Going With The Grain
The weather Saturday was predicted to be perfect for riding. Calm winds, moderate temperatures (45/75) and plenty of sunshine. I decided to ride with the local club. This would be the first club ride, or group ride for that matter, that I'd done in about a year. I did all of my riding solo last year during the build up for Florida. I was a bit nervous, to be honest, before the ride. Not only with riding in a group setting again, but not really knowing where my fitness would be compared to the rest of the group. Would I struggle to hang on with the group I used to ride with? Would I get dropped by the slow group? Would I blow up in the middle of the ride trying to stay with the fast group and have to limp home alone?
There were about 35 riders on hand and we rolled out just after 8am. My only plan was to go with the grain and not get too carried away. It was a bit cold once we got going but warmed up after a few miles. We all stayed together for the first 8 or 10 miles...longer than usual. The fast group started pulling away at about mile 10. I was feeling great and it was VERY tempting to hop on and go, but I stayed with the middle group.
There were a dozen or so riders in our group and we'd formed a good pace line by about mile 12. My turn up front rolled around and I stayed up for about 3 miles and was still feeling great. We continued on keeping a good pace and soon came up on the lead group. They'd stopped at a convenience store and were about to head back out. They were taking a longer route and our group decided to take a shorter route. We jumped on and stayed with them for a few miles until we got to our turn-off. We'd lost about half of our group by the time we got to the turn. I got out front to take the first pull. There were 5 riders behind me at this point. After a couple of miles I glanced back and there was one. He didn't seem to be itching to come up front, so I just kept going. We made it back to the bike shop and ended up with 40 miles. I was very pleased with how the ride went and I'm looking forward to getting out with the group more frequently. I may even jump on with the fast group next time.
The weather looks to be beautiful again today. Perfect for hunting eggs....
I hope everyone has a blessed and happy Easter!
TJ
posted by TJ at 6:32 AM
8 Comments:
Group rides are awesome for pushing yourself. If you dropped your group on your pull I think it's time to move up! Great job!
:-)
Jodi
It was a great day for a ride :-) Nicely done!!
I hope to be able to ride with a group soon. Nice job!
Great ride TJ! I look forward to joining up with the local group later this spring when I get a bike. You make it sounds fun. :)
Nice ride! I got out too. It's been nice this week! Spring IS coming!
Wow, 3 miles of pulling is a lot! Do you have a road bike or were you riding your tri bike? I've been somewhat hesitant to do many local group rides having heard that many roadies frown on those with tri bikes :-(
shirley ~ i was on my road bike. but i've ridden my tri bike in groups as well. as long as i'm not using the aerobars in a paceline, the roadies (race team) around here don't mind me riding my tri bike.
cute cartoon, but the pics from the previous post below are killing me. I think I'll be trying my first group bike ride next week. I know nothing about drafting, pulling, and whatever else goes on with pack riding. Glad you had fun.
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