Nope, I do not swim, at least not in terms of "training" or sporting events. I do visit the pool a few times a week to have fun and "swim around" a bit. I am planning to certify SCUBA next summer, something I've wanted to do for years. But, I'm a strict roadie. I started "racing" competitvely a couple of years ago and devote all my time to that. It's hard to be in the crit scene unless you make that your training focus and priority. That's also where I learned just how small of a fish I am. Well, more like a minnow. No...more like a tadpole. Anyway, you get the idea.
Well, we are all "recreational" cyclists, despite the fact that some times we think we are pro. Which is why I say no matter how good each of us get, it is relative, and often times we find ourselves in situations that remind us exactly where our real place is in the cycling world. Most of the time that place is at the bottom of the food chain. At the end of the day I think we all ride our bikes trying to have a good time, enjoying the scenery, testing our masochistic limits, and trying to do a little good for our bodies. And there is a certain comradery among cycliststhat trumps ability, socio-economic status, age, color, etc. You know exactly what I mean. When you meet another cyclist there is an instant connection. I am a good example of this. No one here "knows" me, but I've recently joined in with the group and am enjoying great cycling conversation with a number of you. And all it took was for you to know I'm a fellow cyclist. Kind of like a brotherhood. And that is something you will not find in other "recreational" activities. Would very much like to join a group ride with some of you guys, especially now that I'm having dialogue and getting to "know" a few of you guys on this Google group. :-) On Sep 11, 11:34 pm, ssp <[email protected]> wrote: > .... > > ....dude, > excellent synopsis. > Thanks for sharing. > ...and I thought turboD and davidC were the speed beasts~ > now I feel better about my 'relative' recreational > abilities. > > You swim? > m-fri 12-1pm > @the bubble > > > > On Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 10:15 AM, Chris Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > > Doc, thanks for the mention. hen I was relaying the ride to you > > yesterday I used even numbers for the sake of the conversation, and b/ > > c I had not had a chance to analyze the ride file until last night. To > > make sure there is no misunderstanding, I have taken the time to look > > closely at my ride file and spoke to a couple of the 6 core guys to > > make sure I represent the ride accurately. Here it is in brief. > > > MS New Bern - goal: sub 4 hour century. Started ride with a group of > > 30 guys pace between 27-30mph. Within 5 miles it became clear there > > was only ~10-12 guys that were able to work at the front. The rest sat > > in at the back. No credit away from them, they were working hard > > sitting in the back! By the mile 15 we were down to 20-22 riders with > > 8-10 of us rotating off the front driving the pace. The other 10-14 > > guys were sitting in the back (but remember they were still > > "working"). By mile 30 we were down to a group of 14. Pace remained > > 27-30mph and only 6-8 of us "working" at the front and 2 of that > > number were bearing 65% of the main workload. Mile 40 we looked back > > and there was no one there. Only 7 of us remained. We consisted of > > myself, a current cat 1/ex-pro racer, a cat 3/master's racer, a cat 3/ > > almost cat 2 racer, a very fast "expert class" mountain bike racer who > > is also a roadie half the time, a cat 4/almost cat 3 racer, and a guy > > who does not race but easily rides at the level of a cat 3/2. NOTE: I > > am in the lower 50% of this group. The upper 50% are hardcore and not > > to be toyed with. With that said, it's all RELATIVE in cycling. There > > are always lots of guys who are MUCH faster and MUCH stronger. > > > Anyway, from mile 40 there was only 6 of us. It was brutal. Windy. HOT > > and HUMID. Not a fun ride at all. Stopped at a rest stop at mile 68 b/ > > c we were all bone dry. We were there less than 2 minutes. At the 68 > > mile mark we had a 26.3 mph average. By mile 80 we started to > > splinter. Three of us were hell bent to make it LESS THAN 4 HOURS. The > > other 3 of us were starting to wonder. We are all coming out of peak > > racing season where we are used to giving 110% for ONE HOUR. We do NOT > > have the base conditioning at this point to sustain us during a ride > > like this. But we ended up making the finish. Between the six of us we > > finished between 4:07:00 and 4:14:00. I took 6th finish. My buddy who > > is cat1/ex-pro took 1st. The other 4 guys are team mates and close > > friends who finished between those times. > > > I'm a numbers guy, so I wanted to make sure the ride description was > > accurate, especially since it's posted online. Again, it should also > > be noted that I was part of the "weaker" 50% of the 6. Ride average > > was 4 hours 14 minutes at 223 watts. I weigh 158 pounds right now. No > > matter how you break it down, I think most average > > "recreational" (meaning non-pro/non paid) cyclists would agree it was > > a tough ride. On Sunday I did ride for 3 hours, but it was not > > recovery. I rode at level 2/3 for 3 hours to give a bit of overload. > > No active recovery scheduled for this week. > > > I'm not a guy to post my rides or my numbers b/c I never want to come > > off like I think I'm "special." I think I'm relatively strong for the > > average recreational rider, but that's easy for me to say when I live > > in a small town with a small group of cyclists. IT'S ALL > > RELATIVE...that's for sure. You realize just how small you are when > > you are racing and watch guys go for an hour with a 30+mph AVERAGE and > > 350+watt averages, 5w+/kg! With all this said, I'd love to have anyone > > along with us that wants to ride. I'd also love to ride with you guys > > some time! The coolest thing about cycling is it doesn't matter how > > much stronger or weaker you are than the guy beside you...if you > > halfway know HOW to ride, you can find the spot(s) that allow you to > > make it to the end of the ride with everyone else. Sometimes this > > means me donig 80+ percent of the work, and sometimes it means me > > staying in a draft for 95+ percent of the time...depending on who else > > is there riding. > > > Happy ride time to everyone! > > > PS: We are doing our annual Cotton Country Century on sunday September > > 23. There will most certainly be a hardcore group driving a blistery > > pace if anyone is interested in joining us. Knowing who is coming it > > will most likely be faster than the MS ride this past weekend. So I > > expect to get cracked before before the end. > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > > To post to this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.
