One of the cool things of riding as long as I have is that I seemed to have earned elder status in the group. Cycling is definitely an Alpha male type of activity. The perception of how you rank in the local peloton is usually based solely on your cycling ability. This becomes real clear during weekday training rides as I watch the shaved leg racers drop me like a bad transmission.
However on weekend rides there is another hierarchy that can come into play. Apparently I have fallen into the elder role. I like to say it’s because I am a wise sage of the way of cycling, but it probably has to do with that I know the roads where we ride so well.
This past weekend I finally got in a long ride after getting the cast off my hand. It was the traditional Dalwothington Gardens to Venus route, with a stop at the shop to see if anyone else wanted to ride. Turns out last Saturday was the Fort Worth Bicycle Associations "Century of the Month" out of the Arlington shop. Since I am coming back from injury, I have not been paying attention to such things. Big Dave and I rolled up to the shop surprised at the at the attendance to the normal 8am ride. The FWBA ride was to start at 9am, so the normal 8am crew was not willing to wait. We announced we were headed out to Venus and a rather large group headed out. It was made up of a quite a few people that I do not normally ride with and the normal Saturday gang.
It was a fantastic paced ride. I ended up averaging 18 mph for the 66 mile ride.
Big Dave, Tom, Justin and I took turns at the front. Quite a few of the visitors were "sitting in", with a small number taking pulls. The group kept getting smaller, even as we turned back home with a tail wind. My lack of training and the distance caused me to fall off the back at about 50 miles. Big Dave and Justin realized this and eased off the back to ride with me. When Tom discovered we are all gone, he sat up and slowed the group down so we could get back on. Here is where I feel my wise advice is helpful. Justin suggested we pick up the pace to catch the group. I noted that if they are willing to sit up, we should just roll up to them instead of burning any more energy. We followed my advice.
We rejoined the group. I had abandoned any desire to pull at the front and was just going to sit in the rest of the way. When we hit a small roller, I was struggling to keep in contact. I felt a hand on my back push me back to the group. I turned to expect to see one of my cycling buddies, but found myself thanking one of the visitors. I concluded that he help me up the hill for one of two reasons, but probably a combination of both. Either a) he pushed me because it became clear the group would not drop me, because I am some kind of "elder" on the ride; or b) pushed me because he did not want to wait on me again. Regardless, the results are the same, I got to finish the ride with the lead group.
If I were a visitor, I wager I would have ridden home alone.
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