Sandbagger

[Angliru]

Recently did a tour with a regular riding buddy of mine. We were doing the metric century on what for our state was a pretty challenging route. My buddy was struggling early and for almost the first 3/4 of the ride such that old geezers (No offence intended to old geezers, since I'm probably considered one by the younger set!) on hybrids were dropping him. On the climbs I would ride at my own pace so that I could at least get some enjoyment out of the ride and then wait at the top or at the bottom of the descent (Also let me add that he was struggling on a previous day's ride too). It reached the point that when the hybrids were passing us the pace was at about 12 mph or less!

We reached the final climb which was the longest of the route, seemingly going on forever with multiple turns. I had been cramping just before the climb but was able to ride through it and climb at a comfortable pace. So I'm climbing this final climb and passing riders steadily as I go, or should I say as we go because I glanced back occasionally to see if my bud was still there and he was right there just behind me to my left. Suddenly I hear the sound of conversation behind me getting closer. It was 3 young (early 20's) females that we passed just after the final rest stop. They slowly passed us on the left and in response I mildly upped my tempo to match their's. Just as I'm accelerating to them, my buddy passes me cranking the big chainring! This visual shocked me considering his struggles the previous day and all of today, such that I lost my focus and my momentum. I continued on, unable to match their tempo so I settled into a more comfortable tempo, but needless to say I was mentally broken by this scenario.

Has anyone ever encountered such a thing where someone is struggling to hold a very pedestrian pace, even with a wheel to draft on but suddenly like Lazarus risen from the dead, is climbing like Der Kaiser?

We laughed it off later and I joked with him that he should be paying me for my domestique duties since I set him up all fresh as a daisy for the final climb.

 

[ElChingon]

Your good buddy just used you

Yes, he's a sandbagger and a sexist on from your report, he wasn't going to let no chick pass him

Its all for fun so no harm. Now the question is did he get any phone numbers

 

[Quixote]

Suddenly I hear the sound of conversation behind me getting closer. It was 3 young (early 20's) females that we passed just after the final rest stop. They slowly passed us on the left and in response I mildly upped my tempo to match their's. Just as I'm accelerating to them, my buddy passes me cranking the big chainring!

Angliru, this, my friend (I only say that because I could qualify as a geezer in some pacelines) was certainly not a case of sandbagging. If you reread your own post, I think you'll see the obvious. TESTOSTERONE! Even for geezers it has a way of making things interesting. As far as your cycling buddy goes, you have nothing to worry about. He's healthy, happy, and deep into his own little fantasy of living life in the fast lane.
Cheers,
Quixote
Senior Member mind locked in the body of a Junior Member

 

[Angliru]

Angliru, this, my friend (I only say that because I could qualify as a geezer in some pacelines) was certainly not a case of sandbagging. If you reread your own post, I think you'll see the obvious. TESTOSTERONE! Even for geezers it has a way of making things interesting. As far as your cycling buddy goes, you have nothing to worry about. He's healthy, happy, and deep into his own little fantasy of living life in the fast lane.
Cheers,
Quixote
Senior Member mind locked in the body of a Junior Member

The ride just had me baffled, in that he's normally as strong as myself or stronger, we had had similar buildups to the event, but his level of riding going from one extreme to another in the course of 3 hours..... I just don't know--just another of life's mysteries.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Funny story, thanks for sharing.

Who needs patches or gels? Just have some babes ride by, and us old geezers get all the T we need!

 

[Angliru]

Funny story, thanks for sharing.

Who needs patches or gels? Just have some babes ride by, and us old geezers get all the T we need!

...and they were all very attractive too. I'm probably bitter that he had the legs to follow and I couldn't.

 

[Izzy eviel]

Funnily enough this works for me too!

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Funny story.

Similar thing happened to me. I was riding my first century (had done numerous metrics, but nothing over 80 miles prior) and we had about ten miles left. I remember talking on the way to the start that morning about the time we were attempting to complete it in and noticed were getting close to that time. I found myself on the front and took a big pull, increased the pace and went hard for a few miles. Dropped to the side, when my friend and training buddy further increased the pace. Only one other rider was able to match, the rest of us (about six or so) just watched as they rode away. From that point on, the rest of us completely split up, each of us trying to catch them. I found out later he made the time by nearly a minute, while I missed it by about a minute thirty.

 

[Parrulo]

 

[Archibald]

I think we all know the drill...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cky279qTibo

 

[Midnightfright]

Angrilu? Are u Sly Szmyd bitter about having to work Ivan again? Are the pretty girls in your Euthamism the Schlecks?

 

[pedaling squares]

You answered your question in post #6. Amazing thing the ego, especially when fueled by the sight of a few early 20's backsides in lycra. As long as he bought the beer to thank you for the domestique duties, all is good.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Angliru's story is a very similar experience to what I had a couple years ago but the XC skate ski version. We get passed by a couple superhotties, my friend, accomplished athlete was the difference in this one, goes on full on chase mode, passes them before I could even roll my eyes thinking oh crap, here we go agian, he does this on the bike too. Took me about 5k to chase him down, he wasn't breaking stride at all. And he's the one married with 2 kids, I was single at the time! Jerk!