Dewbert

OK, folks. I just starting riding a few weeks ago and today I completed 50 miles on my first organized ride. I'm pretty proud of myself, but here are some important things I learned today:

1. Being in the back of the pack is not so bad...all the dogs along the route have been locked up because of chasing the FAST GUYS.
2. There are a lot of very friendly folks who are full of advice and willing to give it.
3. When you see a really really heavy guy in the parking lot before the ride, and you think to yourself "Wow, at least I know I'll not be the last one to finish" get ready to eat your hat, when he FLIES past you in the 2nd mile of the ride, never to be seen again!
4. June bugs are very very salty when they explode against your lips
5. If you're energetic enough to do 50 miles on your first ride, you should NOT be too cheap to invest in a pair of cycling shorts!

If anyone needs anything, I'll be sitting on the couch, on a pillow admiring the new shorts I bought on the way home from the ride!

Peace,
Dewbert

mrisis

I had a good laugh, & been in the same situation with the june bugs, only problem is they get caught on the back of my throat.

Longhorn

I went on my first organized ride yesterday, too, 28 miles in the Texas Hill Country. I learned:

1. Keep my own pace. I think I tried to go too fast the first seven miles and at the first rest stop, I wasn't sure I could make the entire 28 (I had only done 15 miles at once up to then.) So I focused on cadence after that and kept spinning and the ride actually seemed easier even as it got hillier.

2. A lot of this is mental. I'd see a hill up ahead and feel discouraged but when I actually started climbing in a low gear, it was easy! So I remembered that and quit worrying about the next hill.

3. There's nothing like good company to get through the rough spots. I had encouraged my husband and brother-in-law to go ahead at their own pace. I was struggling a bit on the last two miles before the 14-mile rest stop and this older man pulled up next to me and started chatting with me. We were going at a nice steady pace but if I hadn't been talking to him, I probably would have slowed a bit a couple of times. At the rest stop, he told others that riding with me "saved" him but it was just the opposite and I think he did it on purpose. I found out his name is Henry and he is 78 years old! He did the 28-mile loop, too. I hope I'm still riding like Henry when I'm 78!

Blackberry

Good posts all--and congratulations.

I like riding in the mid to back-of-the-pack. You meet the most interesting people. One time, I spent the day with an older lady. We walked our bikes up the steep hills and rolled easily down the other side. She had many great stories and a wonderful, adventerous spirit. I'm sure the hammerheads were home mowing their lawns by the time we finished up.

rule

If you're not having fun, you are doing it wrong.