Lots of ground to cover. Tuesday morning ride to work. School was still in session. What do these kids have left to learn? Anyway I dodged all of the cars dropping kids off, said hey to all the usual crossing guards and weaved through the children with Barbie Princess backpacks for what the paper promises is the absolute last school day of the year.

The church on 34th/16th Ave had the word "Hoarders" posted in the marque. The quotes are theirs. I pondered this vague message but did not know what to make of it. I wondered what was being hoarded. To their credit the church did not appear to be making a value judgment on the hoarders. It just said "Hoarders". I think more churches should post open ended messages. Some churches try to get with the times and say "God has sent you a friend request."

So Tuesday is when I put the Cortina in a super low gear and pedal like a mofo just to go 14mph. I have no reason for doing this other than to amuse myself. Periodically I try to pedal as fast as I absolutely can. Each time I get up to 174 rpm. 200 rpm is my Holy Grail.

This morning (Wednesday) was the Glider ride. I was determined to be on my best behavior. There was a large contingent of riders that included, Boss Hogg, Skeletor, Publix, the Parakeet and several unfamiliar riders. The large group meant we rode double pace line for much of the ride. This invariably turns the ride into a social club with people chatting with the cyclist next to them. Of course I said nothing to the dude next to me which appeared to be fine with him. So we were all cruising along. I was dutifully not running people off the road, coming to complete stops at all intersections, maintaining my speed appropriately, pointing out obstacles and traffic- really just being a model group cyclist.

The last section Boss Hogg started to get ants in his pants as I knew he would. He started lighting it up as we approached 53rd Ave. It was him, this big dude I call the Semi and me. Boss Hogg is leading at 28mph. For the first time I witness Boss Hogg starting to tire. I always thought of him as the mutant cross between Predator and the Terminator. Maybe he was daydreaming about stealing the life force from some beginning cyclists and was distracted. In any case the Semi booms in a commanding voice "I'll drive!" and with that passes Boss Hogg. I follow expecting his mastodon like legs to open up a worm hole in the space time continuum. However his "driving" lasts all of 30 seconds then he drops back. So now I'm in front. I lay down 26-27 mph for 2 minutes then have to drop back. Hogg is waiting in the wings. I reattach behind him for a little while but cannot hang on. Three other dudes that had just been chillin' the whole time behind me pass by. And that was that. We regrouped at 53rd and 441.

I am getting a better feel for these sprints. Namely they don't last forever and everyone is hurting. Thankfully no lectures today because if someone had stepped to me over some BS I swear I would have turned that mother flippin' bike lane into a grave yard.