237? That can't be right.

At last, the moment we've been waiting for: Wednesday Night Worlds. Also known as an opportunity to get punched in the face repeatedly by people who are faster than you.

It's great, really.

How great? At one point on the rollout, my computer was reading 205 bpm. No, that's not accurate. Anyway, it went like this:

I usually don't have problems until Highway 36, when we hit the long, grinding uphill. The tempo is usually really high by then — mid-to-upper 20s — and doesn't let up until 2/3 of the way up the hill. At that point, the bunch blows all to hell and scatters itself all over the incline.

Despite almost two seasons' worth of data that says I cannot get up the thing effectively in the big ring, I gave it a shot last night. It didn't work. Of course it didn't work. Why, after two weeks of sickness and four days of good, solid workouts did I think it would work this time? I have no idea, but I was gapped, regardless.

The second danger point for me is ... again ... another long, grinding uphill. Shallow pitch, high tempo ... boom. But not this time. I stayed in the bunch, rotated through and we continued on our way. I didn't contest the sprint at Fort Calhoun, though. Maybe next time.

Down through Boyer Chute, the rotating paceline was in midseason form. It was pretty impressive for March 30. Tempo was high, turns were fluid, plenty of communication. And then I looked down at my computer again. 237 beats per minute. Considering my previous max was in the mid-180s, I think I'm going to check out a career as a hummingbird. I'm guessing a new battery for the HRM strap is in order.

When the hill came, I unleashed one of my more underwhelming performances. Luckily, I was able to bridge pretty quickly on the false flat. I sat in with hopes of going over the top of the kicker with the bunch, but that didn't happen, either. After the downhill, I bridged up to a couple of teammates, and we were able to keep the gap respectable the rest of the way.

After that, it was pretty standard WNW stuff. It was very dark when we got back, but an all-day cloud cover will do that, huh?

Though I got tossed off the back a couple of times, there was one huge, HUGE positive: my back didn't ache once. I didn't even think about it until I got back and someone asked me how it felt. It's been a long, long time since I've been able to report no pain at all.

Next week it will be a little bit lighter, a little bit warmer and — undoubtedly — a little bit faster. Should be ... um ... fun?