Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Emi express

I pulled a small train of between 1-3 riders at various times up Emigration last night. I know some people get upset by the un-announced wheel sucker also known as a barnacle but it doesn't bother me so much. I have to admit if I ever saw a 6'8" slipstream anywhere on the road I would hop onboard that train ASAP. It was a pleasant climb up. The lower half of the canyon was mostly dry and the upper half was only wet in spots. By the time I got to the top the evening clouds rolled in and I froze my nuts off on the way down but it's all good. Right now the endurance is there but the "snap" is not. Hopefully that will change by summer.

7 comments:

StupidBike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
StupidBike said...

did i see you up there?

Andy H. said...

You were coming down while I was about 1/4 of the way up. I was only towing one at that point.

UtRider said...

Let me know the next time the Emi express leaves the station. I'm about ready to dust off my road bike.

Andy H. said...

St G. is on tap for this weekend but if it stays this warm I'm sure Emi will be on the menu for early next week.

KanyonKris said...

Sounds like a good ride.

I'm also mystified why people dislike "pulling" riders. The aerodynamics have been studied and the lead rider only incurs a tiny, imperceptible amount of additional drag. So it's not a performance issue. It's all attitude.

I think it's cool to pull. It means you've got enough fitness to be the lead dog. And you're helping your fellow rider by giving them a wheel to follow (increased motivation) and a break (from the wind). In fact, I think riding in a paceline is one of the coolest things in road cycling.

But there are grumps everywhere so I guess cycling is no different.

StupidBike said...

i am a grump, mainly, i dislike pulling riders, cause i like to be in my own world while training, and I like to ride over bumps, cracks, rock and I do not ride smooth, and I sit up and eat and drink, etc... which will cause the person sitting on to crash, etc... that and the fact that the person that pissed me off the most did so by scaringthe crap out of me. Imagine riding on Wasatach (50 mph speed limit) blowing by a rider, being comfortable, yet aware of cars, gong 25 mph, doing a quick head turn to see if any vehicles were coming and freaking the heck out, when you see something in your peripheral vision, that you think is impending doom, but really is just the guy you blew by, latched on to your wheel. I almost had a heart attack.

Ask, mention you are there, converse, it just made me crap my pants.