Lance Is Hot

Lance wins his third stage in a row with a sprint at the finish. I am in awe.

I did pretty well in 87F weather, and even had a little competition. I saw a dude on a nice, light road bike about three-fourths of a mile ahead of me on Long Hill. I thought I could catch him either on that or the next one, Over-the-Hump Hill. It took me about 7 minutes to catch up, so I didn't pass him until another lazy slope, but I was still pleased.

I was only able to get maybe three-tenths of a mile ahead of him, then we split off. I had a sneaking suspicion he was taking a slightly shorter route in the same general direction, and sure enough I saw him just ahead of me on Grinch Hill. He was going about a 1.5 mph slower than felt comfortable to me, but there was too much traffic and we were in a 2 mile stretch of hills, so it wasn't safe to pass until the third hill in the series. We joked about how he found a shortcut.

That slowdown cost me about two-tenths on my average, but I still finished at 17.5 mph on my 19.3 mile loop. Judging by my split times, I was actually on pace for about 17.8, maybe even 17.9 if I'd really pushed it, but I'm satisfied.

ntodd

PS--Today reminded me of my favorite (faux) sylllogism:

Fire is hot.
I am hot.
Therefore, I am on fire.

Thank you, Dr. Science.

[Update: I forgot to mention that today's performance was made possible by my new Pearl Izumi Gel Lite gloves (replacing my ratty old gloves) and X-static socks (with silver fibers!) that I got from Bike Nashbar. Um, if those fine companies wants to sponsor me...well, that would be great.]