The Upstate Winter Bicycle League rolled out of downtown Greenville shortly after 10 AM.  When I checked the temp while making my coffee, I noticed the temperature was around 31 degrees.  When I got out of the truck upon arriving downtown, I saw it had risen to 38 degrees.  Maybe this would turn out to be a good day.

The numbers were down slightly from last week.  Still, there was well over 100 riders who showed up for the ride that would cover nearly 10 more miles than the first one.  The other change was this week we would do portions of last week’s ride in reverse.

Looking at my data from the two rides, I was surprised how close the information was.

Dec. 6: Time – 3:09 / Distance – 63 miles / Avg. Spd. – 20 mph / Avg. Watts – 200
Dec. 13: Time – 3:38 / Distance – 70.5 miles / Avg. Spd. – 19.5 mph / Avg. Watts – 193

The only really interesting thing for me was that I wore my helmet cam on my head.  Typically I carry it in my pocket and pull it out to take video.  However, today I hoped to get some video of a field sprint.  I don’t exactly enjoy riding in a tight group at 30+ mph holding my bars with one hand while filming with the other!

I got several comments.  “Do you do a lot of night riding?” one rider asked.  That was creative.  Mostly people just said, “Is that a camera on your head?”  Yes, there was a camera on my head.  Yes, I felt like a geek!

Still I think it was worth it.  I got some decent video of the final sprint (to appear online soon) and also got some advertisement for LowCadence.com.  Each time someone asked if I was wearing a camera, I had the opportunity to tell them about the site.  Thankfully, low cadence, is easy to remember.

Once as we neared a stop sign, I heard a couple of guys talking and I heard one say something like, “Yeah, and he has a site called lowcadence.com.”  I wasn’t sure to be pleased or embarrassed.  They way they were talking it almost sounded like they were making fun of me!

Oh, well, the camera also allowed me to talk with people I had never met before.  There was one really nice guy who races in Masters 45+ who came down from Asheville just for the UWBL.  I also got to meet guys I have seen on multiple rides and finally got a chance to say a few words.

We ended up with two sprints.  The first one was just before our first stop at a BP station.  I didn’t even try for that one.  I just sat in the back and let the guys go for it.  However, I was stuck with some yo-yo’ing on some of the climbs and worked my way around it and was near the finish as the main group pulled into the store.

Then we had a bit more excitement between the stop and the final sprint.  A PT Cruiser came absolutely flying past us on the two lane road.  We were going into a curve and a man was crossing the road to get his mail.  It could have been a very dicy situation.

Not long afterwards a Greenville County Sheriff car came around us with his lights flashing and siren wailing.  My first thought was that he was coming after us for having such a large group on the road.  Nope, he went right past us.  I overheard people talking on the radios saying that he was going after the PT Crusier.

Sure enough, we came to a road block in the road.  I counted at least six Greenville County Sheriff vehicles.  They didn’t even pull the guy off the road.  He was blocking the entire right lane and there were deputies climbing all over the place.  Several riders started cheering.

I had a little trouble getting my camera going before the sprint and ended up toward the back.  This was the one I was hoping to use to get some good video to explain what happens in a field sprint.  Well, I guess I would get the chance to do it from the back!

If you are wondering, it took about eight minutes to cover the distance to the finish line once Sperry blew the whistle.  I was able to work my way up through the group and as we neared the finish I was in the top 20 or so riders.  I did have one touchy moment in my dash.

Of course, for most of the time the ride within the attack zone is pretty tame.  I was simply trying to work my way into position for the final excitement while trying not to work too hard!  However, when we got within sight of the finish it was time to go.  Things got much more jumbled at that point.

As I was getting squeezed by a rider to my right, another rider to my left came across my front wheel.  It was just one of those racing things.  I don’t believe either of us was “at fault.”  However, I was quite thankful for those bumping drills!  He jerked right out of his saddle and then got straightened up.  I did what you were supposed to and didn’t go jerking around and it was all over in a second.

Actually, I guess a wreck would have made better video!  The Greenville News reports, “Cyclist records own death.”

At that point, I just sat up.  There was nothing more to gain at that point.  A small gap formed between the riders ahead and myself.  Looking at the video, I get the sense I wasn’t the only one who had had enough!

I’m looking forward to next week when we’ll take a break from the regular UWBL and I’ll be riding in the cancer fighting fund raising ride for Susan Sullivan.  Joey Sullivan, Susan’s husband, was one of my teammates on the ride to Texas.  It certainly makes the ride mean more to me.

