A Ticket to Ride?

Sunday's ride went a little different that planned.  First, it took me forever to get out the door.  I was 50/50 on going out for a ride and the fact that I would have to start with full tights on didn't make it any easier.  But I got everything together and out the door I went at 8:15am....and if you know me that is a late start time for a weekend ride.  I decided to head south on Mack, hang a Louie at Morross and b-line it to the water's edge.  Surprisingly my 10 min ride to the water felt really well and I was ready to go.

Wind was blowing in from the north at a good clip, a steady 10mph.  So I made a right and headed south.  It was hard to keep my speed in check with the tailwind but I tried knowing I would have to eventually turn around and take the wind head on.  Plan was a 2-3 hour ride.  I had packed for 3 hours and with the 12 Hours of Stony coming up I figured I should just do an endurance type ride.  Nothing to straining on the lungs or legs.  As I approached the Grosse Pointe/Detroit border on Jefferson I thought to myself it had been a while since I have been downtown.  So instead of making a left and taking Barrington to Windmill Pointe, I proceeded due South in route to Cobo where Jefferson ends.....technically where the sidewalk ends to.

At 9am on a Sunday morning the roads are pretty clear as there are not many people out yet...mostly church goers.  So the ride down to the heart of The D was pretty uneventful.  I did pass another person out for a morning ride but she was clipping along below 15mph so I just waved as I passed.  Sun came out from the clouds by the time I got down to Cobo so I leaned the bike up against a pillar and slipped off the tights showing off the new Twin 6 Team Bibs...although no one was around to see them.  Rolled up the pants and put them in the jersey pocket and off I went again.  I was 43 mins into the ride now and downed some calories before I stopped to derobe so I was good to go.

Things were going well for the first 60 seconds until I passed the Christ's Church of Detroit and the wind hit me head on.......holy crap it was coming down Jefferson at a faster clip than I had realized.  So there I was, to deal with a 15+ mph head wind for return trip home.  So much for taking it easy.  What was a 23mph pace was quickly reduced to 18 mph against the wind and at times dipping into the 17's when the wind would gust.  I pushed on for the next 25 minutes to get me back to Grosse Pointe.  I wanted to do some laps around Belle Isle but that would only have stalled the inevitable head wind battle.  So instead of heading for the safety of the island I kept charging north against the wind.  I made it to Grosse Pointe and looked down Barrington as I passed thinking how nice it would be to go down there and get out of the wind.  That would have been the smart thing to do.

As I kept due north I eventually passed the War Memorial and then made the small decent to where Jefferson turned into Lakeshore.....all of a sudden it seemed as if the head wind increased another 10 mph.  I knew this was going to happen though and was ready for it.  I got lower and more aero and kept on against the wind not wanting to give up.  As I passed Morross I thought about making the turn and going home but that would have cut my ride under 2 hours.  No dice.  So as I rolled north it wasn't long before my side of the boulevard was separated by little orange cones.  Instinctively I went inside the cones where the cars weren't allowed.  After all the so called bike lane was over there and the cars were in the left lane.  Well about a mile later a Grosse Pointe Farms officer on a motorcycle tells me as I pass that I can't be in that lane because there is a running race going on.  I slow down and ask if I can ride in it until I see runners.  He says no and demands I ride in the left lane with the cars.  I look and say, "There's no room!"  He glares at me and says, "Son, you need to stay out of the right lane or else you'll find yourself with a ticket."  The conversation went fast and I had a goal of getting to 16 mile road and didn't want to break pace so I agreed and pedaled along.

I was hugging those cones as the cars past and some were very close.  WTF I thought to myself.  I had gne another mile without seeing anyone in that 'running lane.'  The next set of cars made it interesting.  First car, no issue.  Next car was a Grand Cherokee and as it passed a Boxer leaned his head out the window and nearly bite me...for real!  I had his spit on my face to prove it.  Scared the crap out of me but I had to hold my line next to the cones to not get run over.  Next car was close but the fourth car was a GMC Yukon.  As I saw the hood I did an, "Oh sh!t."  I brought my elbows in and I swear the mirror was 3 inches from my shoulder as the truck passed.  The driver was cool and slowed down but I said f**k this and went inside the cones.  Next vehicle to come up....a motorcycle, with the cop on it.

I looked over at him and he stared back at me.  I was riding the left side of the right lane about 12 inches from the cones.  I looked at him, pissed and gassed from dealing with the cars and headwind and said, "I'll take the cost of a ticket over the cost of my copay for a trip to the emergency room.  I am sorry but that Yukon was to close for my comfort and there is no room for me in that lane.  I had a friend out in Pinckney get hit by a truck towing a landscaping trailer last year and I don't need that trouble."  He looked at me for a second and said,  "You can ride where you are until you see runners.  When you do I need you out of that lane or else I will have to give you a ticket."  I asked how much further until the cones ended and said at the Edsel Ford mansion.  I said okay since it was only another mile up the road.

