Friday Dec 17 Stats

[Plawless]

what a ride! It was as if it was summer. The break was great - average speed from Pareto to the Sprint was 35.3 !!! Shawn, Josh, Chris F, Stephane and I rode on my limit the whole time. A few high points:

1. when Shawn had some sort of Mechanical leading into King George Josh and I sat up at the bottom of the hill only to hear him come roaring back sayign "sorry" as he attacked the crap out of us.

2. Mighty Chris Fraser taking a MONSTER 3/4 lap pull at the bell that had me shaking hands with a man with a hammer.

3. Josh oh so casually riding me right off his wheel at the sprint to the point that I sat up and said that I wanted him to have the feeling of a clean win (of course even I didnt believe me)!

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/player/59918342

[Lister Farrar]

Pete, you didn't mention leaving the manchild monster behind! (In fairness, he'd done the IRC Thursday ride the night before.)

In the B's, a nice steady ride, re-grouping after the hills. Hats off to Alex who dropped back for Paula before King George, not realizing Paula turns off there, then catches us at the top of KG and stays with the train to within 200 m of the finish. And it was fast for those last two laps. In fact both Brenna and Alex stayed on the b hammerfest, showing smarts to let the stronger riders in front of them, and saving what they had for the hard parts, and learning to grit it through to the parts where it's easier. It's a basic rule of group rides and racing: "It always gets easier." (Even if it's hard till it gets easier!) Brenna was rewarded by beating her dad to the line. Yessss!

[Plawless]

Way to go Brenna!!!! Take that Dad!

[steve]

I think the manchild and Gavin stayed behind with the groupetto to make sure we didn't avoid getting our daily dosage of pain pie. Nice regrouping by the 12 dropped riders in the A ride and made for an enjoyable finish despite being spit off the back at Ash.

Steve

[shawnc]

I think we should change our route to get on Shelbourne, because Bay St is a disaster (it took out a Moose today!).

How about heading up Richmond and turning left Townley St, and left again on Myrtle Ave to get onto Shelbourne?

[Josh.E]

I'll 2nd that that 3/4 lap pull by Chris F was monsterous! Hey Peter, what's up with your stats? I'd like to think you were going 77km/h during that final sprint, but it seems unlikely.......

That sounds like a good route Shawn. If Gavin is crashing, you know it aint safe, cuz Gavin has mad bike handling skilz, yo.

[Stéphane Tran]

Wow, what a ride. I was happy to stay in the break until King George, but, man, I haven't suffered like that in a while. It was great!
Peter: I couldn't see my computer (which I use to regulate my speed), I think that's why I was surging off the front like I did. I'm not good at judging my speed without it. I know I should look back more often, but any other pointers to maintain a steady speed when hitting the front?

[shawnc]

any other pointers to maintain a steady speed when hitting the front?

Speeding up is OK (and even encouraged ); what's important is when you do it. Give the person who just peeled off enough time to get back on, and then accelerate smoothly. Otherwise the person who is moving to the back has to dig hard to get back up to speed, and that sucks when you're already tired (another good reason not to pull too long!).

[Lister Farrar]

I couldn't see my computer (which I use to regulate my speed), I think that's why I was surging off the front like I did. I'm not good at judging my speed without it.

Ah, the sweet, sweet ignorance of the 'good day'. Enjoy, just be humble when it gets done to you!

Seriously though, your break companions should be telling you. If you're cracking them, they should be telling you, or you all lose. Assuming you're all trying to cooperate, and not play mind games like 'who's pretending not to have something left'.

It's probably a watt metre you need though. When Horner was trying to get Lance back on after his stage 8 crash in the tour, he was quoted in an article saying he figured out what wattage Lance could stand, and just did that, up and down hill. That's the way to help a group the most. Speed is very different.

[BearPope Recruit]

Just want to say THANKS to those who waited for me at the top of the hills today (MICHAEL!) and to let me cycle through the back of the pack without pulling so I could hang in there for most of the ride! ~Jen

[sylvan]

I know I should look back more often, but any other pointers to maintain a steady speed when hitting the front?

Naw, don't look back. Just relax and don't get excited when it's time to pull. Just get a zen feel for the rhythm of the revs you're turning as second wheel and just ease on enough extra oomph to keep it turning like that when you get into the wind. I just think of it as clenching my quads a bit to get a little extra power. Then after 10 seconds or so, when the other guy will have pulled back in, if you're feeling good you can start spinning it up a bit and if nobody complains then it's all awesome.

[Stéphane Tran]

Thanks for the tips guys. A watt metre is now item #157 on my list of "things to convince my wife are an absolute necessity for cycling." Until then, I think I'll work on Sylvan's "zen" technique.

[sylvan]

A watt metre is now item #157 on my list...

Keep in mind you won't be able to see the numbers any better than the speed at 6:35 a.m. in the dark in the break.