6/20: same old same old

Today was day 5 of riding and my legs are tired. Too bad Vince isn't here or I could justifiably say: "I got nothing". (If you don't know Vince, he always says that and he is one of the strongest riders in our group.)

We climbed out of Stari Grad and through some lavender fields. They do all kinds of things with lavender on the island including sachets, tea, scented oil and apparel.

Here is the "red team" in front of the lavender field.

The profile of today's ride looks like a bell curve. We climb out of Hvar, cross the ridge of the island and descend to the other side in Stari Grad. The strava segments considers the climb to Hvar Peak to last 4.5 miles with an elevation gain of over 1250' resulting in a category 2 climb.

My time was 47:40 which put me in 374th place on the leaderboard out of 642 attempts. (In case it's not clear, I am not trying to make this out to be some big accomplishment. It's a little like saying it's a PR - personal record. Of course it's a personal record, it's my first - and best - time ever.)

Walter completed it in 51:35 and Dan in 47:11. Mike and Stu are not on Strava. I found Mario on Strava but he has no data.

For context, the KOM for this segment is 21:25 and the QOM is 27:44.

<iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https://www.strava.com/segments/4501911/embed'></iframe>

I am guessing Strava penalizes us for stopping. I don't think we are that slow.

We descended from Hvar Peak into Stari Grad where we stopped for lunch.

Leeann, who takes pictures for a living, made us look like real cyclists. I really like this one.

The two below are not action photos - they're just great pictures. Proof that a camera in the right hands produces results that don't happen in the hands of a hack.

Here we are trying to figure out how to slow Dan down. That's Mike taking air out of his back tire.

The afternoon included a ride through a camping area and a short out-and-back. It was not a huge climb but at the end and after the morning's climb, we felt like we had accomplished something.

Here is the Walter victory pose.

On the way back, we seemed to have lost Walter and Stu and no matter where we go and no matter who we invite to ride with us, at some point it is Mike and me. And by that I mean me chasing Mike around the countryside.

Here's the route: https://ridewithgps.com/events/28928-vbt-croatia-the-dalmatian-islands#routes/18436086/preview

Here are my results for the day: https://www.strava.com/activities/1045802301

In summary, 33.4 miles, 3130' of climbing.