March 6 Rides

[Miranda]

Nothing epic to post, other than this week first ride of the year... sorta. Two whopping laps around the sub on the roadie for 1.5mi in the chilly but sunny midwest weather... and today took my mtb out on road to local park to meet the fm walking the dog. Just a few miles, but felt great to get outside! Hooray for Spring thaw!

[Owlie]

Today's ride was a bit of an adventure to say the least. I went out on the bike trail this morning. It was warmish (40s), but there was still snow and ice in the shady spots...a lot of snow and ice. I decided to go north on the trail rather than south as I normally do. Much of that part of the trail, it seems, is shaded. There were spots where you could conceivably get a road bike through. I guess I freaked out a bit, because I fell. Twice. The first time, I scraped my chin on the ice (nothing major, thankfully). I put the chain back on and walked until the path cleared. The second time, I fell on my shoulder and scraped up my knee. (I have no idea how I did that.) I was having trouble getting the chain back on, and this guy rode up and offers to help. We got the chain back on. It turned out he was from Texas, and not used to this whole snow-and-ice thing. He tried giving me the "keep your eyes on the road and you'll be fine" talk. It didn't work. I walked the bike again until it cleared.
I rode about 20 miles today, walking the spots where most of the trail was covered. I wasnt't the only one who wasn't expecting ice--I saw lots of roadies taking advantage of the first warm day in a while walking their bikes. I also found out that ODNR doesn't see fit to keep their restrooms open between November and April. This resulted in a hunt for a suitable clump of bushes or trees. Winter is not the time to be doing so. About 2/3 of the way through, I found myself wondering why my legs felt so tired. (I mean, I know I haven't done much since winter break, but really!) I stopped to get a drink of my fakerade (lemon juice, sugar and a bit of salt in water) and happened to look down--I was in my big chain ring and my highest gear. No wonder!

I ran into the Texan again in the parking lot--it turns out he fell several times after we parted ways.

[7rider]

He is a big proponent of this training camp he attends in April. He thinks DH and I should do it. He also shared my mindset a few years back. This camp turned him around.


What's the training camp you're referring to? Cycling related or Boot Camp? How to get the whiner off your shoulder? Hmmm, I always tend to focus on my surroundings during a ride and that puts me in a better mood (the trees, the birds darting back and forth, the cloud formations against a blue sky, etc.) - it's simple but works for me.

It's a Spring Training Camp in the Blue Ridge Mtns of VA. Fortunately, it appears to be full, not that we could afford it anyway (and I don't think I could handle a full week with that coach w/o going absolutely Postal on someone. ).

I've actually thrown out my back watching birds from my bike (and ridden my bike completely off the road!). Birdwatching + bike riding = very bad for my health! My main problem is I am faster than the slow riders and slower than the fast riders, so I'm forever stuck in no-man's land on each group ride.

[marni]

The SAG guy and I got in a 30 miler in spite of 20 mph headwinds for at least half of the trip. At least the temps were warm enough for a short sleeved jersey and no wind vest. I'm not sure whether he was holding back a bit or whether the jogging intervals are paying off but I actually passed him and pulled him through most of the headwinds and at a reasonable seed for me. After 2 weeks back on the bike after the accident and after a full week or training, I am starting to feel a bit more like myself and am getting my "I ain't scared of no headwinds" attitude back.

marni

[kmehrzad]

It's a Spring Training Camp in the Blue Ridge Mtns of VA. (and I don't think I could handle a full week with that coach w/o going absolutely Postal on someone. ).

I've actually thrown out my back watching birds from my bike (and ridden my bike completely off the road!). Birdwatching + bike riding = very bad for my health! My main problem is I am faster than the slow riders and slower than the fast riders, so I'm forever stuck in no-man's land on each group ride.

LOL --- So there's a possibility you'd go Postal on Coach Josh, eh? I agree, you've got to be in the right frame of mind to ride a week's worth of "90 - 100 mile days, and finish feeling like you did all you could do. And then get up the next day and do another 50 just to make sure."

[Crankin]

7rider, I have the same monkey on my back. I have got to get rid of the negativity. I am actually getting weird anxiety things before riding, although it doesn't stop me... some of it is my total lack of mechanical ability, still after almost 10 years of riding. I'm trying to give myself a dose of my own medicine: deep breathing and positive self talk.
I have always been too fast for the slow group and too slow for the fast group. Of course, this depends who you ride with, but it seems like I peaked in 2006 and it's been downhill since then.

