TCC Pace Test – UGH
Went out with the TCC folks for a ride through the Boso. Mainly I wanted to check my pace and see how well a fixie would play with trained cyclists. They the ride would be relaxed and not likely to exceed 30kph or so., Cool, I can usually hang with that – at least for awhile. Got to the station and there were like 8 guys, in no-name kits, with more carbon than a 767. And I don’t mean pimp bikes, I mean like real honest-to-goodness-kick-your-ass-while-I’m-sleeping type. I shoulda known better.
Well – to make a long story short – I felt like I was a 50% of my fitness level riding with guys at 80% their fitness level getting spun completely out on the downhills and totally butchered on the climbs. There was just no way I could bridge the gap, especially on the downhills. I did catch the group briefly while they were stoking Snickers at the 7-11 (how the f* did I do that ??) but then when they turned into the 12% hills – it killed me again. I had to switchback all the way up and skidly like a mofo on the way down. No fun there. Tired of getting killed, I bailed and headed for the coast. Then button hooked back up and eventually snagged the train back from near the starting point.
While I was solo TTng in the mountains it DID occur to me the raw difference, though, between a fixie ride and a freewheel ride. As a fixie rider you have a very deep communion with the road. Your are attached to it through every moment of pedal stroke. You become the road in a way that a freewheel rider can’t. Namely cause in a freewheel ride you can disconnect. Plus you can cheat the road by gearing.
Ride a fixie and you ride truth.
