Bragging rights on average speed

On Sunday, the wind was calm, the sun was shining and the temperature was hovering under 20C.
A beautiful day for a ride.
The ride from home to the first freeway roadhouse is 47km. Return doubles it to 94km.

Not wanting to injure any vital body parts I headed off at a quiet pace for the first 5km.
I was nicely warmed up just before the hilly section of the ride.
All those days and weeks of commuting in the Rotovelo seemed to have paid big dividends.
The hills seemed shorter and the gearing higher.

Just at the end of the hills two riders on diamond frames quickly approached from behind.
I sensed they would pass quickly and disappear. I didn't bother speeding up, intent on a calm and happy ride,enjoying my own company. They passed me half way up an incline and I let them go.
As they went passed I called out a welcome hello and received only silence.
Oh well some riders are simply "in the zone".

Surprise, surprise! They slowed before the crest and I was right behind them.
Mmmmm, should I pass and be a nuisance or should I stay behind and let them speed off on the downhill? I chose the latter and as I stopped pedalling and cruised down I was still on their rear wheel. On the flat the pace was just right. So instead of passing and being a nuisance uphills or busting myself to out pace them, I decided to go along for the ride.

How restful it was to be in the draft. The baron was rock solid. Everything on the bike just worked so perfectly at that speed. Being lower than their seat height, I was getting enough air to stay comfortable and yet could feel the reduced air pressure of the draft.

These two had obviously ridden together before as they changed the lead almost like clockwork every minute or so. As they went off the front, they would stand and pedal up to the back wheel.
it was great to watch how smooth it all was and without losing any speed at all.
On each change I would hold back and wait for the change to finish then reattach to the new, different rear wheel.

The Baron was rolling so smoothly I had great momentum into a rise or hill. So much so that I would slow my cadence then change down a gear and spin up to maintain the pace.

They turned off just prior to my end point. I told them how good they were and thanked them for allowing me to draft them.

The first time I checked my watch was at the roadhouse. I couldn't believe my eyes. Slightly less than 1.5h. That gave me slightly more than 30km/h average.

Would I do similar on the way back. Almost. Without any drafting and a long slowdown at the end I returned in 1h and 40 minutes, which gave an average of slightly higher than 29.

The Baron is an absolute joy to ride and I love it everytime I get on. It is a true thoroughbred of a bike. I am glad I kept it instead of upgrading to a M5CHR last year. It is lighter and more responsive than the Rotovelo. I wish Optima was still making them.