Greenville Winter Bike League

With the threat of rain in both Columbia and Athens I decided to put the city and the rain behind me and head north. What follows was 93 miles of rolling terrain and a few hills with several dozen of my closest Greenville friends. I stayed towards the rear of the ride since it was my first time, and I just wanted to see what happened. The first sprint zone came around 35 miles in and it was FAST. It also lasted 4-5 miles with a couple of domestic pros chilling (or not) on the front. Another bit of riding and another 4-5 mile sprint zone. Things went totally bonkers around 84 miles in with the last sprint zone lasting 7, yes SEVEN miles. I got gaped out when the wheel I was following faded on a climb. I bridged and survived until we hit the 4 lane road and was in a group that got dropped with severe prejudice. I have to say that with that ride being my longest of the off-season by 20 miles that I did quite alright. The fitness gains I'll see from that are awesome. After the ride I was invited to grab some pizza at a downtown pub. I devoured 4 very large slices and enjoyed the company. Not only are the Greenville boys fast, they are very hospitable. The UWBL ride comes highly recommended by me.
After the pizza I drove out towards the foothills to visit Rick and Gail. Right as I was getting ready to leave Gail said that I should stay in town and do my Sunday ride in Greenville (sweet, actual climbing). While they went out for diner I vegged on the couch and watched the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon on DVR. It was a good race, and while I'm not a Triathlete, it is a sport I can appreciate.
After getting 10 hours of sleep (YES) I woke up to cold temps and headed out for 3 hours. I finished up with a trip over Paris Mountain and on the Furman side matched my PR from July with 12:30. I'm quite pleased to be riding this well in January knowing I could shatter that number if I was rested and the temperature was warmer. On top of that my coach has not had me remotely close to my top end and I will be considerably faster as the intensity picks up.
A big thank-you goes out to Rick and Gail for hosting me over-night with no notice! Y'all are awesome.