45 miles at 17.7 average speed with Joaquin today. Nice ride, good headwind but we managed to work well together doing 1 mile turns at the front. Much better when it is organized. Guess I am liking having a ride partner or two vs a group like I was doing. Not much fun doing a long turn at the front to help the group when you know the others are just going to sprint around and drop you. Much better knowing that the ride is more disciplined vs a gang of out of control crazies. So it worked well when one guy has to slow for a second or two to catch back on. Usually going around traffic, beach cruisers etc. Nice to know you can get back on vs the personality learned in a group because the ride leader used to race blah blah blah. My thoughts are dropping your partner for a minute or two doesn't prove you're better. It proves your better when you can work together vs being a bunch of fools ha ha ha!
So Joaquin and I work well together. He used to do nothing but 20 mile rides when we met. So after having 25 miles in our legs then running into Joaquin, he'd want to ride with us but push the pace. We were doing 40, 50, 60 mile rides and he 20 so sure he was going to be strong. But I had talked him into increasing the distance and he agreed a few times. He did well and we worked together well after the first time. I think he learned the difference between pacing yourself for the long haul vs the short sprints.
We did a few together and he enjoyed it but once his 60th birthday got near, he wanted to do long rides again. So we ramped up the mileage for his birthday ride. Since then, he's been on a kick. Enjoying the longer rides. He used to ride with Jose plenty but it seemed some kind of competition developed between the two. So they rarely ride together anymore. But I, heck, if Joaquin sprints off, I let him go and keep the pace. I think he learned to hold steady after a couple of times. Yeah, he has realized the difference between working with a partner and trying to do it alone. Our averages are always higher together even if it seems we get tired at certain points. The idea is that if one of us gets tired, the other guy is allowing the other to recover. THAT is the way it works on the Beanz Plan and I think he is enjoying it ha ha ha!
We did pass Ed (MTB Lrker) near Warner heading south. Joaquin was in the lead at that point and as he passed Ed, I saw Ed flinch like he was going to take his wheel. But then I think he saw me in his peripheral so he kept his line. As I rolled by, I knew Ed would not know it was me so I said, "Ed is Dead!" ha ha ha!
He said something like yeah, dead in the wind. We rolled away doing our thing as Ed fell further back. But I looked back a few times to see if he was near. About the last couple of miles to the coast, I didn't see him any longer. I guess the wind really got to Ed. Ed was Dead!
Joaquin and I had thoughts of rolling down to the pier on PCH just to make it a 50 miler. But once we got close to the coast, it was dark. I didn't have any tail lights on my bike and so I thought, not a good idea with the traffic there. The wind was a deciding factor as well ha ha ha! But to give you an idea of the traffic, there was a line of tents all the way across the beach along the water. Not sure I have ever seen that long of a line stretched across the sand.
But I figured too, that Ed would be arriving at the same rest point we use. Sure nuff! So Ed pulled up and we had a good chat. But there too was Al, Rick and their gang. I still don't know the name of the guy at the far right. Never talked to him before but he's a pretty nice guy. I caught the gang on video couple weeks back so I asked Al if he had seen the video. The others chimed in as well. The guy to the right said it was very nice of me to take the time to get them on video and make it. Ha, that was cool! He mentioned how many cyclists never get the chance to see themselves on video and probably wonder what they look like. So he was happy to see himself. That's cool, always nice to get some feedback or kudos on the vids.
So, Joaquin and I were getting ready to roll when I asked Ed if he was going to tag along. He said no because he would not keep up. Meh! I told him to tag on the back and he could draft Joaquin and I on the way back. We would work at the front and he just had to hold on. So he agreed!
We rolled back at a decent pace and Ed held on really well for not having many miles in his legs. Some dude had rolled up behind us at the wooden bridge leaving the coast. He latched on the back and drafted all the way till we hit a little ramp incline by the golf course. Joaquin picked it up on the grade so I pushed hard and my hammy started to pull. It went away but then I took the front and halfway through my turn, it started to cramp. I slowed a bit and pedaled lightly so it would go away. The dude who sucked wheel at that point, sprinted around and tried to race off. OK, Joaquin asked if I wanted to stop. Nah, gimme a few seconds. I soft pedaled with Joaquin in front of me. Then it loosened back up so I told Joaquin to let me finish my turn. I saw that bastard ahead and it seemed he was starting to fade. OK, sucker, here I come! I closed the gap at the rest of my turn then Joaquin took the front.
Of course I think he had the same thought in his head, I did. Uninvited wheel sucker trying to pull a fast one. I looked back at the end of my turn and Ed was off the back. I thought he was still with us but I guess it got to him but he almost made it all the way back.
So Joaquin jumped on the guy's wheel as he tried to power off. Wasn't working ha ha ha! We only had another 1/4 mile to go, so Joaquin stomped on the pedals and dropped the guy like a hot potato! Wait a second, he caught me by surprise so he dropped me like a hot potato too ha ha ha! I was not expecting it so I had to hold back for about 15 seconds to regroup, then I powered around the guy as well. He did manage to almost catch back up by the time we hit our turn off. So we turned off then the guy went by and did give us a thumbs up. I guess that was cool!
But Ed did very well holding on as we were holding a good pace. We had a 20 average from bridge to bridge then a 19. 7 on a 10 mile segment heading back. Good ride and good teamwork with Joaquin.
I did stretch the day before, before the ride, during the ride and still got a light cramp. But, hey, it wasn't that bad so I'm thinking I will come up with some kind of stretching plan. That old age is coming up on me! :-P
Joaquin's speed machine!
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