+1 on the "keep doin' it." You've done it once. YOu have also started in *August.* I can almost guarantee, sight unseen, that the pace is significantly faster with fewer options for rest than that same ride offered early in the year. (We call it "midseason pace creep" and it's danged near unavoidable. This ride leader has been dropped by her 'beginners' rather often in August, trying to hold to the advertised speed ).

The learning curve seems steep but it happens fairly quickly. I lead our club's easiest ride and it is usually 22 miles, though we usually pause a lot. People are generally astounded at how quickly they progress from 22 miles being just the other side of forever to it being "just a ride."