Drafting

This morning as I started my ride and neared the end of Bluff Road, I saw three bikers merge onto Gentile about 200 yards ahead of me. I thought to myself, I'm going to catch them and draft for a bit. So I caught them at 3200 W and Gentile and they turned on 2200 W where I normally go. They followed the same path I normally take clear until 350 E and Shepherd Lane in Farmington. I drafted off them for about 6 miles.

I didn't feel so bad cause the guy in the lead had thighs almost the size of my waist. I was surprised though that these serious guys were only going about 21.5-22.0 mph. Their cadence was really high. Personally, I don't understand why such a high cadence. I like going into a lower gear and get a slower rhythm going with more power rather than spin like mad.

Anyhow I enjoyed the break and the rest of the way I was on my own. There was little to no wind to deal with the entire ride and was able to get to work in a really good time:

Distance: 30.6 miles
Time: 1:25
Average Speed: 21.6 mph
Max Speed: 30.6 mph

Very good ride. My left ankle and my right knee are much better after that ride! They don't hurt at all while riding, but once I get off they're still a little tender. I'm probably at 65% right now. Hoping that taking a break from running this week will get them healed up for this weekend's SDRC Sprint Tri. I'm probably not going to swim at all this week either given that I need to ride in to work tomorrow as well.

The first two weeks in June I will NOT be riding in to work at all since I need to really step the swimming up for the Utah Summer Games the third week in June. My goal is to put in at least 25K yards per week for the first two weeks in June and then taper for the games on June 18-19th. That should be a fun trip. Three days off work and spending time with the kids down in Cedar City. Should be lots of fun.
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The ride home also involved a little drafting. I caught up to a guy just getting on the Legacy trail from Redwood Road. He drafted off me for about 1 mile then he took the lead. I drafted for a couple miles and he motioned for me to take the lead. I did so, but after a couple minutes didn't see him in my wake. So I just kept the same pace. About 5 minutes later I saw his shadow next to mine so I picked it up just a bit so he could push it right behind me. After leading for about 10 minutes I slowed up and he went next to me and asked, "Where's the motor?". I asked him where he was going and he said Layton. I told him I was heading to Syracuse. He then took the lead for about 10 minutes at a pace of about 20mph. I was feeling like 22 was a more comfortable pace so I took the lead again. I slowly worked up to that pace so I could keep him close. But he dropped off and I never saw him after that.

I was able to fight the headwind and maintain a pretty good speed at the same time. Felt very good.

Distance:30.6
Time: 1:28
Avg Speed:20.8 mph