And We're Back

The first Wednesday Night Group Ride was last night. Sam and Tom like to call it the HB Hammer Ride. I've taken a liking to the WNW's or WNWC (Wednesday Night World's or Championships) I'm kidding, of course. We're a bunch of 40 year old guys, we realize we're only Champions in our own minds. Then again, at some point, it's likely that someone on these rides is or will be a Champion...there are some strong guys in the crew.

Many of the familiar faces were there, though some of them look a bit different than 6 months ago, before their winter's hibernation. As cyclists, many of us accept the winter weight gain as part of the yearly training schedule. The short, cold days and long, dark nights lend themselves to a certain kind of misery that can only be lifted, apparently, by the consumption of dark, heavy beer and even darker, heavier calories.

But it seems that most of the crew didn't fall victim to winter's cold, hard grasp. It looks like quite a few of the guys took good care of themselves. They ate well. They rode the trainer. They put in tough miles during the last 6 weeks of persistent cold and snow (we're all getting a bit tired of it. It was flurrying earlier today. Enough is enough).

The ride was short, only an hour. It was punchy, for sure. Everyone wanted to get at least one good pull in. Some were stronger than others, of course. The kid stood out in particular in my mind. Oh, to be that strong at 17. What a gift it is for him to have discovered cycling at such an early age. I hope we all do a good job taking care of him this summer, he's got a bright future ahead of him.

I heard the aches and pains of effort, of reaching for mid-season form in early March. Of course Johnson Drive made everyone honest. Gravity has a way of doing that, particularly when it's 40 degrees outside and everyone's been in the red for 30 minutes. Fluid pedal strokes went square, some surely felt as though they were going backwards. But it's all part of the ride. No one complains about it. We all enjoy it. We might not admit it in the moment, but we do.

There's a thought in cycling that no one wants to be a February/March hero. It's a recipe for crash and burn. But these guys don't look like they're going to flame out. There's talk of early season goals. A big crew together at Hell of Hunterdon. A day of suffering with all of the other old guys at Battenkill. Triathlons. More Wednesday Night Rides. Ladies Nights. The summer ahead. No one's going to burn out...they're just getting warmed up.