You know you went to the wrong group ride when...
 

There are a lot of folks in the same kit with shaved legs.

Ended up going 20 miles before myself and a few others got dropped. I finished the 25 miles / 1585' in 1hr 27min (17.2 mph)

What did I learn you may be asking?

o Don't go for a 3 mile walk/jog the morning of the ride
o Don't swim for 45 min at lunch time the day of the ride
o I should have ate before getting there
o I'm no longer in my mid 20's. 52 SUCKS!
o Even though I'm a Clyde Emeritus I'm still way too fat!
o When you are cruising along at 18 on the hoods and think "This ain't too bad" be forewarned, there will be some that get in the drops and it's game on. I was in the 50 ring and the middle of the cassette with a cadence of 110 going 27 and they were pulling away :mad: Talk about depressing.

Well, there is always the Garrett Co. MD "Masochistic Metric" with 8,000' of elevation gain on the 23rd to look forward to :twitchy:

you where Riding with Dame Edna ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_Edna_Everage

Nah. Seems them racer types do that because when they crash all the hair don't get into the abrasions. My answer to that... Don't crash. Hello, McFly

Talk about relating to that!!!

Quote " Even though I'm a Clyde emeritus I'm still way too fat" Check
Quote " Don't go for a 3 mile walk/jog the morning of the ride" Check...no dog, but pre-breakfast jog is part of my daily routine.
Quote " I'm no longer in my mid 20's." Check. It just sucks regardless of current age.
Quote " There are a lot of folks in the same kit with shaved legs" Check, three teams of 3-4 riders each all looking ready to give hell to one another.
Quote " I should have eaten before getting there" I was ok on food an hydration but it wouldn't have made any difference.

Looking around I got about 15 pounds (optimistic) on the biggest guy i could find.

Even though is rolling hills all around, the biggest cassette sprocket i see around is 23, and everyone is glancing at my nifty 28.

During the 4 mile somewhat flat section of the ride, at the cruising speed (must have been 24-25 mph) while other riders are engaged in active conversation the guy next to me is only getting monosyllabic answers.

Fever can happen in specific parts of the body: I felt my legs must have reached about 150 Degrees. The positive is that my lungs were only about 130, so it's still a legs problem for the most part...

I did get dropped, earlier than 20 miles, and i was the slowest in the group. The guy that invited me to the ride caught up with me on the second lap and we completed a 35 or so mile ride at a much, much slower pace.

Checking the computer file there are huge spikes on HR, cadence, speed...basically it looks like a corrupt file...even the computer can tell how out of my league it was.

The expression "Humbling experience" got a whole new dimension in my book.

In the back of my mind: if i can draft any of those wheels, on their warm up lap, by the end of the 2015 season, I'll consider it success.

All that said, I am also soo looking forward to the next climbfest i can get into.

From your description, it sounds like your hammerfest was their recovery ride "only" 17mph.
Well, there's always somebody faster. And somebody has to be the slowest.

So do it again and get faster! You will!

Getting dropped is part of groups rides.... but the day will come that you're feeling ON and you do the dropping. Keep at it and don't let the bast@rds get you down. :)

Welcome to my Tuesday and Thursday nights.

+1. Not sure what the issue is. He kept up for 20 miles, which was 80% of the ride.

"I" finished the ride at 17 mph. When I got back there were some that had already packed up their stuff and had left.
I think those in the front hadn't completed 140 miles and 9200+ feet of gain since Sunday morning. At least that's the story I am sticking to....

Not a chance it got me down. If anything, like a hill I couldn't climb, it has inspired me to go out and do more interval work.

I don't mind and expect to get dropped - especially by 'kids' that are half my age, 6' and weigh in the 160's

I would much rather ride with guys faster than me than slower than me... it only makes you stronger.

I hear ya... I was having one of the best rides...not quite at your pace but I was doing a respectable (for me) 18 mph, not winded, feeling great! Then got passed and left in the dust.