Sunday, February 19, 2012

Johnson City - Intervals of Sunshine

ME, Hoodie, Wulf, Ullrich, Ty, VJ, Scheibs, Garreth and his buddy Nick met at the trash dump on 290 and Fitzhugh for a 70 mile loop to JC and back.

Instructions from the coach for me and Hoodie: sandwich a 90-minute wattage interval at tempo between endurance pace start and finish. We started at a leisurely pace underneath perhaps the best skies of the year. Temps in the high 50's, with a slight tailwind ushered us into the loop.

Such a sweet pace on the way out. At least for ME. Apparently, W/KG in the Hill Country translates to about 9% more Watts for Hoodie than me. By the time we stopped in JC, The Hoodster had already finished his 90 minutes.

At JC, Scheibs, Ullrich Wulf and VJ turned back around for various reasons. These included: desire to ride recovery pace, anxiety about the impending interval. However, the best alibi? One guy had a 1pm appointment for a pedicure. I am still speechless.

281 was as pleasant as it can be. The ride for ME from that point to 12 and Hamilton Pool went like this:

Flats and Downhills - The Badger tucks in
Uphills - The Badger comes up and keeps ME company

All the while we watched Nick slowly float away off the front.That kid is talented, and Einstein is smiling upon him. Speaking of W/Kg, let's just say hills are his friend.

Two incidents with canines on Cypress Mill. One canine almost sunk his canines into Garreth's calf. This means the dog had a BIG mouth. Apparently, the dog was laying in wait, drooling over the prospect of a shaved leg tartar. ME and the Badger missed this attack. I guess the dog was holding out for a Choice cut, and we are ground chuck.

Post interval, we regrouped and coasted to the finish. Beers on my patio ensued, at least for the HCD old timers. Big tanks, bigger stories. Good times.

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