Keith A
10-31-2005, 09:56 AM
This past Sunday was the Intercoastal Century here in Brevard County, so our Saturday group was down from the usual 15 to 25 cyclists to only five since everyone was saving themselves for Sunday. This turned out to be a pretty tough ride with only a few of us and a stiff North wind blowing, but it had an interesting ending...
As with many group rides, the last portion of our 45 mile ride is usually pretty challenging with everyone trying to push the pace…and today was no different. So the five of us were moving along at a good clip with a strong cross wind and at about four miles away from the finish, two of us slip of the back and the three other riders keep on hammering. The other rider and myself I continued to press forward and the three riders weren't too far in front of us.
As luck would have it, shortly after the three up front turned onto the final three mile straight stretch of road to the finish, there was a guy on a motorized bicycle that turned in shortly behind him who was coming from the opposite direction. He stopped to toss some debris off the road and started going again just as myself and the other guy rounded the corner. He started pretty slow, so the two of us hoped on his wheel as he picked it up to 22 mph going straight into the North wind. Shortly thereafter we caught the front three riders who had slowed down and we went buzzing past them to their surprise and laughter. I'm not sure if they didn't try or were unable to catch onto to the train heading north, but we didn't see them again until the parking lot.
The guy on the motorized bike was sitting up nice and straight, so we had a great draft from him and he kept a steady 22 mph all the way up this road until he turned right just before the finish. He seemed a little uncomfortable with us behind him as he kept glancing back -- but he let us stay there until he turned. This was certainly an enjoyable way to end this windy ride and I just chuckled inside the whole time remembering the expression on the other guys' faces as we went past them.
So if there was any doubt of the truth that the slow and steady wins the race, my friend and I lived it this past Saturday.
As with many group rides, the last portion of our 45 mile ride is usually pretty challenging with everyone trying to push the pace…and today was no different. So the five of us were moving along at a good clip with a strong cross wind and at about four miles away from the finish, two of us slip of the back and the three other riders keep on hammering. The other rider and myself I continued to press forward and the three riders weren't too far in front of us.
As luck would have it, shortly after the three up front turned onto the final three mile straight stretch of road to the finish, there was a guy on a motorized bicycle that turned in shortly behind him who was coming from the opposite direction. He stopped to toss some debris off the road and started going again just as myself and the other guy rounded the corner. He started pretty slow, so the two of us hoped on his wheel as he picked it up to 22 mph going straight into the North wind. Shortly thereafter we caught the front three riders who had slowed down and we went buzzing past them to their surprise and laughter. I'm not sure if they didn't try or were unable to catch onto to the train heading north, but we didn't see them again until the parking lot.
The guy on the motorized bike was sitting up nice and straight, so we had a great draft from him and he kept a steady 22 mph all the way up this road until he turned right just before the finish. He seemed a little uncomfortable with us behind him as he kept glancing back -- but he let us stay there until he turned. This was certainly an enjoyable way to end this windy ride and I just chuckled inside the whole time remembering the expression on the other guys' faces as we went past them.
So if there was any doubt of the truth that the slow and steady wins the race, my friend and I lived it this past Saturday.