I was doing a half century on a popular route used by many roadies. It was windy and as fortune would have it, it was a headwind straight on.
I'm riding an old, dirty metal gravel bike setup as tour bike, everything with racks, partially loaded pannier bags, full fenders, two bottles, and heavy, heavy duty low tpi urban / touring tires. I'm also wearing loose summer fishing jacket with hoodie and reef shoes on flat pedals.... I literally look like I'm going fishing! I can barely see behind me with my rear view mirror because the hoodie opened up in the headwind like a small parachute. So I'm packings lots of drag and weight.
Then I passed a group of young riders on road bikes, early twenties. They all looked lean and athletic wearing road kit, some on expensive carbon bikes with only one bottle on the bike. I thought they were doing recovery because they were riding slow or probably due to the headwind.
Then the entire group started chasing me. They passed me and able to get some distance ahead but not long after, they started slowing down and I was able to pass them again without drafting. Then they chased and passed me again one more time. The next time around, most the group have given up the chase but a few of their strongest riders and we 'leap frogged' a few more times, until they too burned out couldn't pass me any longer. I can hear the others laughing at their strongest riders as I kept on pulling away and they couldn't chase me anymore. I reached the destination and then turned back the same road without stopping so I came across the same group I dropped and saw their strongest rider giving me the finger.
There's another rider, solo rider like me on the same trip. Also young looking in their twenties in their expensive race kit and bike. Passed me and pulled ahead far away and was ahead of me for quite some time. Eventually, he also started slowing down and soon I was gaining on him. When he realized I'm gaining on him, he stopped at the side of the road and took out his phone. I also went by him on the way back and he got even slower. Is it really that spirit-crushing to be passed by someone on a really slow setup? I did have good quality training I think. I may not be able to afford proper equipment but the science of human physiology, biomechanics, and cycling is out there for free and I poured over this stuff in my free time and did some experimenting over time.
I'm riding an old, dirty metal gravel bike setup as tour bike, everything with racks, partially loaded pannier bags, full fenders, two bottles, and heavy, heavy duty low tpi urban / touring tires. I'm also wearing loose summer fishing jacket with hoodie and reef shoes on flat pedals.... I literally look like I'm going fishing! I can barely see behind me with my rear view mirror because the hoodie opened up in the headwind like a small parachute. So I'm packings lots of drag and weight.
Then I passed a group of young riders on road bikes, early twenties. They all looked lean and athletic wearing road kit, some on expensive carbon bikes with only one bottle on the bike. I thought they were doing recovery because they were riding slow or probably due to the headwind.
Then the entire group started chasing me. They passed me and able to get some distance ahead but not long after, they started slowing down and I was able to pass them again without drafting. Then they chased and passed me again one more time. The next time around, most the group have given up the chase but a few of their strongest riders and we 'leap frogged' a few more times, until they too burned out couldn't pass me any longer. I can hear the others laughing at their strongest riders as I kept on pulling away and they couldn't chase me anymore. I reached the destination and then turned back the same road without stopping so I came across the same group I dropped and saw their strongest rider giving me the finger.
There's another rider, solo rider like me on the same trip. Also young looking in their twenties in their expensive race kit and bike. Passed me and pulled ahead far away and was ahead of me for quite some time. Eventually, he also started slowing down and soon I was gaining on him. When he realized I'm gaining on him, he stopped at the side of the road and took out his phone. I also went by him on the way back and he got even slower. Is it really that spirit-crushing to be passed by someone on a really slow setup? I did have good quality training I think. I may not be able to afford proper equipment but the science of human physiology, biomechanics, and cycling is out there for free and I poured over this stuff in my free time and did some experimenting over time.