Wonder what Flatlands are like to ride?
There used to be the YeeHaw Junction Ride which was an out and back century with virtually 0 climbing.
Riders tend to get into huge groups and pacelines. The only way you can drop anyone is by going really, really fast. Of course, to drop people, you have to be a whole bunch stronger.
I did the Space Coast Century some years back. I was in the lead group about. It took up a whole lane. It was about 3-4 abreast. We were riding on 4 lane divided causeways. Many riders were obviously neophytes so I had to watch them. It was easy. When we went slow, I would glance at my speedometer and it was at 26 or 27 mph. It was like crusing at 19 mph solo. So I figured that I would just hang back and continue with the front group until I ran out of water.
The strange thing was that when people realized that they had to slow down, it came as a sudden revelation. They did not work their way to the rear. They just rode off the road at 25 and usually crashed. There were 3 broken collar bones on the ride.
The front people seemed to belong to a club. They had a couple of vehicles that kept them supplied with snacks, water and goodies. We were down to about 25 people when I had to pull off for a water refill at around 65 miles. If I recall right, I had an average of 24 mph at that point. It was "slow" because we had to stop for a few lights.
I don't really like to ride in really big very fast groups with a bunch of cyclist of varying abilities, sense and experience anymore. Too many bad things happen and I don't heal as fast as I used to.
You just described what our expressways are like every morning and afternoon, only at
65 to 70 mph.
