fultzie
07-12-2004, 07:49 AM
wah hoo! OHR was certainly one He!!uva ride!
it was my first century ever, and I was counting on a nice, slow, steady pace (avg maybe around 14 or 15 mph) with the guy i've been riding with lately (the guy on the seven that's rehabbing after being hit by a truck) and my cycling buddy from the school year (she graduated and i haven't seen her lately)
well, my female cycling buddy got sick, and i kinda forgot that my other friend's "rehabbing" is my "fast-paced" and that he's on the A2 Velo Club team (very FAST group that some of the guys on the team ride with during the off-season).
sooo, we hooked on to the end of a paceline of a group of his Velo Club friends for about 3 miles, when my chain fell off the back cog (i've been having bad luck with mechanical issues lates :p)
by the time that was fixed, the paceline had moved on (but my friend was nice enough to hang back) so we took turns drafting off of other riders (and pulling, of course).
we got caught in a sketchy group of about 20 riders (a lot of inexperienced riders weaving all over the road) which eventually had a crash. this poor guy who had just finished Pedal the Peaks in CO ran into this kid who braked suddenly, in the middle of the group. neither was badly hurt, though the older guy waited to be checked out by the SAG wagon. both kept on riding :)
just before lunch we finally found a guy riding at about our pace. and then another guy. and then another. pretty soon, i was the only girl in a paceline of 5 moving between 20 and 25 mph (the absolute fastest i've ever avg'd before is 17 mph, and that was really killing myself) it was also the first time i've had the chance to draft like that (i've always been dropped in the first few miles of group rides... hanging with the guys was one of my goals this year). i even took my turns pulling :cool: (and managed to keep the pace up for about 3 miles... at which point i had to drop back with a coughing fit--asthma) my friend and one of the other guys pulled for about twice as long. :p every time i peeled off after taking a pull, i ended up getting dropped off the back of the paceline (my friend dropped back too and towed me until we caught the line again)
we finished the ride with an 18 mph avg (and i had been hoping for 15!).
i was totally impressed with my friend's riding... he's got these power cranks that are independent of each other, so you HAVE to pull up to make a complete revolution... they're usually just used for short-distance training. i think he was kinda tired of explaining how they work to curious people by the end of the ride.
sadly, i spent most of yesterday camped out on the couch with a water bottle and inhaler (every time i stood up i had another coughing fit... though muscles weren't sore- surprisingly) but was able to get back on the bike today (yaaay!) :D
i can't wait to try another century!!! (mom- you'll have to come with next time-- you'd love pacelining! :D)
it was my first century ever, and I was counting on a nice, slow, steady pace (avg maybe around 14 or 15 mph) with the guy i've been riding with lately (the guy on the seven that's rehabbing after being hit by a truck) and my cycling buddy from the school year (she graduated and i haven't seen her lately)
well, my female cycling buddy got sick, and i kinda forgot that my other friend's "rehabbing" is my "fast-paced" and that he's on the A2 Velo Club team (very FAST group that some of the guys on the team ride with during the off-season).
sooo, we hooked on to the end of a paceline of a group of his Velo Club friends for about 3 miles, when my chain fell off the back cog (i've been having bad luck with mechanical issues lates :p)
by the time that was fixed, the paceline had moved on (but my friend was nice enough to hang back) so we took turns drafting off of other riders (and pulling, of course).
we got caught in a sketchy group of about 20 riders (a lot of inexperienced riders weaving all over the road) which eventually had a crash. this poor guy who had just finished Pedal the Peaks in CO ran into this kid who braked suddenly, in the middle of the group. neither was badly hurt, though the older guy waited to be checked out by the SAG wagon. both kept on riding :)
just before lunch we finally found a guy riding at about our pace. and then another guy. and then another. pretty soon, i was the only girl in a paceline of 5 moving between 20 and 25 mph (the absolute fastest i've ever avg'd before is 17 mph, and that was really killing myself) it was also the first time i've had the chance to draft like that (i've always been dropped in the first few miles of group rides... hanging with the guys was one of my goals this year). i even took my turns pulling :cool: (and managed to keep the pace up for about 3 miles... at which point i had to drop back with a coughing fit--asthma) my friend and one of the other guys pulled for about twice as long. :p every time i peeled off after taking a pull, i ended up getting dropped off the back of the paceline (my friend dropped back too and towed me until we caught the line again)
we finished the ride with an 18 mph avg (and i had been hoping for 15!).
i was totally impressed with my friend's riding... he's got these power cranks that are independent of each other, so you HAVE to pull up to make a complete revolution... they're usually just used for short-distance training. i think he was kinda tired of explaining how they work to curious people by the end of the ride.
sadly, i spent most of yesterday camped out on the couch with a water bottle and inhaler (every time i stood up i had another coughing fit... though muscles weren't sore- surprisingly) but was able to get back on the bike today (yaaay!) :D
i can't wait to try another century!!! (mom- you'll have to come with next time-- you'd love pacelining! :D)