Those of you with kids almost certainly know the book. Written and illustrated by Chris van Allsburg, it's a poignant story about the childish wonder of Christmas. In the story, only kids that still believe in Santa can hear the bells ringing on Santa's sleigh and reindeer. Once you can't hear the bells, you have crossed into the cynical world of grown ups, never to be truly naive again.
On today's ride, I heard the bells. And so did AT.
Intimate crew this am. Me, Crack, AT and Ullrich. Hoodie had a piano recital. Scheibs bowed out due to overservice on Friday. Fitzy had a lacrosse commitment. Panozz had a golf tourney, Malo went to Seinfeld, MC was in Vegas, Doherty was sleeping, etc. A veritable Puissancerria. We decided to roll down to Circle C and do a little team TT spin. While cruising over to SW Pkwy, our band of HCD was overtaken by the Rapha Gentlemen's Ride. About a hundred dudes. Not all gentlemen, by the way. Douche-factor aside, it was a fun diversion, as they held a brisk but manageable pace for us to tuck in and enjoy the pull down 360 to Loop1. They U-turned underneath Mopac, so we cut loose from the gents and dropped back to HCD pace.
The TT plan was to pull a four-man paceline, 30 second efforts, around the 8 mile TT loop. We cranked it up. Plan unravelled early as Cracker cracked and fell off the back a few turns into the effort. Down to three to share the load. Me, AT and Ullrich rotated and kept the lid on. We pulled back a bit on the first climb, but were churning in sync for the first 1/3 of the ride. Ullrich started turning green at the gills as we approached the turnaround, so we slowed the pace a bit. Even with the reduced effort, it looked like we were down to two. As we started the second half of the effort, we glanced back at the big german, and his head was down. Now it was a two-man effort. Me and AT started cranking, and believe me when I say it was our top-shelf effort. In looking at the power data, this was my best 20 minute effort. Ever.
Anyway, as you may know from experience, this part of the course is slightly downhill. Toward the end of my second pull in the 2-man rotation, I felt like I was gonna have to dial it back. Not sure what AT was thinking, but then OUT OF NOWHERE, I heard the bells of the Polar Express. Well, not actually bells. It was Ullrich! That bastage was back on the paceline! Using the slight elevation drop and some serious true grit, he had motored back to us. Unbelievable! Like re-discovering Santa, it was a freakin' Circle C miracle. Not only did he catch us, but he yells "Let Me Take a Pull!". Which we gladly accepted. Fully jacked, we turned up the heat for the remainder of the TT effort. I will let AT report the final numbers, but as with any AT-monitored ride, I am sure it's an HCD record.
Post TT we somehow lost Cracker. Took a roundabout route back to Lola, with Ullrich topping the ride off with a punk-rock puncture (see pic below). Looks like a wheel fit for Trent Reznor's bike.
On today's ride, I heard the bells. And so did AT.
Intimate crew this am. Me, Crack, AT and Ullrich. Hoodie had a piano recital. Scheibs bowed out due to overservice on Friday. Fitzy had a lacrosse commitment. Panozz had a golf tourney, Malo went to Seinfeld, MC was in Vegas, Doherty was sleeping, etc. A veritable Puissancerria. We decided to roll down to Circle C and do a little team TT spin. While cruising over to SW Pkwy, our band of HCD was overtaken by the Rapha Gentlemen's Ride. About a hundred dudes. Not all gentlemen, by the way. Douche-factor aside, it was a fun diversion, as they held a brisk but manageable pace for us to tuck in and enjoy the pull down 360 to Loop1. They U-turned underneath Mopac, so we cut loose from the gents and dropped back to HCD pace.
The TT plan was to pull a four-man paceline, 30 second efforts, around the 8 mile TT loop. We cranked it up. Plan unravelled early as Cracker cracked and fell off the back a few turns into the effort. Down to three to share the load. Me, AT and Ullrich rotated and kept the lid on. We pulled back a bit on the first climb, but were churning in sync for the first 1/3 of the ride. Ullrich started turning green at the gills as we approached the turnaround, so we slowed the pace a bit. Even with the reduced effort, it looked like we were down to two. As we started the second half of the effort, we glanced back at the big german, and his head was down. Now it was a two-man effort. Me and AT started cranking, and believe me when I say it was our top-shelf effort. In looking at the power data, this was my best 20 minute effort. Ever.
Anyway, as you may know from experience, this part of the course is slightly downhill. Toward the end of my second pull in the 2-man rotation, I felt like I was gonna have to dial it back. Not sure what AT was thinking, but then OUT OF NOWHERE, I heard the bells of the Polar Express. Well, not actually bells. It was Ullrich! That bastage was back on the paceline! Using the slight elevation drop and some serious true grit, he had motored back to us. Unbelievable! Like re-discovering Santa, it was a freakin' Circle C miracle. Not only did he catch us, but he yells "Let Me Take a Pull!". Which we gladly accepted. Fully jacked, we turned up the heat for the remainder of the TT effort. I will let AT report the final numbers, but as with any AT-monitored ride, I am sure it's an HCD record.
Post TT we somehow lost Cracker. Took a roundabout route back to Lola, with Ullrich topping the ride off with a punk-rock puncture (see pic below). Looks like a wheel fit for Trent Reznor's bike.
BOW DOWN BEFORE THE ONE YOU SERVE!
6 comments:
yep, took the earlier turn on the loop by mistake so just finished out with a 20-mile loop on 360.
Cracker
The thing is that I did not pull my fair share but as I stated in the post ride coffee discussion, I pulled all that I could. It was an awesome feeling after we finished. Thanks for pulling me along! In another month, let's do it again with the three man Dough crew from today. Maybe we could crack 20:00. Maybe I am still high on endorphins!
Ullrich
We did break a record ladies! 21:04 was our time and the previous group record was 22:40 set by Hoodie and I. Forget that Panazzo holds the individual record... this is a team sport! Ulrich is my hero!!!! I wrote him off for dead and the SOB stealthly closed the gap and shocked Perk and I who were pushing it mercilously! Outstanding effort Marc... I've never seen anything like that before.
Wow ... your enthusiasm makes me feel like I missed the ride of the year! Congrats D'Boys! Perk ... post your stats so we can feel the power.
Hood, I will keep the stats shrouded in mystery. Thus protecting my mediocrity. This wasn't the ride of the year, but it was the best gut effort so far (Panozz's race exploits are at a whole different level).
Agreed - not the ride of the year but a learning experience for sure. I believe the ride of the year might be in about a month... a little something called the 337. So far we're six... Perk, Hood, me, Ulrich, VJ and Panazz. We need 2-3 more to make this a true epic.
Post a Comment