A Little Extra

March presented central New York with the lamb half of the proverbial lamb/lion March combination this weekend, and it was oh so good to get out and ride without freezing. The local club's first group ride was Saturday, in temps nearing 55, and under sunny skies. The ride departure spot was about seven miles from my house, so I decided to spin over to get in a little extra.

About sixty people pulled into the plaza parking lot. Some were chatting loudly about ski adventures over the winter. Others were talking loudly about how they meant to get on the trainer over the off-season but never did and were feeling out of shape. And then there was a group of us quietly greeting each other and wondering who would be driving the bus today. It reminded me of the pro riders described in Lance Armstrong's War evaluating each other's butts to see who was in shape and who had a few extra pounds. Nods, smiles, waves all around. How great it was to meet under sunny skies and declare the riding season started.

We rolled out of the parking lot, and I took up a position near the back, chatting along with one of the usual bus drivers. About a mile into the ride, we'd turned onto a quieter road, and we both looked up to see a gap in the group. Game on. We both rolled up to the lead group and sat on them for a while.

After a few more miles, and a few fewer people in the lead group, the pace was popping up now and and again as people started feeling frisky on the front. There was no tongue-dragging punishment going on here, just people upping the pace ever so slightly on the front. No one wanted to drop anyone hard on the first ride of the season. They just wanted to make some people uncomfortable enough that they'd wish they'd hit the trainers a little more over the winter.

As we rolled back into the parking lot, I was happy to have had a great ride getting reacquainted with friends, and especially happy to be feeling great. So great, in fact, when Sue and Jeff got back to the parking lot, we rolled out for a little extra.

We rolled along with a nice spin for several more miles. Around the half-century mark, we reached an intersection. The house to the right, more miles to the left. I chose left. "I'll just get in a little extra by going this way."

I then set off on the solo exploration part of the day's ride, and made good use of the power meter. I just set the legs to a nice tempo pace, and tapped out the miles and enjoyed the views. Sixty. Seventy five. Still feeling great.

It occurred to me that it wouldn't be too hard to nail down a century on this 11th of March. The legs didn't seem to want to stop. I climbed up winding route 13, and admired Chittenango Falls. The river was bloated with spring thaw, and the water was crashing down with a roar.

In the end, I thought that a little restraint on my second outdoor ride of the year was in order, bagged the century idea, and comfortably rolled into home with eighty five miles under my belt. My "little extra" had turned into forty nine miles extra. Sweet.

The power meter is paying off, the time on the rollers is paying off, I easily completed more one-day miles than I ever have before so early in the season, and my first test with some of the other big boys in the club found me with plenty of watts in the quads. I couldn't have asked for a better second ride of the season. I hope you all out there had a similarly great weekend.

See you on the road.