drafting off a toothpick

It has been gorgeous in Seattle for the past couple days, I finally got out my bike tonight.

I'd been daydreaming all day about getting down to the trail and cruising along in the sunshine so after work I spend a few minutes in the gym getting a quick weight workout and then I impatiently drove to downtown Bothell to start spinning my out of season legs.

I haven't bought a bike computer so I decided to throw on my Garmin and also keep track of my heart rate. The sun was incredible. Although, my bike definitely needs a tune up. I've finally put enough miles on it that the cables need to be checked.

Anyway, I decided a quick out and back would be good for today. Just after my turnaround point a guy pulled up next to me and then ahead so I decided to drop in and draft off him for a bit. I was in a pretty tough gear and keeping my cadence lower than his and keeping up without a problem. After a few miles I pulled ahead of him and he dropped in after me for a few miles. He finally pulled up next to me and said, "you're like drafting off a toothpick!" Probably the funniest thing I've heard while riding in a long time. So, we started talking, he asked me about Ironman and my Cervelo P2C- said it looked like a perfect fit for me. Which was awesome to hear since I had some trouble getting fitted since my legs are so long and my torso so short. Turns out Jeremy just moved here from MN and works not too far from me. We ended our ride and I headed home. Hopefully I'll run into him again down there. He was about my pace and could be a good riding buddy. Unfortunately, he also looks like 75% of the guys out there on the trail so hopefully I'll be able to recognize him. He's got one up on me on that, my bike is kind of obvious and he pointed out my M-dot on my leg.

Anyway, it wound up being 17 mile ride and my average heart rate was 136 for the 58 minutes I rode. I'm definitely not ready for my first sprint tri of the season this coming Saturday. Eek!!