Today's ride was a display of power by Mark 'WattsOn' Ackerman. It was a chilly (low 40s), overcast morning and we started with a tailwind. It was easy going out to Oswego. A hot beverage, and an extended chat indoors at the Village Grind got us almost re-warmed. On the way back home we had a quartering headwind and WattsOn powered us through that wind. We voted WattsOn as 'most improved cyclist'. It was an amazing display of early season power and endurance.
Group was: Mark, Larry, Mike J., Mike E., Steve, Loni, and myself.
Click for Route Stats
Ride on!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Spin cycling coach danger to bicycle nut
Excerpt from Internet exercise advice column. Tongue in cheek comments in bold
Some instructors will ask students to load on the resistance so much so that cadence drops to 50, 40 or even 30 rpm. Let's take a look at whether this is beneficial for you as a cyclist, or even for the non-cyclists that make up a large part of the indoor cycling population.
Most indoor ‘cycling’ instructors bikes are hanging in their garages. When they do ride their bike, the only time they shift gears is when the misadjusted chains skips unto another cog. And they don’t even know what a cog is.
The term "specificity of exercise" is a tenet in exercise science that applies to all fitness and sport training. It means that as much as possible, your training should mimic the specific movement of your sport or goal activity. Specificity applies not only to the muscle groups used, but also to the speed of movement, the joint angle, the muscle fiber types recruited and even to the metabolic system employed to generate energy.
Face it, biking is watts. There are no watts on a spin bike. If you aren’t training watts you ain’t training for biking. You are wasting your time on a spin bike. ‘Specificity of exercise’ on a spin bike? It’s called a Bicycle. Ever seen a spin ‘bike’ with two wheels? I don’t think this guy even owns a bike.
In a periodized training program, training starts off fairly general to enhance basic fitness elements such as muscular endurance, aerobic endurance and leg speed (in the case of cycling), but the closer you get to your event the more specific your training needs to be.
A periodized bicycle program is watts, a lotta watts, and then crushingly painful watts. Leg speed is how long it takes to shave ‘em. Watts is all that matter.
More: How Cyclists Should Approach Indoor Classes
Climbing for Cyclists
Climbing is an essential part of cycling, especially for those who live in hilly areas. What cadences are generally desirable for climbing?
Climbing the best way to create watts. Lottsa watts. And pain. Cadence should maximize watts and pain.
When faced with a hill, your cadence is dependent on the grade of the hill, your available gears, your fitness level, your previous training, and whether you are racing up that hill or just sauntering up it, among other things. If you live in a hilly area like I do, in the Rocky Mountains where climbs are rarely shorter than 20 minutes and often exceed one hour, your gearing becomes very important. You think long and hard about whether to invest in compact gearing or even a triple chain ring, in order to save your knees and back (especially if you are on the north side of 40 years old!)
First off, ‘hills’ are NOT graded. They are called climbs and they are categorized. Has this guy ever ridden a bike? Hilly area? It’s called the Rocky MTNS… not Rocky hills. And don’t waste your time thinking about gearing or chain rings… get out there and produce watts.
If your cadence consistently falls below 60 rpm for longer than a few minutes when climbing, and you are already in your lowest gear, your logical next stop should be to go to your local bike shop to purchase new gears. Cadence that slow is less efficient, causes much greater muscular fatigue, depletes your glycogen stores much more quickly, and places a tremendous risk on the knees, hips and back.
Look pal, if 60 rpm is too slow… pedal faster. It’s a hellava lot cheaper than purchasing new ‘gears’. Gears? Cars have gears… bicycles have cogs and chain rings. I think this guy fell off his spin bike without a helmet.
Many riders in the pro peleton can be seen pedaling up the famous climbs of France, Italy and Spain at cadences in the high 80s and 90s. Alberto Contador and Juan Jose Cobo apparently used a gearing of 34x32 in their quests to win the 2011 Giro and Vuelta, respectively. This allowed them to keep their pedaling frequency from dropping too low on the monster climbs of those races. It would also save their legs for the subsequent stages.
