We beat the storm by seconds...

3:00 p.m - I'm at my desk in my office and weather.com says that by 8pm there's going to be a massive storm.  Damn, I wanted to get on the road bike for a little before my weekend soirée down in VA.  I'll get what I want, I inform my assistant about a made up emergency and head home.  

5:00 p.m - I'm geared up and ready to launch.  I'll do my normal route into Montclair and loop around a little to make 30 miles... or so i thought.

As I was heading down Upper Montclair Ave I see a fellow road biker... damn he's fast.  He heads onto Fransisco Drive towards Little Falls.. just so happened that's where I was headed also, he slows down on the climb and I say "hello, great weather right?"  He agree's quickly and I head on the downhill before he does.  He catches up to me at the next light and we speak.  He's riding an awesome Felt road bike with aero bars.

Looked sort of like this with yellow and black graphics and aero bars instead of the standard.  The bike is more than both my bikes and my car rack combine! AR series.

I knew immediately this guy was serious.  So I want to find out what this guy does.  "How long have you been doing Triathlons?" I ask. He replied," Btw my name is Frank (how rude of me) and I'm a road racer, I have a TT tomorrow and I'm just warming up." 

I ask him if I can tag along on his route, I could use a nice training route since recently I've just been riding around.  He sets off at his own pace, I yell to him feel free to drop me and I'll try my best to catch up.  For the first 4 miles I keep up with him.... so far so good... then he started pedaling.  LoL, man I'm out of my league.  This was truly a humbling moment and this is how a Semi-Pro's pace feels like.  To keep up with him I literally topped out at 40 miles an hour. 

I've been drafting him for the 4 miles and then I got this familiar yet uncomfortable feeling.  Shit my calves are cramping up!  I immediately tone down the pace and I start downing some Gatorade and a Gu packet, all while focusing on my breathing and stretching out of the saddle.  We finish one lap on the loop and I tell him thanks for everything and wish him luck, my legs aren't fresh anymore and I want to use whatever's left to get back home!  (Total Drop Count:  Whenever he wanted.)

I head to Chavez's house, damn he's not home again.  No problem I head into a mini deli on Main St. in Little Falls and purchase the biggest bottle of water and Gatorade available.  As I'm heading out some kids come up to me and ask how long have I been riding for and how fast can I go.  I tell them around 2 hours so far and I let them know I came from Garfield while topping out at 40mph.  They give me the doe-eyed look and they say bike safely.  Cute little guys. 

I receive a text from the wife saying she's at Garrett Mountain.  I'll meet up with her, it's not too far so I let her know.  I head under 46 again and up through Woodland Park and travel the only route I know.  Big mistake.  Overmount Avenue is the steepest hill I've ever attacked.  According to my tracker it was a 300 ft climb over roughly under a mile.  Halfway up my legs popped.  I couldn't swing any more power because my legs started cramping.  Oh well next time I'll save some energy for this.  I walk to the next level area while re-hydrating and scarfing down some ShotBlocks - probably the best tasting energy supplement.

I hear some distant rumbling, crap here's that storm they were talking about.  I check the time and it's 7:45.  That storm is still some ways away so, I spend whatever energy I have left and hit the lap right way up to the top.  Thankfully the wife was right at the peak waiting for me.  As stated in previous posts, I love her.  The storm is getting closer and I can see the flashes now.  In my rush I forgot to stop the tracker so you'll see a max speed of 60mph.  I added a caption with all the corrections.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=207102467016784305848.00048c178e8c9cf19706a

This where I really stopped, Total distance was 32miles. Max speed achieved before Little Falls is 40.2 mph.  Average moving speed was at 15mph.  

My goals have been exceeded for the day.  I finally got to taste 40mph, maintained an average moving speed of 15mph, and completed more than 30 miles for the day.  Great Success!

My stomach had turned over by the time I got home, I unloaded the bike then Missy brought it up.  From my throne I hear the skies open up just as Missy shuts the door and I hear the reassuring sound of the cassette  spinning.  The bike didn't get wet... more success...

... while on my way to fitness.  

Update:  Morning weigh in... right at 202lbs... Estimated weight after the weekend soirée - 207 LoL