Every bike shop has a ride. Every ride has it nuances and niche. For several years now a Monday Night ride has slowly morphed into a 'Recovery' ride.
Its original intent was just that - recovery. A chance for the local racers to get out and have a social easy spin after a tough weekend of racing. Now the attached tag of recovery is more of a twisted joke because it is anything but.
An honest assesment of the ride would read like this: no one gets left behind, unless they choose to be; the pace is largely leisurely but there are some designated sprints (probably 8, maybe more, rarely less); after a sprint, regroup and continue on.
It seems to achieve a good balance. People looking for some intensity are satisfied and newbies get the chance to work on pack skills and take a crack at some hard efforts when they want. Plus, there is a Most Aggressive Rider jersey awarded at the end and its usually celebrated with a few wheat sodas. Remember, this ride has an open invitation to anyone interested.
However, there are some exceptions to the recovery ride and tonight was one such example. This night fell into the small percentile of ruthless/angry riding. But this honestly doesn't happen often, or maybe the ride is morphing again?
Present Tense, Future Imperfect
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What have Demi Vollering and Lenny Martinez got in common? One thing is
they both told their teams they were leaving earlier this season and
quickly felt...
What's with the dirt roads? Is it morphing into a mini Roubaix?
ReplyDeleteSorry once again...this time no anger just flat out Fear...Broke Rule #1. Won't let this happen again.
ReplyDeleteIt's a long summer boys!
ReplyDeleteGreat Ride M Fer's.
ReplyDeleteOpen invitation, huh? What new rider wants to be shit-kicked on a "recovery" ride with the MaxEdge a-holes (myself included)?
ReplyDeleteI've hit a new low...dropping the man that gave me cycling.
Probably not a ride for all, but I seem to recall that most of the guys currently doing this ride took some pretty hard lumps in the beginning and still kept coming back.
ReplyDeleteThe dirt/gravel road phenomenon definitely elicits some polar opinions. I am on one end of the spectrum - A Big Fan.
Dropping the man that gave you cycling could be grounds for adoption.
i for one thoroughly enjoyed the shit-kicking handed out by the MaxEdge a-holes...noone gets left behind, unless you choose, and you will know if you've chosen to be left behind...seems to me to be good motivation to keep up!!!
ReplyDeletethanks gentlemen
Too late for adoption, but I think he dropped me from the will.
ReplyDeleteAlso a big fan of the dirt/gravel...a little taste of Euro Spring Classic riding (in my head anyway).
The only thing to heal a bruised cycling ego is show up again next week and make it hurt forever...cause it's going to.
The frothy ass was spotted in essex county somewhere near Harrow this evening. It is a rare but amuzing sight and shocked the shit out of Kaz.
ReplyDelete