Ouch...

I think one thing I like about long, endurance type rides is that is doesn't feel like an all out hammerfest. I mean, at least at my current fitness level I certainly can't go "balls-to-the-wall" for a 6-11 hour ride. However, scale back the distance to something accomplished in <3hrs, and certainly, the possibility exists for more of a real hammerfest. I rode a few weeks ago with a few guys who also ride SS (Race them too) and it taught me a good lesson about pace. We had set out to do about a 32 mile ride at BCT starting at Emery Hendersen and heading north around the Little Pan Loop. They were running 32x18's and were able to put the hurt on me. I had to ride above my normal pace which definitely exposed weaknesses in my bike handling and paid the price by doing an OTB roughly 1/3rd in to the ride. No major carnage, but definitely a warning. By the end, all 3 of us were pretty toasted as it was also getting pretty warm. It was a great lesson for me and an eye opener as far as training goes....sometimes you really have to ride with other guys faster than you to push both your fitness and your skills. Flash forward to today, I decided to do a solo ITT out at BCT where I rode the quintessential BCT lolipop ride; Start at Rock Springs and go south around the Little Pan Loop and back. I've done it many times before but today felt the right day to go as fast as I could muster; with a sub 3 hour goal. The weather was perfect...about 65F when I started. I reached the top of the loop in 57 minutes so I knew I was on pace. At the bottom of the loop which is pretty much the 1/2 way point, I was at 1:21...excellent...still looking good. Reaching the top of the loop, which is 2/3's of the mileage, I was at 1:47....sweet...keep the hammer down. Crossed back over the main road at 1:59 and only 8 miles to go... I figured it was gonna be close. Kept my head down climbing back up to the skyline section then bombed down to the river (as fast as fear would let me!). Crossed the river at 2:35...picked up my bike and ran across the sand and riprap, hopped on and then hammered up the last section. Rain started to fall right then but there was nothing at this point to stop me...rolling over the last gate, I glanced down and knew the goal was in the bag... rolling into the lot, hit stop...2:46...whew, that hurt.