Originally Posted by
CJ C
If you do what you did what you did in the past you will continue to get the same results as the past. stretch what you think you can do and be surprised how you underestimate yourself.
I don't disagree, but at the same time I am indeed seeing progress on solo hilly rides. Given the 50%+ speed advantage the rest of the riders had, I'm not sure riding with them will provide any benefit at all at the moment. I can see if they were maybe 1-2mph faster than me I could keep up, but not 6+ mph. I think when I get within that "window" I'll show up to hilly rides more as they'll have more benefit to me.
You are doing great keep at those group rides and the hard ones. Like you said the fact you showed up and FINISHED is more than many others. you not only show up but you dont quit its a huge quality you have and is the quality that will take you very far not just in cycling but in other aspects of life. Rock on!
Thanks. To be honest I seriously was considering abandoning at one point. However, as a man of reason I decided that
1) I wasn't about to go climb up the steep gravel decline I had descended earlier; it was dangerous enough going down, I figured going up would be even worse.
2) I had no idea where I was and only had the cue sheet to tell me how to complete the course. Given that it was near noon at the peak of summer I couldn't even use the sun to ascertain my bearings, so I didn't want to go exploring, lest I find even worse roads and end up completely lost.
3) The ride leader phone number listed on the sheet was wrong; the original ride leader backed out of running the ride at the last minute and someone new took over, and didn't update the sheets with their information, so I couldn't even call anyone to tell them I abandoned.
So, I kept going, and now I know I can do those hills, and will be more confident the next time I'm in that situation.
BTW personally I love this thread and impatiently look forward to your post group ride write ups. So even just for my reading enjoyment continue with the harder group rides and report back
Thanks! I actually started a blog the other day because my facebook friends were complaining that facebooks' interface was making it hard to read my increasingly-rambling posts about cycling. You can find it here:
http://velocipedia.wordpress.com/
I think this will give me a better outlet for my musings, because I also want to post about various cycling products I use or other fitness/outdoorsy thoughts I think of, many of which don't warrant posting new threads in BikeForums and/or are difficult to categorize on the forums.