Yesterday I did a club ride for the first time, and despite the route being shortened because of weather, it was the longest ride I've done since starting riding 18 months ago. I ride 70-80 miles per week, but it's in 9 mile commuting chunks, and level ground. So the planned 50 miler was a challenge. I had no idea if I could keep up with the club, where the slower of their two groups averages about 20 on the flats, which is what I do on my commute rides. I knew I'd have to keep it up for longer, but would gain the efficiency of the pace-line. Turns out the heavy rain kept most folks away, so it was just three of us. Two gung-ho guys on Felts that ride together all the time, and 55yo 230lb me.

I was surprised that we got to the top of the incline with me right on on the tail of one of the guys. Well, I suppose I should mention the flat tire he had, huh?

I couldn't hang with them on the incline, especially when the younger of the two was pacing us, but that didn't surprise me. After a few miles my calves were saying "Dude, you've never put us through THIS before!" So I fell off the back and slowed down considerably.

They decided to shorten things up and go to a relatives house, so we split on the way back, and my route ended up at 42 miles. Don't mind the rain while riding, but the cleanup is always a pita.

Anyway, longest ride for me. I tried to do a metric century charity ride a few months ago, but ended up meeting a some cute paramedics when I crashed hard at mile 13. :-/ Stayed on the bike this time, anyway, and am going to keep doing club rides to get my endurance and climbing ability up.