It was another small crew this week, but there are still plenty of kilojoules on the road.

Andy Weir and Patrick Cotant both went on early in the week and put down a killer time on the Peninsula Drive North segment, setting a mark that looked impervious to challenge. Like a bully holding up a victim’s milk money high overhead, Cody Sovis, then Tom O’Hagan, then Wes Sovis, then Jaden Drews, and a host of others jumped and whined and reached for their 75 cents, but in vain.

Sometimes the only way to deal with a bully is to call in a bigger one, and when it comes to size and manliness, Dr. Pain, Steve Andriese, puts most to shame. There are few riders in Traverse City that do two things as well as Dr. Pain, with those two skills being the ability to put out an awful lot of power and, importantly, measure an effort to perfection. When it comes to power, Kickbush, BeVier, Juan Mo Time, Concannon, and a few others are in the same ballpark, but only perhaps someone like Wes Sovis or Andy Weir can match Andriese in the efficient application of power.

This week, that combination of skills let Andriese cruise to the win by almost two minutes, holding 371 watts for 20:48. Cotant and Weir were next 22:23 and 22:26 respectively. Gwen Urbain was, again, the sole women’s entrant and pushed herself to the limit with a 30:21. We can’t wait to see what she can do this season!

We’re going to do one last SOLOKOLO, then take a short break heading into the end of the month. We’ve been saving this one for a little while now to make sure the woods are in great shape, and they are! It’s another double to cap off SOLOKOLO, with the Vasa Power Section and The Boonenberg.

The combination has been used in the Speed of Light Grand Tours for years now, and they’re polar opposites in terms of efforts. The Power Section is nearly three miles long and usually takes between eight and ten minutes for most riders. While it’s nominally flat, there are a few gradual inclines and a number of short speed bumps that take a little horsepower to maintain speed. The Boonenberg, in contrast, is a roughly one-minute effort, uphill, with only your choice of line on the sandy and soft bottom making any impact aside from power-to-weight.

It’s been a weird year. Thanks to everyone who has been riding along with us the past few weeks and we hope this has been a fun distraction for even an hour or two. We’re working on a Speed of Light course and we’re planning on doing SOLo again starting in May and running through July. No Grand Tours, no theme nights, just get out there on your own or in a small group and give it hell; we’ll do points based on finish position each week.