Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 08/11/2014 11:10 AM |
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One of my old riding buddies had been needling me to come out on a group ride with this crew he has been riding with the past couple of years. While I have been commuting and riding on the weekend occasionally (along with a touch of sprint work at Haines Point, for those who know the DC area), I just have not cared enough about riding hard to get up early on the weekends to engage in...the game.But Last Friday after a heated exchange where I told him why I though he was always kinda slow and he said I hadn't been on a group ride in 10 years, what the hell do I know...I agreed to do this group ride on Saturday. 50 miles.Don't poke the bear...lol. |
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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zootracer
Posts:833
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| 08/11/2014 11:13 AM |
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Smoke him  |
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 08/11/2014 11:14 AM |
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| Oh....it was this past Saturday zootracer. No quarter was given nor asked by yours truly. |
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 08/11/2014 11:40 AM |
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| I think sometimes the dudes who only do group rides forget what it is like to take the wind for an entire ride. They are used to sitting on a wheel all of the time and lose the knack for making their bikes go fast. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/11/2014 11:42 AM |
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There's a lot an old bear can do in absence of targeted training on any single day.
Ask that bear to repeat same trick couple times in a row it will get harder.
That at least is my experience. |
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 08/11/2014 12:48 PM |
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Posted By Orange Crush on 08/11/2014 11:42 AM
There's a lot an old bear can do in absence of targeted training on any single day.
Ask that bear to repeat same trick couple times in a row it will get harder.
That at least is my experience.
OC, I am ALWAYS working on what I call "the rudiments of bike racing" when commuting and riding, even when not with a group. It is instinctive at this point. So when my riding buddy, whose form and limitations I am totally familiar with, was telling me he was hanging at the front of the ride except on the longer climbs, I knew with my usual level at this time of the year...I had the ability to pretty much do what I wanted, when I wanted. There are much faster group rides in my area, but this was not one of them.
Posted By ChinookPass . on 08/11/2014 11:40 AM
I think sometimes the dudes who only do group rides forget what it is like to take the wind for an entire ride. They are used to sitting on a wheel all of the time and lose the knack for making their bikes go fast.
Exactly man, dudes didn't want to make it go when it was time to make it go...I have no issues with taking my pulls and making the pace. The biggest problem was guys not knowing how to get a decent paceline going. |
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/11/2014 01:07 PM |
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Yeah, there are a bunch of guys who do the weekly Tuesday night ride that you just never see anywhere near the front. They basically ride wheels and then I'm sure talk about how "fast" the ride was.
If you are gonna get the most benefit from a group ride, you gotta get your nose in the wind.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 08/11/2014 01:09 PM |
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Posted By Keith Jackson on 08/11/2014 12:48 PM
The biggest problem was guys not knowing how to get a decent paceline going.
This.
Something as simple as a pace line eludes most that started riding in the last 20 years.
Saturday I did a group ride and linked up with a couple of old geezers like me (50+) and we had a nice pace line going and eventually had one more join in who didn't have a clue-- stayed at the front way too long, pulled off and didn't drop back and stayed even with the front. After he was gassed from sitting out there so long we bid him adieu.
Even in road races it seems most cannot fathom the concept of a pace line let alone an echelon.
My problem is I have Cat 4 legs and Cat 1 race savvy… it's damn frustration  |
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 08/11/2014 02:59 PM |
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Dale, This was me the whole ride, "PULL OFF! I got it man, you can rotate out now. You got help behind you, no need to do all the work." Pick whichever one suits my annoyance level.
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/11/2014 03:28 PM |
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In general, I stay out of pacelines. A touch of wheels, yet another concussion. There are lots to choose from at Cycle Oregon, almost always with riders I do not know, so I pass up most. But 2nd day of my fist CO, I had just ridden up the Rattlesnake climb into far southwestern Washington and was still motoring (at a much lower relative pace) into the wind after the top. Passed three young women who jumped on my wheel. I kept pulling for another 5 miles until I was pretty well cooked. (It was another 10 miles of this, then a screaming downhill into Clarkston and our camp. Nothing to save myself for.)
I pulled off, two of the women thanked me, so I got on their wheel. They worked a beautiful, smooth paceline. I let them come in front of me because I knew I had no business taking another pull at this point. I would just slow them down. Well, a couple joined us. The woman wasn't strong, didn't do anything and wasn't much of an issue. The guy was strong but had not a clue. The women quickly learned to cut in front him. But after a while they needed longer rests and started coming in behind me. Well, newcomer was so erratic I was unable to keep the tired women attached and would periodically have to go and pull them back. Eventually, the couple dropped off and it was back to a nice rotation. Then it was the fun descent for miles, dropping right in to downtown Clarkston.
They stopped and I joined them to exchange names, then we proceeded along the river for 6 miles to camp along a bikepath. I was riding with the 3rd when my seat fell off. Busted seatclamp. She asked what she could do. I told the I would have to stand. And she got that her job now was to be my domestique. She lead and served as my eyes. (Ever try to look around when you are riding no-hands and can't lean against the saddle to steady the bike? Going slow?) We passed through several parking lots. At each, the trail entrances and exits did not line up and there was some traffic. A real godsend to have this woman calling out traffic (and bikes about to pass on the trail) and navigating the parking lots. All I had to do was follow her wheel.
So, a long story with a really simple moral. Be a gentleman in the paceline. There might be karma.
Ben |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/11/2014 03:43 PM |
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What kills me is how regularly people can't even get the right rotation direction, let alone timing, etc.
How fookin' hard is it to remember "pull off INTO the wind"?!?!!? But inevitably, everyone starts pulling off WITH the wind, which of course jams up the middle and back of the pack because there is no room for anyone. When that schitt starts happening, I just head to the back.....fook if I am going down because some knuckleheads don't know which way to pull off.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 08/11/2014 04:18 PM |
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| so if i'm riding a group ride but i'm between groups by myself and a rider pulls up behind, am i obligated to start rotating? |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 08/11/2014 05:29 PM |
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Posted By carl x on 08/11/2014 04:18 PM
so if i'm riding a group ride but i'm between groups by myself and a rider pulls up behind, am i obligated to start rotating?
I always ask, "You wanna work together?" If they answer anything but "Yes" I figure they don't have a clue and try to ditch them |
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 08/12/2014 04:01 PM |
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Yup, working the paceline and things like that are why I equate fast group rides with going to open court gym to play basketball.
Playing basketball with your friends on a half court, playing 21 or whatever is fun. Running a full court 5 on 5 takes a deeper skill set tho.
Same thing with fast group riding. It requires a deeper skill set than just simply "going out road riding with your buddies."
Oh yeah, only guy on steel. Only guy with no bike computer, GPS or power meter. I have become the stereotypical "old guy on the steel bike"...lol.
And now that the bear is awake....there is a 35mi hill ride tomorrow. The legs have responded nicely to the hard ride on Sunday and I should be ready to hand out pain in large quantities! |
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/12/2014 05:50 PM |
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| Hill group rides are recovery rides. Cheater. |
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