Day 2 of 2021 and the temperature outside was below my 60 degree threshold. No problem, Zwift to the rescue. I looked at upcoming events and found a group I rode with before, The HERD. A Rehab ride in Watopia on the Flat Route Reverse started at 11:10 AM, just right for my Saturday schedule. I had plenty of time to get ready but I have sensor Bluetooth connection problems as the ride began. Normally that means I get left behind but the group start slow and I caught up with them in a couple of minutes. For the rest of the ride I stayed with a group even breaking the group fence a bunch of times, slowing down to rejoin the HERD. I tried to watch the fence but the view only showed it in the distance and not when I crossed through it. The HERD leader said a group of 500 was off the front and have been doing that for the last 13 weeks for some reason. The ride lasted 60 minutes and I rode 17.44 miles, the longest ride of the new year.

This is my look for the ride. During the ride I wore a HERD jersey.

The course included flat and short hilly sections with some nice downhills. I haven’t rode this route before as far as I know. When I registered it showed 509 riders and once the ride started 827 were listed at the bottom of the nearby list. At the 2 sprint finished I came in around 643rd place. It felt good to be able to power to the front and confront the fence for a change rather than be left in the dust.

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It was a day for medals according to Strava.

• 5 gold medals
• 6 silver medals
• 7 bronze

If those were real I’m not sure I would be standing holding all of them.

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