mrfreezesdefy3

With a guy ,who had the shaved legs n arms ,n a better bike ,with some kinda shoe covering like a nylon sock
,we entered a 7 mile stretch with 3 major hills . The first one .I took him on but the 2nd 3rd he heard me puffing trying to over take him,n he stood up n left me ,I caught him on the 3rd n pushed him all the way up it but i never got more than 10 ft away from him just couldn't get him .it was a good 35 mile ride ,with bout 1800 ft of gain .but even tho it was leisurely by some .it thrive on the competition that I run into ,and the comradery I make .just thought I'd share ...

Little Darwin

Please take this in the spirit intended, but I have corrected myself in thinking this way. After all, words mean things. Was it really a race?

For example, did this guy know you were racing? If not, the title should be: I rode my 2nd organized ride Sat. and almost caught a guy who looked like he could ride fast.

I use other riders to motivate myself to push hard (as you did here), but no way do I consider it a race unless both participants think it is a race.

If this was like some of my past experiences, it sounds more like this guy was on a casual ride, and when you got close acted like a horse casually flicking his tail to get rid of the pesky fly behind him.

LGHT

hahah I used to do that all the time on a local hill. What I didn't realize is the guy I passed had did the hill 4 times already and I was on my first pass. I found it more productive to race myself by setting up strava segments and seeing how I could better my time each ride.

mrfreezesdefy3

Nah the 2nd hill once he heard me coming he looked over his shoulder n then kicked it in high gear .he knew wat was going on , trust me he knew .

IBOHUNT

When you pin a number on it's a race. Give it a shot; it's a hoot.

35 miles with 1800' gain is a flat training ride. Z2 back in less than 2 hours

I think the "pesky fly" comment from Little Darwin applies...

scrming

THIS! Completely agree.... sign up for some actual races. Heck, i'm still considered morbidly obese and i've now completed two gravel road races and a MTB race... I'm signed up for a couple more races in May! I have ZERO chance of being competitive in these races, however it's a huge sense of accomplishment to just complete them! The bonus is I haven't been last! The other thing is I now have something to look forward to next year to see just how much i have improved! So while i enjoy a nice organized tour, I'm finding riding in a timed event is a lot more motivating and exciting!

Ronno6

One rider, it's a ride.
Two riders, it's a race! ('cept on a tandem.)
Just like sailing..............

kc0bbq

No, with a tandem it's a race that the captain is guaranteed to win unless something goes horribly wrong.

Ronno6

Well, the stoker would come in second, whereas the captain would finish next to last.............

superdex

did you type this while riding?

whitehare

Nice, I know what you mean. I was out for a 20 mile ride the other day finishing off the last few miles when this 150 pound guy goes past me on his Specialized SWorks. The competitor in me did not like this so I repassed on my $800 Fuji Cross bike and stayed ahead of him until I turned off the path for home. Felt real good. BTW how "Clyde" are you? I'm 275lbs.

mrfreezesdefy3

Was 350 now down to 286 . But be careful you'll get the pesky fly advice . Lol ,

RR3

Shaved arms?

Really?

I've pinned a lot of numbers over the years, can't recall seeing many shaved arms.

Disclosure....my legs are shaved. I had a weenie that kept crossing path with me on my ride yesterday. He seemed impressed with himself as he lumbered by me multiple times....little did he know my heart rate was a mere 110-115 BPM and that I was on a recovery/easy 40 mile ride and there was no way I was going to violate my training to chase him and who knows but he seemed to want to play cat and mouse. I am glad he felt good but in the end, there was no race. But....I do admit that It is nice to have some young rabbits to chase during training.....riders that you cannot catch if they are riding hard....for me, this is a way to simulate racing if done in hilly terrain. A local racing team came by me recently when I was geared up for randonneuring and I decided to keep pace at a respectful distance giving me a good 8-10 mile workout in the hills. I did not have the MoJo that day until a little competitive factor entered my brain. On one of the climbs, I had to slow in order not to pass their stragglers. WHo knows, the riders off the back might have been holding back and I was under no assumption that they were racing me despite them looking back many times. They were probably thinking who is this old fart on a touring bike hanging 100m back. Had we had numbers pinned, I am absolutely certain these youngster would have won. To me these little challenges can help during training but they are not races in any way shape or form. Besides there is a lot more to racing than power.

bbbean 

Shave your arms and ride faster! | road.cc

To the OP - I hate to burst your bubble, but when we get together at the full-kit-shaved-everything-high-dollar-wonderbike-club for our weekly meetings, we draw straws for who's going to be the designated slowpoke (DS) for the next week. The DS's job is to spend the week riding on routes popular with non-racing BF regulars at a speed just fast enough to look like we're trying, but slow enough that anyone who wants to can pass us and then post messages to BF about how they beat one of the fast guys, so obviously the bike/kit/shaving/helmet/garmin/whatever they're going on about this week didn't matter. It's a service we provide.