A FEW riders can be seen with high mtn cadences. Those 120lb freaks of nature that are on the front. MOST of the peloton is suffering off the back wrenching their bikes back and forth at 32rpm, with their tongues hanging close to their chain ring… muttering to themselves that the guy who selected the course is an assassin in disguise.
So cyclists, take a tip from the pros: do whatever it takes to pedal faster on hills and to save your knees. Realistically, pedaling slower than 55 or 60ish rpm is not going to do you any favors.
Do what the pros do. First go on a starvation diet. Then shoot up. Or eat some tainted beef. You will pedal faster and won’t even feel the damage to your knees.
Some instructors will ask students to load on the resistance so much so that cadence drops to 50, 40 or even 30 rpm. Let's take a look at whether this is beneficial for you as a cyclist, or even for the non-cyclists that make up a large part of the indoor cycling population.
Most indoor ‘cycling’ instructors bikes are hanging in their garages. When they do ride their bike, the only time they shift gears is when the misadjusted chains skips unto another cog. And they don’t even know what a cog is.
The term "specificity of exercise" is a tenet in exercise science that applies to all fitness and sport training. It means that as much as possible, your training should mimic the specific movement of your sport or goal activity. Specificity applies not only to the muscle groups used, but also to the speed of movement, the joint angle, the muscle fiber types recruited and even to the metabolic system employed to generate energy.
Face it, biking is watts. There are no watts on a spin bike. If you aren’t training watts you ain’t training for biking. You are wasting your time on a spin bike. ‘Specificity of exercise’ on a spin bike? It’s called a Bicycle. Ever seen a spin ‘bike’ with two wheels? I don’t think this guy even owns a bike.
In a periodized training program, training starts off fairly general to enhance basic fitness elements such as muscular endurance, aerobic endurance and leg speed (in the case of cycling), but the closer you get to your event the more specific your training needs to be.
A periodized bicycle program is watts, a lotta watts, and then crushingly painful watts. Leg speed is how long it takes to shave ‘em. Watts is all that matter.
More: How Cyclists Should Approach Indoor Classes
Climbing for Cyclists
Climbing is an essential part of cycling, especially for those who live in hilly areas. What cadences are generally desirable for climbing?
Climbing the best way to create watts. Lottsa watts. And pain. Cadence should maximize watts and pain.
When faced with a hill, your cadence is dependent on the grade of the hill, your available gears, your fitness level, your previous training, and whether you are racing up that hill or just sauntering up it, among other things. If you live in a hilly area like I do, in the Rocky Mountains where climbs are rarely shorter than 20 minutes and often exceed one hour, your gearing becomes very important. You think long and hard about whether to invest in compact gearing or even a triple chain ring, in order to save your knees and back (especially if you are on the north side of 40 years old!)
First off, ‘hills’ are NOT graded. They are called climbs and they are categorized. Has this guy ever ridden a bike? Hilly area? It’s called the Rocky MTNS… not Rocky hills. And don’t waste your time thinking about gearing or chain rings… get out there and produce watts.
If your cadence consistently falls below 60 rpm for longer than a few minutes when climbing, and you are already in your lowest gear, your logical next stop should be to go to your local bike shop to purchase new gears. Cadence that slow is less efficient, causes much greater muscular fatigue, depletes your glycogen stores much more quickly, and places a tremendous risk on the knees, hips and back.
Look pal, if 60 rpm is too slow… pedal faster. It’s a hellava lot cheaper than purchasing new ‘gears’. Gears? Cars have gears… bicycles have cogs and chain rings. I think this guy fell off his spin bike without a helmet.
Many riders in the pro peleton can be seen pedaling up the famous climbs of France, Italy and Spain at cadences in the high 80s and 90s. Alberto Contador and Juan Jose Cobo apparently used a gearing of 34x32 in their quests to win the 2011 Giro and Vuelta, respectively. This allowed them to keep their pedaling frequency from dropping too low on the monster climbs of those races. It would also save their legs for the subsequent stages.
