30 miles Thursday evening, include 20 miles with a local group of about 50 cyclists.

My first ride in 30+ years with a fairly experienced and disciplined group. Although the B group pace was modest, around 14 mph, due to the heat, it was still a good challenge and experience. That's only my second group ride of any kind with the new-to-me road bike. The first was last night with a more casual group.

While most of us kept a full bike length between each other it was still close enough for drafting, which made it the easiest part of my ride -- physically. My rides to and from events are usually where I push the hardest, then I relax during the group rides. But this ride demanded more attention and focus, which was good.

And I was acutely conscious of every minor wheel wobble I experienced while reaching down to shift. Toward the end of the ride my right elbow was aching and left palm was numb, so I dropped from the middle to the end of the pack to be sure I wasn't distracting anyone from wheel wobble as I was a bit fatigued. But I asked a couple other riders who'd followed me and they said I seemed steady and predictable, so that was reassuring.