Well, I finally made it to the group ride, but I had to force myself! I rode to the start, 3.7 miles and off we went. This group uses human arrowing, so I volunteered at the third turn, unfortunately, right before 2 climbs, so I was playing catch up for awhile, as we had one really slow person with the sweep, and I had to wait. Thankfully, he stopped at the top of the second climb. Since we were still in Acton, I had to keep forcing myself not to turn around and go home, as my groin was killing me. But, I knew once we got to the next climb, it would be flatter after that, so I kept going. We stopped here, and someone went back a different way with the slow person. Then, we got a really nice road that its a scenic bikeway, which I don't ride too often anymore. We stopped at a pond to use the porta potty and I decided at this point, I would take the bike trail back to the point where I can quickly access roads to get me home, like I did a couple of weeks ago. I was not going to the lunch, it was getting hot and by this point my hamstrings were cramping. The trail is shady. Glad I made this choice, because otherwise the I would be riding through both town centers, totally unshaded, with added heat from cars at lunch time. I enjoyed the trail, although I had to slow a bit because of my hamstrings. When I got off of the trail and turned onto the first side street, I stopped and finished my Skratch Lab bottle, poured some water on my head, and then headed across the highway, which leads to a short, steep hill. When I got within about a mile of my house, after the last climb, I drank the last of the water. I never do that. It's only 80 out, but humid, and thankfully, partly cloudy.
I may need a massage! Enjoyed the ride, but I need to do more of these.
34.5 miles