riding with the big kids

Today, Tuesday was a very special ride for me. I went out with the redmond cycling club on their weekly mudflaps ride. Yes, they do these rides all year round. When it gets wet you cannot ride with them without fenders and mudflaps. The ride we did tonight was around Magnolia bluff, a very beautiful and hilly route of 13 miles. I have done this ride before on the tandem with DH but he is in New Orleans on business, and it was TIME.
We've been riding our singles a lot because I need to get stronger and we have been doing training rides, and he's been adding more and more hills.

I got home from work (Before the ride) and i noticed that i had a sore throat and a headache. I ate my dinner and headed out to gasworks park (the coolest park, it used to be a factory "gas works" with all sorts of huge pipes and wheels and ducts and now kids climb on them.
I was very early, and my head felt yucky so i sat under a tree in the shade for a while. IT got close to 6pm when the ride starts so i got out my bike and really felt like craap. Then the other club people (each of which has easily 4,000 miles THIS YEAR alone) showed up on their fancy expensive titanium bikes. Off we went. In traffic, I had no trouble keeping up. Then the first hill. I passed Susan (who has an injured knee) and a guy on a fat wheeled mountain bike .. Eventually Susan passed me again. But i got up that hill close enough behind everyone that no one had to wait. Except Michael who goes down EVERY hill twice!!! We then got into the Magnolia neighborhood, a street that winds up around the side of it; with fancy houses on the right and the sound on the left. On the tandem I get to gaze at the water and take deep relaxing breaths. Not this time. I did glance a time or two at the water, but i was gulping air as hard as I could as the hill just seemed to go on and on. Finally we got to the top, and we turned, and went up some more!! (the heart rate monitor would have been nice here.)
I passed the guy on the MTn bike again (He passed me when our club regrouped) and Susan too, but she overtook me later.
I am all wet and just breathing as hard as I can, and finally we turn into a park. This park is being claimed by an Indian tribe and the feds and some other people, so it is probably safe from development. We have crested and now we have a series of downhills.
I have done all these downhills from the back of the tandem and now i am surprised at how tame it all looks.
Everyone is faster than me downhill, but two of our club members were yakking, and brought up the rear behind me! I went down the scariest hill of all, (not near so scary on my light little bianchi) and we get to the ballard locks where I can finally catch my breath because we have to walk our bikes across the bridge across the locks.
Only 3 miles remain, fairly flat. I am exhilerated because I DID IT!! I finished a ride with the big kids, and i did okay! (what sore throat?)

Good for you, Mimi. You and the Bianchi are coming together. And you'll keep getting stronger.

Go Mimi!

Way to go, Mimi!!

Hearing you talk about Gasworks park and other areas brings back great memories of Seattle. I lived in that area (Kent, Tacoma) for about 10 years before moving to Oregon. Good times, good times. :)

You rock, Mimi! That little ol' sore throat never had a chance against the adrenalin of a group ride, did it?

nope, it didn't. I didn't even tell anyone for fear that they would tell me not to ride!

Hi Mimi

That was wicked!

A real inspiration to those of us who struggle.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...brownkitty.gif

This is a cool cat just for you!

Sally :p

PS Just PM me if this cat is gonna scare anybody :)