Originally Posted by
big john
My goal is to not get dropped by the group or at least not feel awful when they stop to wait for me. I'd like to be able to do 60=80 mile rides at a fast enough pace to stay reasonably close without feeling like crap later. I was actually getting there before the shutdown of all group rides happened. I did 100 group rides for years and even more after I retired. Been solo for weeks now.
That's been my goal ever since I discovered the group with whom I've been riding since '97. Some racers say the only reason they race is so they'll have to train. Just the same. Competitive group rides aren't races but they are competitive. I never minded about feeling like crap later. That's the whole idea. Gotta empty out to make a larger place to refill. I always say, "If you can walk at the end, you could have gone harder." My group doesn't stop and wait. You keep up or see you at the coffee stop or finish. I've led rides with 20 people and had 3 still with me at the finish.
Eventually I had trouble staying with the fast group no matter how I trained, so I decided to get out of that game. We bought a tandem and I started riding with my wife - same group, same courses, but we mostly came in last. Then we started being able to stay with the slower riders. That's where we are now. Because of the better training provided by the tandem, I can keep up with the fast group on my single again, but I seldom bother. We like tandeming a lot.
During this shutdown, the group is still riding, just separately and posting ride reports. That's fun. It's good to know what's open, what's closed, where the "Covid Alleys" are. We still ride our tandem as hard as we ever did. We have been slower this year though. Hard to know if it's just another year weaker or lack of motivation. Coming along though. We're doing 60 miles, 2000'+, but we won't be strong enough to do the 70 mile, 5000' ride that we used to do on Memorial Day. I could do it on my single, but that's not the point now. It's become a team effort.
Edit: It occurred to me that what's happened is that the group has gotten wussy with age. We used to go out every Sunday no matter the weather as long as it wasn't icy. This past winter and spring we didn't ride in the rain. I think that made a big difference. I have a photo of the wife and I going out in graupel. We did a 70 mile ride when it absolutely poured the entire ride and held a steady 36°. We decided we wouldn't do that again. No more rain rides under 40°!
I once took a winter off. Had some mental malaise or something, I don't remember. I do remember trying to pick it back up in the spring. Took me until August to ride strong again, and I took an Never Again vow.