Spring Pineapple Bob Ride

It was a cold, sunny, and fairly positive start to the ride today. The Pineapple Bob (the "P-Bob" for those in-the-know) is a ride that is conducted twice per year out of Holland. As usual, the ride is conducted with the help of the VCC and MCC crowd.

Typically the ride is an adventurous combination of dirt, gravel, and pavement. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-45 miles depending on the weather. And, usually two ride groups.

Todays was a bit different. Apparently, for the first time in history, the P-Bob was ridden on pavement only. The VCC Cruise Director did some scouting of the dirt roads and found that they were still too slick with a combination of ice and melt-water. A dangerous combination for all but the heartiest of riders. In the interest of overall safety, the decision was made to keep the route on the pavement. Due the unusually cold temperature (thanks to Global Warming) we also ran a slightly shorter ride than is the typical. Planned about 25 miles, but we actually did about 30 since we got a little lost-ish.

It was good to see Da'Ve on the bike with the group. He's a blast to ride with...not sure why. It's not like he is regaling me tales of cycling lore, cracking jokes, or doing anything particularly "fun". Yet, I always enjoy my time with him. He looks so effortless on the bike...it makes me a bit jealous. Plus, he's so nice about waiting for my slow, fat, lazy butt without making me actually feel like I am holding him back (though, some observation indicates that he obviously would be riding at the front of the fast group if he didn't have to wait for me). I also enjoy chatting (in spite of gasping for breath) with Da'Ve because he's the literate type. He's quiet-ish and likes talking books with me. He gets my stupid book humor (if you know why 42 is important, then you'd get my humor too), so I have to treasure that. Luckily, I also had Doez to keep us company, and he seemed to be equally slow today. So, I fel less guilty since Da'Ve had more than one person he needed to wait for...thus, I could spread the guilt among multiple people. I don't know...Da'Ve is just such a good guy. I'd bring him with me on every ride if I could.

I'm finding a pattern in my group ride experience. I typically hang out with the front of the fast group for the first 18-20ish miles of the ride. During the winter they tend to hover in the 16-19mph range for most of the ride (stepping up to the 18-21mph range in summer). There is always the obligatory "warm up" as we spin our way out of town...typically keeping it in the 15mph range. I make it through a few miles of warm-up without trouble, and then generally am able to survive and the guys spool up to the quicker ride pace.

However, there is always a bit of a "surge" quality to the rides. Someone will inevitably come to the front and step up the pace...bringing it up to a pace that is at, or slightly above, the upper limits of my comfort level. This may go for a short period of time, until the group hits a stop sign or cross street. Or, it may go for a few miles until the group subconsciously settles back in to a more standard pace.

Early in the ride, I seem to be able to handle these surges in the speed. However, as we get deeper and deeper in to the ride, and the mileage, I seem to have more trouble staying with the increases in speed. Finally, somehwere in the 18-20 mile range someone will step up the pace again and I will get dropped.

For me this is a bit a predicament. I don't want to drop back to a slower group becaue I feel like pushing myself with the fast group is the only way to get faster. However, I'm not sure how much I'm actually helping myself by getting dropped every time I do a group ride. Plus, if I'm honest with myself, I don't enjoy the ride as much when I am riding by myself...or, worse, forcing some faster rider to slow down and wait for me (typically MC, Aaron, Berger, Da'Ve, etc), thereby making their ride less productive for them. I'd love to think that my commuting work over the winter has really helped my riding...but, I think the truth is that it hasn't done much at all. To be honest, I don't push myself too hard during those rides. There are lots of stop signs, stop lights, cross streets, traffic, and I'm typically by myself and riding in the dark. The combination just doesn't make for good "training" type rides.

There was a time at the end of the summer last year when Aaron was leading the faster group on the Tuesday night road rides out of VCC. He did a really good job of holding the group pace to about 18-19mph (in, but at the top, of my comfort zone), and I always had a blast because I could stay with the group the whole time.

One of my objectives is to get faster this spring/summer in order to make it so that I can comfortably stay with the guys in the faster group. I don't know if I'm capable of that...but, I'll try.

Since I'm talkin it up...how about the route?