I encountered way more cyclists on the road going over Alpine than I did going over Nebo. It seems to be a fairly popular route. Although, most of the cyclists that I encountered appeared to be riding from the other direction. I've heard that it's easier from that direction (although it didn't seem obvious that that was the case as I descended into American Fork Canyon).There was however one cyclist going in the same direction as me. He passed me up in Provo canyon before even getting to the Sundance turnoff. I was struggling to find energy early in the ride and was fighting a pretty stiff headwind coming through Provo Canyon. So, I was kind of glad when he passed me and gave me the opportunity to draft off of him for a little while. I had no trouble keeping up with him as long as he was fighting off all of the wind for me :)
We chatted as we rode for a couple of miles, but once we hit the turnoff to Sundance and started the climb I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up with him for much longer. I may have been able to hang with him for a little while, but it probably would have been at the expense of pushing myself too hard and threatening my ability to complete the loop. So, we wished each other good rides and parted ways.
As I watched him bike off it made me realize how much work I have left to do to really be able to cycle competitively. Cycling is all about your PWR (Power-to-Weight ratio). If you want to be a stronger cyclist you essentially have two options: 1) Gain Power, or 2) Lose Weight. Although I'm thrilled that I finally dropped below 200 pounds, you still just don't see a lot of 200 pound cyclists. My best option to be able to compete with guys like that would be to lose another 20 pounds. Of course, I'll continue to build my power by riding over mountains too :)
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