Mongo had every intention of "layin' it down" on Saturday morning and doing a serious ride. My ride options were 7:30 am, 10:00 am, or 3:00 pm, with various or no teammates.
I chose the 10:00 am option...which was one of the two "Enemy Bike Shop" rides. They both start at the same time from the same place with the shorter, Cat 6/7 ride breaking off after a few miles. This is the ride that Mongo has dominated all year...with either a win or a podium the last thirty or so times I've participated. I figured that for my last, probably, suburban-alley-cat-group-ride of 2011, I was going to do the longer, faster, Cat 1-5 ride.
When I arrived at the parking lot and looked around I knew that "wasn't" going to happen. There were way too many matching kits belonging to local pros, and there were even a couple of guys wearing Hincapie kits and riding BMC's. Too rich for Mongo's blood! Had it been a month ago and twenty degrees warmer, I probably would have given it the old college try. But...it was 45 and windy and I hadn't doped properly for the effort needed to hang, or try to hang, with this bunch. So...I broke off at the appointed spot and did my usual ride with the usual suspects.
It actually turned out to be a little slower than normal, which led to "Hairy Guy With Beard On Parlee" and Mongo breaking away from the peloton about halfway through the loop. We battled each other over the last five miles, with both of us attacking several times, but in the end we decided not to contest the sprint...though Mongo did cross the line first.
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