After that he took off and I decided to go into the red for a bit to get this over with.  I saw some runners shortly after and hammered the pedals in the left lane to clear the cones before the next set of cars.  Next I clicked down and recovered for a bit before finishing my ride to 16 mile.  I made the turn around at 16 mile and headed home with the wind to my back again.  In the end I rode for 2.5 hours and spent roughly 80 straight minutes against that headwind.

As I pulled up to the house Sue was coming out the front door with the kids and I was gassed but happy to see them all.  I thought for a second whether I should tell her what happened.  In the end I did and although she doesn't like hearing those things she feels better knowing than not knowing.

(Sorry, no pictures but this was long enough without them)

Pontiac TT wrap up

Pontiac came and went in a flash. Maybe because my round trip in the car was only 1.5 hours instead of 4.5 hours. Met up with Dub 9 in the early morning again but also got to chat with more guys and gals I haven't seen in a while. Most noticeably Todd "the Hitman" Powers. I was lucky enough to catch up with him at the registration table and then hitched on his wheel for the warm up ride before the race. Was great to catch up with him and get some pointers from a seasoned veteran who knows a thing or two about racing.

I was a bit nervous again before the race but found myself as calm as could be at the starting line. It had warmed up with the sun shining it final broke into the 40's before my start time. Last weekend at Yankee it was in the 30's and when I arrived at Pontiac it was still in the 30's. I lined up Dave Z from Cycletharapy. Cool guy but he wasn't in my class so I planned to work with him as a team the first few miles. We were to go off together and he seemed to know more about the trail than me so my plan was to let him take the hole shot and lead us out over the first 2 miles. Well right before the first set of climbs he let me by and I think it worked out well for me as I had a clear look at the all the lines to the top. Again, he was not in my class but he pulled me thru the first couple miles which was part of the trail I didn't remember. Thanks Dave! (Dave leading us out from the start and into the singletrack)

The rest of the trail came to me in flashes as I would come up on certain sections. It was like deja vu. So I was able to set up for certain corners, descents and also pick my gearing accordingly as well as manage my heart rate. The first lap went by faster and with much less suffering than the first lap at Yankee the week prior. I was feeling good but was still wondering if I could keep it up for another lap. I came around to lap though and accidentally missed the sharp right to start my second lap and had to lock the brakes up. I was in track stand mode for a split second and then turned the wheel right and just made it back to the loop chute without putting a foot down. But I was in a big gear so I was standing up pulling on the pedals to get my speed back up. Dumb dumb dumb mistake that would later cost me precious seconds. (My face reacting early to what was about to happen 60 seconds later as I over shot the lap)

I had already switched bottles and downed some calories before the lap split so I was off and ready to tackle lap #2. I had cleared most of the slower traffic my first loop and after the 2 mile climb my legs were still feeling pretty good. Felt way stronger than last week and more along the pace of where I thought I should be. Due to less traffic I was able to get into a rhythm and focus more on the trail rather than trying to find room to pass people. I still passed 3 riders on the second lap but I passed at least 10 on the first. The second lap felt much smoother than the first and I felt more controlled over myself and the bike. All the metal notes I had taken the first lap had paid off and I came into the finish chute strong going on 9 seconds slower than my first lap. First lap was a 43:18 and second was 43:27. I knew the top guys would be pulling 42's so I would probably not crack the top 5 but I would be close. As the results were posted I saw that Lako and Osgood both ran a ~41:30 first loop and ~42:00 second loop to net them a 2nd and 3rd place. Damn that's fast. I saw that I took 7th and considering how my off season went I was okay with that. Top 5 would have been nice but I felt I managed my race well and rode a clean race with minimal mistakes. That was until Brian pointed out that I finished less than 4 seconds behind the guy in 6th and less than 10 seconds behind the guy in 5th. Remember me earlier mentioning I overshot the loop around....it cost me 6th place for sure. Not sure I lost 10 seconds there but I know it was at least 5. But that's Time Trialing. It's you against the clock and you have no idea how anyone else did until the results are posted. Kudos to the two guys who finished right in front of me. I am sure they felt pretty good about their finishes and went home happy. Congrats to my guys Lako and Osgood for such a great race. Always good to see them off the course and on the podium. Hopefully I will be back up with them soon. Also thanks to Todd Powers for the pre race pep talk and also the on course inspiration to push on and get that second lap time I needed to try for that podium. If I were to ever have a coach he'd be the guy I would call. But last, congratulations to my main training partner Brian "The Diesel" McCabe. He cleaned house on his single lap in the Sport category to capture his first solo win in his 6 years of racing. He has come close a handful of times in the past but this day he left them all in the dust with the closest guy finishing 2 minutes behind him. Don't remember his time but I wish I could have seen him on the podium. I tried to stick around for it but Taiwind was running slow and I had to get home. (Check out The Diesel bringing it down the hill to the home stretch....drifting his front tire and all!!!)

I have this weekend off of racing but May 12th Brian and I will be going to Stony to either do the 6 or 12 hour solo races. Still on the fence of which one to do but will have to make a decision soon.