Politics of dancing…I mean group rides.

by Clint Hosman on September 21st, 2008

It seems like no matter how long it has been that I have stepped away from a group road ride for or how many times I come back, but I always forget one of the cardinal rules. Don’t get caught by the yo-yo effect. There is always at least one hammer head in the group with a tribal tattoo and shorty shorts that wants to get out there for a few seconds driving the pace of the pack up too quickly and then dropping off. You all know this guy; he’s the one who will say “I don’t know how I feel “at the start of every ride. Once the pace slows after he drops back for a second he comes roaring back to the front again. I should know better then to take a turn at the front with guys like this but yesterday I fell for it…again.

I went out with a group ride out south of Phoenix around South Mountain and then back again, a trip of about 45 miles. For me not having ridden in a group in a few months and having forgotten to watch the hammer heads it was a tough ride. Add on top of this the fact that on the flats my chicken legs have a hard time holding the big guys pace. By the time it was my turn at the front my heart rate was already red lining. Not surprisingly after my few minutes in the lead I could hardly hold on when the yo-yo lunged forward again. Making matters worse was that my over active bladder forced me to pull to the side and that was it, the group was gone.

Thankfully they stopped a few miles up the road and I was able to catch up. I didn’t however make the same mistake twice and watched the group from the middle. Travis however was out in front the whole way, at 6,4 and 200+ pounds he makes a great person to draft off. All the little horse jockey roadies all piled in behind him whenever they could. That’s good though because he has the strength to pull them along and it gives them plenty of face time with the nice big Evomo logo in their face.

This afternoon Brett Miller from the down hill team came into town. He will be riding in the Wounded Warrior ride starting here in Phoenix Tuesday and going the whole way up to Las Vegas ending at Interbike. Tonight we got out for another road ride and then some Mexican food at my local cantina. So if all of you are wondering what a down hiller looks like in lycra, here you go. Very handsome no?