A FEW riders can be seen with high mtn cadences. Those 120lb freaks of nature that are on the front. MOST of the peloton is suffering off the back wrenching their bikes back and forth at 32rpm, with their tongues hanging close to their chain ring… muttering to themselves that the guy who selected the course is an assassin in disguise.
So cyclists, take a tip from the pros: do whatever it takes to pedal faster on hills and to save your knees. Realistically, pedaling slower than 55 or 60ish rpm is not going to do you any favors.
Do what the pros do. First go on a starvation diet. Then shoot up. Or eat some tainted beef. You will pedal faster and won’t even feel the damage to your knees.
459 Express Training Outline
*** 459 Express - SUB5 Training Plan Outline *
DG rides start 7am at Lemon Tree Grocersub5 course rides start at 7:30am
"Short" sub5 course laps will skip 7 miles of the flat roads. ~26miles ~1:15
Sat Jul 27 - Open (paul is working)
Sun Jul 28 - 2 Full sub5 course laps ~3:45
Sat 8/3 - 2 Full sub5 course Laps ~3:45
Sun 8/4 - DG-Oswego 60 miles
Sat 8/10 -
Sun 8/11- 3 short sub5 course laps ~4hrs
Sat 8/17 - 3 short sub5 course laps ~4hrs
Sun 8/18 - open (paul has family commitment)
Sat 8/24 - open (paul taking son back to college) Recommend a course or long ride
Sat 8/25 - open (paul doing chicago triathlon) Recommend a hilly ride
Sat 8/31 - DG-Batavia 40 mile speed run - give us your best pull!
Sun 9/1 - open (paul has family commitment)
Mon 9/2 - DG - Easy small chain ring ride
Sun 9/8 - 100 miles in 4:59
Endurance, Speed, Teamwork, Pacing
1. Endurance - Key: comfortably ride 5 hours, build endurance in spring2. Speed - Key: 20mph needs to feel 'moderate', focus speed work in summer
3. Teamwork - Key: know each other’s strengths, weaknesses and limits. Get group comfortable with single, double, and double rotating pacelines
4. Pacing - Key: keep group together on the turns and hills. Practice, practice, practice the group pace for the turns and hill portion of the course.
---------------------------------
2012 Schedule
Cornfield rides start Kaneville Middle SchoolSat Aug 4 - DG-Oswego 60 miles
Sun Aug 5 - 7am-Noon CornField Ride
Sat Aug 11 - open
Sun Aug 12 - 3 short sub5 course laps ~4 hours
Sat Aug 18 - Mark leads mellow (not another hammerfest) ride
Sun Aug 19 - 3 short sub5 course laps ~4 hours
Sat Aug 25 - 1 std, 2 short sub5 course laps ~4:20
Sun Aug 26 - DG-Tinley Park loop 60 miles with rollers (we should be tired after this wkend!)
Sat Sep 1 - DG-Batavia 40 mile speed run - give us your best pull!
Sun Sep 2 - easy, small chain ring ride
Mon Sep 3 - open
Sat Sep 8 - recover from Fridays sub5 pre-party
Sun Sep 9 - 100 mile course ride in 4:59
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Sub5Century Challenge
This was the first year for the Sub5Century Challenge. They had several groups of about ten each start. The "A" group was the fast, stick it or get dropped group. There were "B" and "C" groups targeting just under 5 hours. A "D" group riding 100 miles at any pace to finish, and another group doing either 34 or 70 miles.
I was in the "C" group. I hadn't met any of the people in C group prior to the start. Each group started at 5 minute intervals starting with the A group. We started at 7:40am and it was around 56F and calm. The official starter and timer was John Vande Velde. A U.S. national champion is his day, and father of Christian. As we pulled away from the start John commented "nice bike" on my screaming yellow bike. About 100 feet later, I realized the 'nice bike' didn't have a working speedometer. Here I am fixing it, just as the "C" group is rolling out:
Rolling Out - Click here
That's Wild Bill in the lime vest, our group leader, and Mike A. on the left front. Joe is in red.
