Getting Schooled

I've been emailing with Todd, the guy that runs the GVCC. At one point he offered to show me some good roads to ride on, and I jumped at the chance. He then says, "I can swing by after I hit up the some hard training." Alarm bells should have gone off at this point.

So, at the designated time, he ride up to my house, wearing full kit and riding a rather beautiful bike (I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't notice what kind). He pulls off his Rudy Project glasses (yes, I did notice that) and introduces himself. We head south from my house, and I immediately come to the conclusion that I'm in trouble. It wasn't so much our speed that tipped me off, but I made the mistake of checking out his legs. Perfectly shaven to display a level of muscle definition that strikes both awe and fear into my heart.

We're chatting and cruising along, and I notice that my legs are burning a little. I think I'm just stiff from the ride yesterday and having been off the bike for so long. Then I glance down at my speed. Turns out we're cruising at about 21mph, before I'm warmed up. I think to myself, "I'm sure we'll slow down once we get away from traffic, and I'll be fine once I'm warmed up," so I don't say anything. Todd is continuing to chat about racing, school, and all kinds of stuff in a way that proves he's not even a little bit out of breath. I try to keep up my end of the conversation, but it comes out in half sentences, since I have to catch my breath every 4-5 words.

After only 15 minutes or so of riding, we come to an area that is made up of beautiful fields, backroads and old farmhouses. Perfect cycling country. I would have been enjoying the view, except Todd was maintaining his cruising speed of about 19-21mph. I should point out that we were riding side by side the entire time, in order to hold a conversation, so I couldn't just draft off his wheel. I should also point out that my typical cruising speed on this kind of terrain is in the 16-18mph range.

About 30 minutes into the ride I was feeling warmed up. There comes a point when the muscles just get loose and happy and I can feel the blood pumping without feeling much of a burn at all. I hit that point, and felt really good. It didn't last. About the time the good leg feeling was fading Todd says, "If I'm going to fast or too slow, make sure you tell me." Being as competitive as I am, he might as well have said, "I dare you to keep up with me." So I did. The good legs went away and the burn started to creep in.

As we turned onto my road, with Todd still chatting amiably and without sign of fatigue, I realized that I had done almost no talking for the last few miles. He either didn't notice or, more likely, was kind enough to not point it out. We got back, I thanked him profusely for coming out to show me around, and watched him ride off into the sunset. I check my computer. Turns out we had gone over 18 miles in about an hour. When you factor in stoplights, etc. that amounts to pretty darn fast. My last race in Portland was a 20.4 mile time trial that I did in just over an hour. His cool down was my tempo workout. I believe that I got schooled tonight. The great thing? I feel like I could've gone farther. Maybe those two weeks without my bike weren't so terrible after all.

My first race is on Tuesday. With luck, maybe I can do a little schooling of my own.