Steve Cope learns an important lesson.

Sunday Oct 12,2008
In attendance
Jae Brainard
Theresa Smit
Kevin Smit
Heather Pinney
Ralph Pinney
Steve Cope – fully loaded down on his touring bike.

The group elected to ride together with the “Roses” leading everyone on their favorite flat, low traffic, smooth roads ride into the RTP area.

Theresa set the pace early and was riding as if on a mission. She did not ever look back to see who she had dropped early in the ride.
Those dropped included Steve Cope, Kevin Smit, and the Pinney’s. Jae Brainard on the other hand was right there with Theresa pushing her to drive on even harder.
Kevin and Steve worked to ride together along with the Pinney’s who had ridden with the group only once before. The Pinney’s learned of the rides through Coach Dotson who does Spinning classes with the Pinney’s.
The group rode without forming any draft line even with the stiff head winds encountered that day.
The route is an out an back that covers 32 miles. It is a great ride for the off season to keep everyone on their bike. There is also one section of road that would be a great place for anyone wanting to do a time trial.

As the group headed back Kevin and Steve were discussing the following interesting facts.

Steve Cope with his new Steal frame touring bike and fully loaded panniers actually weighs the same as Kevin Smit and his lightweight Carbon Fiber bike.

This fact was then used to compare and contrast Steve’s performance on his bike to Kevin’s. Kevin was able to accelerate much faster, climb quicker, and sustain higher end speeds longer and faster.

Hmmmm.

Steve came to the realization that Kevin is actually a much stronger biker than he is. Kevin went on to remind Steve that not only is Kevin a much stronger biker (when comparing the effects of equal weight to ability) Kevin is also older. As a person ages their target heart rates naturally drop. This suggests that Steve Cope is able to push his circulatory system such that he can demand and expect to get greater blood flow to his muscles due to a higher heart rate. Kevin on the other hand has to accomplish the same task at a lower heart rate. This suggests that Kevin is able to do the same work with less blood flow to the vital organs.
Steve now has the realization that Kevin is truly a BIKEING GOG and should receive all the respect of any major deity.

You do not need to bow before him just heap much praise his way.

The riders all rode to the finish together having covered the 32 miles at a pace of 13.6 mph.

Steve Cope had to rest and refuel before he could return to the bike and finish his day’s mission. He had ridden to the start and was looking to add an additional 40 miles to the days ride which would provide a total of 80 miles for the day. He had accomplished that same objective the day before. This magic distance is to be repeated day after day for 5 weeks as he makes the ride from San Diego to Florida starting in late November.