You're welcome.

Little Darwin

Are there DS riders in every region, or just yours?

I may want to file a complaint. I have yet to run into a rider in full kit with shaved legs who let me feel good by passing him, and I have nearly 8,000 posts in almost 10 years... Of course, maybe I have seen the assigned DS and they have been the ones I could almost keep up with.

On a couple of organized rides, I passed people when going down hill, but that is just physics.

Black wallnut 

Wow has this become the 41? Not saying your comment is out of place......

Yup training ride. Although I'm not 150 pounds I do get passed when I am on a recovery ride. I have also had a body builder type mid-20 college kid that thought he was the king of downhill segments drop off my wheel out of breath and in pain half way through an 11 mile segment a couple of weeks ago. If you want to race pin on a number. If you want to use another rider as inspiration to ride harder do so but announce yourself and thank them afterward.

TrojanHorse

OMG the moral superiority is strong in this thread. I do agree that the clarify of the original post is pretty lacking though, it's hard to follow.

The man had fun on a ride... big deal.

Btw, strava has a cool new feature called "Fly Bys"... if you're a strava user, you can look at other strava riders whose path you crossed while our riding. You can determine with certainty if they were out for a recovery ride or not.

IBOHUNT

To the OP.
Brush up on Rule 19 and 38. That will get your farther and gain more respect than some folks having to boil the frog.
Some advice. Take from it what you like.
I was once told... If you can hold 20 mph on the flat for 10 minutes you need to pin on a number.
I'd suggest that if you can ride that flat 35 mile ride you speak of in 1:45 then pin on a number and see what you have. If you are competitive as you say we'll see a post race report.

Nope. All(!) participants have to agree it's a race.
One guy huffing and puffing and another in Z2 wouldn't really be a race.

Read Rule 71

I provide the service in my area. Designated FOG (Fat Old Guy).
Last night my team mate did a, what I consider huge, 5 min power number. Was my 30 second power number. Dag gum skinny CAT3 kids

I get spat off the back in trainer sessions.

RR3

I'll pick up some wax for the arms pronto.....

Black wallnut 

I agree however I try to cut folks slack publicly as they are trying to communicate and I do not know their background. I have seen far too many times folks attack a forum members writing skills only to find out that the writer barely speaks English. To me pointing such things out is just not polite.

The OP is riding his bike, and is learning the joys of riding in organized rides kudos to him!

TrojanHorse

Well, the OP *IS* "somewhere in ga"

I'm generally not fussy but the stream of consciousness approach can be difficult to follow. Just saying without criticizing.

IBOHUNT

Well it's not West By Gawd where party lines were the early version of match.com

yeah.

This has all the makings of the Axiom... 'I was riding at 29 mph for 3+ miles. Is that sprinting?' thread where he said "Weight doesn't really mean much."
As I recall that didn't end well

Ronno6

I would be glad to. Where would I find it?

IBOHUNT

Velominati ? The Rules

Rule #71 // Train Properly.

Know how to train properly and stick to your training plan. Ignore other cyclists with whom you are not intentionally riding. The time for being competitive is not during your training rides, but during competition.

mrfreezesdefy3

I did talk to him at the next sag stop where we got our next playing card , he was cordial and I did have good comradery , and 1800 gain might be nothing for you all but maybe its a good burn for me ,or,,, maybe I enjoyed the climbs n yearn for more but that's all the gain offered in that ride n I was given a # ,don't know why ,it was a ride not a race ,, but me being competitive n he knew what was up, it was fun ,but I thought I said that in my post
,y'all don't know me ,so less you walk in my shoes you can kiss it,,,
I enjoy riding and plan on getting to a 0%bmi then I do plan on doing some racing but now I enjoy the comradera, of riding and loosing weight , and if you wanna shave it go ahead arms n legs ,head, neck I don't care, when I loose all my weight I will not shave myself ,I can as we say in the south"" I garontee,,", huh,,,,,. ,later,, ,,