  Ok -  after a 10 year hiatus from the place,  I finally got back to Wompatuck last night for a little wheel- to- wheel action with the cycling thugs from around the Greater Boston area.  I got to see a few other old guys (
hey there Andre)  and some new turks as well,  thrashing about for the 32 miles.  I love the race -  really -  I really love that race.
 The course is like a mile and a quarter around,  or something like that,  and you can pedal through the corners.  Years ago,  when it wasn't as damn hot as it was last evening ( started at 94 degrees and finished at a oh-
so- cool 87 degrees)  we once averaged a tad over 33 miles per hour for the 32 mile race.  Last night's effort was only averaging a tad over 27,  with a top speed of 56 kph ( 37 mph,
 and there's no downhill!  As usual,  there were the squirley guys and the rock steady hammer- heads -  Mark McCormack ( last year's US Pro Champ)
 was there,  doing intervals -  floating back to the back of the peleton,  and surging forward to the front every few laps,  exciting the masses every time in the process.  For the amount of training I have under my belt,
 and the number of times I have raced this season,  I feel pretty good about the whole effort.  I was at or near the front all evening,  rolled off the front a couple of times as well,  and never got dropped -  though there were a couple of times where I felt I had burned a match or two in the process of covering moves I thought might roll off the front.
 The heat was certainly a factor .  .  .  I had ( 2)  big bottles on the drive down,
 and a regular bottle for the race -  I drained that during the evening,  and could feel my legs cramping a bit when the pressure got a bit high,  but managed to stave off any problems.  Over the last 6 laps,  I felt really good -
 leading me to believe I had some of that deep muscle ability still and could tap into it,  but during the last lap sat up for the sprint a couple of hundred meters out because in part,  my plan for the evening was just to test my racing ability,  and not anything else -  I'm not quite in the mind- set for the finishing gallop to the line just yet -
 over the coming weeks,  we'll see how ready I am -  I love a good finish,  but these things must be done in stages.  Off to work .  .
 .  to colour -  BTW -  here is a pic of me in my kilt!  That's me on the left .  .
 .  in my family's tartan.
