I went out with the "A" group a few weeks back (we refer to them as either the gazzelles or the mountain goats, depending on whether we're on the flats or climbing). There were maybe 15 of us, most of them in their 20s with a few older gentlemen (like me). The initial pace soon picked up from 23 to about 26 mph, and that was fine. We kept a steady pace, even up the rolling hills. I was having a great time, and was hanging on without much problem.

The young racers were even doing all the hard work for us. The front six or so riders kept pulling the paceline. When the leader rotated off the front, he'd signal to be let back into the front group. After about 20 minutes of this, one of the young kids at the back comes beside us and up to the front of the paceline and takes the lead; I guess he got impatient not getting his turn at the front. Within about a minute, I looked down and the speed was up to 33 mph. I saw that number, and looked behind to see that most of the older gentlemen were falling back. Maybe I could have hung with these gazelles for a few more moments, but my HR monitor was beeping at me telling me I was within 8 counts of my max HR.

Even though I wasn't having to take my turn at the front of the paceline, they still dropped me. But there will be another day, and maybe I'll try to hang in there a little longer next time. Regardless of being dropped, I had a blast that day!