Colorado Journal, Day 3 part 1

Rode to Seagate (where Dave works) to meet up with him for a lunch ride. It's 4.5 miles of flat roads.

Started the ride at Seagate with about 12-14 guys, on a Southern route with a tailwind- pace was high but by no means hard. HR was low, and the rollers were easy. Took a hard right, heading west towards the Front Range in a crosswind, and suddenly the pace was starting to pick up, in an accelerating paceline. Accelerating pacelines are great when you're trying to shell every weak rider in the group. It was on this road that I started to blow, and backed off to save something for the rest of the ride (not knowing what the profile or wind would be like.)

Rode up to Highway 36, heading north into the headwind- this road also has plenty of hills to make it hurt. I started picking up a few of the guys who'd stayed with the front group longer than I, and paced with them for a little while, until a long-ish climb separated me from the two of them.

I continued a high pace, a little higher than tempo, into the wind, and when I turned onto Nelson Rd heading East towards Seagate, I could see the group in front of me, and I dangled, solo, by 100-150 meters for the next 4 miles. In the last mile I was starting to lose ground, but still in sight of the group. Got back to Seagate, and rode back about 2 miles to find Dave- he'd stayed with someone who'd double-flatted, and was behind the group by a bit, so I didn't find them.

Rode the 4.5 miles back to the house, showered, napped, and ate some food. Also went to REI looking for hiking boots, which I did not find in my size.