Today I did a ride with Dave. Dave lives two houses away, and I always see him out on the bike. We've talked about riding a bunch of times, so I decided it was time to finally stop talking and start riding. He was open for a ride tonight, so we met up when he got home, and went for a ride.
Dave's a strong rider... really strong, so I was forced to work pretty hard. Not to keep up, he's very considerate and doesn't drop me, but it really did force me to work a BUNCH harder than I would have otherwise, and that's NOT a bad thing. We did 38 miles in the time it would have normally taken me to do 30-32, and included some fairly significant hills. Dave's 45 lbs lighter than me, and about the same height, so when we hit those hills, without even trying, he just kinda faded away into the distance up the hill as I struggled along in my lowest gear. Doesn't help that I'm coming back off a two week layoff, but it's gonna be a long time before I challenge Dave up a hill.
However, I got a measure of revenge going down Tohickon Hill road, the same hill I use for my top speed runs. I was sloppy through the S turns, and didn't get on the gas until I was fully out of the last corner, but still managed 52mph with cramping calves. (and a squirrel in the road) Dave, on the other hand, cut across the opposite lane and started pedaling earlier and still only did 48mph. HA! Gravity is my friend, if only while going downhill...
Heading back home, we were heading up Carversville Road, which is a shallow climb all the way, but no, I suggested take a side trip up Stover's Mill Road, which hits you with a short climb of approximately 15% grade. So, we're going up the hill, past a guy playing catch with his son, and a cute little girl standing by the side of the road, and right at the top, where it gets just a little steeper before it levels off, I stood to push through the end, and both of my quads cramped up - SOLID. I sorta fell down onto my saddle, and yelled out (it kinda hurt) but thankfully caught my tongue when I remembered the little girl -- didn't want her to hear what I was about to say!
I tried to ride through it, but it just wasn't working... I had to pull off to the side. Dave stood there holding my bike while sat in a ditch on the side of the road, pinched my upper lip (accupressure thing I've heard of to relieve muscle cramps) and tried to move my legs. Eventually, after a minute or two, I was able to remount the bike and start riding again.
Despite suffering like a dog, it was an AWESOME ride. I'm looking forward to riding with Dave again, as there's no way to get better than with riding with faster folks. He told me about a hill interval ride he does that he calls the "Six Sisters", and said nobody's done it with him twice. I need work on my hills, so maybe I'll be the first to do it twice? It's about an hour long, right in our backyard, and it sounds PAINFUL.
Oh, an amusing side note. While comparing the output from our bike computers at the end of the ride, our climbing was almost identical - 1716 feet to 1760 feet, but we did notice a significant discrepancy between our caloric outputs. While I, at 210lbs, burned 3200 calories, Dave burned only 1700! Damn skinny guys. :)
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