Solo 47 on SART

 Just some exercise on my old stomping grounds. Felt good but of course the wind always sucks, well....blows ha ha ha! 

It's crazy, as I have said before, the biggest threats to me on the bike, is other bikes. AS SOON as I get on the bike and travel about a mile, I hit an underpass with a slight curve making it hard to see. A big group of wannabes is coming my way and look to be in a double line. Cool but 3 guys on the wrong side, my side, wow! Amazing that  these guys that wannabe pros can't figure out the it is not good to be on the wrong side on a blind turn or section of the trail. Seen it too many times. Another moron a few miles down the road. Wrong side, dude it's a trail and there are other cyclists on the trail. Then another group stopped on the side of the road inspecting a bike blocking the lane.

OK now, if it was a car inconveniencing a cyclist, it would be all over the cycling forums, FB bike pages, and the 5 o'clock news. I get tired of the whiney guys because cyclists are just as guilty. Everybody is a pro and expert cyclist but they suck. Not me though, I am pretty close to an expert ha ha ha. Kidding but I make sure I don't do stupid sheot like so many others on the road and trail.

Just doing my thing today. But leaving the coast, I hit the first bridge not seeing anybody around for a mile back. Crossing the bridge from one side of the river to the other so one can see pretty far back. Nobody around but about 1/4 from the bridge, some dude blows by me pretty fast. He must have come from out of a park or something.  Oh yeah, another idiot! He came up right behind me as if he was using the draft for a second or two. Bad thing is that he came at a high rate and swooped a foot behind my wheel as I turned my head to the side seeing what he did. I didn't even know there was somebody back there so I was surprised but why get so close? I guess he was stupid and didn't care if he took someone down.

So he raced off like a pro heading north. He was way up there but a few miles down the road, he was looking tired. Just because he was an idiot, F it, I'm gonna try to catch him though he was probably 150 yards ahead at one time. I did push pretty hard but I was catching fast. Then we hit the big downhill before Moon Park/405 (?)

As I was approaching, he looked back and tried to lift the pace up the steep little ramp. Yeah, the ramp can hurt some. Only 50 yards maybe, but it stings. So I caught him right at the start, the bottom of the climb. He tried to power up but I gave it all I had and passed him like he was standing still. I got to the top and figured, take that fukker!

He fell back a bit but I relaxed and continued a good pace. I actually didn't think he was going to come back but he did. He passed me as I was getting a drink. I actually probably got the drink just to relax showing him, he ain't all that ha ha ha! I didn't really care if he passed me again, or did I?

He had a sweet bike so it was all good riding my oldie 1997 Canni. But he passed me and put the hammer down. Got pretty far ahead and I thought to myself, not a big deal, I just wanted to pass him on the hill. Almost always the best place to pass another ride, stamp your authority on the hill ha ha ha!

So he went around pretty aggressively again as I returned to my usual pace. I was close to 140 BPM so I knew I was not overworking myself. Continued on my way as he pulled away.

BUT!!!! He had gotten pretty far ahead again but right before hitting Edna Park, he faded and I could tell from far away. I picked up the pace and planned to pass him before Edna, he wouldn't be expecting that, so let's do it!

I picked up the pace, in the high 140's and right before the final underpass before Edna North, I caught him and he was not expecting me to be there as he stood up to climb the underpass to the bridge. HA, I GOT YOU, MOFO!!!! I rolled right by him on the uphill as he saw me and tried to lift the pace, ain't happening ha ha ha!

I was actually burning pretty good and thought if he did it again, not sure if I could respond but only 3 or 4 miles left, I would try just to give him a hard time ha ha ha. But when we crossed the bridge, I sat up and took a drink. Preparing for the remainder of the ride and allowing him to pace me again if he tried. I would use it to recover once again. But he turned and went down into Edna Park. I wondered if he was out of gas or that was his turn around point. I was happy, got in a good workout, passed him like I wanted and he turned out. 

Heck, I would have been happy anyway competing my oldie to his new high tech sheot. Sadly, he was not on Strava to look up his stats.

Speaking of the high tech stuff. I saw two guys at Edna talking about organized rides. They mentioned then I mentioned the ones I completed, 4 times Ride Around the Bear and Breathless Agony. They had some sweet looking bikes, rims and all, very nice. One guy said that he was the prime example of a guy who had too much bike, too much for his abilities. 

Cool guys though! They headed out of the park a few minutes before I did. No way would I catch them, too windy and two guys working together? Fighting the wind alone for 47 miles gets a bit rough. But keeping my own pace, HEY!!! Look up yonder, there they are!

I rolled by and said hello being friendly as they were cool guys. But they looked very tired and seemed to be struggling into the wind big time. So I rolled by and just because they had sweet bikes, I nonchalantly lifted the pace. You know what cyclists do, ride by pushing hard but smiling so it doesn't seem that way.

I passed them, again on a steep climb, south of Moon Park, locals will know the stinger. I rolled by them saying hello then put my hands down in the drops and lifted the pace as much as I could. They fell back really quickly, I was shocked. Actually thought they might team up and catch me but they didn't just looked toasted. By the time I got to the coast, they were out of sight and did roll up a few minutes later. They were very friendly at the park so I thought they might wave but they didn't ha ha ha!

Of course, the little steep hills or the really stiff headwind sections are where a rider can usually give it a go to separate the men from the boys ha ha ha!

I don't usually play games much with other riders but hey, been feeling great on the bike. More riding, better eating habits, it's all good so I'm taking advantage of it. Of course, riding an oldie and actually being an oldie, if I can pass you, maybe your fancy $15,000 bike is a little too much for you ha ha ha!

Not much happening at the beach today. I did bring my GoPro recorder and shot a few clips of cyclists here and there but nothing too interesting. So I'll pass on the video this week.