newbie- trek ride for breast cancer awareness

I had planned to enter this, I've never entered any kind of group or organized ride (not sure what to call it- it's not really a race, just a charity ride). I looked at the route map, and it goes through some pretty busy streets.
Do they normally close these down or how does a bunch of bicyclists get through?
What does "no drops" mean when referring to the ride (as in "10 miles, no drops")
It looks like a big family thing, and my sister is fighting breast cancer right now, so I wanted to try it.
I'm fat, slow, and riding a folding bike. I ride every day, but have only once so far gone 10 miles. It just sounds like a fun thing to do, should I try it? I'm a little nervous in traffic, but if I could follow some other bicyclists I'd be ok. I can't get on the website to enter it right now, i just get an error page, but I can enter on the day of the ride too (Oct 13).
vickie

Well, in my experience... when bike rallys go on busy roads, they do not shut the roads down. Instead, they have cops directing traffic at the intersections, but otherwise you are on the road with cars.

A "no drop" ride means that no one gets dropped from the pack. The ride goes as fast as the slowest rider... or there is someone who sweeps the back of the ride to keep an eye on the slower people. From my experience, bike rallies do not offer no drop options, but they do have SAG (support rides) wagons to pick you up and drive you to the finish if you can't make it on your own.

Bike rallies... are fun. Go for it!

Do you have a web address for this ride?
Then maybe we can give you better input.

this seems to be the link that has the most info- although I have been unable to enter online, I just get an error screen. I called the trek store to let them know it's not working but they were not helpful or concerned, just told me to keep trying.
http://trekstl.blogspot.com/

vickie

You register here-
http://www.bcar2007.santu.com/

I think you'll be fine. Get there early and try to find another woman or group with similar riding experience/speed to ride with.
I think you'll have a good time and with the SAG there's nothing to worry about.

Go for it!

Hey Fastdogs
Are you riding at the Trek St. Louis store? I signed up for this ride. I have never ridden in a group before. Should be interesting. If you are in St. Louis, maybe we can meet up and be clueless together!

I kept getting the error screen too. I just kept trying and finally got in. I think I finally went to the site that zencentury sent. Couldn't get there from the trekstl site.

On mostly all of the organized rides I've done (and that is at least a dozen every year) the routes have been fairly well marked, and unsafe intersections have had volunteers or police officers directing traffic.

I'm participating in this ride in my area and I am going to be one of the sweepers to stay with the slower riders. I'm not sure if this was something that our local organizer thought of doing, or if it was suggested by the Trek people. Perhaps you could check with the shop sponsoring the ride in your area and see if they are going to have volunteers doing that as well.

Our local organizer is expecting many more less experienced riders than on other rides so I don't think you'll have anything to worry about.

P.S. I also had trouble registering until today.

thanks for the info and encouragement1
uforgot- that's the ride I'm in also! I've never ridden in a group at all, I always ride by myself. I looked at the elevation profile, and it looks like a lot of hills, so I'll be going slow. I'll be the heavy, older lady on a very pink downtube folding bike with a handlebar bag. I figure I'll start out after the faster people have gone so I don't get caught up in the crowd. These are some very busy streets, normally, not sure how I'll handle all the traffic. It would be great to find another inexperienced cyclist there. What are you riding?
I did finally get signed up (I really wanted those gloves, but probably it was too late), I just had to keep trying.
look forward to seeing you there!
vickie

I'll be on a navy blue Burley Sahalie. Just one week shy of 53, and I could stand to lose 30 lbs. Feel better?:)

See you there!

The good news is.....they're riding on Manchester Rd. on a Saturday...what a way to get some experience riding in traffic! Haha....I wish I was still in St. Louis. Having lived and worked in West County for so many years, I know that route soooooo well (by car) and I would love to ride it as my first benefit ride! It's not fun learning to cycle in an area you're not familiar with.

Good luck to those of you signing up. Here's wishing you the best of fall weather. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!

Yup, should be a lot different than riding the roads of good ole Belle Mo. where I rarely even see a car, and when I do, I'd better wave or I'll hear about it at the grocery store/post office! Of course, I grew up in the area of the ride, so I've spent years driving in that awful traffic on Manchester and Lindbergh!

And when I'm finished, I can go back home, pop a beer, sit on my porch and listen to the crickets, owls and once in a while a coyote.

Vickie (Fastdogs) and I went on the ride today. The leaders of the ride were terrific and it was a great route. Our first group ride, and we both got the gloves. It was nice to meet another TE member, but we both forgot our cameras so as soon as the website pic comes out, I'll post.

