20 miles with a small group. I took my mountain bike for 2 reasons. Wanted to hear the tires hum and some of the other people did a century on Sunday. I figured they would go slow so I took the MTB. Funny though, I ended up with 56 PR's on Strava ha ha ha!
What happened was that we cruised most of the way but on the return, the riders who didn't do the century the day before picked it up on the way back. Sadly though, there are some sour apples out there. I was at the front of the group for a couple miles doing pretty well on my MTB while they were on roadies. OK, before I go there, one guy was asking me about drafting and how does he know how fast to go while at the front. I mentioned that maintaining a good pace is ideal but too many sprint off and many won't help work as well. One guy backed me up with this comment. Well, this is actually just what happened on the way back.
So being at the front on my MTB, there were a few riders on my wheel. We hit a section where one can see the road drop a bit. A rider went around and sprinted off, ok! Then another, then a third. So I picked it up even more to catch a wheel, if I could. They took off pretty fast and on the MTB, there was no sprinting. So I caught back up to one guy and he took off again so I kept up my speed hoping to reel him back in. Then he passes a gal that had sprinted off as well. So I hopped on her wheel for a few seconds till she realized I was there. Then she moved all the way over to the left side of the trail so I could not get a draft, or couldn't draft her. Wow, really?! She was on my tail for at least a couple of miles but didn't want me to draft her, OKAY WHATEVER!!
So the other guy finally faded and I got on his wheel for a bit but it was too late, he faded so no help there. Of course he is back on my wheel and again later sprints ahead. But shortly after, I caught the one guy that had agreed with me at break, about the poor wheelsucker habits of too many riders. He was doing pretty good and when I caught him, he did lift the pace some but not too much. I think he was getting tired at this point but he allowed me to stick on his wheel. No baby games trying to brush me off his wheel, I appreciate that!
A couple of times I thought I might be able to go around but since he was riding well, steady and smooth, I figured it would be rude of me to go around at the last 1/2 mile. So I just sat on his wheel and let him do his thing. Then the last 1/4 mile, he caught up to the gal that had sprinted ahead. I saw him lift the pace and knew he wanted to pass her at this point. Heck, I wanted him to pass her too ha ha! I was redlining at this point but found the will to stick on his wheel as he passed her. I really wanted to pass her too after her little cheap ass tactics earlier. So he gave it a good push and passed her about 100 yards before the end of the trail.
I stuck with him and his good effort and just as he passed her, she tried to pick it up. So he went around her then moved left and I was on his wheel but just off to his left after we rolled around her. So she picked it up and got a couple feet behind him the called out, "ON YOUR ......RIGHT!!!". Wait a second. You got passed by 2 riders, one is now on the right and the other just to his left taking up pretty much the full right lane on a trail, left lane open but she wants to pass on his right, while his is like 10 inches from the right side of the trail? WOW! Then she shouts out to him, "OK I guess not!". Wow, that was a dumb move on her part. Once you get passed and the riders move right to take the lane and only a few inches from the right side of the trail, it's up to you to pass safely on the left. Do yourself a favor gal, think a little more about it before you get hurt! Those rocks on the side of the trail are going to win if you try passing on the right and hit the guy's wheel.
After the ride, she just loaded her bike in her auto and took off. Never said a word to anybody, just took off. I'm guessing the spoiled baby type ha ha! It's just a bike ride girl, not a race, don't get your feelings hurt ha ha!
But anyway, a good ride. Though started slow, it ended pretty fast toward the end. Good workout for me, I know that. Heck, one 2 mile section and another 1 miler on Strava were at 18-19 MPH average. The final .2 to the finish was a 20 MPH average speed. Heck, I was not racing these guys, just trying to catch up and keep up for a workout ha ha! And I did set 56 PR's, on my mountain bike ha ha ha!
I am not very familiar with the trail right now so at night, it is kind of tricky. I miss a couple of the turns here and there at the intersections. Some are straight across and others, one needs to get on the sidewalk and go left for a few feet to get back on the trail. But the mountain bike did smooth out the lousy concrete slab sections along the trail. Those parts on a road bike are almost like riding across the wood bridges on SART ha ha!
Either way, good fun ride if you can laugh at the crybabies! :-P
Not much on the video. Didn't get to record much on the ride, being busy trying to keep up on the return, I forgot about the recorders. So just a couple of clips heading out.
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