When I got up Saturday morning, one of the first things I did was go to look at the thermometer in the kitchen.  As I began sipping my coffee, I noticed the meter reading 34 degrees.  Hmmmm, that wasn’t so bad.  I’ve ridden when it was colder.

The question now was how to dress.  By the time I walked out the door the temperature had climbed to 38 degrees.  Finally, I decided you can always get cooler on a cold day, but it is hard to get warmer.

At Carolina Triathlon I was somewhat surprised by the number of riders who showed up for the cold morning excursion onto Greenville county roads.  I had to get in the line for people going to sign in and give their $5 for the support vehicles (Hmmmm, $700 covers a lot of gas!)  Finally, I was through the line and out on my bike.

A good number of my riding buddies were there.  It was fun picking them out from the crowd as Mr. Sperry was giving us the opening announcements.  Then I headed out ahead of the group in order to get in position to take video of them leaving.

I didn’t realize just how many were on the ride until they call came past me!  My only thought as I got on the tail end was I would have to make my way all the way through the group to get to the front.  Turns out I was stuck back there for some time.

Steve Sperry was following up with the support vehicle and we talked for a bit as we rode out of town.  Then he headed up around the group to sort out some of the logistics.  By that time we were past the entrance to the Greenville Hospital and getting out of the city.

Being in the back really wasn’t that much fun.  There was a major yo-yo effect going on back there.  It seemed I was spending as much time braking as pedaling.  It was time to get to the front!

It was a lot easier said than done.  There was so much bicycle traffic filling the lane that it was hard to find openings without going over the yellow line.  I did make some progress but because I was the absolute rider to start out, I had a lot more to go!

My chance came during the nature break about an hour into the ride.  Because I wasn’t hearing nature’s voice telling me to stop, I made my way up to the front.  Okay, so I was cheating, but you have to do what you have to do!

Things were sooooo much better up there.  I was able to put up my yo-yo and settle in for some fun.  Things were pretty uneventful for the next hour or so.

It was then I overheard some of the people talking on the radios.  Sperry was saying that things were still too bunched up and we need to spread things out.  He was giving instructions that after an upcoming turn they were supposed to pick up the speed.

I was very glad to be at the front!  My guess is anyone at the back was going to have a tough time for the next hour.  We made the turn and I started accelerating with the other riders around me.

While we did ride along at a faster clip, there still weren’t any odd or memorable things that happened.  At least until we made the turn to head back into town.  I heard the double-tweet of a whistle and at first thought Steve was expressing displeasure with some of the riders.

I realized the whistle was the alert of an attack zone.  So, we were going to sprint on the first day out.  Suddenly everyone got quieter and settled into a high cadence.  I was right there with them.

I didn’t really have a great desire to sprint it out, but I was interested in testing my power and endurance after several weeks “off the bike.”  It was time to find out.

While in the group I started taking a look around me to decide which rider I would throw in with.  A Hot Tubes kit went by me and I figured it was Alder Martz.  He just might be someone to follow.  So, I did.

Where did that lead me?  Right to the front — and then off the front.  One rider had taken off for the line even before the whistle blew.  Alder took off after him.  I was sitting in his draft and each time I looked down I was putting out over 500 watts.

Then he looked back and took a look at me.  I read in his face that he figured the gig was up — not that I was going to over take him, but because I wasn’t going to be much help!  He split off to the left and I hesitated.

There were a number of riders just behind us.  I knew we were about to get swallowed up, but I figured I would help bring the group up to the breakaway rider.  I took a breath and kept going.

Finally, I pulled off and about 20 riders came around me.  This is when I was very pleased with myself.  In the past, I would tend to drop back — and keep dropping back.  However, this time I was able to recover quite quickly and got back in the top twenty.

I sat in for just a bit and actually felt good enough to give it another go.  Had I picked up my speed at that point I could have picked off several more riders before the line.  However, I had already learned as much as I wanted.  I called it a day.

Once again things settled down and we rode into the shop.  I was there with the first 10 or so riders.  Boyd Johnson and Jim Cunningham were talking about riding over Paris Mountain.  I almost asked if I could join them, but then thought better of it since it was well past lunch and the family was expecting me home.

It was a blast.  I’ll be out there again.  Why don’t you join us?  Just don’t look for me in the back!

