Vireo

Ok let's hear it. Is the "No-drop policy" strictly enforced in your cycling family. Does your significant other make you sleep on the couch, in the doghouse, deprive you of sustenance, deprive you of oh-no not that if you don't ride with them on a ride/race or training ride? I'll start it off this is what we do.

I presented options very early in our relationship.

This is the way we work it, and it's agreed upon on a case by case (event by event) basis.

1. I launch her out early (if the ride/race has staggered starts but also in training) and then chase her down.

2. I ride fixed while she rides multi-speed

3. I start with her and finish (event/climb) at my pace and then come back for her and ride at her pace.

4. Combination of all of the above

5. And then sometimes I just hang with her...

BananaTugger

You're faster?

I thought she did all the pulling.

Doggus

I wear the spandex in the family.

Vireo

Oh she's good at pulling or tugging...never mind but Vireo is the lead dog of this sled team.

Brandy

I let him think that he presented options very early on.

No really...we both do our own thing out there. I respect that he has his goals and he respects that I have mine. Often that leaves us riding alone...which is actually what we both prefer. We have done portions of double centuries together, but it's always a nice bonus, not an expectation. He does come back for me after he finishes, which is sweet.

Training rides are pretty much the same. That's the beauty of training for climbing events though, we can both go at our own pace and be on the mountain at the same time, but not have to stay together.


Hopefully we can get some time in on our tandem in the next couple of months...no need to discuss a no drop policy there. Of course, that brings up all kinds of other issues! You know, it's really hard to go from controlling your own bike to being a stoker. I'm still in the minor freak out stages.

furiousferret

I've thought about getting a fixed so I can ride with my wife (who is signifigantly slower) but then again, I need a new road bike so it probably wont happen

aham23

my relationship is a three way one. Psi and Cy and me. we have an understanding. we are constantly trying to drop each other. its how we roll . later.

bdcheung

Dropping the significant other is a one-way ticket to the couch.

Bearonabike

If I ride with the wife, then I ride with the wife.

Sometimes I ride by myself. One could be called a recovery ride (for me) and the other is a workout.

ericm979

My wife won't ride with me any more. We're just too far apart in terms of speed and willingness to suffer to make it work. The best rides "together" have been when I have met her part way through what's a long ride for me and a shorter ride for her, ridden together for a while, then split up to finish our rides. I have suggested a tandem but she's really not interested. I think her idea of hell would be getting stuck on a tandem with me... "c'mon honey, only one more 3000' climb, then we can go home!"

Lately instead of cycling she's been running. That's safe from me: I can't run because my knees are too messed up.

RoadToNowhere

Laying out those rules early on is a good thing.

There was a couple riding together (?) on the Lancaster ride last year. He kept slingshotting ahead, while she stayed back *****ing and complaining. Then he'd come back and she'd complain even louder. No sense of humor there. We tried to find it and couldn't (I don't think even Chipcom could help her)

It was great entertainment for the rest of us, but a pretty lousy dynamic for them.

I'm the one leading my husband around at this point. He's just getting started, but is very strong and fit - just getting used to the bike now. I know that as soon as he gets his legs under him and gets some experience he'll be able to pull me around (and most likely kick my arse), so I'm trying to be nice now.

However...after the first couple of rides hearing him complain about the fact that route was about 10 miles longer than I first told him it would be () ... I told him that there's no whining in riding, and if he's going to whine and complain then he can't come along.

I won't drop anyone ever without knowing they can find their way home and are okay getting there.

Beth

KirkeIsWaiting

Mine stays behind me usually, he likes the view.
Dropping me would make for a lonely, boring ride.

patentcad

I really can't ride with my wife. I try. She accuses me of going too fast. I try to ride at her pace. I think she just rides faster because she's with me.

It's a problem. We'll try again.

rbart4506

In a charity event/organized ride we usually start together until the climbing hits and then I make distance. I know she's a good rider and can hold her own. Every so often I'll drop off groups and wait for her to catch up. Our goal is to finish together since the rides we do are rides and not races.

If we are on a smaller group ride around town then all bets are off and we go at our own paces. Usually these rides stay together, but every so often there's a break and if either one of us are in then we stay up front as long as we can. In these cases it's ok since we are riding with people we know and we both know the area very well.

