Mr. Beanz And His Bike Rides: Solo 47 at 17 MPH and Meeting Gian

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Solo 47 at 17 MPH and Meeting Gian

Well, a good ride for me. 46 miles at 17.0 average speed. Solo Fat Bastard ha ha! Was supposed to be hot today but I didn't think it was much of a factor. I think the wind, again was, Grrr! I was doing pretty good heading north at the start of the ride. But once I turned around heading south from Weir Cyn, I felt the wind. I tried to keep my pace as high as possible hoping to get to the coast with a 16.2 or so knowing that if the wind keeps up, I could use it to my advantage getting the 17.0. But I have done this a few times lately and the wind stops me at 16.9 ha ha! So today I pushed hard since I was solo and had a chance to try again. Heading south I had a 16.2 at Edna Park. Headed out and immediately on the bridge it drops to 16.1. Well damn! So I tried to kick it up but the wind was fighting back. So I had doubts but somewhere about the last 4 miles it seemed to simmer down some. I was able to hold 17 for short bits and I think that helped. Getting to the coast I had a 16.2 but fell about 1/2 mile from the coast to 16.1 again. But that was ok, with a wind like that, I'll have to try hard to get my average up quickly. I don't usually leave the coast very fast. I like to warm back up into my pace but today I felt I better if I wanted the 17. It worked because about 1/2 mile before my stop I hit 17.0. I'll take it!

But at the coast, I saw this dude sitting in the corner of the wall. OK, room for me on the bench so I sat there. Face covered up, I really couldn't see much of him. But a few minutes later he said something so it was on ha ha! We ended up chatting quite a bit about bikes, repairs and a lot of other stuff.

His name is Gian (pronounced like Jee-on). We took a few pics and so I told him about my blog, youtube etc. so he immediately followed me. Strava too! So that was cool! Turned out to be a real cool guy.

He rode sometime, few years back and now getting back into it, so it's been a couple of months now, if I remember correctly. But I was impressed. He made a comment about the wind and I had to agree, it was tough. Unlike way too many people I know, this guy took on the 42 miler by himself. Heck, I ride with a lot of people and not many are willing to fight the wind the entire time alone so I was impressed, like I said. Especially with the wind today, it was stiff. But Gian pulled it off solo, WOW!

There was a group ride today but I didn't go ha ha! It's always nice to do your own thing. Even though I think I work hard on my own, it is more comfortable to do one's own pace at one's own moment.

Gian. Stud fighting the wind on his own! Ain't got time for sissies ha ha!