Mr. Beanz

Sometimes you meet another rider that just needs some punishment. I've encounter this other guy so many times onthe trail. Cool, I have nothing against anyone's style of riding till they aggressively attack me verbally during conversation. I've encounter this dude for bearly a year at rest stops, on the bike. What gts me is EVERYTIME I see the rider, he is sure to change course and take our wheel, Gina's included. If we are headed into the wind towards the coast, he jumps on. Sometimes he's 5 miles out at a park on the phone but when he sees us, he's sure to jump on. Chatting with buds at the beach stop, the conversation always gets directed towards the rider stating "everybody I meet drafts me caue I'm a stronger rider". I listen and laugh as the rider only does 10-15 miles max! Again, no big deal with the style but the rider is constantly challenging me and others to a 5 mile timetrial. Several times I've alaughed and asked "why would I want to race you in a time trial when I have done 40 miles so far today, plus put in 5000-70000, maybe even 10,000 ft of climbing the previous day knowing that you are only riding 10 miles?". So he goes on and on about how he dropped some other rider the day before. So I tell him,"I'll tell you what, let me know ahead of time, I will bring my stiffer more responsive bike with the race tires rather than this big fat Armadillo 25 that I use on this bike, and I'll do a 5 mile timetrial with you into the wind". Then I remind him that never have I seen the guy push hard against the wind, always with a taill wind making claims of pushing 25 mph. So as always we head back inland and the rider jumps our wheels for his retrun 5 mile trip. As we approach a 30 yard descent (somewhat of a ramp) he says "lets see how fast you can get going down this hill!" I say,"you've got to be kidding, this isn't a hill, why woud I waste my time?". Then I expalin to him, it;s not a hill, it's a bump. "If you want hills and climbs, ride with me in the mountains, youwill get more of a thrill out of descending those hills at 45 mph rather than this bump at 25". So afer we drop down the hill the guy returns to take our wheels. Not long after he sprints around on his aerobars and shouts, "C'mon, let's go!". WTF! I don;t even bother as my day is out setting a good 50 mile pace with Gina. Week after week, samething with this rider.

So Sunday, after 35 miles, we ride by the park and sure enough, he's there on the phone. Throws the phone down and races up to take our wheels. 5 miles to the end of the trail where we stop to rest a the beach andmeet up with friends. So like always he sucks our wheels for a couple miles but this day is a little different. He actually sprinted around on his aerobars and headed off into the wind. With a chuckle, I ask Gina how she feels ans she rplies with "fine". I pick up the pace just a little, maybe 19 mph knowing we have 3 miles to the end of the trail. SO I watch the guy work his arse of and he's doing rpetty good but still , not good enough!. I keep the same pace and watch the guy crumble into the wind. As we close the gap, without trying too hard, I back off in an attempt to avoid taking the front. I stay about 20 yards behind him but he sees us there and signals that he's puling over. WTF! I know what he's doing. Sure enough we roll by and he takes our wheels. He stays there the entire time but with about one mile to go, I know his plan, he's going to wait till we near the end then sprint around. Well the guy had a hard time maintaining 18 into the wind on his aerobars so I ask Gina if she's still ok. She says yes so I lift the pace to 20 for the final mile. 20 doesn't sound like much but into the coastal headwind, many riders are doing 15 on this section of the trail. Pushing pretty good so I keep my eye on Gina making sure she stays on. Well that and watching the other rider from the corner of my eye hahaha! Sure enough he moves to the side an begins to make his move. I gotcha! SO I look back at him with a smile then lift the pace. I tell Gina "let's go!" knowing the guy is out in the wind. I lift the pace to 26 mph (into the wind). I know Gina's going all out and prolly dying but she knows how I feel about the rider's weekly rants so she gives it her all! Sure enough the guy gives it his all but gets dropped. Yeah Baby!

We pull up to the rest stop and the guy doubles over his bike sweating like a muthah and panting like a dog. My heart is racing but I play it of and I don't sweat much so I walk over to the guy and asked "what happened?". The guy can't respond, bwahahaha! Finally he somewhat catches his breath and says "wow, I couldn't keep up". So I asked the guy how many miles he has put in for the day and he says, as usual 5. I asked for the sole purpose of getting the story straight. So I tell the guy he was doing pretty good there for a bit when he headed off alone into he wind. Then I said, "wow, after having 40 miles in our legs, I didn't think we would catch you, you were doign so good". SO the guy is still doubled over and leaking like a water faucet but manages a few more words, "I just did it as a workout, I wasn't trying to race you". So I tell the guy that he did good but asked why he would draft us then attack from the back. He said he was just getting ina good workout so I said,"well a better workout would have beentaking the lead then attacking from the front" as I giggled some just to let the guy know I was feleing fine and refreshed.

SO as the guy stood there doubled over his bike dripping like a leaky water faucet, I said to him, "but still, let me know when you want me to put aside a day for you so we can race the 5 mile timetrial".

I've asked the guy to join us on 40-50 milers and/or moutnain climbs but he says his physical muscular genetic makeup is for short hard all out sprints and not for long endurance type rides. I always say to the guy,"oh, and my 235 lbs is?". Well the guy changed the subject to his need for a new seat, a new timetrial style seat. So I told the guy I'd send him the links to some of the timetrial seats offered online. I told him that maybe he'd pick up one or two mile increase in speed wih a new timetrial saddle. He thought I was serious!

