Our (left picture is Dave and me - right mid way through)first century rider of the season was the Elephant Rock out of Castle Rock, Colorado. We usually have 4 to 6 of us, but Alex (our son broke his colar bone on his mountain bike, and others wimped out) ER has a nice set of climbs, decents, flat roads, beautiful scenes, a final grind and a 15 miles slight downhill tailwind ride where those with situational awareness join up in pace lines to motor along at 28 MPH into the finish.
On our roads we come across all sorts of riders. The pros and the development teams, young guns working on getting picked for the development teams, tri-athelets on their tr-bikes, weekend riders, casual riders.
Our place in all this is lower middle class. We can hold a 17 MPH all day pace, do most of the big climbs without embarrassment (walking), stay in the middle of the century rider pack, actually pass as many people as pass us, and get back to the start in one peice and actually enjoy the day. Our training rides are in the 20 to 30 mile range 2 to 3 times a week, longer on the weekends where the serious climbs are starting to take place. We're on our first serious training ride in preparation for our end of season goal, the West Elk Loop, Gunnison to Crested Butte - the long way. To get ready
The Point Here
On the road you can see a pro coming from a long distance. They pedal at a constant pace - in the 80 to 100 RPM range. No upper body movement. Steady line on the road. Constant situational awareness of the road, those around, the action ahead.
In the project management domain, the same siutaion exists. The "pros" have been managing projects for decades, they have a proven method of managing in the presence of uncertainty, they have a vast collection of experiences, resources, a net work of connections, and most of all a critical sense of the situation.
So if you want to ride like a pro, you need to start with the basic.
- A training plan
- Experienced companions who will wait for you at the top of the mountain
- Steady, incremental learning
- A sense of purpose
- Dedication to the task at hand, either getting to Jamestown in a reasonable time, or for your project, coming in more or less on schedule, budget, and technical performance
- A unwavering focus on improvement
- Closely watching the pros pedal down the road and over the horizon to see what they have to offer the amateurs.
