THAT GUY (A Cross Post From 41)
12-18-10, 10:13 AM
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Mr. Dopolina
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THAT GUY (A Cross Post From 41)
Every now and then, as we gather up for the regular weekend hammerfest ride, there will be some new guy all full of piss and vinegar strutting around, talking too loud, and jumping into the middle of conversations about gear or training or some recent race with comments that just don't fit.
Somewhere around 5k in, as the group rolls out for the 5 hour ride- settling in, chatting a bit - this guy will go to the front and push the pace. It's never enough to stop the conversations but it's enough for guys to close up the gaps and get a bit annoyed because they haven't switched on their iPods or finished the apple they were eating.
As the ride progresses the first little rise approaches and this same guy goes to the front then shuts it off at the top. The ride jams up and spreads across the road.
The riders sort themselves out again as the pace picks up on the way back down.
Each small rise, overpass, or grade of any kind the same thing happens.
Finally the pace picks up and as riders rotate through this guy hits the front. He accelerates; Not hard enough to worry anyone, just hard enough to be an annoyance. Once again the rhythm of the ride is disrupted for no purpose what so ever.
The group settles back into a groove. Finally, attacks come but they are real attacks. Jumps that force people to dig. Jumps that drive snot out of your nose and blur your vision as you fixate on the rear hub in front of you. Attacks on climbs that carry speed up and OVER the climbs and force guys to chase on the descents.
Breaks form. Chases form. The ride regroups.
Hours later we all cool down together minus a few guys who know their way home.
We stop, chat, throw back a coke, finish a power bar and the group fragments into many smaller groups who spin their way home.
No one asks about 'that guy' or even remembers when he came off the back.
We usually never see him again.
Somewhere around 5k in, as the group rolls out for the 5 hour ride- settling in, chatting a bit - this guy will go to the front and push the pace. It's never enough to stop the conversations but it's enough for guys to close up the gaps and get a bit annoyed because they haven't switched on their iPods or finished the apple they were eating.
As the ride progresses the first little rise approaches and this same guy goes to the front then shuts it off at the top. The ride jams up and spreads across the road.
The riders sort themselves out again as the pace picks up on the way back down.
Each small rise, overpass, or grade of any kind the same thing happens.
Finally the pace picks up and as riders rotate through this guy hits the front. He accelerates; Not hard enough to worry anyone, just hard enough to be an annoyance. Once again the rhythm of the ride is disrupted for no purpose what so ever.
The group settles back into a groove. Finally, attacks come but they are real attacks. Jumps that force people to dig. Jumps that drive snot out of your nose and blur your vision as you fixate on the rear hub in front of you. Attacks on climbs that carry speed up and OVER the climbs and force guys to chase on the descents.
Breaks form. Chases form. The ride regroups.
Hours later we all cool down together minus a few guys who know their way home.
We stop, chat, throw back a coke, finish a power bar and the group fragments into many smaller groups who spin their way home.
No one asks about 'that guy' or even remembers when he came off the back.
We usually never see him again.
Last edited by Bob Dopolina; 12-18-10 at 10:20 AM.
12-18-10, 10:19 AM
#2
gmt
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perfect setup for the hilltop counter.
I like going full gas after the inevitable shutdown at the top of the hill and see how many minutes I can stay OTF.
I like going full gas after the inevitable shutdown at the top of the hill and see how many minutes I can stay OTF.
12-18-10, 10:25 AM
#3
Mr. Dopolina
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It really only works if the descent is technical. If it's wide open it's just a waste of jam.
12-18-10, 12:36 PM
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meow
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That Guy is nothing like That Girl, thank goodness. That Girl was likable in every way.
12-18-10, 01:19 PM
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I think "that guy" needs to be "yelled" at. I hear that is they way they roll in Michigan.
12-18-10, 02:10 PM
#6
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I let The Guy get away. He's better than we are after all. If Guy doesn't realize that it works differently than what he's doing, then you just let him be.
Sometimes, rarely, I'll also deviate from the route slightly. Like go northeast instead of southwest (like the original direction). This is if Guy is persistent in returning to the group in order to attack it again.
Sometimes, rarely, I'll also deviate from the route slightly. Like go northeast instead of southwest (like the original direction). This is if Guy is persistent in returning to the group in order to attack it again.
