After a while, I suspect this blog may contain many entries with this title. Every Saturday morning, a group meets at Winslow Green on Bainbridge Island and rides to Port Gamble and back. The size of the group varies from two to twenty, depending on season and weather, and they almost always ride the same route. North on 305, right on Toten, left on Port Gamble Road, left on 104 to Port Gamble. I don’t particularly care for parts of the route that ride along main highways, but I ride anyway because I like the people, they know how to ride in straight lines, and at times the group motivates me to ride faster than I otherwise would. (Truth be told, most of the time when I ride alone, I ride like a slug.)
Going north on 305, the main highway on Bainbridge Island, the group always starts out much faster than I would ride. Lately I’ve been hanging off the back, avoiding sitting on anyone’s wheel because it requires me to work a little harder, riding without the benefit of a draft. Also, I’m not really thrilled about riding pace lines on main highways.
Today, like many days, I didn’t talk much while riding. It’s important to me be part of the group, but often I don’t feel like talking much. One thing I’ve noticed about people in general, and cyclists in particular, they’re really fond of talking about what’s going on in their lives. That’s fine by me, because I’m actually interested, and it also makes it easy if I don’t need to say much more than asking questions and remarking about someone else’s stories. It’s not that I’m reluctant to share, I’m just not inclined to do so unless I find someone is genuinely interested. INFJ.
Because we always ride the same route, there are pre-determined places where we pick up the pace. I look forward to the sections, because right now I’m in decent condition. Today, no one seemed to want to play hard. When it was my turn to take a pull on the pace line riding down Big Valley Road, I road off the front taking only Scott with me. Everyone else took it easy.
Actually, it’s pretty common for cyclists in this area to back off this time of year. People typically improve their conditioning to get ready for summer events like Ramrod, STP, and other centuries, then back off in September. No one can maintain peak condition all year round. Racers use the term periodization to describe how they’ll tune their conditioning for key races. The same idea applies to recreational riders.
The Saturday group welcomes riders of different abilities. It’s a no-drop ride, meaning the group always waits at pre-determined places for slower riders to catch up. For the past couple months I’ve noticed how there really are no slow riders – everyone rides pretty much the same pace. Slower riders are probably reluctant to start out with this group. I know from experience, it’s not fun to ride with a group if I’m always dragging off the back with my tongue hanging out.
After we crossed Agate Passage and returned to the rock, I decided to leave the group, and take a longer route home. Mostly I just wanted to stop and pee. It also gave me the chance to climb a few more hills on the way to Battlepoint park and to stop and take a picture. Maybe the moss covered barn is somehow symbolic of me. Or maybe it’s just a barn.
