sweet taste of defeat

I work for a rather large company, with facilities so big that it's been handy over the years to ride a bike from one building to the next. The kind of bikes that we use are fat tired Worksman type bikes.

For a while people were driving too fast on the grounds in their cars so they brought in a radar machine to clock people and slow them down. Of course those of us on bikes reacted in the opposite way; we wanted to see how fast we could go. About 5 of us compared speeds, and sadly, they took the radar machine away.
A coworker of mine with a 5 year old told me that Hotwheels made a great radar gun; so I bought one almost instantly. You never know when you need a radar gun.
The next thing i did was write to the Worksman bike company and tell them that we were thinking of doing a time trials race on their bikes. THe guy liked the idea so much that he sent me a box of prizes!

That race was today. we all had warmup runs, we had two radar guns,
and you could compete twice, best time wins.

The winner, a seasoned road bike veteran rode 25 miles an hour.
The second place guy rode 24 mph, and he hadn't been on a bike in 10 years (and he's VERY TALL) Third place, 23 (he's the cute guy in the shades)
and last place, me 18 mph.

I was totally thrilled with the whole thing. There were 12 of us, two women (The other gal did 19mph)
http://www.sersale.org/bike/BikeRace073.jpg


http://www.sersale.org/bike/BikeRace064.jpg

http://www.sersale.org/bike/BikeRace035.jpg

Thats so cool Mimi. I could tell you were going fast by your handlebar streamers. Well done!!:)

What a great way to spend a day at work!

!!!!!!AWESOME!!!!!!

we did it on our lunch break! what a beautiful day for it.
(there was a tailwind, i confess)

This is great!!!!! :D

What a hoot! Will this become an annual event?

Looks like fun! Thanks for sharing. :)

How fun! You totally would have won it if you had lost that totally non-aero bike horn!:cool:

Is that a podium photo?
Is the orange bike the 1st place bike? It looks fast, there are flames on the seat:D

You're really boobstothetube in that shot:p that's a remarkable speed for those bikes?
Ha! For me that's a remarkable speed, period.

DH and I got a kick out of your story and pictures, Mimi. Our fave is the one with you going flat out with the streamers!

YEs, that was the podium picture, I was just the flower girl. I even pretended to kiss the sweaty champ. The second place guy had already gone back to his office. He clearly had no idea that he did as well as he did. I had to chase him down to give him his prize. and third place, standing thereright below the podium. It didn't take people long to figure out that orange bikes are faster than magenta bikes which are faster than yellow bikes. yes that was the fastest bike.
Our rotating trophy for the record went from our building to the building next door, as the 25 mph speed broke last year's record and dethroned the record holder.
And yes, we'll definitely do it next year.

Hi Mimi

What a great thing to do, really love the pics and the bikes. I am pleased the Orange bike won............:rolleyes:

You really went for it in that last pic.

Thanks for sharing that with us.

Sally

What a great story! Thanks so much for sharing it and the photos with us, Mimi! :)

This made my day! Too cute!!!

Mimi, that is such a cool story and what a great way to share something with fellow workers to break up the same daily routine. The pics were great, love your grin (or grimace?)..such a riot...when does training for next year start?:D

Mimi - Loved your story to go with the photos. Who woulda thought radar guns would come in so handy? I wish other people around here rode bikes so we could do something similar on our lunch hour!

I like the way you cut up the shrub behind you for the flowers.

The Buddleia was kind of handy. (they are amazing weeds!)

What a fun day at work!!

We live in a small town and a guy showed up for our triathlon with a cruiser. He did the mixed team where you have someone different for each portion of the event. He did great, too, just wish he'd had a helmet on. Your picture reminded me of him.

Thanks for the great pictures!

Glad you posted this report, Mimi :) This is what cycling should be about
You had a great day, you all had fun, and you got to make your streamers flyyyyyyyy!

Most excellent!