Mark B
Zen MBB Master
For reals....
Today was the club's official end of the month beach ride. A group of us met at Yorba Regional Park for the ride along the Santa Ana River Trail bike path. I rode along with a friend of mine and we were a little later than the others getting to the ride start. We got our stuff together pretty quickly and were ready to go, but three riders couldn't wait and took off. We left and the majority of the group seemed content to cruise at around 15 mph. That wasn't cutting it for me and since I was under no leadership role, I decided to take off and go. I settled in around 21-22 mph with a couple friends in tow, bumping it to 23-24 a few times along the way. We got to the first regroup spot and discovered one of the early departers sitting there waiting. The other two early departers came back and were going on about how they had been hitting 19-20 mph for awhile on that stretch. We just kind of looked at each other and smirked. When we took off, one of the early departers made some smart comment to my friend about , "19-20, c'mon, let's go!" We took off and rolled. Another guy jumped into our fun little fray, making a total of four of us that took off out front. We continued our previous pace, passing groups of riders as we went along. Numerous riders we passed made positive comments about the Silvio. I had to slow a few times to let people catch their breath. I really and truly believe I could have held 22 mph the entire way, but ended up with a 20.3 mph average at the beach. We were kicking back at the beach and relaxing when the early departers arrived. They were much quieter than they were at the regroup spot. By this time, a crowd of admirers had gathered to ogle at the Silvio and marvled about the design. John T sure has designed a winner, right out of the chute!
We enjoyed a liesurely breakfast at Newport Burger in Newport Beach, then headed back to the ride destination. We started off staying with the pack and keeping the pace down to around 17-18. For me, that was super comfortable easy peasy cruising range. We came across an older gentleman that had gotten knocked off his bike by some kind of careless speed racer. He was fine, just a little shaken up. I think he was more surprised and disappointed that the person just took off and didn't bother to stop and see if he was hurt, or apologize, or anything. So, we continued on our way and we got passed by a group of three riders. I resisted the urge to launch. Then, an entire pack of riders went by and that really irked me. I felt somewhat vindicated when one of our young and strong riders took off after them.... I launched right on after him and another rider came with me making three riders from our club charging right on after them. I was content to jump onto the back of the train and ride along, but Kyle pushed up toward the front. After a few minutes, a gap developed between Kyle and some of the riders, so, being fully rested from sucking wheel, I took off after the lead pack and reeled them in pretty handily. I tell you, the acceleration the Silvio affords still amazes me sometimes. I think it flat out blows other people's minds, too, when they catch my churning feet out of the corner of their eyes as I roll up past them. By now, it's just down to two from their group and two from our group. We were doing 25 mph and I got the feeling the two riders were toying with us. Kyle must have thought the same thing, as I saw him sit up and back off. I sure was glad he did, because I didn't have much more to give. The training is coming right along, but I know I'm not to that point, yet. We tamed it way down from there, staying with the main group more with an occasional launch here and there. We got back to the ride start with 45 miles on the computer and an 18 mph average I really wanted 20 for round trip, but there will be plenty of opportunities for rides like that.
I had a great time on the ride and did not feel beat up like I had ridden over my head. I feel certain I could have held on easily with a faster crew. The Silvio is a marvelous bike. It recieves positive comments everywhere we go. A funny side note about that. As we were driving over to the ride start, my friend got all panicky when a California Hiway Patrol car rolled up on us and then stared at us as he went past. My friend was sure he was getting a speeding ticket and I told him that officer had no idea how fast we were going. He saw my bike up on the roof rack and couldn't figure out what it was, so he hauled up there to get a look and he was staring at it when he went past. My friend let out a nervous laugh and after thinking about it, agreed that's what was going on. It was a great day to ride, it was a great day to own a Silvio. I really and truly love this bike!
Mark
Today was the club's official end of the month beach ride. A group of us met at Yorba Regional Park for the ride along the Santa Ana River Trail bike path. I rode along with a friend of mine and we were a little later than the others getting to the ride start. We got our stuff together pretty quickly and were ready to go, but three riders couldn't wait and took off. We left and the majority of the group seemed content to cruise at around 15 mph. That wasn't cutting it for me and since I was under no leadership role, I decided to take off and go. I settled in around 21-22 mph with a couple friends in tow, bumping it to 23-24 a few times along the way. We got to the first regroup spot and discovered one of the early departers sitting there waiting. The other two early departers came back and were going on about how they had been hitting 19-20 mph for awhile on that stretch. We just kind of looked at each other and smirked. When we took off, one of the early departers made some smart comment to my friend about , "19-20, c'mon, let's go!" We took off and rolled. Another guy jumped into our fun little fray, making a total of four of us that took off out front. We continued our previous pace, passing groups of riders as we went along. Numerous riders we passed made positive comments about the Silvio. I had to slow a few times to let people catch their breath. I really and truly believe I could have held 22 mph the entire way, but ended up with a 20.3 mph average at the beach. We were kicking back at the beach and relaxing when the early departers arrived. They were much quieter than they were at the regroup spot. By this time, a crowd of admirers had gathered to ogle at the Silvio and marvled about the design. John T sure has designed a winner, right out of the chute!
We enjoyed a liesurely breakfast at Newport Burger in Newport Beach, then headed back to the ride destination. We started off staying with the pack and keeping the pace down to around 17-18. For me, that was super comfortable easy peasy cruising range. We came across an older gentleman that had gotten knocked off his bike by some kind of careless speed racer. He was fine, just a little shaken up. I think he was more surprised and disappointed that the person just took off and didn't bother to stop and see if he was hurt, or apologize, or anything. So, we continued on our way and we got passed by a group of three riders. I resisted the urge to launch. Then, an entire pack of riders went by and that really irked me. I felt somewhat vindicated when one of our young and strong riders took off after them.... I launched right on after him and another rider came with me making three riders from our club charging right on after them. I was content to jump onto the back of the train and ride along, but Kyle pushed up toward the front. After a few minutes, a gap developed between Kyle and some of the riders, so, being fully rested from sucking wheel, I took off after the lead pack and reeled them in pretty handily. I tell you, the acceleration the Silvio affords still amazes me sometimes. I think it flat out blows other people's minds, too, when they catch my churning feet out of the corner of their eyes as I roll up past them. By now, it's just down to two from their group and two from our group. We were doing 25 mph and I got the feeling the two riders were toying with us. Kyle must have thought the same thing, as I saw him sit up and back off. I sure was glad he did, because I didn't have much more to give. The training is coming right along, but I know I'm not to that point, yet. We tamed it way down from there, staying with the main group more with an occasional launch here and there. We got back to the ride start with 45 miles on the computer and an 18 mph average I really wanted 20 for round trip, but there will be plenty of opportunities for rides like that.
I had a great time on the ride and did not feel beat up like I had ridden over my head. I feel certain I could have held on easily with a faster crew. The Silvio is a marvelous bike. It recieves positive comments everywhere we go. A funny side note about that. As we were driving over to the ride start, my friend got all panicky when a California Hiway Patrol car rolled up on us and then stared at us as he went past. My friend was sure he was getting a speeding ticket and I told him that officer had no idea how fast we were going. He saw my bike up on the roof rack and couldn't figure out what it was, so he hauled up there to get a look and he was staring at it when he went past. My friend let out a nervous laugh and after thinking about it, agreed that's what was going on. It was a great day to ride, it was a great day to own a Silvio. I really and truly love this bike!
Mark