I had a blast!! But I was sure glad to see claudia, I was feeling a bit out of place at first. When she walked over and said "team estrogen?" I was relieved to have someone there that I "knew" (although we'd never met). I kept her orange jersey in sight on the hills and it kept me going. That's really the only time our little group strung out, was on the first part of the course where the hills were really bad (to me). After that, the hills were smaller and we all rode together. We both got the neat trek gloves, whice were great to wear since it was a bit cool.
It started to rain after we were finished, perfect timing! I was surprised that when it was over, I really felt like I could have gone longer- as long as it didn't involve going back over those hills again.
It was a very relaxing group and although there was a lot of traffic along the route, there were bike shoulders most of the way. It was a good first group ride for me.
vickie

I've been dying to hear how the two of you did on Manchester Rd on a Saturday "noonish". What a traffic nightmare -- how many people would you say rode it? I'm glad you both had a great time! :)

My friend and I road the Trek Breast Cancer Awareness event this morning in Lake Norman State Park in North Carolina as our first ever group ride, too. It was 41F when I got up this morning but 50+ by the time the ride began and sunny and beautiful. We had a great time, too, and some KILLER hills for beginners (which I am). Luckily, I wasn't watching the Garmin other than one glance on the last hill at the tail end of the ride. I saw 11%, just kept pushing and was glad I hadn't been watching! :eek: (One of these days I might even remember to use those granny gears!) It was a wonderful event for a great cause and those freebee Trek gloves are fantastic!!!

A big thank you to Susan for rushing me the TE Cannondale LE jacket and knickers after I heard the forecast and for everyone who gave advice on cool weather clothing. That jacket was every bit as warm in 40 degree temps as you guys said it would be!

I would guess around 24 maybe. They split into three groups, not sure of the exact distance of the other rides, but ours was 13 miles, then there was one around 20 and one around 40. We only had 6-8 people in our group. I'll have to count heads when the photo comes out on the trek website, but there were a few people arriving as the photo was taken, too. It didn't seem like a lot of people, to me, but this was only the second year for it.
vickie

Congratulations to both of you for riding in that race. It sounds like fun. I'd love to try something like that. Can't wait to see the picture!

PinkPilot,
I wish I had known about the ride at Lake Norman. I don't live far from there at all. It was a beautiful day for it.

Can I brag about something I am proud of? My husband and I just got back from vacationing in the North Georgia mountains, Dahlonega to be exact. I've been riding for less than a year and fairly sporaticaly. The first day we rode for about 20 miles which would have been no big deal except that over half of that was one LONG, CONSTANT,NEVER ENDING INCLINE. :( I was all over that granny gear but we made it to the top. I was ready to kill my husband for insisting that we try it but now I am so glad we did. We usually ride a good many hills but the ones in North Carolina you can see the top of!!

Anyway, congrats on your ride. My bike is not pink but it's the next closest thing. Sea foam green with flowers painted on the top bar!:)

teresa- congratulations! I have yet to ride as far as 20 miles, much less up a long incline. Around here there are some big hills but they are rolling, so it's one after the other, but nothing really long (that I've ridden on). My good friend lives in colorado, and rides road races. She told me about a 12 mile uphill stretch! She talks in terms of elevation, not hills. I know, at the stage I'm at right now, I couldn't do it. I'm not real good on steep hills!
vickie

teresa, that's amazing! Good job! <mentally crossing Dahlonega or anything in North Georgia off the list for many months to come!> I know I couldn't do a 10 mile incline at this point.

As far as the Trek event, I didn't even know about it until fastdogs and uforgot told us about the St. Louis one (my home town). Lo and behold, I checked on it and found that my own LBS was sponsoring one here in the Charlotte area. Would you really have driven there from Burlington??? It doesn't seem that close. We'll all have to remember to ride in next year's event.

By the way, your bike is GORGEOUS and the flowers are to die for!

Well thank you very much!! I do much prefer "hills" to "changes in elevation" myself. May I ask a guestion? I have no idea how to gauge how well I'm doing since I only have my very competive husband to compare myself with. Do you have any idea what a decent beginner mph average is considering in some hills?My husband will not be happy until he tops 20 and I barely manage 15 as an average for the ride (approx. 20 miles)

Well, I'm a beginner, so I'm wondering the same thing. I think 15 mph average is pretty good but I'd encourage experienced riders to clue us in. I have a chart from a well-known cycling club in northern NJ that would consider that a solid B ride category, which is pretty good for anyone. Your husband wants to be an A rider. (Okay, we all do but he probably has a better chance of actually achieving it!) I often think that people who have husbands to ride with have an opportunity to develop speed and endurance faster than those of us who don't.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by teresa

May I ask a guestion? I have no idea how to gauge how well I'm doing since I only have my very competive husband to compare myself with. Do you have any idea what a decent beginner mph average is considering in some hills?My husband will not be happy until he tops 20 and I barely manage 15 as an average for the ride (approx. 20 miles)

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I'm a pretty new rider. I don't ride 20 mph. I ride about an average of 15 too. I'm really happy when I hit 18-20 mph. ;)

Sandra, do you mean you sometimes AVERAGE 18-20? Please tell me no! :eek: :eek: :eek:

No. I said I average 15. I SOMETIMES hit 18-20, on my good days. Big difference.:D

That's what I thought you meant. Today I had a great time riding. The weather was beautiful. I think I only averaged around 14 but I wasn't trying too hard. That is probably why it was so much fun! I wish I didn't even think about how fast I am. It is something I picked up from my extremely competitive spouse. But it is nice to know if you're getting any better. I hope I'll keep it up when the weather gets cold. I really hate to be cold.

Have a great week!