Peloton, Oh Peloton!

Yikes... falling behind on the workout log, but I guess there hasn't been a ton to really report on that front.

Wednesday 
+ Run - 1.5 miles @ 7.0mph and 1.0 incline (damn am I missing the days of 6 miles at 8.5 mph!).
+ Swim - 2,000m hard effort
+ Work on E's Phd - 5+ hours (!!!!!)

Thursday
+ AWESOME bike ride out at Hains Point - about 33 miles. More on this later.
+ Work on E's Phd - 5+ hours (!!!!!)

Friday
+ Light weights and abs at the gym early in the morning.
+ Off to PA until Sunday night

Saturday
+ No Workout, unless you count moving around mulch and heavy boxes of books.
+ Played with the new iPad at the Apple store - very cool, but not right for me just yet.
+ Followed the Tour of Flanders via my iPhone - epic win for Cancellara!

 Mr. Fabian Cancellara

Sunday
+ No Workout

Monday
+ Worked on E's Phd from the moment I got off work until about 2:30am... ahhh!!
+ No workout

Tuesday
+ Worked on E's Phd from the moment I got off work until 5:00am (due Wednesday AM!)
+ Slept three hours then went to work
+ Uhh, no workout (a litttle bit tired)

Ok, back to Thursday's awesome bike ride...

Hains Point, aka East Potomac Park

I got a good 5-mile warm-up in on my way out to Hains Point (a flat, but sometimes terribly windy 3.18 mile loop)  from my place and was only about 1/4 of the way through the first lap when the fabled peloton came around. I've always wanted to jump in the pack and do a few laps with them, but I usually ended up riding that route with my roommate who doesn't have the power/skill/mental-toughness to stay in the group. I was riding solo this time around and absolutely jumped right into the mix.

 The Fabled Peloton!

Now, I am very much a "peloton noob" so I know practically none of the rules involved. Should I have waited and jumped in at the end of the group?.. Do I have to remove all flashing lights before I am allowed access?.. Does your cycling gear have to match and does THAT all have to match your bicycle?.. And most importantly, MUST I be wearing cycling socks? (No, I still don't own any...)

Who knows.

I jumped in never-the-less. My legs felt VERY fresh (I had "good legs") and I had no problem staying middle-of-the-pack and in-close with everyone else. Halfway through that first lap, there was a 10-man break (the 1st selection, if you will) that took off from the front. I put my head down and dug in hard and was able to latch onto that group and stick with them through the end of the lap. It was tough but ultimately a VERY empowering feeling! I made it my business to try and stay with any break for the rest of the day.

The next few laps were equally exciting and challenging. There's a great part of the loop where you round the point and the whole peloton thins out to near single-file. Everyone digs down deep and really starts cranking around this turn. It's often right after this turn where people will start to stand up and look to establish a mini-break.

At one point leading up to the turn, I heard two girls conspiring to try and "take the stage" and win the sprint-out at the end of each lap. What?!... strategy?!?!  It was SO.COOL.

Out of my 7-completed laps, I was only dropped off of the break-out group once (lap 3). On lap 5, I got out front and took some pulls for about a mile, throwing down an average of around 26.0 mph (very high for me)!! I then stood up and tried to take the stage myself, but was quickly humbled by two other dudes who weren't ready to give it away to a noob juuuuuust yet.

 What it feel like to get dropped!

To get weird on you here for a minute... it was all a truly remarkable, new experience for me. I have never done group rides larger than 3 and found this to be just amazing - close quarters, everyone focused, everyone pedaling hard and working as a group. It's so energizing and just AWESOME.

I had a nice 5 1/2 mile (roughly) ride home where I stood up and attacked three different hills because I was still feeding off of the peloton high.