WOW Ride + The Man = Fun (Loop #18)

Joy here...After a lacklustre performance on Tuesday night at the Time Trial, I was feeling a little apprehensive with the approach of the weekly Women on Wheels (WOW) ride on Wednesday night.  The sun was hot; the sky was blue; the air was still, and so I couldn't blame the weather for anything.  Twelve riders showed up at the meeting spot, and I could feel myself getting more and more nervous--if my back pain from Sunday and my metallic legs from Tuesday show up again, I'm gonna be really embarrassed in front of a pretty good group of people.

So, swallowing my nerves, and resisting the temptation to fall back on my childhood habit of nail biting, we rolled out of the parking lot in neat rows of two, heading towards the Pink Lake climb.  At first I wasn't on the front of the group, but tucked nicely in the middle, and the pace wasn't too high, so I was feeling good and was sucked along in the middle of the group, keeping my legs light and easy.

Then we rotated in the group, and I found myself on the front.  I kept the pace steady, and I didn't work myself too hard, but before I knew it, some of the ladies were having a hard time holding on to the wheels of the riders in front of them.  And then we approached the Pink Lake climb, and while a couple flew off the front of the group up the climb, I just kept my pace steady, and one by one, I began catching up to those riders on the hill.  By the crest of the hill, I was at the front, and as the group re-gathered itself to keep on going, we pedalled slowly a bit until those on the back caught up, and then we carried on in our group, taking a moment to practice all the rules of group riding etiquette (some of which you can find listed on this helpful website; just click the hyperlink).

As we approached the Fortune Lake climb, one of the group organizers shouted for the stronger riders to get in their biggest ring and climb while standing.  Feeling much better than Sunday's ride, I thought that "stronger rider" might just refer to me, so I stood up and climbed up that hill.  Eventually, about 1/3 of the way up the hill, I had to sit down, but I kept my bike in that big ring (the hardest gear) even while seated for a while.  Then those of us up front got the word that the group had splintered, so I slowed down my pedalling and waited for everyone to catch up, and then I rolled to the back of the group and put my bike into its hardest gear again so that I could stand up for the rest of the climb.  We crested that hill in no time and had a bit of a drink, and I was starting to feel good.  My back pain hadn't showed up, and my legs seemed to have enough gas in them to keep up with the demands of the ride.

And then as we paused for a photo at Champlain Lookout (and a wee snack), we also found The Man out in the park on his ride.  As we rolled away from our pause and passed him, I shouted out:  "Hey Handsome Husband!"  And all the girls checked him out as we sped past.  He said, "I'll catch up to you," and one of our riders turned to me and said, "I think that's a challenge!"

The gauntlet was dropped.

Here we are at the top of the world!

Then as our group roared over the rollers after the main climbs, and tore down the speedy descents (with me topping speeds of 69km/hr), The Man and his friend were ahead of us on the road, and it just so happened that I was at the front of the group at the time, so I stood up and pushed the pace, heckling The Man and his friend...and soon other WOW riders joined in with the heckling:  "speed up guys!" "you're about to get passed by a bunch of girls!" "Beep! Beep! Get a move on!"  With a pack of 12 women chasing them, The Man and his friend had to push their pace and pedal their little hearts out to avoid being passed.  I could hear our group splintering behind me, and one rider shouted:  "stay on her wheel!" meaning mine, to which the response was "she's chasing her husband, I can't keep up!"  After Sunday's crummy ride and Tuesday's crummy ride, it was encouraging for me to hear that my legs seemed to be back in form.

Eventually we all regrouped, and passed the guys on one of the descents and leap-frogged each other throughout the rest of the park.

Ultimately, The Man pulled ahead, but before he knew it, our WOW group was roaring past him on our way out of the park, and it was all he could do to jump on the back of the group.

As I pulled up to the car and hopped off my bike, The Man was nowhere to be found.  In a moment or two he caught up to me and arrived at the car, and the girl who had noted his challenge shouted over to us:  "So, who won?"  "I did, of course, as it should be!" was my response.  The Man looked back and forth between us, not understanding, and I winked at him and told him of the challenge that he had unwittingly issued, and that I had won.

All in all, our ride was 43kms and our average speed was 28km/hr, much better than Sunday's painful ride, so I have no complaints.

Over and out,
Joy