troutbreath

Late last night I convinced myself that, at almost 40 years of age, I was probably not going to need to free my calendar for the NFL draft today.

So, instead, I headed up to my bike shop to participate in their Saturday morning group ride. I had never done this, despite wanting to for quite some time. I travel during the week, and it seems as though every Saturday this spring has been either busy, cold, or raining. Today, however, was perfect. The shop does 2 rides, the first is a longer, faster ride and the second (15 minutes later) is shorter and slower. I, of course, chose the latter option.

I rode up to the store - Paceline Bicycles in Winston-Salem, thinking it was about 3 miles away (turned out to be almost 6.5). There was a big group there, maybe 25 riders total. A few went out with the fast group, leaving us with 18, I think. I asked about where we were going, and to my surprise, we were going to be going 44 miles! 44! The longest I had ever ridden was 2 hours on a trainer (maybe about 32 miles?). I headed out with the group, not knowing what to expect.

Rolling hills for most of the ride, with one whopper at about the 1/2 way point. It was great. I had a little difficulty at first working within the pack. There were pretty wild fluctuations in speed until we got into the country and could open up a bit. I made it back, none the worse for wear, and enjoyed meeting the rest of the group and finding out what everyone looked like without a helmet. Picked up a computer for the bike while at the store, and put on a new bottle cage -- having only one left me dry at the end of the ride.

Got home with 57 miles under my belt (wasn't really wearing a belt) for the morning. I'm sure I'll hurt in the AM.

That, to my surprise, gives me one of my 3 goals for the year.

1) Get under 200 lbs -- check! (don't kick me off the board, but I have been under 200 for about 4 weeks -- 195 this morning)
2) Ride 40 miles when I turn 40 -- check! The big four-oh is in 3 weeks.
3) 2008 miles in 2008. Counting indoor "miles," I'm at 1430 for the year. I think I need to go for 2008 outdoor miles now, though.

Really a good time this morning. I'll definitely do it again (unless I can't move in the morning, then I might reconsider).

AirBeagle1

Awesome Troutbreath! I had a similar experience today with my first group ride...

Joined up with some members of the local bicycling club for a nice jaunt from the park and up Lake Ontario toa small villa on back roads, then back again. My first time riding any distance in a group, so it was a completely new experience. Living within a couple miles of the park, I rode down to the lake and met up with the group. I found everyone there friendly, if a bit shy, and promptly joined a group talking, kept my mouth shut, and listened for a bit to see what I could learn. Introduced myself around, and met some other newcomers whom I tried to buddy up with.

Shortly thereafter, we took off, and quickly subdivided into three groups. Officially the ride is a sweep ride, which means that the ride leader rides at the back of the group and makes sure nobody gets left behind. I figured it was a nice intermediate ride to start out with, meet some people, and see what sort of level I could join in with while avoiding "holding back" any riders.

The group started out strong, and quickly segregated into three groups, a faster, medium, and more relaxed group, with the faster group going a bit farther before turning back, medium group going not quite as far, and the relaxed group cutting back at 15 miles (for a grand total of 30 round trip).

I initially started out tailing one of the more experienced riders, and before I knew it, found myself up in the faster group, bring up the rear along with another of the new riders, a nice young lady on a one-week-old Surly Long-Haul Trucker (sweet ride)! We stuck together as rookies for most of the ride, managing to hang with the fast group all the way to our halfway point (although I did see my heart rate a bit higher than I normally would have expected, in the 171 bpm range). Once we got there we pulled over in the park to enjoy the Lake Ontario scenery for a bit before turning around for the trek back home.

Trip home went fairly well, and either the group slowed down, or I was less anxious about riding in a pack, as my heart rate subsided considerably. Hit more back roads on the way home, but finished up with a pretty high-speed descent down the last 1 - 1.5 miles to our starting point, doing everything I could to keep up with the pack leader. Our average speed was around 22 mph down the road, but I was glad we hit the lake (and the end of our route) when we did, as I couldn't have kept up that pace for much longer.

Overall, a very nice ride with some welcoming folks, and I learned that riding in a group can be quite a bit of fun (and sure helps the miles fly by).

Ride Statistics:

• Distance: 44.77 miles
• Avg. Speed: 16.6 mph
• Avg. HR: 161 bpm
• Max HR: 186 bpm
• Calories Burned: 2820

Tom Stormcrowe

I love this part of my job!

Emeritus:



First Half Century!



Great job and no, you aren't allowed to leave this forum....your successes are of great help to those that are striving.

troutbreath

Nice report, Airbeagle1! Glad you had a good experience, too. I got caught up with a couple of the faster guys for a while, too. Mistake, which they corrected by being faster than me! Our ride was similar. There were two reps from the store, and they took turns going to the rear to pick up the stragglers.

I had not done the math on my ride (didn't have a computer till it was over), but I do have the vitals.

Distance: 57 miles
Avg. Spped: 16.26 mph (thank you, excel)
Avg HR: 148
Max HR: 184
Calories Burned: 2534 That part shocked me!

troutbreath

Thanks for the certificates, Tom! I always thought I would plan a half-century!

Tom Stormcrowe

Funny thing, I accidentally rode both my first half century as well as my first century.

mkadam68

Good job. It's always nice seeing what the human body is capable of when we don't try to convince ourselves we can't do it...

Congrats.

mkadam68

Good job. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself.

Was this, by chance, the Rochester Bicycling Club? I first got into road riding with groups when I saw an article in the local paper about them. One of my favorite rides was the fall Webster Wander (I think) where we start out in Webster, head east along the 104 on the bike path. In late October, we'd pass sandstone houses, and make a stop somewhere for donuts and fresh cider. Crisp, cool air, nice group, awesome ride.

Congrats again.

AirBeagle1

It was the Rochester Bicycling Club -- and I think we followed many parts of that exact path (I pulled out location names figuring most on the boards wouldn't care). Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, didn't seem to care that I was a rookie, and taught me a ton whether they meant to or not. I'm looking forward to getting out with them again and seeing what else I can learn

kenseth03

Congrats to you troutbreath. Seems like you are hitting your goals well. Our local bike club is doing a beginners group ride this coming weekend. It is twenty miles round trip and mostly flat except for one hill. I can ride ten miles right now but I'm not sure I can do twenty yet. I am still debating on whether I should go or not. I talked to one of the people who organize these rides and she said no one gets left behind, but I don't want to be the one to hold up anyone either.

troutbreath

Understand your trepidation, Patrick. I'd go for it. I found that the group ride did not push me in terms of consistent pace compared to how I ride alone. If you can do 10, I'll bet you can do 20.

kenseth03

Well Troutbreath, I appreciate your words of encouragement and I think I may just try it. Out of curiousity though, how did you feel today when you woke up? Sore?

funrover 

Great story!

Neil_B

Well done, Troutbreath. Congratulations!