The whole ride was out in the country and was an awesome route. Here we are on the first lap, out in the country. Country Riding - Click here Note our sag vehicle. It followed us the whole way. I gotta give a big round of thanks to the driver. That had to be a long, slow, boring drive. It was around this time we missed a turn. Half the group went straight, half turned. The sag driver checked the map and got us back on course. That wasted a few minutes. Not a great start for the Sub5Challenge.
Still on the first lap and I'm a bit cold. To my left is Fred. This guy already appears to be straining a bit. Starting to huff and puff. Behing me is Meaghan, our groups only woman. We rode a double paceline and continously rotated. As you can see, we weren't too good at it at first.
Early Paceline - Click here
We were averaging 21+mph and I was still wasn't warmed up in this shot. It took me until about 20 miles before I was warmed up and feeling ready for a long ride.
Cold Start - Click here
The first loop was 34 miles and we averaged just over 21mph it was looking good until we missed the turn into the parking area and went nearly a mile extra before we got into the rest stop. We came in at 1:37 right at 21mph average, and we're stopped 3-1/2 minutes to get water bottles refilled and a potty stop, if needed. After the stop, we started the 2nd loop with an average of 20.3mph.
The second loop was 36 miles and it was still sunny and warming up nicely. Most everybody took off their jackets and leggings during the stop. The wind was picking up a bit. Maybe 5-6 mph from the west. On the 2nd loop we started passing a few riders that got dropped from the earlier groups. We picked up a guy from the A group. He had got dropped, then lost the route. He rode an extra 10 miles before he got back on track and we picked him up along the way somewhere.
He were are in a corn field. The two guys in the back didn't make it. Roger, in the green couldn't hold the pace and dropped out of our group on the 2nd loop, I think. Ryrie in the black vest had had back spasms two days earlier and even with last minute therapy on Saturday, he pulled out after the 2nd lap. I think he would have made it if not for his back. Another Corn Field - Click here
Here's a shot of Mike pacing Roger back into the group.
Mike helping out - Click here Mike did a lot of work like that. And Mike helped keep the group organized and tight. I don't think we could have held it together without Mike.
After 50-60 miles we got so we could ride a decent double paceline!
Decent Paceline - Click here I just love the scenery. The whole ride was like this. We never saw a town, or traffic. I could ride like this all day.
Here's a good shot of Meaghan and Joe.
Meaghan and Joe Meaghan did a lot of work out of the saddle to generate power to keep up. I was surprised she could keep digging and come up with paydirt. Joe was strong, and tended to ride away from the group after turns and stop signs.
Somewhere in the 2nd loop, I started to feel a bonk coming on and pushed down some more gels and sweet and salty bars. I planned 2 gels and 1 bar per loop, but this loop I did 3 gels and 2 bars. We averaged 21mph for the second (36mile) loop and had moved our average up to 20.6 as we stopped for the 2nd and final pit stop. We were only stopped for 2-1/2 minutes to refill bottles. I drank some gatorade, filled my bottles with sweetened ice tea (sugar AND caffiene) for the last push.
We started the last, shortest loop (such a good plan to have the last loop the shortest) averaging 20.4 mph. I figure if would could just hold 20mph for the 30 mile loop, we would make it, no problem! Yeah right! it's wasn't going to be that easy. The wind had picked up out of the west and last loop starts primarily west.
We were dead into an 8-10mph headwind, working that double paceline, trying to hold 20mph. We did pretty good for a while, but I think we burned some legs on that stretch of road. The route would go north a bit "yippee!", then more west "ugh - not again!". This was the payoff lap and everyone got serious: Getting Serious
That's Bill our leader, then Joe who had gapped us a bit, the "A" guy behind me. Meaghan struggling into the wind, and Fred huffing and puffing like a steam engine behind her. The slightest hill and people got gapped. We had to slow down and wait a bit each time. Out average pace was slipping. We are down to about 20.2mph and not holding 20mph. It's not looking good.
