Tues velo ride

Well last night I took the challenge to ride with the 25 mph guys. I did this because I was late for the slower guys and these guys were leaving the parking lot just as I was getting my bike out of the back of my Suburban...good timing eh? As I saw the last taillight go thought the intersection I cleated up and hit the gas. You know at that point I was a couple miles behind them, before I could catch them up, a couple of very fast miles for cold legs and 50 degree temp.
Breathing as deep as I could and trying to get a fast pace rhythm going against a fair amount of breeze I stood in the saddle for a good ways until the strands of muscle shortened in the cold of my body and the chill of the night airs wind. So I settled back into the saddle and went to work. Seeing my prey about a mile ahead I forced the stale breath out of the deepest recesses of my lung and sucked in the cold air. With my  body warming up I forced myself to as fast a pace as I could and started to gain ground. However theses guys were warming up also and I could see them stretching the gap but I had a strong cadence going and I closed that last mile gap in a few minutes.
Good thing I caught them I needed to catch my breath, let the glucose flood my legs after the push and just relax and sit in. The guys at the back of the Pelaton were surprised to see me but remarked that they were late also and had the pleasures of catch up also. This was a group I had never seen before and now I know way, they were still warming up and cruising at 22 mph according to my Cateye.
Truth be known I had been wanting to ride with these guys but hadn't wanted to show any weakness by dropping. So here I was quite by accident and so far it seemed to be a stretch but I was glad for the challenge.
Then as we crested an over pass it was as if there was an unspoken agreement to kick up the speed to 25.4mph and I was in the thick of it, but honestly after the chase down I didn't know for how long.  Well it was about 12 miles into it that I turned around and headed back. I was happy to find out my limits, I could do well in some fashion and I also know that the solo trip back to the Suburban was going to be cold and windy. as I rode into the paring lot I had won, I had concord my  fears and found that needed alot of work to be able to complete a whole ride with these guys. But my mind also wondered, who will I ride with after I have this level mastered. Oh well I'll find out when I get there!
If I see you on the road stop at Peets, because your buying.