A successful ride

 That, even if JFW showed up for part of the ride.

Also despite making sure one of the riders got a puncture before we got to Hampton Court.

The only ride review in the Kington Wheelers forum highlighted as a factor of success that we had a “nearly dry morning”. A four stars review I guess.

We only lost two riders half way into the ride. Six riders is a big enough group so we carried on.

A successful ride even if I had no idea where we were going to have the coffee stop. I had a moment of panic when one rider asked where the coffee stop was (tell me you haven’t been in one of my rides without telling me you have been in one of my rides…). Twyford I answered full of (fake) confidence. I knew that much because that was the name of the route but I had no idea what the coffee stop was. I was betting the success of the ride on recognising a coffee shop as we rode by. And it worked! I recognised a coffee shop on the left hand side and we stopped there. Everyone thought that was part of the plan.

I felt relieved when the two lost riders showed up at the cafe with smiles on their faces. We extended the stop to make sure they didn’t complain about the ride captain. Even if that goes against my “efficient stop Audax ethos”. The things one does for a successful ride.

A success that was under thread when we got ready to get back on the road. It turns out one of the riders had a puncture. We got back to the table. Everyone seemed happy and relaxed about it so the success of the ride was not in danger. Now, me and my “efficient stop Audax ethos” were at the edge of a nervous breakdown. 

It was a surprise to find out the ride back had Drift Road in the menu. A great opportunity to practice a bit of through and off. I started to shout short sentences, most of them including the word “easy” or “steady”, as if I knew what I was doing. Miraculously the rest of the group managed to ignore me and stay together despite my incoherent instructions. I didn’t lose the opportunity to tell everyone how great that was. Sometimes you have to hint to your clients the value your service is bringing to the table.

Now, when I say a successful ride I mean a successful ride for everyone else. There is no way it can be a successful ride for me after losing the two sprints. Fifth at Old Windsor. Fifth even if I still don’t know where the line is. Third at the final sprint. Third, even if only Rupert and I know where the line is… and Ruper was not riding today. 

I faked happiness as we were saying our goodbyes in a desperate attempt to get everyone in a positive mood. 

I checked the forum in desperation. Looking for the judges sentence.

“Thanks Javier for leading a great ride to Ola cafe today. Good pace control and very very enjoyable. Thanks everyone for making it a safe , fun, and nearly dry morning!”

I was so happy…

I now know the name of the cafe at Twyford. The Ola cafe!!!

A successful ride now for me as well.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11501564915

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

No Sumners Ponds but Twyford

 Thanking my riding mates for agreeing to scrap the riding to Sumners Ponds plan and going for an "easy and steady" ride to Twyford.

I've been ill this week and I'm not fully recovered yet. Looking at how I finished today (spoiler: almost dead) I have no doubt that a ride to Sumners Ponds would have killed me.

"Easy and steady" are relative terms. As you know it all depends on who you are riding with. I wasn't riding with slow riders today. In fact, I was riding with fairly crazy riders.

How else would you describe the fact that over coffee it was proposed the brilliant plan of running the Florence Marathon.. barely two months after we finish our cycling season in September.

Proving that I fit in this group I was immediately tempted to say yes to the plan. I am an accomplished runner (proof in my last run report https://www.strava.com/activities/6430407945) and my lack of personality makes it very difficult for me to say no to a plan that gives me the opportunity to show off.

Luckily for me I was tired and the caffeine didn’t make its effect yet so I said no to the plan. An outcome you can’t imagine how grateful I am for looking at how I feel at the moment.

To make things better I took the theoretical win in today’s three sprints (Twyford, Drift Rd. and Hampton).

Being as honest as I normally am in my reports I’ll confess I didn’t cross the line first in any of them. That would have been a miracle. But I was well positioned in the three sprints, I saw the winning move starting in front of me, I had the legs to follow those moves (in theory) and I “know” I would have taken those wins.

You would be excused for thinking that interpretation of facts is a bit optimistic, especially if you mention that Ed van der Poel was involved in those three sprints. I got a bit of that when I explained to my riding mates my reasoning. But we have agreed already that I was the only one in that group that was thinking straight today.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8619572195

Take care 

Javier Arias González

"Proper, steady K2 ride to Henley"

Well, this was my (rather short) career as road captain finished.

For some time I have been in the search of what type of cyclist I am. Now that it is clear that I’m not a sprinter (a climber was always out of the question). 

Last few months I was convinced that I was a Road Captain. Even if some of my “riding mates” (I won’t name and shame, you know who you are) were very fast highlighting the many reasons why I was not a good Road Captain. What do they know?!? 

That was until today. I’m not in search of a cycling personality. Road Captain is out of the question. Let me give you the details.

I posted in the Kingston Wheelers forum a club ride for today. 128km, 837m of climbing. Short and flat (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/02/javiers-ride-classification-criteria.html). “Proper, steady K2 ride to Henley”. That’s how it started.

How did it go? Look, even before we started to ride it was decided we were not stopping at Henley. We were going to stop at Twyford instead. That was my leadership destroyed before the first pedal stroke. 

I still felt optimistic. 8 riders showed up. That is way more popular than when any of my “riding mates” propose club rides. A clear endorsement to my Road Captain skills.