About 90 miles into it, I'm finally struggling. My legs are twitching and thinking about cramping up. Other than that, I'm ok. The extra gels/food on the 2nd lap helped and I'm not bonking. I just have to be careful pushing the power, and avoid getting out of the saddle. That could set up a major cramp episode. I was thinking "Easy boy, nurse this body through the last 10". This is pretty much what's left of the group at 90 miles. Struggling Pace
Mike is still strong and helping others out, Meaghan still digging, "A" guy, Joe, Wild Bill, Fred gasping, and Me. If you look real close, in the way back is Steve. This guy probably worked harder than anybody in the group. He was noticeable in distress at about mile 50 and kept killing himself to keep on. I think Mike went back and paced Steve back into the group just a bit after this picture was taken.
At about 95 miles, the road had rollers. At this point, we weren't going to make in under 5 hours, and Joe got on the front and put his head down, and took us in. The group scattered. Bill, "A" guy and I managed to stay single file behind Joe. Mike tried to pull some of the others up to Joe, but I think they all blew up. Amazingly, Mike covered the gap and got back in with Joe and his wheel suckers.
With about 2-3 miles to go I put in a long pull to relieve Joe. Being very careful not induce a cramp. The final 2 mile stretch of road is uphill, gaining about 150 feet on Kelly road, which I renamed 'It's a Bitch road'. The simple left turn onto It's a Bitch road, and Joe gapped everybody, "A" guy was torn between chasing Joe
and sticking with the group. It became painfully obvious, though, that everybody was on their own at this point. On a steeper little pitch, I caught A guy and we rode together to the finish. Finish!!!
I think we were just under 5 hours. I called it 4:59:45, but don't know "officially". I do know I rode 101 miles in 5 hours, so somewhere on the road I had hit 100 in under 5.
The rest of the group came across one at a time. Close together Roger gasped in next, then Mike, and Wild Bill. A bit later, Steve, and then Meaghan. Steve could barely stand when he got to parking lot. He was seeing stars. I hung around for half and hour, but didn't see any of the group. They must've taken a long shower or something. I got some more water, skipped the lunch and headed home.
It was an awesome ride. I still can't believe I did it that fast. I don't think I had even ridden 100 in under 6 hours, let alone 5! The support and ride was planned and executed extremely well. The only downside was I found it a bit disappointing that the group disintegrated near the end. Next year, I'd like to get a group together, train during the summer, and ride together. Go for Sub5 and finish as many together in a pack as we can!
I was in the "C" group. I hadn't met any of the people in C group prior to the start. Each group started at 5 minute intervals starting with the A group. We started at 7:40am and it was around 56F and calm. The official starter and timer was John Vande Velde. A U.S. national champion is his day, and father of Christian. As we pulled away from the start John commented "nice bike" on my screaming yellow bike. About 100 feet later, I realized the 'nice bike' didn't have a working speedometer. Here I am fixing it, just as the "C" group is rolling out:
Rolling Out - Click here
That's Wild Bill in the lime vest, our group leader, and Mike A. on the left front. Joe is in red.
The whole ride was out in the country and was an awesome route. Here we are on the first lap, out in the country. Country Riding - Click here Note our sag vehicle. It followed us the whole way. I gotta give a big round of thanks to the driver. That had to be a long, slow, boring drive. It was around this time we missed a turn. Half the group went straight, half turned. The sag driver checked the map and got us back on course. That wasted a few minutes. Not a great start for the Sub5Challenge.
Still on the first lap and I'm a bit cold. To my left is Fred. This guy already appears to be straining a bit. Starting to huff and puff. Behing me is Meaghan, our groups only woman. We rode a double paceline and continously rotated. As you can see, we weren't too good at it at first.
Early Paceline - Click here
We were averaging 21+mph and I was still wasn't warmed up in this shot. It took me until about 20 miles before I was warmed up and feeling ready for a long ride.
