Steve Peplinski sent in this great narrative from yesterday and congrats to all the DCT participants this weekend. Go to www.doorcountytriathlon.com for more and I will load some photo's into my Flikr page soon.We rode hard the whole way, and I was surprised to see only a 19.5 mph average. But that may be because we really didn't work together. Early on, Cory and I pulled to the city limits and a couple of miles onto Luxemburg road. I could feel my legs tiring so I pulled off and dropped back into the lantern rouge position. As soon as I pulled out, Cory attacked, and left us all in his dust. Dan and the new kid were engaged in conversation, so I was alone behind those 2, and Wayne was alone behind Kurt and George. I pulled up to ride with Wayne so that we were 2 abreast. When we got to the hill just before Rendezvous road, Dan decided that we needn't slow below 20 mph on the hill, so he took over pulling duties and gave us a bit of a lactate interval as we approached the brick farmhouse marking our turn.A nice tail wind made for pleasant riding on Rendezvous. Every time I checked my speedometer, it was 23 or above, even touching 30 on some of the downhills. Wayne was doing most of the pulling, and sitting in behind him was like being motor paced. I kept checking behind to make sure our junior member hadn't been dropped, but he was hanging on pretty well. Before long, we spotted Cory in front of us and reeled him in. As usual, there was an attack on the Rendezvous road hill. I was able to jump on as they shot by me, and was right with Cory and Kurt at the top. But there was a price to pay for pride. My heart rate was over 170, making me wonder how long it would be before I cracked. We had spread out a bit. After another attack just before Thiry Daems road, we waited to regroup before turning into the wind. We didn't make very good time on Thiry Daems. It would have been a great place to do a rotating pace line, but as it was, we were strung out in several groups. Gravel pit road brought more tailwinds, but we never really re-grouped. Wayne pulled strongly, then Cory and Kurt attacked. I kept my nose out of the wind since I was at my lactate threshold sucking wheel. Of course I couldn't resist jumping onto Cory's wheel when he shot past Wayne and I. It was more of the same on Benderville hill. But Dan's attack petered out near the top, and I found enough strength to surge past him over the top. The others were in no hurry to close the gap I had opened. Once again, we were sacrificing efficiency for ego. I think there was a headwind on Nicolet drive. I can't be sure because I spent so little time on the front. Wayne pulled a little, then Cory and Kurt, but when Dan took the front, he showed no inclination to pull out. He's planning on racing in a couple of weeks at Mauston. I figured he was pushing hard to prepare for it. I felt pretty comfortable behind Wayne at the tail end of our group, but even so, I was seeing 155 on my heart monitor. Rather than try to start a rotation, I sat in resting, if 155 beats per minute can ever be called resting. When Dan finally pulled out, he never caught the back of our peloton, but just did some recovery spinning. We kept hammering along, not really slowing down for the underpass just before the final long hill. In fact, Wayne seemed to see that as a marker to put in one final hill effort. He opened a gap, but I couldn't resist the challenge to bridge up. I'm sure he backed off at the end, or I never would have caught him. I hope our first time rider enjoyed the ride. The attacks and surges befitted Tour de France season. He had the strength to keep up with us and rode safely in the group. Lets hope he shows up again next week. Steve
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