I even surprised everyone with a first long turn at the front. Long enough to be worthy of outloud praise by one of my “riding mates”. To be fair it was probably the longest turn I have done in my whole cycling career.

But that was it. As soon as I moved from the front the “Proper, steady K2” description of the pace failed to be accurate. And that is a very polite way of putting it. 

I don’t take any responsibility though. It was clearly not my fault. It was everyone else’s fault. They were all very strong riders. You see that collection of PRs? You can be sure it was my merit.

My leadership was clearly questioned but I still found comfort in the fact that I was mastering the navigation asped of the road captainship. I even suggested a detour to avoid a big queue of cars. Not everything was lost.

A shame that a few kilometers later, at Walton-on Thames, I saw the group turning left when the route was going straight. I shouted and shouted but no one listened, or cared. It turns out that was another detour to avoid a couple of traffic lights. 

By then even the most optimistic Javier was convinced that the Road Captain career had come to an end. Time to improvise. Quickly.

So I fell back to being a sprinter. It was genius. The final sprint was approaching. It is a sprint where almost no one knows where the line is. I avoided the front like the plague and got ready to celebrate my comeback as a sprinter.

The problem was that Ed, a pure climber, and Rupert, a very dangerous competitor, got away and managed to get a decent gap. A big and scary gap. 

The group caught Rupert (some excuses about cramping were heard) but Ed, a pure climber, ended up taking the final sprint. 

It was clearly not my fault. It was everyone else’s fault. Ed and Rupert’s attack was a bit cheeky, the rest of the group was stuck in traffic. Dani did a monster turn at the front but didn’t manage to close the gap to Ed, even if he was riding super strong all day, a clear example of energy misuse. The rest of the group didn’t contribute to the chase, had they contributed we would have caught him before we got stopped by a red traffic light. 

I repeat. Ed, a pure climber, ended up taking the final sprint.

Not a road captain. Losing a sprint to Ed. Time to retire from cycling. 

Looking at how well I took responsibility for what happened during the ride I decided I have a better future as a politician.

Vote for me. You’ll be disappointed.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597

Take care

Javier Arias González 

I want my money back

A rant ahead, be warned.

GC Denis had put up the ride as “K1.5 to Windsor via Twyford - just under 100km”

The start of the ride was at Old Kings Head (OKH) instead of the traditional Sunday club starting point at Laithwaite’s (LW) . A cheeky way of confusing me and making me late. Even worse, to make me ride 5 extra kilometers and getting me even more tired than I was feeling when I jumped on the bike.

The post said “just under 100km” and my ride was 111 kilometers.

As close as Hampton Court, Denis got lost.

The coffee stop at Twyford was closed. So we had to ride 5 extra kilometers to get coffee at Wargrave. Did I mention I was tired? Well, by the time we made it to Twyford I was also hungry and craving for coffee. 

Is this enough to ask for my money back?

Wait there is more.

The ride was K1.5. A code for “let’s ride as fast as we can while pretending we are friends”. Richard L. has signed up for it and I was happy about it. He would bring some sense to the pace. Sense that I really needed because, as you know, I was feeling really tired.

In the morning I learnt Richard L. was not coming. At the start point (OKH, don’t get confused) I learnt Ed van der Poel was joining the ride. Forget about any sense in the pace. I almost cried there and then. I was so tired!

And then there was the wind…

Look it is ok to order wind for a ride you organize but when one does that you order head wind on the way out and nice tail wind on the way back. What did we get today? Wind all over the place all day. To make things worse Denis is so aero that you don’t get any benefit drafting him. I had to constantly pay attention and make sure I was sitting behind Ed van der Poel to get some cover.

Of course that is a challenge in itself. Imagine yourself having to pass any van der Poel to give him a turn in the front. You need an effort that will make lactic acid come out of your eyes. And I was tired!!

Can I please get my money back?

It’s only fair. What kind of experience did I get?

Denis took the sprints at Twyford, Wargrave and Drift rd. Let that sink for a minute. 

One joins a club run hoping to have a good experience and “GC” Denis takes three sprints. I didn’t pay to ride with someone that is transforming himself into another Pogacar.

To make my experience more miserable at some point we passed a group of Kingston Wheelers. They were riding at what looked like a K3 pace (Club pace for those not initiated). They looked so relaxed, so chatty, they were even smiling. 

I felt ride envy. That was the experience I could have had and instead of that I was hanging at the back of the trio for my dare life. Things were getting hot because we were getting close to the final sprint.

As always I did everything well. In the last meters I was sitting on Ed’s wheel and had Denis sitting on mine. I was paying attention to a potential attack from Ed from the front, something you always have to have in mind when you have a van der Poel in the front. I was also paying attention to a potential attack from Denis, now that I considered him a sprinter I had to take him into account.

At the right point I attacked…

And none of them contested the sprint.

If we are sprinting we are all sprinting. If we don’t sprint none of us sprints. Me sprinting WHEN I WAS ON TIRED LEGS and no one else sprinting is a terrible experience.

I.WANT.MY.MONEY.BACK.

I’m going to report Denis to the committee for terrible road captain performance. I’m pretty sure he is going to be banned from organizing Kingston Wheelers rides for a few weeks. He’ll be missed but I hope when he is back he has reflected on his sins (and stops taking sprints).

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7520319295

Take care

Javier Arias González