Doin' it, doin' it and doin' it well

Yesterday's ride was every bit as hot as Tuesday's. Personally, I'm game for maximum adversity as we will certainly be dealing with an abundance of hardship come November, though perhaps my fellow riders don't share my masochistic streak. It's good to train in different types of weather at least.

Once again we started off down the Van Linh Parkway accompanied by a benevolent photographer, Jackie, who took some fantastic shots. Viewing them, I realized the insanity of the traffic we deal with. While on the bike, you're focused just on what's ahead of you (you wouldn't last long otherwise). Seeing pictures with a greater peripheral offered some perspective on the mass hysteria around us, being sandwiched between cars, trucks and motorbikes, etc.
We totally smoked Jackie to the end of the parkway, though it may have had something to do with her getting a flat tire. But we are pretty damn fast, so maybe she just couldn't keep pace. We pushed it a little farther, heading 15-20 minutes further, deeper into the heart of traffic darkness, just trying to co-exist with all the other vehicles.
"This reminds me so much of driving down Highway 394 (in Minnesota)," I say to James. "And if I saw two bikers on 394, I'd say, 'What the f$%@ is wrong those idiots on bikes?'"

We all returned unscathed, except one of Tina's tires, which popped and required a quick fix on the side of the road. Our longest training day to date, about 60 kilometers in total. Not too bad, but traipsing up the ILA stairs later that day was more of a struggle than usual.
Go Team!!
-Chet