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July 7, 2007
Pros/Cons of Group Rides
Pros:
1) riding in new places with not a care in the world as to where you are or where you have to turn because someone else is worrying about that
2) people to talk to (!)
3) when you look at your watch or cycling computer 45 minutes has passed instead of 5 minutes like when you are riding by yourself
4) drafting (!!)
5) safety is in numbers (!!!!)
6) when you stop to pee someone else can watch your bike
Cons:
1) you tell them you want to ride 3:30; they say "sure, fine, no problem"; but when 3:30 rolls around and nothing looks even remotely familiar and you ask how far away you are from the starting point and they say 10 miles -- then you get real sad
2) pure cyclists don't have any concept of what an even paced effort might be like - this could be because that's not how their races go; they do silly things like sprint up hills only to ride about 5 mph for the next mile to recover; triathletes on the other hand might ride up a long, steep hill in their small chain ring, spinning and saving the legs, only to continue on at a moderate effort once up the hill - it makes for a disconnected ride at times; when you are by yourself you can push a little when you feel good, back off when you want to and it doesn't affect anyone else
So yeah - very nice to ride with a group this morning! I was supposed to do a 3:30 ride followed by a 30 min run but it turned into a 3:55 ride with a 15 min transition run instead. :) Oh well. And I'm apparently now known as the "girl that smashed the windshield" among Pittsburgh cyclists. Word travels fast around here. Every time I meet a new cyclist or triathlete they invariably say "oh...you are the girl that.... " Oh well, I guess there are worse things I could be known for. :)
Posted by beth at July 7, 2007 6:00 PM