12-18-10, 05:19 PM
#7
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I let The Guy get away. He's better than we are after all. If Guy doesn't realize that it works differently than what he's doing, then you just let him be.
Sometimes, rarely, I'll also deviate from the route slightly. Like go northeast instead of southwest (like the original direction). This is if Guy is persistent in returning to the group in order to attack it again.
Sometimes, rarely, I'll also deviate from the route slightly. Like go northeast instead of southwest (like the original direction). This is if Guy is persistent in returning to the group in order to attack it again.
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12-18-10, 10:18 PM
#9
Mr. Dopolina
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If only he could get away. I wish it were always that easy.
He usually disappears at some point anyway. I just make sure I'm not behind him when he lets the gap open and then gets fired out the back. The situation just sorts itself out.
He usually disappears at some point anyway. I just make sure I'm not behind him when he lets the gap open and then gets fired out the back. The situation just sorts itself out.
12-18-10, 11:48 PM
#11
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Thank you for that Bob, as my image posting skills are pathetic. Was Donald the original The Donald?
12-20-10, 06:58 AM
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Let him go.
A few that guys from a local shop club showed up to the sat ride a ways back; one or two of them were pretty strong. Same thing though, hitting the gas up the first rise when we had been on the road for maybe 10 min. People chased. Second time it happened, a few of us were at the front and agreed to let their asses go next time. One got a gap, another of his teammates jumped across and we never saw them again.
Come to find out later that week, they didn't know the route and got lost. I guess they made it back to the parking lot we leave from about 2 hours after everyone else did.
A few that guys from a local shop club showed up to the sat ride a ways back; one or two of them were pretty strong. Same thing though, hitting the gas up the first rise when we had been on the road for maybe 10 min. People chased. Second time it happened, a few of us were at the front and agreed to let their asses go next time. One got a gap, another of his teammates jumped across and we never saw them again.
Come to find out later that week, they didn't know the route and got lost. I guess they made it back to the parking lot we leave from about 2 hours after everyone else did.
12-20-10, 08:11 AM
#14
Mr. Dopolina
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Let him go.
A few that guys from a local shop club showed up to the sat ride a ways back; one or two of them were pretty strong. Same thing though, hitting the gas up the first rise when we had been on the road for maybe 10 min. People chased. Second time it happened, a few of us were at the front and agreed to let their asses go next time. One got a gap, another of his teammates jumped across and we never saw them again.
Come to find out later that week, they didn't know the route and got lost. I guess they made it back to the parking lot we leave from about 2 hours after everyone else did.
A few that guys from a local shop club showed up to the sat ride a ways back; one or two of them were pretty strong. Same thing though, hitting the gas up the first rise when we had been on the road for maybe 10 min. People chased. Second time it happened, a few of us were at the front and agreed to let their asses go next time. One got a gap, another of his teammates jumped across and we never saw them again.
Come to find out later that week, they didn't know the route and got lost. I guess they made it back to the parking lot we leave from about 2 hours after everyone else did.
More often than not these guys don't have the jam to really go off the front. They just dangle 30 meters out and then explode.
12-30-10, 04:12 PM
#17
Cat WTF
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He probably saw the iPods and realized he was riding with a group of idiots so he went to the front where it was the safest until the ride was over.
12-31-10, 06:17 AM
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12-31-10, 08:19 AM
#20
Mr. Dopolina
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Regardless, it kind of misses the point of the original post, non?
12-31-10, 08:27 AM
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12-31-10, 08:28 AM
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12-31-10, 08:36 AM
#24
Mr. Dopolina
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No, that's not the point.
It's about etiquette. It's about joining a new group and figuring out what they are about as opposed to thinking you are hot ****. It's about noob mistakes. It's about a group of guys who ride together on a regular basis and a minor annoyance.
And yes, we can do 5 hours with no traffic and several mountains to boot. I did 4 hours today and probably saw less than 20 cars after my 10km warm-up (sans ipod) out of the city into the country side. The same is on tap for tomorrow.
12-31-10, 08:43 AM
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Maybe he didn't know any better, but it's certainly much cooler to either be a prick or to say nothing at all than to educate.
