The Thrill of Victory or The Agony of Defeat
 

Yesterday on my 20mi daily ride my riding partner Bill and I head out into a strong 15-20mph wind. Bill says let's take it easy today and I agree, we rode hard in the same wind yesterday and my legs are tight. We finish the first of two loops and as we come around a corner we see a lone rider about 1/2 mi ahead. We have the wind to our backs and are warmed up and Bill who is in the lead says he is going to chase. We spin up to 23/24mph and start closing the gap. The rider looks behind and sees us, he does not want to be caught and starts to speed up. He is strong and starts to pull away but there are two of us and we know that when we turn into the cross wind we will have some advantage. We make the turn and I swing to take the pull, the rabbit has slowed a bit and at 21/22mph I am starting to close the gap, I swing to the back and Bill takes the front, he is stronger than me and increases the speed to 23mph. Now we believe in the next mile we should catch the rider and as we are feeling good a glance to my left and a lone rider goes past us like we are standing still! The chasers were being chased and have been caught and dropped like anchors.

But we don't get dropped easily we go after this guy, I look down 24, 26, 28mph and we have his wheel. My mind is screaming at me, 'you have the next pull and it is directly into the wind, you are going to die'. We make the next turn into the wind and like a wall it stands me up, the rider that passed us moves away and we all catch the rider we were originally chasing. He sees his chance and grabs the wheel of the guy as he goes by and the two of them ride off leaving Bill and I to suffer the wind. We all come together at the next light they are heading left, we go right. We all wave and the game is over, we loose, the Agony of Defeat it is.

Testosterone is such a wonderful hormone :D Were you guys on patches or naturally juiced up ....j/k ;)

The thrill of the chase is enough to get the natural juices going, nothing artificial for us.

Great Post!! I'm still chuckling!

Stone,

Excellent riding. It made me feel as if I was in the pace line with you and your buddy. Also, your post made me think again that a well fought "defeat" is better than a cheap "Victory". It sounds to me that everyone was winners on that ride.

Pat

What a great story! I can't help but wonder if those two were actually working together the whole time? One to get your hopes up, and the other one to smash your egos on the rocks before they both continue on their easy recovery ride! Whew! 28 mph? Now THAT'S a chase! I agree with Pat, it's better to lose a tough competition than to win an easy one.

Except for the part where I had to pull directly into the wind after we caught up, it was fun. The mile going into the headwind trying to keep above 17mph with my entire body on fire was not so fun. Of course we will do again tonight if the opportunity arises.

Reminds me of the time, last April, when a friend and I saw a rider up ahead of us about a quarter of a mile. "I think that's Curtis," she said, "let's catch him."

It took us almost three miles to catch him. When we finally caught him he started telling us about going to his 50th high school reunion. I never realized that Curtis is 68 years old!!!!

Great story and very realistic.
I am exposed to these scenarios often in this Detroit area Metro-park. The only thing which is a constant:
There is always someone faster. Cherish the small victories and accept with grace the small defeats.
I just got a new Trek Madone and felt perky chasing these two guys on Colagno's. I think they cost about twice. They did not appreciate that they could not drop this old dog.:D

I always love the chase rather win or lose.
its the fact that a challenge is represented and you tried your best

It's got me ramped up! :D Nice post, thanks!

This post is a hoot.... but... I see no agony of defeat. No, I see four riders out pushing themselves to higher levels of performance by using one another in highly appropriate ways. I say, game well played!

Super nice post!!!!!!!!

+1