'Twas a rainy, windy Sunday morning out at TMS, for the 40K. There were 30 or so DF riders, split into two start groups, and a small group of us bents - 2 trikes, and 3 two-wheelers. My particular ride was a good one, helped out by Gary Bradford loaning me his disc 700 rear wheel for the SprintX trike. Very kind of him, to volunteer this!
I sat on Joe Hooten's wheel at 20ish for the first lap, as we caught and passed a group of 10 DF riders about mile 3 or so, finishing the first lap a bit ahead of them, to the surprise of the people gathered at the start/finish. My Strava record says it was 14:14, which is about a 21 mph average for that lap. It had also started to rain, lightly.... About halfway through the second lap, it was raining heavier, and when we got to the incline, I decided I wasn't going to hang with Joe anymore at 20+, and thanked him for the draft. He was riding strong... We were both wiping our glasses regularly. Soon, the group of DFs caught and passed me. I decided to hook into the back of their group, drafting at 20, and as we completed the second lap in front of the people, I was right in the back of the group, with all kind of spray obscuring my glasses, so about all I could see were the white shoes going up and down in front of me - but I hung at the back and avoided causing any problems.
A rainy half lap later, their group sped up on the incline and left me behind - I couldn't hang. From that point on it was basically a solo time trial in the rain, for the rest of the way. I caught and passed several other DF riders on my loops, and no one ever passed me, but I never caught Joe or the DF group - although I had Joe in my sights somewhere around the middle of lap 4. Perhaps he saw me, and thought, "Oh, hell, no...."
I was pretty tired on my last lap, but still felt pretty good, and was able to hold 20-21 mph the last mile or so into the wind to the Finish, finishing in under 1:18 (my goal was to be under 1:20), with an average about 19.25 mph according to my computer. I'll get the "official" time later. Not bad, on a 40-pound trike in wind and rain! It's still kind of amazing to me how tough it is to get a trike above 20mph... I think if I'd have been on the Xstream, I would have smoked most of the DF riders -- but as wet as it was, I'm glad I was on three wheels -- I never had to think about the road conditions, at all, except to dodge the major puddles.
It was good riding and sharing time with the rest of the bent gang that was there, and I'm sorry I missed Saturday's activities - sounds like it was quite the party. Thanks again to Gary for the use of the disc wheel! I'm sure it added at least 1 mph to my average. Of course, I forgot to stop my Strava recording when I finished, so it shows a 16 mph average... (grin)
Thanks for everyone who participated this weekend - hope everybody had a good time - plan to do it again next year!