I haven’t been on the bike much this past month for various rather dull reasons, but I managed a commute on the BeOne today. I still wasn’t feeling great and had decided on the short and easy route in (around 8 miles, mostly downhill) and wasn’t putting much effort in even at that.
Then along(side) comes a roadie. He’s in full Lycra and fit looking. He’s not on the good bike but I imagine he has a Good Bike wrapped in a duvet in a well guarded storage facility. “Alright mate?” he says, not out of breath, “You heading to Belfast? Take my wheel if you want.”
Oh yes, I want.
Working together, we hold a steady 25mph down the hill and on to a flatter section, then I take over at the front and manage to hold 24mph for the next few miles – this is fast for me – then he’s back on point and puts the hammer down. I sprint to about 28mph but he’s still pulling away and I can’t keep up.
No matter, our paths separate anyway and I get to work with a personal best time for that route.
Chapeau, sir, whoever you were, and thanks for the tow!
This is the first time I’ve actually co-operated with a fellow commuter like this, normally it’s a case of either lazily drafting and doing no work or overtaking and heading off into the distance, though on some occasions there has been a bit of tit-for-tat overtaking.
Do you have a regular (or irregular) commuting buddy or group that you can co-operate with to make the journey easier or faster? Does this sort of thing happen a lot?
