King of the coffee ride? Whatever!

This morning after dropping off my daughter at school I drive to a ride with my club. The Monday morning club ride is usually a 30 to 40 mile ride with a stop at a coffee shop. Today there were a few fast riders on hand. One guy who I'll simply name as CS was there. For some backgroud CS has a way of acting as if he is some how superior to others, in fact last week on another ride he made a few disparaging remarks about my weight and the fact that I ride a steel framed bike. I pretty much let it go but like the "elephant" I am I never forget.

So promptly at 9am we headed out. I got off to a fast start and before I knew it I was well in front on my way to the Coffee shop at mile 18. The first 13 miles were on a the local bike trail so I managed to get into a rhythm quickly. Nine miles in I was still in front so I decided to stop to use a rest room. When I cam out there were still no riders around. So, I continued on and just kept on riding at the same pace. I was soon off the trail and on some surface streets leading the the coffee shop. When I arrived I was the first rider there except for a couple who left an hour earlier. I had managed to put 10 minutes into the fast group which included CS even with the stop at a rest room. I was pretty happy with the quick 18 miles and had planned to just ride back easier and chatting with a friend on the return leg but that was soon to change.

After leaving the coffee house fast riders came by as I was riding with my friend. We were in a group of a few other riders. At that point these fast riders including CS had about 100 yards on us and I asked another rider in our group who is pretty strong if he could bridge the gap, he said he could but didn't care to. Than my friend urged me to try and catch them so I did. I figured they would see me and accelerate which is kind of their MO. When I got to them they were going pretty hard so I just hung on the back for a bit. After a mile I began to feel I could go harder so I went by them and stayed ahead. As I pedalled I kept gaining more and more distance. Honestly, I was riding hard but I was far from winded. After noticing they were pretty far back I eased up and they came and I figured they would get on my wheel. I soon got my rhythm again and they drifted back. I wasnt really pooring it on simply shifting up and getting aero. This happened a few times until the end of the bike trail. A mile from the finish as we exited the bike trail I decided to sit up and relax. Than one of the riders caught me, it was CS. He had a huge shit eating grin on his face. You know the smug kind of grin as if he landed on the moon or something when in reality he caught me when my pace changed from 23 mph to 16. I guess CS thought he really got me all the while all I could think was how easy it was for him to catch me since I sat up and was in the process of cooling down after sitting off the pace.

Ultimately, he got to the parking lot where the ride started 50 feet ahead of me and yelled "Bingo" toward me as if he got me at the line or something. Mind you this is a club ride not a race. When he did this I thought to myself whatever! you ASS. I put 10 frick'n minutes on you out to the turn around including a stop at a rest room, than ate a souffle for breakfast before you sat down with your coffee. So, if beating me back by 50 feet after leaving the rest stop together makes you feel better so what. As far as I'm concerned I'm still 10 minutes ahead of you, LOL.