Today was a highlight in my life! I was given the chance to ride with local Pro's Jeff Paul & Adam Bohach. The plan for today was to ride 80 miles (Two Rabbit ears of 40 miles apiece: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/141653145 one of the ears). I didn't sleep very well last night due to the anticipation of today's ride. My food intake was not the best either; I ate a bowl of cereal and 1/4 of a plate of pasta.I arrived at the shell gas station around 11:40 am, bought a couple of Oat's n Honey bars, readied my bike and waited . . . Around 12:30 pm, they arrived in a cloud of dust. Quick introductions were made and off we went. Because the were familiar with the Quad Cities and not here, we rode right down main street of Fulton. All was good until we were about 50 yards from the stoplight and a truck pulling a boat was in a hurry and drove around us instead of waiting. When he merged back into our lane, the trailing boat almost hit Adam. Thanks to Jeff's quick shout, Adam survived. NOT GOOD!!!! Adam, understandably mad, threw his hand up at the guy. We ended up catching the guy at the stoplight and Adam, doing a favor to all cyclists, politely asked the man to be a little more careful around bikers. The man flipped us off while yelling at us to get off the roads, to ride on the bike trails, and at one point he said "Nice clothes retards". Made my day lol. If only he could fit in our size small jerseys instead of an XXL, maybe he could look as cool as us.We joined the bike trail, headed south towards Albany (my home training grounds) with a quick jog off the trail to Garden Plain, and a right on Benson Road where we encountered a strong headwind. As in all riding groups, the strong riders ride in the front with the weaker riders drifting off the rear wheels of the lead riders. Both Jeff and Adam cut the wind while I hung on for dear life to their wheels. 11 miles in, we had a constant average of 25 mph. If you are ever given the chance, ride with a group or a faster and more experienced rider. They will always be willing to lend you a little advice, you may overhear some valuable training advice, or bridge the gap from hardcore rider to average human. Adam mentioned that an athlete's success is dependent upon not only the training of his body, but also his relationship with his wife,family, and the balance of work and training. We joined up with Erie-Albany Road off Benson Road, took a left and shifted up in gears.That headwind turned into a powerful tail wind letting us reach 27 mph :) This is what I live for: flats with lots of speed. A couple of miles down the road, we took a left onto Fenton Road, Unfortunately, that tailwind returned as a headwind. Adam was powering through the wind like a pro, while I was struggling to hang on to his wheel, due to the lack of training at high speeds. I'm still in the 18 mph avg speeds. More training at higher speeds would increase this variable and result in faster times. Right after Fenton, I heard a siren from behind, real faint sounding. I looked back and there was nothing. Great, I'm hallucinating. Then it got louder so I looked back and there was a cop barreling down on us. A quick shout and everybody was single file. Whoosh!!!! He passed us and was over the hill before we knew it. Shortly afterwards, due to fatigue and me not paying attention, I dropped my water bottle. GREAT! Braking hard and not thinking about letting them know what happened, I returned, picked it up and there was no one in sight. Well now it was my solo time trial mode till i either catch them or they realize I'm not with them and they turn back. 3 miles of solo riding into a headwind sucks the strength right out of you, quickly. Luckily for me, they had stopped at the stop sign on Garden Plain and Fenton road. Laughing, I had to take the brunt of the jokes.. Oh well... Right afterwards we took off from there, Adam suggesting that i drop my head tube down which would result in a falter back and a less wind resistant body. Not too long after, I kept getting dropped. I was struggling and finally decided to let them continue on without me. I called my lovely, awesome wife and her friend to pick my sorry butt up. lol.
Well to sum it up the day's ride ended great: 30 miles under 1 hour and 30 minutes. My time was 1 hr 29 minutes and 52 seconds. avg mph: 19.80. A new PR! Tomorrow I will drop my head tube down to reach a more aero-dynamic position. Wish me luck!!!
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