jppe
07-02-06, 09:59 PM
I did a group ride on Saturday with about 40 others that was being led by one of the local cycling teams. The group got busted up at about 30 miles after several folks hit a pot hole and a number of water bottles went sprawling across the pavement. Several miles on down the road a group of 3 riders from Colombia that had come out to train with the "pros" had broken off from the main group and were waiting for some others to come up as they did not know the route.
I was pulling a small group at that point and they joined up with us. Some of the folks had planned to do 100 miles but I opted to just do 60 miles as things just weren't going as I had planned plus I was supposed to be traveling out of town as soon as the ride was over. So, the 3 fellows from Colombia and myself set out to find a way back to the starting point.
Only one of the three spoke English and he didn't know a lot more than left, right and straight. I speak a little Spanish-but just enough to get by. Funny, but we had great time riding 25-30 miles together even though we could not sit up and talk.
These guys were pretty small and could climb a hill as fast as I could take it going downhill. The one that spoke the best english had the nicest bike......go figure.........They were about out of fluids but I had stashed an extra bottle in my jersey pocket and they thought they had found an oasis when I handed it to them. They were very good at using the traditional hand signals to point out gravel, holes and other road hazards. Since they were much stronger riders than I was, they basically put me in the rocking chair and I drafted most of the way back.
At one point before I met up with these guys I was thinking about how much had gone wrong with the ride. After we were back I was thinking about how much fun I'd had riding back with these guys. It was a real unexpected pleasure meeting up with these fellows......
I was pulling a small group at that point and they joined up with us. Some of the folks had planned to do 100 miles but I opted to just do 60 miles as things just weren't going as I had planned plus I was supposed to be traveling out of town as soon as the ride was over. So, the 3 fellows from Colombia and myself set out to find a way back to the starting point.
Only one of the three spoke English and he didn't know a lot more than left, right and straight. I speak a little Spanish-but just enough to get by. Funny, but we had great time riding 25-30 miles together even though we could not sit up and talk.
These guys were pretty small and could climb a hill as fast as I could take it going downhill. The one that spoke the best english had the nicest bike......go figure.........They were about out of fluids but I had stashed an extra bottle in my jersey pocket and they thought they had found an oasis when I handed it to them. They were very good at using the traditional hand signals to point out gravel, holes and other road hazards. Since they were much stronger riders than I was, they basically put me in the rocking chair and I drafted most of the way back.
At one point before I met up with these guys I was thinking about how much had gone wrong with the ride. After we were back I was thinking about how much fun I'd had riding back with these guys. It was a real unexpected pleasure meeting up with these fellows......