I had my first group ride last Thursday. I've never gone because I'm slow, can't go very far (about 5 miles) and don't want to look like a fool. I told him if he needed to drop me, no problem. I didn't want to ruin their evening.

Another guy shows up and they agree to go 15 miles since it's hot. The three of us take off and I'm following along best I can. I've never ridden with anyone else before so I just did what they did. They were always about 1/2 mile ahead as I could only do 10 mph.

I made it to the top of the hill and the guy tells me we've only done 2.5 miles. They decide to take an alternate route so I could get back to the store and then they were going down to the river to see the flooding.

Sure enough, come mile 5 my body totally gives out like it always does. I'm not sore or really out of breath, but shaky, and my body turns into rubber bands. They showed me how to make a left turn and I headed back to the store.

I've never ridden in real traffic but if they could do it, I could. I made it to the local McD's and rested. Now I know why they say to bring a few dollars.

I finally felt good enough to leave and make it the next mile up to the LBS and started off. I was surprised to see the guy in his car pull up next to me and offer me a ride back to the store. He saw my car was still at the lot and had come looking for me.

So..why does my body give out every time at 5 miles and can't make it past 10 mph on straight roads? I've been riding since May and I don't seem to be improving.

On the positive side, I made it up the steep and long hills and was able to keep 10 mph on them (usually I end up doing about 7) learned to navigate through real traffic and make a left turn on a major highway w/o getting run over by semi trucks. I did have a good time.

Part of me would like to go again for more experience, but not if I can only do 5 miles.