Specialized is Correct about the "Turbo" Part!

[Razors Edge ★]

I was on my ride the other evening, and was slowly approaching a woman on a road bike making good time.  She would catch and pass folks and then I would pass them as well, and over a few miles she was within throwing distance.  At that point, I noticed she was still going the same pace (relatively fast), but that there was a couple in front of her that she was now riding behind.  I figured she was just waiting to pass them at a safe spot - especially since both bikes had racks with rear panniers on them.  Anyway, as I got closer, I noticed 1) they were dressed relatively normally (street clothes) and 2) had identical rear tail lights.  Ding-ding!  Ebikes!

They must have noticed the gal or she was fading, but eventually they dropped her on short uphill, and I caught and passed her.  That allowed me to close the gap to them as we neared a nice flat stretch, and I settled in about 20' back behind them to let them give me a little draft and use their electric motors to my advantage.   Anyway, eventually they noticed me back behind them just noodling along, and the guy started looking over his shoulder more often.  As I was pretty happy where I was - riding about as hard as normal but with a 1-2mph gain from the draft, I was not going to pass them or move up right behind them.

As we approached a point where the road goes up for a few miles at a relatively steady 2-3%, I noticed him chatting with his partner and glancing back.  We were approaching another roadie, and they rolled quickly past him, and I realized they had also chosen that point - the bottom of the ascent - to put the hammer down.  With the roadie just in front of me, but them now 50' or more ahead and accelerating fast, I hopped out of the saddle and went off to chase them.  After a short time, I had regained my 20' gap off the lady's wheel, but her husband kept increasing his gap to her - from just in front to 10', 20', then 30'+ ahead.  I opted to not pass her since I assumed 1) they would come  back together soon enough and 2) if I did get in front of her and then him, I'd feel like I need to keep the pace high for the foreseeable future of the ride, and I wasn't interested in that.  Anyway, a mile or so later, he pulled off into a neighborhood, so I knew to slow as well for her to make the turn.  She did, and I continued on my merry way.  Had I know they were finishing where they did, I definitely would have hammered past her and sat right on his wheel smiling.  Maybe next time

TL;DR - folks on ebikes still seem to want to race.  Seems a bit douchy, but it is what it is.

[donkpow]

On 9/17/2020 at 11:34 AM, Razors Edge said:

I continued on my merry way.