pharmboyrx

So today I headed out to join the fast ride in town. It was described to me as speeds between 25-30 mph for 25-30 miles.

I parked my car and rode S to meet the ride coming N. It was still warming up, about 17-18 mph when I hopped on the back. It was so cool being with what looked like about 40 other people. I tried to stay off the back so I could case it out but some others joined behind me. So I took the advice I got from some friends (hold your line, don't cross wheels, don't touch the brakes) and found it wasn't too hard to not kill anyone.

It picked up to about 25 mph and it was awesome. In the group, I had no problem keeping the pace. The sound of everyone's tires hissing on the pavement was so awesome.

Then, the people in front of me started slowing down. Once out of the group it was hopeless to catch them again. It frustrated me because I didn't feel quite ready to be droppped, though I knew it was going to happen sometime in the next 10 minutes. I tried sprinting to catch them but ended up blowing up. So I rode with 3 others who got droppped, about 21 mph. Thanks for the motivation from the guy with the nice Zipps! I almost gave up.

We met the group again after it turned around. A red light helped us catch up. I was riding on the back enjoying myself when a pickup tried to pass the group. We were yelling "Carback!" but the lead group wouldn't move over. Meanwhile the truck was now in front of us, so I got dropped again. I ended up finishing my ride with Sandy, a guy who's been riding for 55 years.

All in all a great day and so much fun. It will be fun to see how much longer I can hold on week after week. Maybe someday I'll be off the front!

Smoothie104

Rocking your Zipps on the training ride, and still getting shelled. priceless

pharmboyrx

I did have a nice private laugh at that. The other guy with me had a killer set of spinergys. He was obviously faster though. His wife was with him and when she would start dropping back he would reach out, put his hand on her butt, let her have a breather while he pushed her, then launch her up forward. I laughed out loud when I first saw it.

hairyleg

Group rides are definitely so much more fun than solo training. Such higher speeds----I can't wait till they start again....