Sometimes, the dragon wins

I faced my annual dragon, the Firecracker 100, newly attired from head to foot. Father's Day had brought a cycling cap into my wardrobe, to replace the raffish bandanna previously worn under helmet. A more dramatic break from tradition, Shimano cleats, adorned the once-smooth soles of my seven year old Shimano shoes. I was finally going "clipless."

I thought Trey at Opsware was exaggerating when he asserted that this mod would add 2 mph to my average speed. He wasn't.

Again, in an effort to beat the heat and the crowds, I started riding a half hour ahead of schedule. One hour and 13 miles later, several hundred sleek Spandexed forms slipstreamed past with the ritual cry of "on your left!"

The day began cool, in the low 70s. The fragrance of Mimosa vied with the rarer scent of crepe myrtle along the ride. I passed nobody -- the one drawback to starting early -- but did move ahead in the pack by shortening my rest stops -- just so they could pass me again. The clipless pedals increased the smoothness and efficiency of my power transfer, and my average mph kept going up, reaching a high of 14.5. And staying there until mile 51, when my kevlar-shielded rear inner tube exploded for cantankerous reasons of its own. The spare inner tube had a hole in it, noon o'clock had arrived, and I thought it was a good time to call it a day, and catch a ride on the sag wagon. The dragon won this time.

That may have been a very wise move. My training this year focused more on interval workouts, with fewer long rides. Maintaining my all-time best pace in the face of a persistent headwind, fueled by adrenalin and endorphines, took more out of me than I'd realized.

But, wait 'til next year!