Navy v. Army,
Hello v. OK Readers,
And of course;
Triathletes v. Road Cyclists
All classic rivalries but like Mahatma Gandhi and MLK before me, through non-violent means, I am striving to break down the barrier that exists between Triathletes and Road Cyclists by doing a bit of both. Of course I am being a tiny bit overdramatic but as I got into the sport of Triathlon last year I certainly got the impression (however misguided) that there was an underlying rivalry(?) between the two groups.
If any triathletes or road cyclists are reading this please do not get upset with me these are just my observations/points of view and as always my tongue is never far from my cheek.
I suspect that any antagonism between the groups stems from the fact that keen road cyclists tend to do a lot more biking for the simple reason that Triathletes also have to fit in time to swim and run. On top of this extra riding they tend to ride in a group most of the time. Triathletes on the other hand must race alone and are not allowed to draft off another cyclist. Many triathletes apparently prefer to cycle alone in order to train as they will have to race. Bottom line is that road cyclists do a lot more riding as a group.
They also ride quick. Top triathletes may be able to hold a fast pace over the course of the race but they do not have the sudden accelerations that road racers have. You do not have to be a cyclist to realise that a lot of people riding fast as a group within a foot or so of each other can be very dangerous. In order to remain safe you must be alert and most of all predictable so that you do not cause an accident. As a triathlete I had not experienced this requirement to such a high degree and roadies know this.
It seems to me that roadies instigate a policy of tough love when it comes to new cyclists. In order to keep the group safe if you do something stupid or dangerous you get shouted at. There is also no waiting around you either keep up or get left behind. If you get left behind you are done in a race and if you get left behind training you must ride more until you keep up. To that end they treat any new cyclist, including triathletes, as potential sources of danger until proven otherwise.
Triathlon group rides, on the other hand are very different. Most people, most of the time, are training in their endurance zone and are not after generating bursts of speed. As you are not constantly accelerating, decelerating and cornering there is plenty of time to discuss the weather, John’s latest haircut or the pros/cons of the yoga. There is inevitably less experience in the group and sometimes it can be a little dangerous but I bet it is no different to a novice group of ‘roadies’.
I have ran road races to improve my running and even did a swim meet last year to improve my swimming but as yet I have not done a road race to improve my cycling. That will all change on May 3rd when, with my coaches blessing, I do my first race. I have already mentioned that this race has more than its fair share of crashes and people continue to tell me that it is a poor race choice for you first race but things are as they are.
To try and increase my chances of completing the race I realise it is important to get in some group riding of the sort I have mentioned above. Last night I was down for a 2 hour endurance ride so I decided to spend 45 min cycling down to Wakefield Park where I would link up with a weekly group ride. 5 or 10 minutes before the ride start I was not sure that I was actually going to find (the rather large) Wakefield Park but sat at the traffic lights up ahead was a roadie decked out in his racing kit. I asked him if he was going to the group ride he introduced himself as Bo and said that I could tag along as he warmed up on route to linking up with the group.
We rode around the neighbourhood course backwards, chatting away, he turned out to be a nice guy and I thought to myself this pace is fine I can live with this. We then saw the rest of the group turned around and tagged on. I sat right at the back and Bo hooked up with one of his teammates. Again I was feeling fairly pleased with myself. As we went up a small rise I saw Susan, the ride captain from Team Z, who was out on a separate ride and I said hello as my group went past. Then suddenly the pace exploded. I tried to keep up and my heart rate shot up into the 180s. I was being dropped. Oh no! I am 2 minutes into my first roadie group ride and I am being dropped. To make matters worse I was wearing all my new, shiny Cadence Gear so I looked liked a pro but was riding like a toddler.
Luckily some one else was getting dropped and a few others were struggling to keep on the back. I pulled up and tried to get my heart rate down. I was slightly overdressed so I took off my skull cap and hoped that people thought I had pulled up on purpose to take off some of my winter clothing. The group had turned around and were on their way back. Bo and the other elite riders thundered past and I tagged back on. The group had now split into 2 groups and I hitched onto the back of the second group.
I was now in a group of about 12 cyclists some were older guys and there were a couple of younger guys in the group. I again felt out of place in my new gear as everyone else was wearing their beat up training gear which looked like it had seen many miles in the saddle but what can I do it’s a Catch 22 i.e. if I don’t wear it it will always look new. We kept the faster guys in sight for a while and it was obvious that the initial burst of speed was clearly aimed at breaking the group up. I think I probably got the worst of it as I was sat at the very back and unfortunately, for my pride, I passed Susan again as I was hanging off the back of the group. Although I was no longer with the elite guys my group was still moving at a quicker pace than I was used to. Instead of a constant effort the group would hammer out of corners and push hard up hills which is very different to way I train for Triathlon. That being said I was fairly comfortable staying in the group and even took a turn pulling. I did feel a burn in my legs a couple of times but luckily I seemed to recover fairly quickly from it.
As we passed the parking lot I dropped out of the last 30 mins of the ride as I had arranged to get picked up by Wendy. It was interesting ride. Although the initial burst of speed was scary after that I was OK in the second group. I would be interested to know who I was riding with and how the pace compares to what I can expect in my first Cat 5 race. It was not as much fun as my Tri group rides. There was no talking and the ride was very business like. That being said Bo and another guy I chatted to after the ride, called Chip, were both really nice guys and not fire breathing dragons.
I am planning on joining the group ride around Hain's Point tomorrow lunchtime so we will see how that compares.
