Riding with Charlie: 1st Group Ride
 

Went on my first group ride yesterday, a group of two, me and Charlie. We rode around the lake. 24 miles. It was not the best experience but I laughed about it all afternoon and evening.

Charlie is a friend who is about 6 years younger than me. He is a Military Academy grad, retired from the reserves, ex-fighter combat pilot, current airline pilot, former state H.S. soccer star, basketball and soccer referee, and a Triathlete. He usually competes in a Triathlon once or twice a month between April and October.

Over the winter Charlie earned a promotion and received a big pay increase. To reward himself he bought a new bike. Not any ole bike and not just a nice bike, mind you, but a Time Trail bike which looks just like the ones the pros used on Saturday at the prologue in the Tour de France. It is carbon fiber, winged handle bars, with the tucked in extensions and bar-end shifters and funny brake levers that look similar to the ones on my '66 Collegiate. The rear wheel is molded into the funky curvy looking seat tube. It weighs nothing. A stiff breeze could pick it up off the ground it is so aerodynamic. The bike screams "FAST! FASTER THAN FAST!" He paid well over $6000 for it.

So, here we are; Charlie on his brand new $6 Gs, CF, TT under 15 lb. machine, and me, Pastor Bob, on my '79, high carbon steel, 30 lb., $160 Schwinn Traveler (a 10 speed converted to a 18 speed), on our 24 mile round the lake group ride. Charlie is a very fit looking 210 lb., and I'm overweight at 250 lb. We start our ride, and I'm dropping Charlie left and right. Charlie can't keep up with me going up the hills, down the hills, nor even in the one 2 mile flat section. And he wanted to stop all the time. Now I am not fast. My cycle computer says I average 12-14 mph when I ride solo around the lake. I usually burn 1800-2200 K-Cals. Yesterday I burned only 1200 K-Cals. And I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with Charlie. I guess 1300+ miles so far in 2006 have really paid off. :D

Good stuff - sort of amazing, actually, given your description of Charlie!

Did you have a chance to ride his TT bike?

Sounds like a clear example of Charlie buying the wrong bike..... A true TT bike set up for the pro's is an incredibly miserable thing to ride..... even for the pros. Charlie probably cant breath right and that is why he is stopping so often. He would have been better served buying a Pilot with DA or something similar...

PB,

You ought to join Charlie on one of those triathalons. You might win.

Dnvr,

No. I'd like to give it a spin. But my inexpensive Shimano SPD cleats in my inexpensive MTB shoes won't fit in his very expensive Speed Play pedals, which he curses every time he tries to click into. My foot is bigger as well, so I can't simply try on his shoes. I'd have to swap out his pedals in order to ride it. I think I'll wait. I wish I had had a camara to take a pic of his bike or remembered to write down the name. It's decked out with an Ultegra gruppo.

Many moons ago- I organised a cycling event for my company- A team from each depot to do various activities on the ride. There were all sorts of riders- and Obviously I was on my depots team. Team of 6 and I told everyone that wanted to ride in the team that it would be harder than they thought so I would like them to come and practice to see what they were letting themselves in for. The girl on the team was about 80lbs soaking wet but she did cycle. She was slow but never walked a hill- she was in the team. Then a couple of sales reps that drove about all day and they were ok. Then we got to the last two. One played Football and for a semi-professional club. He was fit but not Bike fit. He struggled. The other was a fit youngster that went to the gym- played rugby- still cycled his own bike to work- He failed. One look at the first slope and he said he was not going to make it.

The two that I had trouble with were the fit ones- They were fit and tried to show how good they were- and wore themselves out.
Now about that 64 year old that occasionally comes out with me- I see him at the start but I am too slow- First hill and I am riding on my own.

I think you must have had some outside assistance on this ride- and I am not sure if its allowed. All that winter training in the attic with the buns and pies supplied by the wife has had its effect at last. Not certain if its legal to show up a fitter rider- but its great fun.

It sounds like he might have a Cervelo. Regardless that is a great story!!

Now, how are you going to weave that into a message from the pulpit Pastor B?? How about something along the lines that just because faith, grace, the good book, etc has been around for a while it doesn't mean it's not contemporary or just as good as ever!! Whoa.......that was pretty good!

I went to Charlie's house last evening for the 4th. I was able to take another peek at his bike. It is an Aegis T2. After a Google search I determined that it cost a cool $5000, not the earlier $6Gs, which I guessed at! Still, after inflation, my Schwinn would only cost about $425 in today's dollars. The good news was that Charlie was telling everyone how "Bob beat the lycra off my sorry a$$." (His words, not mine.) I tried to talk him into a ride today, but he begged off.

jppe, Ms. PB has put a ban on any more bicycling analogies in my sermons. Although, about a month ago, I used a hub, a spoke, and a rim, as a way to describe the Trinity in a Children's Sermon. The children were stumped about what I was showing them. You should have seen the look on their faces when I revealed the whole wheel.

You left out the part about the new set of Campagnolo Neutron wheels you bought on the church's dime to bring this analogy to life!

Not quite! :eek: I used a mid '60s vintage Nuovo Record high flange hub, double butted spoke, and Mavic tubular rim. The wheel I showed at the end was the original steel 27 X 1 1/4 from my '79 Schwinn!

PB, Great story, see it's not the bike it's the engine. Actually, I think that bike is pretty ugly. If I had 5K to spend on a bike I would probably get a Pilot 5.2, and one for my wife!

I'm sure the bike shop that sold it to him promised he would be "faster than Lance" if he bought this bike. It is a nice bike if you need a TT dealy bob.

There's nothing quite like getting in the base miles in situations like this one. I hope your riding pal wasn't too demoralized. On another note... if he's a serious triathelete, the bike he bought might serve him quite nicely. Although, I'd be hard pressed to convince my wife that I do anything well enough to justify spending 5 Gs on a bike.

Charlie wants to ride again on Monday. I think as much as anything he needs to re-gear his bike. I couldn't do a tooth count but I'm guessing he is running a 39-52 on the crankset and a 11-24 on the cassette. I believe he would do better with a 32, 34 or 36 and 50 up front and 11-30 or 32 in the rear. I offered to help him make the switch but he said his Tri buddies would give him too much grief.

Isn't it strange the our "buddies" are almost always the ones that give us the most grief!