Hi, I've been a lurker here for a while and finally decided to jump in. I'm looking on some advice on how to overcome the physical and mental blocks I have so I can ride with my husband so I don't feel like I'm holding him back. We are both 52. He regular rides and trains for the one day STP and the Ramrod ( if your from the PNW you'll recognize these rides as fairly killer) I have ridden the two day STP (Seattle to Portland) with a couple of times and avg 15 mph for the ride with him pulling me all the way. This year we are going to do the RSVP (seattle to vancouver) and for the first time I joined the local club and am doing some training rides every weekend. I am riding in the 12-14 mph group (tho we do seem to avg a bit more that that) because I didn't want to always be dropped on the hills because I am so sloooww. I don't seem to have a problem with the distance we're doing a century tomorrow. I quess what I'm really asking is how do I improve my speed I would like to keep riding with this group because I really enjoy their company. I would like to manage at least 18 mph avg by the august. I could manage one other 3-4 hour a ride a week do I just go out on the flats and ride as fast as I can by myself or what? I usually ride in the middle of the pack when I ride with the group.