Joy here...After our
great ride on Tuesday with Training Payne in and around the Milton Ontario area, we had a few false starts with our ride goals for the rest of the week of our holidays. And even though we somehow didn't manage a ride on Wednesday (thanks to a too-late night socializing on Tuesday), or a ride on Thursday (thanks to a too-late night socializing on Wednesday), we were all set for a good Sunday ride with a couple of my grad school friends who are super fit.
 |
| All loaded up and ready to go! |
The girl has around a 1:30 half marathon time (and for reference, my two half marathons came in at
1:49 and
2:01, so she soundly kicks my butt as an athlete), and the guy has finished a half IronMan in 5:27 (and for reference,
the average half IronMan time for men in his age group is 5:52, so he's a beast). I've mentioned him before on the blog, because,
bless him, he was there at the bottom of the killer hill at km 25 during my first (and only) 30km run.
Before our road trip, I stuck my courage to the proverbial sticking post and asked them if they'd be willing to take us out on a ride, and when they said "yes," I just had to keep my fingers crossed at hope that we'd be able to keep up with them. So bright an early on Sunday morning, we headed over to their house to pick them up and load up the car with four bikes, supplies, and four friends, so that we could drive out to the country roads outside of the city. And then, we were off...
...And what I've learned is that since I started riding my bike this summer and have been able to ride with more experienced riders, I've learned a lot about the sport and its etiquette...and, well, I have to admit, I like what I've learned. This Sunday's ride was a textbook case in what I've learned and what I like about the kinds of unwritten rules governing good riding.
Below are three of the most important pieces of etiquette that I've learned that were textbook this weekend:
 |
| Bikes lined up at the halfway rest point. |
1.) Consistency - A rewarding ride is one that allows the rider to exert a consistent effort. Now what that effort is--hard, easy, medium--depends on what his/her specific training goals for a given ride might be, but working to keep your cadence consistent, your speed consistent, your effort consistent, your power consistent etc. makes for a ride that feels like its worth your time. Otherwise, anyone can go rip-roaring down the descents, slow down on the climbs, and then pedal inconsistently throughout the rest of the ride--pedal, pedal, pedal, coast, pedal, pedal, pedal, coast--and I think that kind of riding is the difference between riding for fun or commuting and cycling as a sport. And this summer I've definitely started to come around to this sport of cycling. So while we were out there on the road, the half IronMan triathlete beast friend of ours was set on keeping his power at 75%, so we pegged our efforts off his, and all four of us rode together. It was super annoying when we were riding along, consistently, when a group of 3 guys passed us on the downhill, and then proceeded to ride slowly enough for us to have to pass them, only to have them speed up to try to prevent us from passing (which we ultimately did). You know when you're driving on the highway and you have your cruise control set, and you're driving along at the same speed, and then you pull out to pass someone, and then they speed up? And then you pull back behind them, only to have them slow down again? You know how annoying that is? Now imagine that on a bike.
 |
| We look happy, don't we? |
2.) Group Riding - When not riding alone, it's best to stay close to the wheel of the rider in front of you, and if the group is big enough that you're riding side-by-side as well, it's best to be as close as possible to the rider to your side. This tight formation can allow you to draft and conserve energy, and, well, it's just more polite than hogging the entire road by riding way out from the curb, making other cyclists and cars swerve widely to get around your particular group of cycling buddies. Our Sunday ride had us riding with two in front and two in the back, and we were able to carry on good conversation as we rode, trading in and out with who was riding beside whom. It's up to the riders on the back not to get dropped off the pace of the riders in the front, rather than the duty of the riders up front to slow down for stragglers.
3.) Communication - When riding with others--whether that's a single file pace line or a group--it's important for the riders in the front to signal to the riders behind when there are things on the road such as holes or gravel. It's also up to those on front to signal when the group will be slowing down or stopping, and when going through an intersection, all riders need to look for traffic and let the others know if it's clear or not. In this way, all riders operate almost as one unit, swerving around the same thing at the same time, slowing together, turning together, and keeping good form throughout. And so while The Man and I had never done this ride before, we didn't feel lost or out of our element, because we just stayed with half IronMan triathlon beast, and he lead us through the rolling countryside with ease.
In the end, we had a great, consistent 90+km ride where we got to catch up with friends, plan world domination in the future, and enjoy a Sunday in the country!
Over and out,
Joy
No comments:
Post a Comment