cc3chan

I just finished a 80km shop group ride. My impressions of myself...I need to work on climbing alot. I can keep up with the lead pack on slight hills and flats, but got droped like a hot potato on the steeper climbs.

I guess I over extended myself on the first leg which is all up hill. Then died on the turn around. The shop guys were very encouraging and gave me a few pushes over the longer hills.

My biggest problem is my saddle, the SLR. I lost feeling in the nether regions after about 30kms and had trouble with sitting for long periods. I am looking at getting a Specialized Toupe as soon as possible to help ease this pain.

At least I can still walk around normally after the ride. My first road bike ride ended with me crawling in the front door of my house.

johnny99

You need to watch how the other riders are managing their energy. On a long ride, most riders are taking it easy on the flats (chatting with each other, watching for traffic etc.), but then pushing themselves on the climbs. If you need to work to keep up on the flats, then you know what is going to happen to you in the hills. The easiest way to improve your climbing is to add long climbs to most of your rides.

roadfix

This is true. Here's a short video clip I shot yesterday of a weekly group ride which I frequently join in on. These guys are a bit too fast for me as I usually drop out about 3/4 of the way into the ride.

cc3chan

Thanks for the advice. I definitely need to do hill repeats to condition my legs to the stress. I wasn't really pushing it on the flats, just my usual pace.

wrote4luck

Dang! That's a huge group!

Will G

You didn't say how much you have been riding prior to this group ride. If you haven't done much, be careful about doing too much, too soon. Otherwise, group riding is a lot more fun than riding by yourself.

Woden2003

seriously... that's a not a group, that is a peloton going on there... DAMN!

Blue Jays

When considering one of our typical group rides, we get about EIGHT guys if we have a solid weekend turnout. Holy cow!

As far as your energy-management is concerned...you definitely need to intermix hillwork on the alternate days when the group isn't riding together. Doing squats at the gym with a bar allowing up to fifty repetitions is also a good technique to build explosive leg power and also work the heart and lungs. Embrace the burn and learn to love the pain because it is making you stronger. When you're out with the group, use a heartrate monitor to ensure you're not spiking your pulse too high or you will never recover for the balance of the ride. That group is large enough that you should never have to pull at the front if you don't want to be up there.

wheel

wow on the group,

I think I see that many people in a month of commuting.

Ryleeryno

That is a very large group ride; could almost be a crit if they rode closer. In my area a group ride consists of older folks on 80's steelies and fat dudes who are spread out on by 2 miles.

Yeah, Specialized seats are great. The Body Geometry really does relieve pressure on the main contact points. Unless you ride an aggressive geometry I'd stay away from the toupe and look at the alias or avatar instead, IMHO.

simplyred

What group ride cc3chan? Da Donut?

DMF 

On the saddle, try dropping the nose a notch or two.

Phantoj

Losing weight is a highly effective way to improve your climbing ability, too. (It's simple and doesn't require physical effort, but it's not at all easy.)

EGreen

Here in NYC a group that size would need a permit else they'd all be carted off to jail.

roadfix

No kidding. As far as I know, this particular ride has been going strong every week since the 70's. There are other weekly rides in other SoCal communities just as large and established. But the local law enforcements haven't been too happy with the size of this group though, usually even larger during the summer months.

pcates

What shop are you riding with?

If its a 'no drop' ride take it easy on those hills.....people will wait....no point blowing up on a group ride.

As for saddle......my girlfriend made me get the toupe after reading about 'blood flow'......needless to say its one of the most comfortable saddles i've used. I was a bit hesitent about going on a 100km ride as my first test of it...but it was comfortable right out of the box...definitely worth the investment.....and a white one would look sharp with that R3.

pcates

avoid the donut....unless you enjoy being taken out by a bunch of weekend riders who get scared of to being close to other bikes.......i miss the good old days of the donut when you would just get yelled at.

mmazer

Hmm, I got yelled at yesterday on the Donut ride for not pulling through properly.

littledjahn

I can't tell from your post, but if you don't ride this far regularly, hold off on switching saddles for a bit. You'll find a few more long rides will bring some endurance down there. Also, if you haven't already, use a carpenter's level to adjust your saddle to a good starting point. Seriously.

clausen

Loosing weight would be very helpful and would be best for myself BUT not knowing the op current weight, that advises may not be the healthiest. Best thing to do is like johnny99 wrote and to add more hills to his current ride.

astrodaimler

We gots the Como ride going on Sundays that are that big.

Is it a hilly ride over there in L.A.? Up in the mountains or stay in the valley?

gfunk

My goodness that is a *monstrous* group.

-g

roadfix

It is a relatively flat ride, mostly through the San Gabriel Valley and northward. If it was a hilly ride into the canyons, this group, due to the many different levels of riders participating, I'll be one of the first ones to drop and the riders will be strung out for miles otherwise...

astrodaimler

Great info. You got more information? Which club? Word of mouth? Who knows, maybe one of these days or weekend, I'll sit in. Bear Ride coming soon, I think there will be a thread on the local forum. I'll let you know what I'm riding and wearing so people can recognize me.
As for getting dropped, stay in front for as long as you can. As you get dropped, there will always be someone else to sit on a wheel until of course, you go all the way to the last guy.