Did 53 miles this weekend with my Sunday morning partner. I think there is something to be said about age... the older a rider gets the more we realize its all about how you prepare... weight, exercise and know the benefis of high cadence vs. powering into the wind!
My friend is only 32 and I spent the entire time weighting up for him. His size acted more like a sail catching the head winds and even when he tried to draft behind me he caught too much wind.
At one point towards the end I jetted ahead to take a nature break not realizing he would miss my bike on the side of the rode and he continued on. I waited 5+ minutes (he had a couple cramps earlier) before I flagged down a truck to ask if he had seen him back a ways. When he had not I realized I had given him a big lead so I took off after him. The winds and my pedaling style paid off because I caught him and passed him on the final 1/2 mile to our vehicles.
It pays to be older and wiser and today at work he stopped by and said he planned to drop weight and work on his cadence pedaling. It appears it may have been a benifical ride for both of us...