You're right - in the video, only those two at the beginning were really trying to chase, escept for one later in the video. The rest of the bikes were just your average weekenders. My battery was done by the time most of the real challengers were out there. One tall Russian guy gave me a scare by keeping up with me for a couple miles before he just couldn't handle it - we were over 30mph at points on the flats. My average on a loop like that would be closer to 27, but the traffic just makes that too scary a proposition.
And I assure you, those guys, and many others were trying, because when I slowed down to let them catch up, we had some nice chats about the speed of recumbents.
That was my first ride out at WRL. I live in Fort Worth and rarely get out that far. Plus, it's kinda boring being on such flat surface. My usual ride is in Ceder Hill with the Texas Wheels. It's very little flat surface on our training loops. Rolling hills, long steady inclines, and the Texas Plume, which is a killer climb that reaches 12% in one part. I also regularly climb the wall, which is so steep the front tire of my bike lifts off the ground. I enjoy the hills. The armadillo century down in Austin was fun as heck. Flatter centuries I can break 5 hours on, but that one took me 6.
Since you're at WRL so much, look for the yellow lowracer in my video. Mark pretty much rides there every day just about. His blog is
http://www.lifeonabaron.blogspot.com/. We were there on the 20th - you couldn't have missed us, since we had 4 lowracers together. He and another guy named TJ ride together a lot out there. TJ's bike is a red lowracer.
It'd be a bit of a drive for you, but come check out the tuesday and thursday night rides at Joe Pool Lake with the Texas Wheels. These guys kick my butt still, but I'm catching up quick.
Originally Posted by ZXiMan
Uhhhhh, none of those "roadies" were really trying I'm afraid.
Well, ok, maybe the chick with the aero bars was attempting to keep pace but even she wasn't staying in an aero position much. All the others you passed, including the Mad Duck riders in the beginning were pretty much taking it easy. The locked elbows, upright position and relaxed cadence is the dead give away. I wouldn't say anyone got "smoked".. unless they were actually trying. Keep in mind that about 90% of all cyclists are in zones 1, 2 and 3 while riding out there. I'm usually averaging 18-20 mph on the inside loop (zones 2-3, sometimes 4 when there is a 20+ mph headwind. Great video though.
White Rock is a great place to ride, but there are no real hills... unless you go through some of the neighborhoods just southwest of the lake (Winstead Rd for instance). Those lady lumps you called hills, I don't even notice them when I ride there
Oh, and by the way, I ride WRL at least twice a week and sometimes on the weekends. When did you film this?