Quad Burn

Just as I was turning on to Bay Area Blvd this morning on my bike, I noticed that the peloton of Bike Barn's Sunday morning ride would be chasing after me. Soon I had the experience of be caught and passed by a peloton. I tucked in at the back and decided to see how long I could hang on as these riders are all business.

I hung on for about 9 miles in all averaging about 20 mph. The speed itself while at pace was not too bad. The challenge came due to surges. There were two types of surges. The first was the one after a stop at a light. These riders don't take any time at all at getting back to full throttle. Being a jumbo jet, I need a long runway. The second surge is after turns and going into long straightaways. These folks take off.

I was not the first rider to be dropped. The first two peeled off at the turn off of Bay Area Blvd onto Port Road. The surge on Port Road left four or five of us in the dust. Two of us worked hard to close the gap and regained the peloton. The rest were not seen again. Then we hit Todville Road in Seabrook and they cracked the peloton wide open again with a surge. There was no way I was going to regain the group, my heart rate was hitting 90%, quads were burning and I needed a break, so I peeled off down Hammer Road to the Seabrook trails parking area. There were no runners there, so I continued on my ride over the Kemah Bridge and in various locales until returning safe and sound.

Miles: 41.8
Time: 2:28 (17mph)
HR: 140's

It was fun. But I still like running better.

The rodeo yesterday was enjoyable, the show in Reliant Stadium was first class. I forgot my checkbook, so I couldn't drop $300,000 on the grand champion steer. My credit limit is not quite that high and they don't take American Express. One of Houston Bloggers own, Erica, is highlighted on the jumbotron in the pre-show build up between the rodeo and the headliner. That was really great to see.