Scenic Route

Taking a drink of the kool-aid is an expression used to describe one’s conversion to road bike riding.

Earlier this year, I drank deeply of the kool-aid and like any new convert, eagerly share my new-found addiction.

This morning I led my first club ride. Due in part to my suggestions (read: whiny complaints), the club this year started a new class of rides called “Sweeps” rides. They’re for riders making the transition to road bike group rides.

Sweeps rides are a little slower, on somewhat easier and shorter routes and they have a no-drop policy where the ride leader (that would be me today) leads the ride from the back, “sweeping” the route and assuring that no rider is left behind. The slowest rider sets the pace.

Today’s ride was a 25-mile loop with 1,200 feet of climbing in the hills to the southeast of the city. It starts at a park in the city and turns around at a park out in the county.

It’s a good ride for the newbies because it starts out in the park, then moves to residential streets before getting into real road riding. It includes a bit of everything with the exception of heavy commercial streets and expressway entrances.

Only two of today’s riders were newbies. Another guy and I rode with them while the rest of the riders hammered off ahead.

One newbie had a squeaky Giant OCR, an older style helmet which I think he wore backwards, and had no water bottle. His usual rides are an hour or 90 minutes along the lake shore where it’s flat and cool. He’s never needed a water bottle before.

Did I mention today’s forecast was for temps in excess of 90°F and rainforest humidity? I know I mentioned the 1,200 feet of climbing…

Fortunately, I anticipated this and had stashed three extra bottles in my Tailrider trunk bag.

The other newbie arrived on a mountain bike. As mountain bikers are prone to do, both tires were half-flat. That can be helpful in the loose stuff, but on pavement, the rolling resistance just sucks up energy. Once underway, he told me the bike was a wedding gift from his wife and he just couldn’t part with it. I suggested higher pressure and slicks.

Halfway out, the road points skyward and the tough stuff begins. Mountain bike guy chugged along. OCR guy seemed like he would have turned back if there was a way he could save face. I encouraged them both as I’d pass on the climb and again as they’d pass me where I’d waited at the top of a hill.

After one screaming 40 MPH descent, I could see they were beginning to get it. The ascent is payment for the descent. There was still a lot of payment to be extracted on this ride.

A couple miles from the rest and turnaround spot, OCR guy looked like he was going to keel over into traffic. I stopped and offered him a water. He wasn’t sure he was going to make it much further.

“Just two more climbs then over the rim into the park,” I assured him, hoping he didn’t do the math and come up with three.

At the rest stop, he asked if there was water in the park. “Other than the ponds, no,” I told him as I handed him the second spare bottle from my bag.

Setting out for the return trip I told them, “Just one climb back over the rim of the park, then it’s downhill all the way to the city. And with that tailwind today, we’ll be screaming back.”

It was on the downhill where the transformations took place. OCR guy who had straggled at the back, suddenly was off the front. I caught up to him at one point and said, “You see that housing tract coming up on the left?”

“Yeah.”

“The first time I rode out here last year, that’s where I had to turn around. You’re doing better than I did.” And I drifted back to let him lead.

Mountain bike guy asked me at one point, “You know what happens when you try to shift and discover you ran out of gears?”

“You coast?” I offered.

“No. You say, ‘I think it’s time for a road bike.’”

“Maybe you could just let some more air out of the tires and sit up straighter for more drag.” I suggested. He laughed.

Back at the start, rehashing the ride, OCR guy said that besides learning to always have water, he learned where he needed to improve and had an idea how to do it.

“How’s that?” I asked.

“Ride hills,” he answered.

And that made it worth the 14.78 MPH average speed and 78 RPM average cadence.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 8:29 pm EST and is filed under Bike. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.