I rarely try to embarrass riders but sometimes you gotta let them know why you dont waste your time accepting their "wanna race me?" offers!

bautieri

Nice. You were even a gentleman about handing out that butt-whopping.

Keep kickin a_s Beanz.

Big Lug

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Pwned!!

boss_hogg01

Epic fail by Mr. Five-miler. Gotta love it.

b_young

You are so mean. But that is sooo funny too. You should have had Gina say, "You got beat by a girl." just to top it off.

youcoming

It's funny how for some guys it's always a race. I like to ride fast and I know I'm a strong rider but I also now when I'm out gunned. I do however like getting a good a** kicking it reminds me no matter how good you are there will always be someone faster out there on any given day. Sounds to me like mister 5 miles has not heard of this. I think anyone who rides a lot but is yet still a clyde runs into this type of senario all the time. Recently I went MTB with some guys from work, they are all weekend MTB warriors and had it in their heads they were going to kill the roadie, lol, something to be said about 7000km on the legs. They gained some respect ofr clydes that day. Good job Beanz, it would have been cool to see the thrashing you could have laid down if you didn't have Gina with you, hahahaha

Mr. Beanz

Mean, but hey, he deserved it!...I don't think I really have to say the "beat by a girl" thing. They know and it shows on their faces when it happens. Funny thing cause Gina looks far from racer material but I have so many friends that sooner or later say, "I gott keep up with Gina". She's done an 18.4 average at her best (42 miles) holding my wheel so she can do weel at times. But if she has a bad day, tooo many of my buds are happy!

Mr. Beanz

True! If I know I'm outgunned, I'll work with the guy if he choses. But I'd be a moron to sprint around and think I'm going to outrun the guy after he catches me from a mile behind!..Funny thing, most riders we encounter seem to think I'm racing them when in fact I'm pacing Gina.

cyclist2000

Just too funny. As they say you gotta walk the walk if ya talk the talk.

Herbie53

Take him up one of those mountains of yours.... the bs ends when climbing begins.

Mr. Beanz

He wont go! Matter of fact, 9 out of 10 riders wont respond till the day after when the message includes the word "mountain"

gattm99

THis is exactly what my brother does. He loves short hard ten mile rides and drafting until the opportune moment to blow by for his
"big win." He loves talking up his mad "skilz" and if he's having a bad day, any day he's not dominating the front of the group, then he has some excuse about hurting. Its OK though since he's my brother and I know he's just full of crap. Someone who did that to me all the time would be getting the ol' frame pump through the wheel trick.

Nola_Gal

Great story! Being a 10 mile rider is no sin (I'm a beginner myself) but sounds like the guy needed to learn to give a little respect where respect is due...

Mr. Beanz

Yup, like I said, it's all good but if you challenge another rider, make sure the conditions are similar. I've met up with othe riders doing 10 0while I'm on a 40. I will actually pull them fro the last 20 or so in order for them to conserve. This rider drafts me from mile 1 to mile 10 then wants to race after I've got 40 or 50 on me.

Worst thing is I have to listen to stories about how everybody else drafted him without helping!

Mr. Beanz

OH this ride has been ridng for 15 years and actually thinks he an accomplished rider. As far as new riders, 10 milers, I would be the first to take the front, let you draft me for 10 so that you could do another 5 for a personal best!

boy scout 161

"Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues." Confucius.

Redskin8006

5 miles....he wasn't even warmed up yet. I'm surprised he hung with you guys for as long as he did! Tell Gina to take it easy on him next time. He might pull a muscle or something.

Mr. Beanz

I'm surprised he didn't use that one!

DieselDan

Sometimes a pump in the front wheel....

kenseth03

Man Beanz, I like your style!!!

Herbie53

To each his own I suppose, but good gosh man!!... 5 miles is hardly a good warm up! You treated him as he needed to be treated.

Most of the TT events around here seem to be 12 or more miles and decent guys average around 26 mph (rolling terrain). Sounds like he has some work to do before he can back up his smack.

bretgross

We're all "Legends in our own minds".
Nearly all of my rides are solo. You should hear some of the stories I tell myself!

Mr. Beanz

Well start a thread! This place needs more stories!

timmythology

Obligatory pics or it didn't happen
Nice job

bigtempo

I hate trash talking, I mean I really think there is no need for it. Where is the race? I guess some friendly competition is cool I guess. I never draft strangers, either I am going to pass them or I am not. And if I am going to pass them, I better have enough in the tank to go a ways. I guess I never thought of asking if anyone wants to work together.

When climbing the mountain, there are generally only two types of riders, those that pass you and those that never catch up to you. And the ones that catch up and chat it up for a bit are pretty friendly. Most are pretty impressed about the climbing ability for my size. They offer me tips on how to lose weight, not knowing I have already lost 50 lbs.

On the flats all the hard core fast guys are going full tilt, even in the foothills. But once one turns north and heads into the mountains, all the cockiness goes away and everyone suffers equally.