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