Saturday December 13, 2014
I thought for sure with the colder temperatures....yes 48 degrees with a windchill of 44 degrees is a colder ride here....would slow these guys down. After all....there are more clothes to wear, colder air to breath, etc etc. However, that is not the case! I felt that my lungs were going to be frozen at the end of the ride! There were nine eager faces this morning ready to ride despite those temps and put the hammer down on the pedals.
We did the normal route of 36 miles but 3 miles into the ride they were going at 21 mph and over into a headwind. What??? I did my normal amount of cursing until I said that I was going to drop the ride. One of my good buddies who was behind me said that he would stay with me. Felt like my lungs were going to freeze and I couldn't breath because my nostrils were full of junk! The front guy must have heard me cursing and asked me if the pace was ok at one of the stop lights. Hell no I answered and he took the ride down 2 mph. I was pretty much able to keep up at 19 mph until the break.
I talked with one of the fast boys and explained that in NJ in the winter months we would take it down a notch and have a little more fun with the ride. He wasn't buying it for the FL group and kept going!
As usual....on the way back there was a fast group and a slower group. We finally had a tailwind to help us back. The slow group was still fast and I was able to keep up with them until the last three miles heading back to The Second Cup....the final stop that has coffee and where we can relax. They took off like you know what and I decided that I had enough and just took my time coming back those last miles. For me on today's ride I averaged 18 mph for 36 miles. Even with all the cursing....and wasting breath...I still came in with a decent average.
When we got back to The Second Cup there was a classic car show going on in the retail shopping center part. Some very nice Porsches and Corvettes and some older cars. It was a nice way to finish the ride and put a smile on my face. I didn't take any photos because I needed to get home but I am sure that there will be many more of these classic car events and I will take a few photos next time.
