Knowledge-Health-SCIENCE! [Afton 2-speed hustle ride]

Rode to Afton today with Burns & The German. A nice 80+ miler and the first short-sleeve ride of the year. We snaked along the river, over the Mendota Bridge, through Lilydale andd then again along the river to Upper Afton Road. After one bullish ascent on Battle Creek Road, Sascha (The German) sez to me, "what do you think of the pace; is it a little high?" "Hell, yes," I replied. He then proceeded to tear our legs off with repeated bursts of speed and power. Jesus H. Christ. We soldiered on, turning onto Military Road. Burns made the sweet jump and roared past the Woodbury limit sign for the first of many contentious sprints throughout the day. About 3 miles from Afton State Park, my right STI shifter bought the farm, so I dialed in the rear der. limit screw to a middle cog, and was left with a high/low transmission for the remainder of the ride. The 'high' was a little too high, and the 'low' a little to low. Nice. At one point I pulled past Sascha and all I heard was him mutter, "Christ!" Something got into me and with only turbo and spinning mode available, I hit the turbo and dragged those two into Afton with room to spare. We climbed out of the valley and turned onto Trading Post road for a nice sojourn back to Military Road. Turning west, it was obvious we were in for a long haul home as the headwinds mocked us. A Moto-Mart gave us some needed fuel and then it was into the fan. I hung on for as long as I could but could not sustain the sprint power as Sascha motored back into Woodbury. We retraced our route out, including short, but steep climbs up Sterling and McKnight, before returning to Battle Creek Road where Sascha kept the pace high. I just barely hung on, as we rolled through the Pt. Douglas bike path back up the river, ultimately returning to our starting point, The One On One Bicycle Studio. A few Summits were downed with sandwiches and tea cakes on the side, before rolling home on the KHS with a squeaky chain and the aforementioned 2-speed drivetrain. A real ass-kicker. The end.