[redrhodie]

I did a 29 mile RT commute. Gorgeous day, and not much traffic since it was Sat. I did 92 miles this week.

[HillSlugger]

I was really excited to get out and a ride with some people from my tri club. I fell behind before we had even gone a mile. There was no way I could hang with them and they left me in the dust. I did only 20 of the planned 32 miles. It wasn't any fun at all.

My legs have felt terrible for several months now, always tight, no spring. I wish I had a clue how to turn this around.

When I posted this yesterday I didn't spell out the fact after I fell off the group nobody came back to check up on me. Later in the afternoon I got an email from one of the other gals on the ride. She said that they didn't realize that they had lost me and that when they realized, they thought I was with someone and that all was OK, and only much later realized I was alone. She concluded by saying she felt bad about this, a rather weak apology. I responded by saying that I had a terrible ride, wouldn't have wanted to hold the group back, but that it would have been nice to have someone check on me.

Today, people are posting on the group email list that they enjoyed the ride, etc, but are not mentioning what happened to me. I'm thinking about posting:

Hmm, it wasn't much fun for me when I got left behind. I wouldn't have wanted to hold the group back but it would have been really nice for someone to have checked up on me. I'm an experienced rider, quite able to take care of myself on a solo ride, but I didn't think I was out on a solo ride. What if I had been a beginner out on a ride with you all? What if something HAD happened to me? Not cool!

Should I post it?

Thanks for letting me vent a bit here.

[shootingstar]

Might be useful just to post a message to the group ride members in friendly tone, Hi there, I missed some of you folks...kind of tone. Hope to see you on next ride...etc. Then mention 1-2 enjoyable things you saw that you wished to share with another rider if someone was around at that time.

Does this happen often to you with this group? If it's a one-off, then keep it low-key.

[HillSlugger]

Might be useful just to post a message to the group ride members in friendly tone, Hi there, I missed some of you folks...kind of tone. Hope to see you on next ride...etc. Then mention 1-2 enjoyable things you saw that you wished to share with another rider if someone was around at that time.

Does this happen often to you with this group? If it's a one-off, then keep it low-key.

This was the first time I rode with them. I don't know if this has ever happened before to anyone else. I don't know if this was a "sanctioned Group ride". There wasn't really anyone in charge. We had been discussing an anticipated average speed and my riding was so bad that I didn't end up in that range. I (childishly?) feel like I'm owed an apology but I don't really want to get anyone in trouble.

I think the true bottom line is how to we keep this from happening again to that newbie who might not be able to fend for themselves? Should I take this directly to the club president?

[HillSlugger]

I've cooled down (again) and decided that I'm best off discussing this with the club president:

Hi <name>,

I'd like to let you know about something that happened on Saturday's group ride. About 8 of us met at Centennial to ride a loop of the Half Full bike route. Before the ride we talked about trying to maintain a 15-17 mph average. As it turned out, I was having a terrible ride and fell off the group before we'd even gone a few miles. I wouldn't have wanted to hold the group back, but nobody even realized they had lost me until very much later so nobody came around to check on me. I'm an experience rider, familiar with most of the roads we were riding, and well capable of taking care of myself on a solo ride so I was never in any danger. However, what if I had been an inexperienced rider unprepared to take care of myself, thinking I was on a group ride? We had never discussed if this was a no-drop ride or anything and I don't think anyone was really leading the ride. Still, from my view there was a real failure of responsibility. From a <Tri Club> perspective, I think there needs to be some sort of expectations for group rides to protect the <Tri Club>. On every ride organized "publicly" through the group email list somebody needs to be in charge and everyone needs to know the rules for the ride before wheels start rolling. I feel like I'm tattling to the teacher, but I thought that you should be aware of this for the good of the <Tri Club>.

Thanks, Nicole

[WindingRoad]

Me and the BF had a great ride yesterday. Was just a toodle really we only went about 28 miles. I was pretty much feeling like poo (first day of Aunt Flo's visit) but I still had fun. Was a little under dressed I think. My BF cracks me up he's always saying he's so weak yet he goes tearing up hills and I eek my way up to meet him and he's not even out of breath. He's a runner by heart so he is NEVER out of breath. I run too, albeit not nearly as long as he had, but I still end up sucking wind on hills. I've got to get better at hills so I can keep up.

[tulip]

25 cold miles on Saturday and 42 slightly warmer miles on Sunday. Overall a great weekend of riding.