Cold Start - Click here
The first loop was 34 miles and we averaged just over 21mph it was looking good until we missed the turn into the parking area and went nearly a mile extra before we got into the rest stop. We came in at 1:37 right at 21mph average, and we're stopped 3-1/2 minutes to get water bottles refilled and a potty stop, if needed. After the stop, we started the 2nd loop with an average of 20.3mph.
The second loop was 36 miles and it was still sunny and warming up nicely. Most everybody took off their jackets and leggings during the stop. The wind was picking up a bit. Maybe 5-6 mph from the west. On the 2nd loop we started passing a few riders that got dropped from the earlier groups. We picked up a guy from the A group. He had got dropped, then lost the route. He rode an extra 10 miles before he got back on track and we picked him up along the way somewhere.
He were are in a corn field. The two guys in the back didn't make it. Roger, in the green couldn't hold the pace and dropped out of our group on the 2nd loop, I think. Ryrie in the black vest had had back spasms two days earlier and even with last minute therapy on Saturday, he pulled out after the 2nd lap. I think he would have made it if not for his back. Another Corn Field - Click here
Here's a shot of Mike pacing Roger back into the group.
Mike helping out - Click here Mike did a lot of work like that. And Mike helped keep the group organized and tight. I don't think we could have held it together without Mike.
After 50-60 miles we got so we could ride a decent double paceline!
Decent Paceline - Click here I just love the scenery. The whole ride was like this. We never saw a town, or traffic. I could ride like this all day.
Here's a good shot of Meaghan and Joe.
Meaghan and Joe Meaghan did a lot of work out of the saddle to generate power to keep up. I was surprised she could keep digging and come up with paydirt. Joe was strong, and tended to ride away from the group after turns and stop signs.
Somewhere in the 2nd loop, I started to feel a bonk coming on and pushed down some more gels and sweet and salty bars. I planned 2 gels and 1 bar per loop, but this loop I did 3 gels and 2 bars. We averaged 21mph for the second (36mile) loop and had moved our average up to 20.6 as we stopped for the 2nd and final pit stop. We were only stopped for 2-1/2 minutes to refill bottles. I drank some gatorade, filled my bottles with sweetened ice tea (sugar AND caffiene) for the last push.
We started the last, shortest loop (such a good plan to have the last loop the shortest) averaging 20.4 mph. I figure if would could just hold 20mph for the 30 mile loop, we would make it, no problem! Yeah right! it's wasn't going to be that easy. The wind had picked up out of the west and last loop starts primarily west.
We were dead into an 8-10mph headwind, working that double paceline, trying to hold 20mph. We did pretty good for a while, but I think we burned some legs on that stretch of road. The route would go north a bit "yippee!", then more west "ugh - not again!". This was the payoff lap and everyone got serious: Getting Serious
That's Bill our leader, then Joe who had gapped us a bit, the "A" guy behind me. Meaghan struggling into the wind, and Fred huffing and puffing like a steam engine behind her. The slightest hill and people got gapped. We had to slow down and wait a bit each time. Out average pace was slipping. We are down to about 20.2mph and not holding 20mph. It's not looking good.
About 90 miles into it, I'm finally struggling. My legs are twitching and thinking about cramping up. Other than that, I'm ok. The extra gels/food on the 2nd lap helped and I'm not bonking. I just have to be careful pushing the power, and avoid getting out of the saddle. That could set up a major cramp episode. I was thinking "Easy boy, nurse this body through the last 10". This is pretty much what's left of the group at 90 miles. Struggling Pace
Mike is still strong and helping others out, Meaghan still digging, "A" guy, Joe, Wild Bill, Fred gasping, and Me. If you look real close, in the way back is Steve. This guy probably worked harder than anybody in the group. He was noticeable in distress at about mile 50 and kept killing himself to keep on. I think Mike went back and paced Steve back into the group just a bit after this picture was taken.
At about 95 miles, the road had rollers. At this point, we weren't going to make in under 5 hours, and Joe got on the front and put his head down, and took us in. The group scattered. Bill, "A" guy and I managed to stay single file behind Joe. Mike tried to pull some of the others up to Joe, but I think they all blew up. Amazingly, Mike covered the gap and got back in with Joe and his wheel suckers.
