I just finished one of the best weeks of my life – my fifth trip down the coast with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (challengedathletes.org) on the Million Dollar Challenge.  I spent eight days with some of my best friends and met some amazing new friends that I hope will ride with us and become part of our wonderful group. 

There is, however, a bit of depression that follows these rides.  It’s not unlike the end of summer camp – saying goodbye to friends that you’ve bonded with and shared experiences with is always hard.  New Church of Cycling convert Diem Do referred to this funk as “MDC Withdrawal.”  I remember the first time I did the ride – I had this illness in the worst way.  I could barely speak of the ride without welling-up.  I had a dreadful fear that I would never see some of these amazing people again or that we’d never again blast down the road in a smooth, organic paceline.  I was wrong. 

Some of us had the idea of continuing to ride on Sundays in our own group.  Only a few, select friends that wanted a “fix.”  Something to stave off the illness – if only for one more week.  It turned into a way to stay connected, to improve our riding, to eat orange rolls and drink coffee.  It became a religion.

This year the withdrawals didn’t hit me so hard.  In fact, I had a bit of a spring in my step today.  The sun felt warmer, the grass looked greener and girls seemed a little bit prettier – life felt good.  It’s because now I know I will see these incredible people again.  We’ll ride on Sundays, stay caught-up with each other’s lives and send snarky texts during the week.  Our friendships aren’t ending, as I feared upon completing my first year.  Turns out, they’re only just beginning. 

There's a baseball saying that says, "speed doesn't slump."  It's meaning is simple - even if, for a period, you can't hit or pick up a ground ball, speed will always help your team win.  During Sunday’s MDC training ride, this saying came to mind.  I think a parallel can be drawn to cycling - "cycling IQ doesn't bonk."

Once you've become competent at riding in a pace line, the next step is to become a high IQ rider.  These are the folks that always know where to be - how to avoid the wind, who to ride behind (and next to) and they save their hard efforts for when they need to close a gap or take their pull.

This is an incredibly difficult skill to master.  In fact, I'd argue that very few people you ride with have this skill.  That's not a knock on their abilities as riders, it's sometimes because of the circumstances they ride under.  The people I ride with that are exceptionally strong riders feel an obligation to pull more often, to "take care" of other riders and they do a large part of the work during rides.  I completely and totally respect them for this.  They are an integral part of the group and a huge reason we have such amazing group rides.  I think one of the most important jobs an MDC group leader has (and one I worked hard to improve) is to make sure that the riders in their groups are in the spot they should be so the group rides in the safest and most efficient manner.

I’m confident that many people over the years have rolled their eyes as I tried to direct the group to line-up in a certain order or “asked” riders to pull longer or get to specific spots.  I always did this to ensure we got where we were going as a group.  I look at the group as one unit and when I’m in front pulling, I try to only go as hard as I know the slowest rider can go and not get dropped. 

I’m truly amazed watching a rider that really knows how to ride in a group – it’s beautiful.  It is certainly an art.  For some riders, they've become so good that it's second nature and this has huge advantages.  Primarily, it allows them to ride with any group.  They are comfortable in a group of riders at - or just below - their strength level because they can stay in the right spot and avoid danger.  They're also comfortable in groups above or beyond their strength level because they can use their positioning to protect themselves from the wind and conserve energy.  This makes them nearly "bonk-proof," because they don't need to go anaerobic for extended periods.

I worked on and used these techniques when I was a G1 leader in 2009.  I know that when I say I rode with G1 all summer people think, "he's a strong rider."  The reality is that during that summer I starting learning to be a high IQ rider and figured out where to be and when to be there.  I'm still working on this skill.

There are two riders in the MDC group that I believe have mastered this talent to the point where they don’t even think about it anymore - Summer and Tamara.  The argument could be made that others can work the group, too, but my opinion is that nobody else is even close to their skill level. During the past five years I have ridden with hundreds of cyclists and I feel that these two are the best group riders I have ridden with.  I have never seen either of them in the wrong spot or making a twitchy move.  Ever.

What makes them so good?  They are always near the front, out of the wind and behind strong, stable, steady riders.  They're both strong - this isn't a sign of weakness - it's a sign of cycling brilliance.  If the paceline shifts or the group breaks apart, they instinctively find their way back to the perfect spot.  It is cycling poetry in motion.

I really enjoy and relish the opportunity to rider with either Summer or Tamara and when I do get the chance, I make sure to watch what they do and how they react to different circumstances. 

They don't know this, but over the three years I was a rider leader, nearly every week I would tell someone in our group that was learning to ride with us, "Do you see (insert name here)?  Get behind her and do everything she does.  Then next week, do it again."

I would offer up that you should do this too.  Every chance you get.  After a few weeks, go ride with the next group up.  Don’t focus on how strong you aren’t, focus on how smart you are.  That is the road less traveled - and it makes all the difference.