When it's the two of us together on a training ride then we stick together.

We are pretty lucky in that we are pretty well matched speed wise. She's better on the flats then me and has a bit more endurance, while I take her on the climbs...

banerjek

My wife and I tried a tandem. It was a spectacular failure. On the good side, she's a good stoker on steep inclines -- we were passing plenty of roadies while climbing around the SF area, and people were blown away by our climbing speed.

On the bad side, she can't stand high speeds. Even worse, if the stoker decides not to follow the captain's lead, it causes severe handling problems. She would hold her feet tight if she thought we were going too fast downhill. If she saw no need to turn (i.e. because she hadn't spotted the debris that I saw), she wouldn't follow my lead. One could suggest that she pilot the bike and I be the stoker, but she rides WAY too conservatively and I know I'd go crazy.

In the end, I decided that if we ride together, I should ride my slowest bike weighed down as much as possible, use the crappiest aero profile possible, and then cut the wind.

Treespeed

The best rides I've had with my wife are when we go touring together. I load up the Bob Trailer with all of our gear, and she just has panniers filled with light and fluffy stuff. It equaled us out in everything but the steep descents.
But as others have said, when I go to ride with my wife, I ride with my wife. Folks that drop their significant others aren't impressing anyone.

Wanderer

Granted, that my wife doesn't like to go fast, or go on long rides (over 20 miles); but, I'd never even think of leaving her if we were riding together.

The other question might be - why aren't you riding together, if you are riding together?

Maybe that's part of being married for 40+ years - but I wouldn't even consider it!

garysol1 

Click on the pic of the yellow bike in my sig for my answer to the dilemma.....

<3 2 Ride 

I don't get the opportunity to ride with someone very often. So, when I do go out on a ride with someone, I ride with them. It is nice to have company.

Vireo

Great question-- I tell people we are like Clark Kent and Superman -- you rarely see us on the same ride/event/race. So riding together is more the exception than the rule. Our training time is far too limited ( 4 kids, work, life whatever) to waste/spend it trying to keep each other's pace (she would blow up or I would not work enough). We are quite content to do the event separate and then enjoy our time together without the confines of lycra, or the perils of traffic and road hazards distracting us from our quality time.

Congrats on 40 years!!

sixtyten

Interesting.

tombailey

If it's just the two of us I stay with her. If it's just the two of us on a charity ride then I sometimes go up the road with a group then wait every 5 miles or so. If it's the two of us and friends I go up the road. If it's hilly I just do my best to try and stay on her wheel (she has a 100lb weight advantage and a "climbers brain").

Vireo

We have only ridden this about three times. We hope to find sometime this winter to ride Pia. We are still working on getting the fit right for both of us.

Brandy

People rarely believe me when I tell them that I am more than fine...in fact, I'm happy with our arrangement. Maybe it's because I was already a cyclist when we met and it wasn't something that he tried to get me into. I could see being upset if he talked me into doing something he loved and then didn't do it with me. I guess it's all about perspective.

I can't climb with him and climb within my limits. It makes for a miserable day if I'm trying to keep pace with him on the mountain. Though I am getting faster (I beat his first year Day One Everest Challenge time by 3 minutes, so give me a couple of years...lol) and I'm sure the gap will get smaller as time passes. I'll probably never outclimb him though, unless I decided to adopt a nifty cycling induced eating disorder.

I guess the other thing to consider is that I'm a loner. I don't do a whole lot of group rides and I LOVE to train alone. Riding by myself, I can have training goals and stick with them because I'm the only factor in my success out there. Now I love to talk cycling, I love meeting other cyclists, I'll stick with a group for a short time if I come across one, but I'm not one to seek out riding partners. If I do, I usually end up dreading it because I'm following someone else's plan. <~~~control freak, much? Oh...and climbing with other people...pretty much anyone...drives me bat-shizz crazy. I like seeing you on the mountain, but I don't want to climb with other people 98% of the time.

Brandy

Ahhh...Pia. Get me a blindfold and I'm good to go. Seriously...I FLIPPED OUT the first time we took her out. I started closing my eyes when we were making turns so I wouldn't try to steer from the backseat. We need some more tandem skills!!!