On the second Tuesday of our new Tuesday night adventures, Dominic and I wandered over to Freewheel for what was billed as a very fast small group ride. I showed up to Freewheel’s Mecca in Eden Prairie and asked if the ride was still on. There was cold snowy weather in the forecast and it had rained most of the morning. The sales person took me to the shop and said "Sam, are you still riding?" A man fully kitted up introduced himself as Sam Beveridge and told me he was ready to go as soon as I was. Apparently this was going to be a small ride. I threw my junk on, waited for Dominic and we rolled out right on time. Sam, Dominic, and me, not exactly what I expected, but I’d hold my judgment. After a few miles of riding I realized that Sam was no joke. He lopped along next to Dominic and myself no problem, rarely taking a break from the wind pains. We joked some and he gave Dominic crap for trying to rest. I’ve been on a few different rides now and this one was the sort that I enjoy. I wonder what it’s like when people show up?
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Field trip part one. Permission slip signed.
This year I've been more active in group ride planning and routing than in years past. This has made me very curious what other teams and shops do. It seems that most of them run a fast Tuesday ride. With this in mind Dominic and I decided it would be time for a field trip.
With verbal invitation pasted to my chest I showed up at Now Bikes and Fitness a little early for the ride. I hadn't been there for a while so I might as well check out what they do that's kept them around for so long. Walking in I was struck by the staggering amount of bikes that they had hanging from the ceiling not to mention a fair amount on the floor. Not too bad, looking closer most weren't bikes I'd be super into, but I've already accepted that my taste is sort of odd. Walking around I started to notice more and more time trial bikes. I started to feel really dirty drowning in tri sort of stuff. Like I showed up at the tri and didn't know I was going to have to swim the first segment and just rode straight into the water and sank into a sea of unitards. Maybe there wasn't that much, but the guy asking about getting custom shoes so he could finish his bike swim thing didn't help. I left the shop and got ready to ride. It was 38 degrees and I was told this was going to be fast. Nothing says fast like skin exposed through knickers, so I broke out the Rapha and slathered on some Vaseline. The poor man's embrocation if you aren't aware. And I am aware of the irony of saying poor man's anything as I am sporting Rapha. They started right around six for a 30 mile loop through St. Paul, up the high bridge, down through Eagan, back across the Mendota bridge, and finally following the River Road to Marshall. It was a pretty good route with some climbing. I'm told they basically do that route every week. The pace was pretty good. I think we averaged 20. There seemed to be some random sprints that I wasn't aware of. Looking back at it, I think only one guy really knew about the sprints. Maybe he was just a little off? All in all it seemed like a decent group of guys that moved along at a pretty good clip and were really welcoming. That being said, I don't think they'll be sad if Dominic and I don't return.
With verbal invitation pasted to my chest I showed up at Now Bikes and Fitness a little early for the ride. I hadn't been there for a while so I might as well check out what they do that's kept them around for so long. Walking in I was struck by the staggering amount of bikes that they had hanging from the ceiling not to mention a fair amount on the floor. Not too bad, looking closer most weren't bikes I'd be super into, but I've already accepted that my taste is sort of odd. Walking around I started to notice more and more time trial bikes. I started to feel really dirty drowning in tri sort of stuff. Like I showed up at the tri and didn't know I was going to have to swim the first segment and just rode straight into the water and sank into a sea of unitards. Maybe there wasn't that much, but the guy asking about getting custom shoes so he could finish his bike swim thing didn't help. I left the shop and got ready to ride. It was 38 degrees and I was told this was going to be fast. Nothing says fast like skin exposed through knickers, so I broke out the Rapha and slathered on some Vaseline. The poor man's embrocation if you aren't aware. And I am aware of the irony of saying poor man's anything as I am sporting Rapha. They started right around six for a 30 mile loop through St. Paul, up the high bridge, down through Eagan, back across the Mendota bridge, and finally following the River Road to Marshall. It was a pretty good route with some climbing. I'm told they basically do that route every week. The pace was pretty good. I think we averaged 20. There seemed to be some random sprints that I wasn't aware of. Looking back at it, I think only one guy really knew about the sprints. Maybe he was just a little off? All in all it seemed like a decent group of guys that moved along at a pretty good clip and were really welcoming. That being said, I don't think they'll be sad if Dominic and I don't return.
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