Crankin
06-05-2013, 04:29 PM
I decided to go to the group ride today, even though it started a little bit out of my area and I am on time schedule. The start was only about 12-13 miles away and although the beginning wasn't in really pretty places, the midpoint was (a state park). It was also mostly flat, except for one hill, or what I'd call a hill.
As soon as I got to the meeting place, I knew this was a bad idea. We were late leaving, by 15 minutes and there was a huge group, of at least 40 people. We did not split into fast and slow groups. My strategy with these people is to stick to the front, but not right up behind the leader, so I don't have to be a human arrow, wich is what they use to indicate turns (the person stands there until the sweep passes). I don't mind doing this when I am in a spot that I know my way around, but this was not the case today. It turned out that I could pretty much stay at the back of the faster riders, and often caught them on the climbs. So the first rest stop was at 12 miles of a 37 mile ride. We waited and waited, all used the portapotties, and then found out there were 2 people with flats we were waiting on. So, I headed back with one other man and woman, who had planned on riding less, as I was never going to get back in time to see my client. The guy is about 75, a strong rider, but he had a bad crash about 1.5 years ago and doesn't ride as far. He is also the person who caused my last crash, when he was leading and just slowed for no reason (this was in 2007). But, he's very safety conscious now. The woman is also a strong rider, but had just retured from 12 days of cycling in Ireland and was beat. The way back was torturous; we had to wait for her, she was really slow. I had no idea how to get back to my car, so I had to deal with it. Now I realize I'm a bit sunburned on my arms, despite putting on a ton of sunblock.
I rushed home, showered and called my client and said I would be a half hour late. Then I realized I hadn't had coffee, only green tea and I found myself extremely groggy as I was driving to her house. She gave me rescue coffee! I actually rode 25 miles, the first 12 quite speedily and the rest, who knows.
So, we got the cue sheet for our metric on Sunday. Oy, it includes every steep local climb they could find, including ones that a lot of people don't know about. The scary thing is that I know them all! It suggests starting at 7 AM if you plan to do the ride at a 13-14 mph average, which will be me, with this elevation. I won't be killing myself. The good thing is, we can always take an alternate way out of all of these climbs, as the route goes from Lincoln, MA to Bolton and Harvard and back, through all of our familiar territory. Lunch starts at noon and I will be back for that, with no issue.
Glad I have my mountain gearing for this ride.
As soon as I got to the meeting place, I knew this was a bad idea. We were late leaving, by 15 minutes and there was a huge group, of at least 40 people. We did not split into fast and slow groups. My strategy with these people is to stick to the front, but not right up behind the leader, so I don't have to be a human arrow, wich is what they use to indicate turns (the person stands there until the sweep passes). I don't mind doing this when I am in a spot that I know my way around, but this was not the case today. It turned out that I could pretty much stay at the back of the faster riders, and often caught them on the climbs. So the first rest stop was at 12 miles of a 37 mile ride. We waited and waited, all used the portapotties, and then found out there were 2 people with flats we were waiting on. So, I headed back with one other man and woman, who had planned on riding less, as I was never going to get back in time to see my client. The guy is about 75, a strong rider, but he had a bad crash about 1.5 years ago and doesn't ride as far. He is also the person who caused my last crash, when he was leading and just slowed for no reason (this was in 2007). But, he's very safety conscious now. The woman is also a strong rider, but had just retured from 12 days of cycling in Ireland and was beat. The way back was torturous; we had to wait for her, she was really slow. I had no idea how to get back to my car, so I had to deal with it. Now I realize I'm a bit sunburned on my arms, despite putting on a ton of sunblock.
I rushed home, showered and called my client and said I would be a half hour late. Then I realized I hadn't had coffee, only green tea and I found myself extremely groggy as I was driving to her house. She gave me rescue coffee! I actually rode 25 miles, the first 12 quite speedily and the rest, who knows.
So, we got the cue sheet for our metric on Sunday. Oy, it includes every steep local climb they could find, including ones that a lot of people don't know about. The scary thing is that I know them all! It suggests starting at 7 AM if you plan to do the ride at a 13-14 mph average, which will be me, with this elevation. I won't be killing myself. The good thing is, we can always take an alternate way out of all of these climbs, as the route goes from Lincoln, MA to Bolton and Harvard and back, through all of our familiar territory. Lunch starts at noon and I will be back for that, with no issue.
Glad I have my mountain gearing for this ride.