Reputations: when a B is not a B, and whether or not that matters

This is Not a B Pace.

8 June 2014

I lead B rides.  Peter F and Gary W lead B rides.  We all have the same reputation: none of us comes in at a B pace.

My reputation is complicated.  I'm at once too fast and too slow.  I take all damn day.  I stop for pictures.  I stop for expensive snacks. My rides are too long. I add extra miles by inviting people to start from my house. I add extra miles by riding to other people's rides.  I'm slow on the hills.  I'm good in the wind.  

Over the years my rides have become more difficult as I've become a better climber and become infected by the distance bug. At the end of a ride, we're lucky to see an average in the 14 mph range. I lead a slow B.  It's a B only because we kick it out in the flats, when there are any, and because I'm leading metrics by April.

Peter and Gary have the opposite problem.  Their rides are short (40 miles, the bare minimum I'd consider for a ride in January), flat, and fast.  Their rides, like mine,  are listed as B rides.  Where I use "slow B" in my description, they use "strong B," but we're all B leaders.  Gary earned his reputation last year, when rumors of averages higher than 18 mph began percolating through the parking lots.

Last night I got plenty of sleep, so I decided to attempt a Gary ride.  Peter was filling in.  There were 15 of us, most of whom I didn't recognize.  There was one other Hill Slug -- Marc -- and two sometimes Slugs -- John and Jane.  I put myself in the middle of the pack and expected to be finding my own way home after 10 miles.  I needn't have worried.  I finished in the middle with what is probably a modest average for this group.

Peter and I spent a lot of time during the ride talking about what a B means and how to list a ride.  He said that people know what to expect on Gary's rides, which is true if by "people" he means regulars.  But riders like me, who show up once in a while and have been fed only rumors, don't know what to expect.

He and Gary don't want to list their rides as B+, even though they are, because when they do, the A riders come along, push the pace, and steal the ride.  I told him that he is more than welcome to use the phrase that I use when I list my rides in the Free Wheel:

Pace pushers not welcome.

I was amazed that all 15 of us finished the ride together.  "This group always finishes together," several people said.  Peter added, "They're afraid of me."  I said, "My riders are afraid of me, too, but for different reasons."

Reputations.  If you can't beat 'em, ride 'em.

 Pace-pushers beware the wrath of the Floating Cat Head.