Where's that cool weather?

6:00 this morning, Jeff Mills, (aka "the Beast") and I mounted up and headed out. We decided to go east, out to Winnetaska, then Vandiver and back. It started out okay, I'm still getting used to the Tarmac (3rd ride on it, by far the longest), and I'm feeling a little scrunched up on the bike, compared to the La-Z-Boy position I enjoyed for 6 years on my Trek, nice and stretched out. So I've got muscles hurting that I've never really had a need to use before now. I'm sure that'll all work out as I make the finer adjustments to my position on the bike though.

The Winnetaska ride has 6300 feet of climbing in 80 miles, nearly all of that after mile 40 (which is nearly exactly what Cherohala does), though it rolls pretty hard for the first 40 as well. The major climbs (in Birmingham that means more than 1 mile long, and around 6-8%) are Vandiver South, Dunavant, Zeigler, Grants Mill, Belmont, and Smyer.

As we were nearing the top of Belmont, where it ends into Old Leeds road, we saw a couple of riders heading the direction we would be going. By the time we got to the top, they were a quarter mile ahead, but Jeff was intent on catching them, so off we went, 24, 25, 26 mph chasing as though our lives depended on it. When we did catch them, they said they knew we were coming and tried to hold us off, but couldn't do it. I was just happy that with 65 mile and several thousand feet of climbing in my legs, I was able to suck Jeff's wheel at those speeds.

So we finished strongly, but it was HOT. I mean, at 9:00 my computer said it was 92 degrees. I drank 5 full water bottles (24oz each) and still weighed 3 pounds less than when I started.

All in all, a good ride. Nothing profound to say, just had a good hard ride. I was happy with my effort and my results.