Got my A$Z handed to me. THE REMATCH

Back in July I posted about my orthopedic surgeon offering to go on a ride with me while neglecting to tell me he used to be on the Yale cycling team. He completely kicked my butt. http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Well since then I have dropped 20# of what I gained while recovering from two surgeries. In the past 5 or 6 weeks I have been riding about 100 miles a week. So today we had a rematch.

We added another 10 miles to the ride, mostly flat with a few long climbs but nothing steep. Then we hit the hilly part. Like last time he would jump out of the saddle and race up the hill but was not leaving me far behind. That was the first two hills. The he says to me “let’s go”.

So I power down the hill with 15 more pounds than him and more power I pull away down the hill and most of the way up the next hill. I downshift and power to the top. Behind me he jumps out of the saddle and tries to catch up. He does catch me at the top of the hill but he is the one huffing and puffing and I am fine. Plus I know we have several more hills to go.

I lead the entire rest of the ride. So we pull into our stopping point and he says ‘Ok, I think its 1 and1’. When I ask what he thought of the route he said; two miles too far.

It was interesting as we discussed the different riding styles. I as a triathlete work to keep a steady power output and avoid spending it all on the climbs. He is used to group rides where they draft along the flats and then spend the energy on the uphill stretches.

It was good to know I was getting back to my pre-accident form and even though I will be 60 next year, I still teach a thing or two to an early thirties cyclist at his game. Now I know he is not at the top of his game given he doesn’t exercise as much as I do. But I am still improving as well.

This time I motivated him to get back into better shape.