For the soundtrack, click here. The first Wednesday Night Ride of the year was a good one. With only about 70 minutes of daylight to work with, we didn’t waste a moment. Unfortunately, any thoughts of a proper warmup were tossed within the first mile. We motored west through Scotch Plains and North Plainfield, then pushed hard over Stirling Road. The pace over the climb was impressive. Everyone was charged up and ready to hammer. We made the turn onto Mountain Road and rolled smoothly east into Berkeley Heights, again hammering over the climb up to Plainfield-Bonnie Burn Road. A fast descent down Valley, and then the climb up Skytop Road into Watchung Reservation. Everyone put in a solid effort, although it was clear that some legs were getting tired. We descended Deer Path quickly, but all of us were caught at the light. As we turned back into Westfield, some riders peeled off, but a few of us wound it up for the sprint. I Took the initiative and led out with more than a mile to go, trying to get some action going. No dice, everyone just sat on my wheel and waited until the last second to move. I saved some juice for the final meters, and only Erik, who was sucking my wheel in second position, was able to edge past me as my legs flamed out. A really nice test that revealed some interesting facts.
My boy Brett Carter is loving his new S-Works Tarmac, and he rode amazing well. Partly the bike, partly a renewed zest for riding. He has more miles in than ever before at this time of year. Erik is fitter than he’s ever been in March, too. Donna, as always, was rock solid and always at the front. The bravest ride of the night was by Dan Knisely, our Castelli sales rep, who on an unfamiliar course pushed the pace up the first hill, blew up spectacularly, chased back on, hung on for dear life, and then managed to stay pretty close in the final sprint.
It was a fast night. Even without the long steady stretches to pump up the average speed, we still came in with 18.2 mph. Not bad for all the climbing, and definitely a fast ride for March. Great fun, though.
When I got home tonight, I had to play doctor to poor Winston. The crazy dog, while playing his hardest in the park, somehow managed to slice off the tip of one of his paw pads, and he really didn’t even notice. He didn’t want to stop playing. Jenn realized he was hurt when she was cleaning his paws later. Rather than paying another $300 to the vet to have him bandage him up with flimsy gauze that he’ll destroy in minutes, I cleaned his wound, patched him up, and reinforced his bandages with a duct tape outer sheath. Good stuff. He’s looking flashy with his cool silver boot.
I just realized how long it has been since my last post. I will have to get back in the groove. Work suddenly got extremely busy. Luckily. We didn’t have high hopes for this year, knowing that the current economic state wasn’t conducive to selling high-end bikes. But somehow we’ve managed to do just that. I think we’re going to be fine, probably at the cost of other shops who are probably struggling horribly right now. Milder weather has accelerated the pace of business, and already we’re cranking. It’s good news. The season is looking bright. Spring has arrived.
