Quiting cycling, giving my bikes away and hiding in shame!

Today I was on a slight decent, pedaling in 17th gear, about thirty+ mph,
when a small voice called out,, "on your left".

I was smoked by a tiny girl on a road bike, like I was parked in the ditch!

If it had been a cartoon, I would have been in the middle of the road
spinning in circles.

I caught up to her later at the town square, they were having a dog show
and she had stopped to pet the puppies.

She is fifteen, 5'2", 80lbs and has been riding seriously for about three
years. She rides a factory custom Orbea.

Her and the bike weigh about the same as my left leg!

I don't get passed often these day, even by roadies, but this is
embarrassing.

Damn kids anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Check your ego in at the door on the left when you get on a bike. LOL!

There are plenty of women in the local area here that will hand my a$$ to me when going up hills - don't know about the downhills as I have some weight on 'em. If the women aren't ego-bruising enough, there are plenty of teenagers around here that will use me to "wax on, wax off" in even flat crits...

 

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Yep, there's always someone that's faster....

 

That's great, means there is hope for me! I'm only 5' tall on the world's smallest road bike with 650 wheels I get really excited when I pass people!

 

Well, Brad, I TRIED to tell you to get out of the way! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

Seriously, if I were 45 years younger, 5" shorter, weighed 160 pounds less, and had some biking talent somewhere in my little fingers or toes, it could have been MEEEEEEEE!



C'mon.... I can dream, can't I???

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I often ride with women that can out perform me on the bike. My ride last weekend I was towed back to the parking lot by one of my female riding buddies after I got overheated on a casual group ride. It is in the end of the video on the blog entry. For one of the women in the video it is just a matter of her slowing down for the rest of the males in our group. If she wanted to open it up none of us could keep up with her. She has to ride very casual compared to her capabilities. All the guys in our group are fully aware that when she is with us she is not cycling full out.

Two weekends ago at an event in a pace line of 20+ guys and one female, it was the female that stayed in front pulling the group in a head wind. I saw multiple attempts from guys thinking they needed to go up and help her since she would not come off the front. Each time a guy would go up they only lasted a few seconds and dropped off and yet she then was again in front pulling. I believe she did the majority of the pull in the last 10 miles of a 102 mile event. Her sustainable power was incredible and very steady. There were a couple of times when the pace dropped a little, but for the most part she kept near the same speed regardless of wind. I went up to help one time when the pace dropped a little and also only lasted a couple of miles before I had to come off the front. I can honestly say that the majority of guys in the group were fairly good cyclists so that is just how good this woman was.

Did she gain some respect from a group of guys? I overheard a number of guys talking positive about her in the pace line and after the ride.
My observation is that riding with an ego is just begging for someone to humble me. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

I been lucky so far I guess but I am sure my day is coming.

 

Pass me Baby, PASS ME!
I like to get the girls excited!
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It was inspiring just to talk to her, some one so young and
so dedicated to something.

Slim, If it weren't for a dream, I would not be posting here.

F-R. It was not a woman, It was a tiny little girl, a girl. a gigglie
little girl that loves puppies.

 

/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif Yeah that could definitely bruise the ego. I can't imagine the women the have left me in the dust were puppy huggers. At least I like to think they were not. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

It's always tough to get passed by a little kid. Here's a video of me and a buddy riding our motorcycles. It's kinda long, but if you get to the 9:15 point you can see a rider go past us and disappear into the distance. He's 13 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AeroRamer#p/a/u/0/XkJXOlHkOjA

 

HAHAHA OMG that came out sounding just wrong love it.

 

Good stuff, OldGoat! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif

 

De wimminz beating de men /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

I know how you feel. Not long ago I was slogging my way up the Glencree climb. This young lady came up beside and proceeded to start chatting as yours truly could barely breath/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

Sickening/img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif

 

Paul de Vivie was passed by a man smoking a pipe, and as a result, invented the derailleur. Maybe this is a sign of something big to come.

 

Yeah, this has happened to me, too. Happens to everyone at some time, I guess. I thought it was funny. We were racing down the beach (her idea), and not only did I get smoked by a little squirt on an old-looking single-speed bike, but I found out later she's only two years younger than me (I'm 56). I've mentioned this a couple times here and on facebook just to share the amusement, and maybe inspire some gals to ride if they're not already.

At my age and shape (pear is a shape, isn't it?) one learns to expect such things and take them in stride.

 

I like to observe often,


Men are half of women.

-------------------------

amend that to read:

Men are three fifths of women.

 

Nice! I got passed today by a dude on a Felt. He passed me on the right without so much as a "heads up" or "on your right" or anything. Then to top it all off he shot me a glance over his shoulder that I interpreted as a "why are you riding? You're in my way" look. In my defense though, I was spinning my small chain ring while recovering from doing 15 miles with sprint intervals mixed in. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it! I was feeling kinda bummed about it until I read your post! J/K! Any ride is a good ride.

 

A few days ago I was riding up a moderate hill and I heard a voice behind me. I was passed by a group of 4 cyclists, 2 guys and 2 gals. They went by me like I was standing still. The gal closest to me said "hi" as they passed. Then the voice faded as they kept on going. Two thoughts occured to me: One was "She must be in good shape to be going so fast uphill and chatting"; the second thought, as the voice faded into the distance, was "Does she ever shut up?".

 

Classic!!