43 miles at 16.8 average speed today. Was a warm one with an average temp of 92 degrees according to Garmin. I tried to get a 17 average but man, my legs were sore from Thursday night, windy, hot, and I'm a big sissy ha ha! I can come up with 100 excuses ha ha ha!
On Thursday night, I did the group ride and I tried really hard to lift the pace. I did pretty well. There were some people I wanted to crush and I think I did ha ha! Usually people go out front when it is easy, downhill, looking good pulling the pack. So this time I stayed toward the front to match the others. Then on every little gentle climb, I pushed the pace making sure I was ahead of the people I wanted to crush. Why you ask? Because I am really tired of the people in the group made out to be heroes when I actually think they are inconsiderate, dangerous, lousy bike handlers. Some of the people build up a couple of riders and everything they do, is a great feat! An example, some chick loves to go to the front and pull the pack on the downhill. Some of the others are in awe but I'm thinking, what a stupid rider. The rider pulls for a bit, gets tired, falls back, we stop at a light, then she goes around everybody and even runs the red light to get ahead of the pack again. OK, great, now we have to let her impress everybody again, then have to go into traffic to get around again. What a waste of energy, and putting others at risk. I think it's stupid. Now there is a new gal in the group who looks pretty motivated to improve but this idiot is teaching her to run red lights and trying to keep in front. Are you serious? Teaching the new girl to run red lights and stops signs in front of traffic? WOW!
Then I worked hard to try to keep toward the front group. At one point I had a couple of guys on my wheel, catching up to the lead rider. Right as I caught up, we got a red light. The guy blows the light to stay ahead. Wow! Here we go again, another one! So we end up again almost catching up then the guy gets a red light. I ease up because with the length of the stop, we will roll up on him. OK, go first is the way I play it, you were ahead. But me and 2 other guys watch the guy make his way through the red light again. I didn't like it at all. OK, so the guy is competitive but always trying to be at the front, he tells me after every ride where he placed. OK, that is cool but now that I see how he does it, total rip if you ask me. Yeah, you come in the front because you are blowing lights, stops, and risking your and the lives of others to stay ahead? I want no part of that.
If I beat someone on a ride, you can bet I made all the stops, regroups etc. Not buy blowing the stops, just crazy and dangerous. There is a club that I had it out with a few years ago. Because they were dangerous riding on the trail and the streets. We got into it, and guess what, bad things happened trying to save a few seconds on a ride.
NOT GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME AND I SEPARATED MYSELF FROM THAT TYPE OF RIDER. I don't need friends or competition like that. I'm not willing to hurt myself, or get killed trying to level the playing field by putting myself and others in danger.
There are some good riders but let's put it this way, I invited a couple of guys and 5 minutes into the ride, the words that came out of both their mouths (different rides), "oh shit, everybody is blowing the lights!". This was weeks ago and I was like yeah, bunch of fools trying to win a fun group ride race that doesn't exist. Some people are too competitive to think straight and get caught up in the shit!
Who is to blame? The ride leader? The person him or her self? Either way, I want to say something every time I see it but it is not my place. Throw in the fact that I see people go around others without looking on baseline without looking back first? Holy cow, somebody is going to get hit one of these days trying to win THE RACE. Then one of the people I think has the worst handling skills is made out to be a goddess. WTH, can't even move her bike without knocking mine over? So now I have to worry about my carbon frame and luckily, she didn't ruin my go pro recorders or lights (4) of which all were on my bike at the time.
Then on our San Clemente ride, she kept cutting me off and getting in front of me, wth! Then she would fade and let a 40 yard gap open so I had to sprint around to keep up with the faster guys. Several times she did this. Then some other dumb fuck, is trying to pass me on the curve at featherly park, pretty much a sidewalk. Sharp curve sidewall. The dumb fuck trying to pass me, why? We all have been there several times and know it is about to narrow going up hill. The dumb fuck can't really pass me cause he is a shitty climber. But he tries and as we approach the steel bars in the middle of the trail, he makes a stupid move, a 5 ft swerve to the left and almost takes out my wheel! WTF! OK, supposed to be a skilled racer but actually just a dumb ass that can't climb and insisted on being in the front. So almost takes me out and my buddy looks at me and says, "WTF was that?!". I told him right there, that is what you call the last straw! I'm done but the next ride, thought I might give it one more try but nope, too many dangerous dumb ass riders to deal with. So not only does the dumb fuck almost take out my wheel, but I have to brake hard and he and she are ahead of me again slowing down on the little hill. OH shit, wtf, I blew around them and caught up to the faster riders again. WTH is this shit they do? WHY?!
So not only that, but later in the ride, on the trail, she keeps going around me and cutting me off pushing in my little buffer zone of like 5 feet. She does it like 4 times and each time, she fades and I have to sprint around and close gaps again. Finally she fades so bad she isn't even around anymore. We regroup and she is about 5 minutes behind. Really, but she keeps cutting me off insisting she's going to drop me I guess? So then later after we have our lunch stop, she makes and announcement. "You GUYS NEED TO SLOW DOWN HERE ON PCH IN THE HILLS BECAUSE I CAN NOT KEEP YOUR PACE CLIMBING. SO MR. BEANZ, PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN!".
REALLY ?!?! Then 2 minutes later as we start a 10% climb, she races around me, wtf!! Of course she faded and got dropped. She and a few others, the chick mentioned earlier who keeps going around and through red lights on Thurs night rides, both fade really bad and end up blowing the regroup. Dumb asses keep us waiting about 30 minutes wondering what happened to them. Inconsiderate piece of shit people is what I think. Too competitive to even have the courtesy to answer your cell, 3 people, while we wait at a park wondering what happened to them. Of course later, the bitch is bragging about beating us to San Clemente.
So there you have it, group rides can be fun but once you see too much of the bad side, the shit ain't worth getting hurt and I don't need friends like that. So I'm out of the group so that I don't end up in a wheel chair playing stupid games with people who are too competitive to think about themselves or the others they place in danger playing their stupid little games.
SO that is why rides like today, though painful with sore legs, wind, heat, are always a joy to me. No worrying about somebody getting you hurt. Also doing my own pace. No ass hats pulling around me in the final 100 yards pretending they are trying to help when in fact, they are just trying to look good now that the real work is over and they know they won't get dropped. Sorry, I just can't deal with these kinds of morons! I even blocked a few people on strava, made to request a follow and blocked some on facebook because I ain't dealing with this shit!
Hot today, so the dress code was geared towards flesh!
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