not even if we ask nicely?

I bet I, and anyone who rode the RR of CSR, would totally argue that point. Ask some of your clown ass teammates - it was some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen, never mind rode in.

I showed up at the bike shop. I thought there was supposed to be an "A" and "B" ride. If there was a "B" ride, I missed it.

I hung on the back fairly well for seven or so miles. In fact, I was tapping my brakes a fair amount during that stretch.

Then suddenly--BAM!!--the peloton accelerated and attacked a hill. I missed the jump and was done for.

Stupid Road Nazis.

I went solo for four+ miles and then hooked up with one and then two out-of-shape Road Nazi droppees and rode with most of the rest of the way with company.

Oh well. It was a great evening to be out riding and I still averaged over 20 mph.

I've been looking all over for pics from the race, none have been posted yet. Believe me, if I find some, I'll post them up here.

Sounds like you have the warm up nailed.

Just keep doing it... getting dropped is the purification of Fredness.

I finally got my mountain bike shoes, and the book about racing for juniors. Now just waiting on the Garmin. Why is it taking so long?!

I recently was reminded not to F with lightning. It hit the top of a big oak tree at church. I never would have believed how far away I found shards of tree. Much further than a human could throw them. It literally exploded the top and threw off chunks of bark all the way down to the trunk.

Yikes.

I think that's called falling

Clarified. I meant you could see the effects of the lightning the entire height of the tree.

A six-foot human wouldn't fare well if subjected to such power.

Oh yeah. I almost got hit (or hit, rather) by a car on my ride home from work today. Going at 25 mph on a slight downhill in a... 25 mph zone. Car pulls out when they had a stop sign and goes right in front of me. I was literally 1 inch from hitting them with my friend wheel, that would have been bad. Even though I didn't tap the car, they and another driver both stopped to ask if I was ok. That was nice, someone who actually cares when they almost hit you.

The slower you are, the more critical it is to be near the front. Trust me on this. Pcad has been sucking faster wheels for 20 years, and I manage to not get ejected about 95% of the time.

+1. Realizing this has helped me a ton in races. When I'm feeling the weakest, I make sure to be top 10 wheel - much smoother. If I'm feeling strong I can sit in the back and feel fine though.

Pcad's Wheelsucking Rule #2: TAKE WHAT THEY GIVE YOU. If the pack slows down for any reason, MOVE TO THE FRONT AND RE-ESTABLISH YOUR POSITION THERE. That's hard to do when it's all strung out @ 30mph, but when things bunch up and it slows down (on a hill, for whatever reason), always go straight to the front.

What was this thread about again?

I thought I could draft in the back and not be expected to pull. But I'm gathering that the speed fluctuates more wildly in the back, which is bad if you're limited in accelerating at the upper end of the speed range.

Nice!

A watched pot and all that.

The Steven Strausburg hype has hit full bore. There were people in the bar cheering for the Nationals last night. I go to that bar all the time and that's the first time all season I've even SEEN a Nationals game on!

Fixed.

how many mile "fix" was it?

That is right, sensei. I realised that though I was much slower than the others, the slowness is only in the climbing. Either that or slowness doesn't get exposed except in the climb. So after we got to a long stretch of road where there were short rollers or flats where climbing is so short that i don't get dropped, I went to the front and cranked it up. For the life of me I don't know what happened but after a while I had to slow down the pace as I was losing someone at the back. When someone else took to the front, I found myself coasting and occasionally braking. When we finally got to a longer hill, I had tired them out enough that even though they went ahead, they weren't that far ahead and didn't have to wait.

Renovation update for beautiful Neyland Stadium.

Oh now my week is complete.

Have you any idea how hard I am trying to not post something silly in that hemorrhoids thread? Just the fact that it is a genuine problem holds me back from juvenile gags. It's killing me.