Hamptons Century Warm-Up Ride

So much for taking it easy the day before a century.

I just couldn't get my ass out the door in time to catch the triangle
group. Blame it on my hyperactive G-I system (mostly the "I" portion,
always in the morning). Got to the LIE about 5 minutes late and spent
the next 45 or so trying to chase down the group, occasionally passing
one or two riders who had already been dropped. I didn't want to wait
for the 8:30 group because, let's face it, I didn't want to spend the
whole morning killing myself. A short while, perhaps, but not the
whole morning.

After I turned onto Woodbury Road I finally spotted a bunch of them a
bit of a way down the road and managed to catch them before the light
at Jericho Turnpike. Turned out the group I caught was the slow bunch
from the original 8:00 peloton. The faster bunch had probably turned
onto Sunnyside, but I was too focused on the guys I saw up ahead to
think to look to the side.

You know you're riding with a group that's too slow for you when you
spend too much time just coasting along. I'm actually surprised they
started with the 8:00 group. They also weren't all that good at
avoiding potholes and I found myself riding through a bunch of them.
By the time we reached Cold Spring I decided to ditch them and go my
own way. While they kept straight onto Main I turned left toward
Snake. So long, guys.

After the left hand hairpin on snake I saw a couple of riders just
ahead of me. I passed them, as well as another woman on an old heavy
bike, before I reached the top. They were all so slow that I hadn't
even seen any of them until that turn. That's how fast I came up to
them on the climb. After reaching the top of the climb I though to
check my average. I was quite shocked to read 19.0. That was after I
had already spend some time coasting with the slow group and the climb
of Snake. I did have some tailwind during my chase along the LIE. From
that point on, as I monitored my average, it just kept steadily
dropping.

After the usual Huntington loop I decided to go back toward Cold
Spring and climb Lawrence, Moore's and Sandy. I wasn't ready to head
home yet and I needed to blow off some steam (mother-in-law issues...
don't ask). Skipped the campus and rode back via Wheatley to the LIE
and home.

Catching a 6:00 AM ride with Loco and others tomorrow for the Tour of
the Hamptons. Always a beautiful ride. Will let you know how that went.

Beast