I decided to do the B group ride of the UWBL today. 5.5 hours in the saddle chasing after hardcore racers would not do good things to my physical and mental wellbeing. So, I pulled up at Carolina Triathlon looking for Strad – he was the one who talked me into the 60 miler.

Andy Baker had suggested that the three of us just hang out at the back of the A group and get in the miles. Yeah, right. Like Andy Baker is going to hang around the back of any group. Hope he did what he said he would so he’ll be ready to race for money tomorrow.

Probably one of the things that made the ride fun was the people I rode with. Strad was there with his dad. Louis, Billy, and Barry were on this ride as well. Right off the bat the atmosphere was great. I hadn’t talked with Louis is quite a while, so we spent most of the ride bantering.

It seemed to take forever to get the first 10 miles out of the way. We were going slooooow. We also ended up with a couple of flats on the way out. I started getting kind of antsy.

About 20 miles out Billy and Louis broke away from the group on a climb. I went after them and we paced along for a bit. Then Strad, Tom Smith (Strad’s teammate), and Randy (a guy I remember from Cleveland Park) came ripping by. I hoped on and Randy, Tom, and I paced to the next stop sign.

Five miles later we started another climb. Most of the riders slowed and since I was in the back, I got bunched. I decided to break out of it and took off around the left side of the group. I made it to the top and beyond with just one guy bridging over to me. Then Louis came powering up (the guy has power!)

Louis and I began pulling up front for several miles. We moved the pace up to around 20 mph. I realized that I would probably regret riding into the wind later on, so I faded back to sit in.

Forty miles in I was feeling great. I kept sitting in. Then about 54 miles into the ride, Louis took a nature break. The group kept going and I knew he was going to have a bear of a time getting back to us.

So, I turned around to go help pace him back to the group. We were flying along reaching up to 35 mph. We caught them and then sat in to try to recover. Just when I started to breath a little bit, I heard the ride leader talk about getting out of the way for the “big guys.”

I asked him if they sprinted on this ride. He said there was always a sprint for the railroad track, but it was just for fun… no points or anything. About that time, I saw the pack begin to morph and riders I knew would be going for it moved into position.

Oh my, now, why was it I went back to help Louis?

As we started up Hwy 20 I moved to be near Billy. He is a rider that I respect and have watched him long enough to know he is smarter than me in these situations. He moved up to the front and I followed. The pace was now up to the mid twenties.

Then Strad went off hard. Billy followed and I was right on his wheel. It crossed my mind that both these guys had teammates in the group and I wondered if they were just pulling some of us into an attack to open the door for their pals.

I decided just to cover these attacks. When they moved over, I just slowed. I would not go up front. When someone else went by us, I would move to cover that attack, but when the attack slowed, so did I.

Finally, I saw Strad look back and drop behind me. Then a freight train came by led by Randy. I think it was Randy, Billy, Tom, and Strad. As they went by, I grabbed the back. Then it became a matter of attrition. Billy and then Randy dropped off. Within sight of the sprint line it ended up being just Strad, Tom, and me.

They should be running junior gearing, I thought to myself. I tried to move up. I actually moved into second running just ahead of Strad to the left of Tom. The line was tantalizingly close and I was moving up, but then things leveled off and my power wasn’t there.

I know that is the time when the mental toughness is supposed to kick in. I can’t even tell you what went through my mind at that point. I just felt something sliding away as I fell back to Strad’s wheel just as Tom crossed the line.

Looking back I can see that was just the time my heart rate hit 193 bpm. I also realize I should have just paced in behind the two guys until closer to the line. I could have come out of their draft a little later and perhaps I could have taken it.

So, why was this ride a blast? It really wasn’t the fact that I finished it at the front of the group. It was that the group was very accepting. In the A group you are known by your racing history (I’m not saying there is a problem with that). If you don’t have a history, you will have a hard time finding acceptance.

In the B group these guys are out to have fun — not just fun on their bikes. There was a whole lot more talking going on between more people in the group (it is a lot easier to talk when you’re going 15 to 17 mph than when you are hanging on for dear life!) Still, there was some competitive fire in there as well.

Some of the most fun I had was when Billy, Louis, Jimmy Helms (Strad’s dad), and I got a pace line going. We were rotating like clockwork with the lead rider pulling for just a few seconds. That kind of thing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen in the A group.

Part of me wishes I had done the long ride. Even when we started to roll out, I felt the urge to jump out there with the big boys. The point is, maybe right now isn’t the time for me to be out there with them. Maybe next year…