You're doing it wrong.

Last year I was part of the cycling team hired to escort the elite wheelchair racers who do the New York Marathon course before the runners. In addition to ~30 wheelchair athletes, there were 3 or 4 handcyclists.

Our team captain, who's had this duty for quite a few years in a row & so knows what to expect form elite wheelchair athletes & hand cyclists, assigned the ******* based on our capabilities on the bike. The handcyclists were assigned the fastest ******* from our entire team, all current CAT1 & CAT2 racers.

...and within the first 4 miles of the course, all but one of those (bi)cyclists was dropped by the handcyclists. Totally and completely dropped, their CAT1 & 2 asses handed to them in a paperbag, set on fire, and left on a neighbor's doorstep.

Those handcyclists were handily and easily exceeding 35mph on flat ground. At one point three of them passed me while I was escorting Mr Wheelchair Dude into the final straightaway, and it was like I was standing still. Really impressive to see what looks for all practical purposes like a guy lying flat on his back in the middle of the road fly by at those speeds.