It’s a Small World

No, I’m not talking about the lame Disney Ride.   I have to tell you that growing up near Cedar Point has ruined me for all other amusement parks 🙂

I’m talking about the serendipity of meeting someone by random chance.    Read on…

A few days ago, a blog reader named DeWayne contacted me saying he found my blog on google, was racing at Musselman and wanted to know how he can get a Trakkers device.  I posted a blog about wanting beta testers for Mussleman couple weeks ago.     I answered his email, giving him the contact information of the Trakkers Team leader.

Last night I rode with the Inside Out Sports training group.    I was wearing my Team Trakkers bike jersey.    A guy rode up next to me and asked me about Trakkers.   I told him I was on Team Trakkers.  He replied that he was doing Musselman and was going to wear a Trakkers device.    I asked how he found out about Trakkers beta testing at Musselman.   Well, you can guess the rest of the conversation…that he turned out to be DeWayne!   Neither of us had any idea that the other lived in the same state, let alone would be riding with the IOS group together!   It was so funny!  Small World!

I had an awesome ride last night with IOS.  I felt just like I was in the Tour de France.    I stayed near the front, but did not do any pulling during the warmup.  I wanted to keep my legs fresh for the hard work to come.     When A group took off, I was in just the right spot to catch the last guys wheel.  I stayed at the back of A group for 35 minutes.  It was hard work.  On hills I would start to drop back.  I’d stand up and ‘attack’ to get back on the train, envisioning Mark Cavendish sprinting to the finish.   I chanting “more pain, more pain” in my mind to help me keep going.   Sometimes,  I would drop back going around turns, and again go on the attack to get back on.     At one point I dropped too far back to catch up.     A few minutes later, a rider from B group passed me.  I tried to grab his wheel, but he was going too fast and I did not react quickly enough.     Then I listened for any other riders coming up behind.  When I heard one, I started to accelerate ahead of time, then moved right in behind her wheel and followed her to catch back up to A.       It was really amazing.    Then I started to get tired, and when I got dropped again, near the end of the hard part of the ride, I just took it easy from there.    I was only supposed to go hard for 24 minutes, and did 35 minutes at 166 bpm.

This group training ride is really  bumping me up a notch in my cycling.   When riding solo, I just am not motivated to get my heart rate up to 166 for that long!    Also, attack skills can be useful in triathlon races.  So many times, I pass males in races.    Their egos just can’t take a female rider passing them.  So they immediately pass me back, then go back to their normal pace.  Which was slower than mine.    I pass them back, only to have them pass me again.   This cat and mouse game ticks me off because it slows me down.    Next time this cat and mouse game starts, I will go on the attack and make it impossible for them to pass me back.

The other situation in a race where attacking can be useful is cresting the top of hill.  I am a very fast descender and do not like slower riders in front of me slowing me down on the descents.   So, I like to try and get ahead of people at the top of a hill, so I can fly down freely.

Training for these attacks gets my body used to it, so that I recover quickly.  I don’t think it will hurt me in a short  race.    This is my plan for Triangle bike course:       Go out conservatively.   Attack when necessary.  Pain.  Negative split.   More Pain.