January 14th, 2012
Maybe it’s my U.S. military training or my instinctive nature not to leave anyone behind. Whichever it is, evidently a good amount of cyclists don’t see it that way.
Take this morning’s ride for example.
Riding near the rear of a 16-man pace line, five of us in the rear found it absolutely necessary to stop at a traffic signal at South Post & Bonaventure or chance being run over by vehicles that were beginning to edge through the intersection. The frontrunners in our peloton made it through the RED traffic signal without incident. The signal had turned red right before the peloton’s leader reached the busy intersection.
After patiently waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, we tried in vain to catch up with the speeding eastbound peloton. One and a half miles into the chase, at 22 to 23 mph, all of it into a strong 10 to 15 mph wind, the large gap had not decreased. It was obvious that the pace line wasn’t about to slow down so that we could rejoin them. It was then that I said to myself, “Screw them.”
I then proceeded to make a quick U-Turn heading in the direction of my parked vehicle. I voluntarily ended my morning’s ride in total disgust.
What occurred today was not an example of what happens when slower riders join a group that is too fast for their skill level. Two of the riders that had stopped are probably two of the strongest cyclists in the Weston Warrior’s group. What happened today was an example of the main body of the peloton ignoring or being inconsiderate to those who chose not to compromise their safety just for the sake of not fragmenting the peloton.
One good thing did come out of me turning back. Shortly after turning around, I came upon a large palm tree limb and other debris that had fallen across the westbound bike lane. Out of respect for my fellow cyclists and runners, I stopped my bike and then cleared the lane of all debris. It was the right thing to do!
Anyway, maybe riding solo in county parks isn’t such a bad thing after all.
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