Apr.4/10

[7rider]

Did the shop ride today. I was in the parking lot, waiting with a friend, when one of the guys came up to me and introduced me to this young woman who wanted to do the C-ride. Yeah. So?
Young girl. On an old Specialized mountainbike. Suspension fork. Slick tires. Hooo boy.
Guy says "Follow her" to the young girl. Meaning she should shadow me and I'll lead her. Great. I just got assigned baby-sitting duty. I hate that. But she was alone on the ride.
"How fast can you go on that thing?" I ask.
"Average about 15. 16."
Okay. I'll bite. A few years ago, a woman was visiting from San Francisco. She borrowed a mountainbike and a helmet. Neither fit her very well. Still, she managed to kick everyone's butt on the ride. She now lives in the area and is racing. Maybe this girl has potential.
So off we go. She's on my wheel the whole time. Doing well. Sure, we're at the back of the pack, but we're the C-ride. About a half dozen of us got cut off from the group at a light. Three go their own way. One guy, the young girl, and I end up solo'ing down MacArthur Blvd for about 6 miles. She's going strong. Holds a line well. Not freaked out with close riding or cars. Impressive. She learns the hand signals - pointing out pot holes. Calling out "Car right." "Car back."
But ultimately, she faded.
Two bottles holding nothing but water, no food, and pushing a 32 pound bike around for 30 miles got the best of her. I gave her a few PowerGels and ultimately at the end, gave her my LaraBar. We had swept up 3 others, but I did a lot of soft pedaling at the end.
Nice kid (boy...does that sound old?? How about "Nice young lady"??). Visiting the area for 4 months. Put her on a road bike, give her some food, and she will be kicking our butts before long.