Thrash Wednesday

This is the third week I have been to the Hunt Valley/Baltimore Wednesday night ride. It all started after our local training race here in Baltimore folded a few years back. The idea is simple really... take a good bit of the racers out for a hard training ride and simulate a race each Wednesday night. The ride is the same course each week, and starts at 6pm. If you have a problem, or have a bad night and get dropped there are ways to re-join the group on the ride. This week there was a good bit of talent at the ride which made it very interesting. The other thing making it "interesting" was leaving Hunt Valley Bicycles late.... we missed the ride and had to chase. It was actually kind of fun once we got started, but Sean was the real teeth in the chase. He had literally just finished assembling his new Cervelo Carbon Soloist...and he was excited. This is the same bike I was having my 3rd ride on, and still getting comfortable with. The funny thing was after about 20 minutes we finally caught the group, and we couldn't stop! Sean and I rolled right to the front and kept going. Pain is a funny thing; once get used to it, stopping it is harder than you might think! In our defense it was a momentum thing... like when you have been driving fast on a highway; and get off and enter a small town. That is where the local police hold their fundraisers with the help of out of towners (I know this from experience!). After getting everyone thoroughly upset at seeing the HVB green up front, things seemed to get back to normal. Then the real fun started. Every week the ride breaks into groups, but this week the front was like a lobster pit. Everyone was just pushing the pace and attacking whenever there was a lull. I was thinking about my road racing experiences and wishing it was more like tonight. There wasn't really anywhere for anyone to hide. It was more like a cross race than a road race. If you weren't trying and paying attention you were off the back. The funny thing was that EVERYONE put in attacks... as soon as someone was back another person would put in a dig.... now this is fun! In the end, after the "virtual" finish line, everyone seemed happy and spent. It definitely lived up to the name of this entry... Thrash Wednesday. If you are ever in Baltimore on a Wednesday come on out to Hunt Valley Bicycles and join us.... we depart at 5:45pm and ride to the start... or at 5:55pm and race to the start....