180 at full speed

Put some wheels on the ol' Paramount and rode it down to Volker for the Monday Recovery Ride. I'd forgotten how much fun that thing is to ride. I used a bunch of spare parts to build it up including the Sugino messenger ring I won at last year's Barnyard CX and an old wheel I've been using on the trainer. It worked OK but a real SS wheel with a bolt on hub would've been better- I threw the chain twice going down to Volker. Got horn-blasted by two successive semi trucks crossing HOA. Then I got cut off from the left by someone pulling onto SW Tfwy and squeezed into a parked car- that's when the second thrown chain happened. I swatted the guy's hood and cursed him and he just stopped (in the middle of SW Tfwy!) and starred at me and let me finish. That was nice of him, I guess. Some days.
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Once I got to Volker, things got better, except Britton wouldn't let me have any malt liquor. I tightened down the skewer to the point of metalurgic compaction, added a rear brake, and we set off for our group ride. A couple of mechanicals later (not mine) and a short ride around midtown landed us at McCoy's for post-ride refreshments.
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Then the ride home... The ride home was incredible. Crisp night air. No wind. Darkness. And me alone on my bike. I negotiated my way through downtown and across the river, then up through Briarcliffe and into Riverside. I hit a stride heading into Northmoor and never stopped pedaling full-gas the rest of the way home. Every light turned for me and every intersection was clear. I was in one of those rare ride states where you don't feel yourself doing anything. No breathing, no work. Just the scenery wooshing by. Beautiful.