'm still hiding from the rampaging Mules, going out every Saturday morning with the Bicycle World no-drop group. Yesterday I took the fixie and did the full 30+ miles for the first time (my previous outing was cut short by flooding). Each week there's a group that rides a bit faster than the rest, and there were two of the speedsters at the start, so I knew I'd get a workout.

It was definitely a stretch for me but I kept the pace up all the way out. At one point a rider in the group who I hadn't seen before told me he'd never seen anyone go so fast on a fixie! He needs to get out more, I can hit 20, maybe a little more, but that's about it.

After the break at the turn, I held back and let the fast group start first. I pushed pretty hard all the way back to the Constable Station (where we regroup for the last time) and arrived a few minutes behind, blowing hard and feeling pretty much done for the day. But I had one last surge in my legs - we set out in a pace line and with about a mile to go I kicked and roared past, giving the leader a cowboy yell as I went. Denis had latched on to my wheel and once I cleared the line, he popped a cog and left me for dead. That must be how the pro sprinters feel when Cavendish drops them like a bad habit in the last 200m of a race.

After those heroics I was pretty much done for the day, but Denis (bless his cotton cycling socks) hung back at the bridge and paced me in. We made it back to Bicycle World in time to watch the Tour time trial - a foregone conclusion of course, but I think that history will treat Contador badly after his display of poor sportsmanship in the Pyrenees. Off home for lunch and a nap before heading to The Woodlands to see Robert Plant.