The video
67 miles at 18.3 average speed today. I had planned to do a steady ride with the group but many strong riders showed up so it was push or be dropped. I actually wanted to ride with a woman who is pretty strong but just can't seem to deal with the many accelerations of the group and faster riders.
But that didn't work out. As soon as we hit the pavement, the group was doing 19-20 out the gate. So I held on to the back to warm up. Once we were south of Edna Park, the group split and being about mid pack at this point, I saw the faster riders, maybe 5 of them pulling away. Hmmm, I was doing about 20 at the front of the second group. A gap had opened once a rider dropped off the pace so I went around and was at the front. Do I go or ease up? Screw it, I sped up to close the gap. I was doing about 23 for a hard push to close the 40 yard gap. I was actually surprised I was able but all of a sudden, I realized I was feeling strong today. A segment of .33 on Strava shows 23.7 average speed. I'm guessing that was it!
So then we regrouped and soon hit PCH. At this point I was back on my plan to be steady. So I held steady as 4 or 5 faster riders took off ahead. So I was steady doing a good pace across PCH. Started around 17's then closer to Seal Beach, Strava shows most segments above 19.
But when we hit PCH and a few faster riders took off, I ended up catching them one by one the further we rode. About 3 of them would jump back in the line, draft for a mile then take off again. I will mention ONCE again how cheesy many riders can be and these guys were cheesy ha ha ha! One by one they would take off and one by one, catch them again. After a while, the women behind me started asking, "what are those guys doing? That ain't right!". Exactly! I thought I was the only one who felt that way but it was mutual among the line I was pulling. But the good thing was that I had a group of women tossing a ton of comments my way. Hey, forget about the guys, the women know who Big Daddy is ha ha ha!
At one point, a lady Gloria asked if I wanted her help. She's a strong double century rider and awesome lady. She said she was willing but didn't want to offend me asking. Heck no, I never refuse help after 10 miles. So she got up front and relieved me for a bit. I recovered for about a mile then took the front again. Awesome lady! She was telling me that all the ladies in the group knew I was doing all the work and the guys were cheesy. She was actually surprised at their behavior. I did not disagree and glad other riders see what goes on with the cheeseballs!
So we reached Seal Beach for lunch then headed back. The group took off fast again and I tried to wait for the lady but on a short climb, she fell back too far. The group pulled even further away as I tried to wait on the other side but I had to go. Either wait and do the entire return by myself pulling her or race up and try to take a wheel. Sorry, she took too long and I had to go. Didn't want to do the second half of a 55 miler alone. Hopefully we would get a light and she could catch back up, but she never did.
Then I found myself at the front again as we approached SART for the return. We regrouped then started off again. The faster guys took off, maybe 7 or 8 of them. But the same thing, I was feeling great! Broke up around the drop before Moon Park. The guys started hitting 25 but I backed off thinking it was a waste of energy, let the boys play their own game. Mike was smart, he noticed and backed off as well. Conserve energy on a 66 mile ride. So Mike helped me on the return to Edna Park picking up most of the guys that took off. Too funny seeing the look on their faces when they get caught. And the excuses, whines, and comments they make ha ha ha!
I thought these guys were fast and didn't keep up with them few months ago when I did the first 62 mile San Clemente ride. Of course I was doing 100-200 mile months if I was lucky. But lately, several 400-high 400 months and Beanz is Back. Feeling great and riding strong again. Feels great!
So this time, I was rolling by these guys. Actually shocked rolling by a couple that impressed me a few months back. But knowing their cheesy strategies, I played the biggest cheeseball good this time ha ha ha! At this point, I think it was me and Mike, the others had fallen off. We didn't accelerate or try to drop anyone, they just couldn't keep the steady pace. So I rolled up on a cheeseball and instead of passing him knowing he'd take my wheel. I sat on his wheel this time for about a mile and let himself wear himself out. Return the favor, if you will! So he started to fade then we rolled around in a half spring and no way could he catch back on. So Mike and I rolled on but we did have a couple riders with us at this point. The strong lady Gloria and her husband Steve. Both strong riders. I had pulled once again for about 5 miles trying to keep the pace but finally near Imperial, I had to take a break. Had Mike take a turn, then Steve, then Me, then Steve again. Really helped to recover. Steve looked good and the final stretch, the wind kicked up bigtime! This was right after the wooden bridge heading back to Yorba Park. The trees were moving and it was super windy. I think we were doing about 13 while going full steam ahead. I was tired but holding on when Gloria said, "that's it, I'm done!". OK, I was tired too and only about 200 yards to go, I told her to take my wheel. She didn't want to saying she would slow me down. "That's cool" I told her, she helped me when I needed it the most and I didn't mind slowing down the last couple hundred to help her out again. No problem for me, I was tired and willing to slow down to ha ha ha!
But a great strong ride. After the ride and on facebook, I received several great comments by other riders who appreciated my efforts on this ride. On the ride as well, GREAT JOB BEANZ, YOU WERE KILLING IT! Several comments from the women and even the other guys on a great ride.
Hmm! Tell me 3 months ago I could do this, I'd think not. But after a few good months, I'm feeling great and feeling on the rides like I did 10 years ago. Wow, feels nice to be back on my horse!
S
No comments:
Post a Comment