back in the group

The Hingham Group meets for a ride every Saturday and Sunday at 6:00 am at the high school. I can't drag my sorry behind out of bed on Saturday morning at 4:45 am to get there, but I can on Sunday. A group of guys ranging from late 30's to almost 60 show up to get some miles on the books before the day starts. Jim the doctor can ride. Adam from Scituate can ride. Holy smokes, there's a triathlete from who knows where that can really ride. The pace starts out civilized then they start to wind it up. I'm on the doctor's wheel and when he takes to the front the pace goes up to 26 miles per hour. After his work is finished, I pull through and hold on for as long as I can without dropping the pace. Behind me, Joe the triathlete takes to the front of the train and he pins it. Down in an aero tuck, he winds it up to 28 mph and I'm holding on for dear life at the back. We go hard until we get to Duxbury where the group gets off the bikes for a cup of tea and a treat at French memories. The pace after the treat is supposed to be civilized, but that doesn't last long. The group starts to splinter off, and before long, there's six of us left, pushing, searching for each other's limits. By 10:30 am, I'm back at home and I've knocked out 77 miles. There's a lot of the day left, but there's not much energy left in the tank. There will be no stripping shingles today. The wicked and the weary have earned a rest.