Five years ago there was a great group ride put on by our cycling club, Athletes By Design. It was a controlled pace ride that averaged 20mph. You knew that you’d get a good workout every Wednesday and cover between 35-40 miles. All you had to do was keep up your cadence and tuck in the draft if you wanted to simply finish.

For some reason I liked riding in 3rd or 4th position. For one thing, it felt safer. During one early summer ride a pileup had occurred when someone new to the ride hit their brakes too hard coming into a stop sign. Wheels clashed and a chain popped off. My reflexes were quick enough to allow me to avoid a collision. Other than an unfortunate communication mishap with a close friend that resulted in me turning into his front wheel, those are about the…