With about 2-3 miles to go I put in a long pull to relieve Joe. Being very careful not induce a cramp. The final 2 mile stretch of road is uphill, gaining about 150 feet on Kelly road, which I renamed 'It's a Bitch road'. The simple left turn onto It's a Bitch road, and Joe gapped everybody, "A" guy was torn between chasing Joe
and sticking with the group. It became painfully obvious, though, that everybody was on their own at this point. On a steeper little pitch, I caught A guy and we rode together to the finish. Finish!!!
I think we were just under 5 hours. I called it 4:59:45, but don't know "officially". I do know I rode 101 miles in 5 hours, so somewhere on the road I had hit 100 in under 5.
The rest of the group came across one at a time. Close together Roger gasped in next, then Mike, and Wild Bill. A bit later, Steve, and then Meaghan. Steve could barely stand when he got to parking lot. He was seeing stars. I hung around for half and hour, but didn't see any of the group. They must've taken a long shower or something. I got some more water, skipped the lunch and headed home.
It was an awesome ride. I still can't believe I did it that fast. I don't think I had even ridden 100 in under 6 hours, let alone 5! The support and ride was planned and executed extremely well. The only downside was I found it a bit disappointing that the group disintegrated near the end. Next year, I'd like to get a group together, train during the summer, and ride together. Go for Sub5 and finish as many together in a pack as we can!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Had a nice solo ride this morning. Very rarely do I ride alone, but most of the club members were at big organized rides, my local buds were busy, and in a rare mood for me, I wanted to ride solo.
About 15km into the ride, I hooked up with two other men, and talked with them a bit, and then led them for a while. Eventually, one of the riders came around and took the lead. And sped up an mile an hour. About the time we latched unto this speed, he clicked another cog, and sped up another mile an hour, then another. He held this for a fair bit, and then slowly started coming down in speed back to the pace I had been setting to begin with.
I think it is predominately a guy thing that causes them to speed up on the front.
Anyhow, I took over again and set pace for several miles, this time 1 mph faster than before. Guessing that rabbit boy wanted to go faster. Eventually, he comes around and again sets a faster pace for a bit, slows down and flicks his elbow. I come around and pull the last 1/4 mile before a little hill I like to sprint up. It's a good spot to air it out a bit because there is a long stop light over the other side, and a group can reorganize. I do my usual thing, eliciting a 175bpm pulse (out of 190 max) and coast down the backside since nobody is on my wheel. It takes them quite a while to meet up at the stop light. Finally rabbit boy figures it out and we all enjoy several miles at a steady pace, until we went our separate ways.
I'm guessing rabbit boy rides alone a lot. Either he rides other riders off his rear wheel, or riders who aren't into who can go fastest on a Sunday morning ride go their own way without him.
About 15km into the ride, I hooked up with two other men, and talked with them a bit, and then led them for a while. Eventually, one of the riders came around and took the lead. And sped up an mile an hour. About the time we latched unto this speed, he clicked another cog, and sped up another mile an hour, then another. He held this for a fair bit, and then slowly started coming down in speed back to the pace I had been setting to begin with.
I think it is predominately a guy thing that causes them to speed up on the front.
Anyhow, I took over again and set pace for several miles, this time 1 mph faster than before. Guessing that rabbit boy wanted to go faster. Eventually, he comes around and again sets a faster pace for a bit, slows down and flicks his elbow. I come around and pull the last 1/4 mile before a little hill I like to sprint up. It's a good spot to air it out a bit because there is a long stop light over the other side, and a group can reorganize. I do my usual thing, eliciting a 175bpm pulse (out of 190 max) and coast down the backside since nobody is on my wheel. It takes them quite a while to meet up at the stop light. Finally rabbit boy figures it out and we all enjoy several miles at a steady pace, until we went our separate ways.
I'm guessing rabbit boy rides alone a lot. Either he rides other riders off his rear wheel, or riders who aren't into who can go fastest on a Sunday morning ride go their own way without him.
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