My first group ride!

[caligurl]

way to go! i wish we had a local club that i could ride with! i know i push harder with others.... (trying to keep up).. at least to a point... then they get so far ahead i can't keep up!

but around here it's pretty much hubby and his friends.. and they are mostly WAY too fast for me on the flats and downhills (i can hold my own with a couple of the guys on the hills!)

[LBTC]

oh! thank you for posting about your ride(s)! I'm living vicariously through you all at this point!

getting sick too much , getting tested to see why , then the rain came...
I'm having a seriously tough time getting motivated, and DH isn't helpful as he's even more of a fair-weather rider than I am! I rode once last week, that was the first time in 2 weeks. (oh and had a nasty little crash , too - see the trail goddess thread)

we've got a weekend away coming up and that means lots of errands in the next few days. unless I can get out and do something fun after work tonight, Wednesday is probably the only ride this week! that's with the guys, tho, so it is a good tough one!

not sure I'll be ready for a big race on June 18. want to know how sick I really am before I do it, anyway!

but reading about your experiences - isn't it cool to learn what you need to work on, to get a plan for how to improve, to see that you are good in some other areas, too? it's soo cool! I noticed it last year. when I ride with the guys I can keep pace with the mid to fast guys through most of the climbing and on some of the flat/rolling (this is MTB), but seems like I can't downhill to save my life! well, at least I'm usually near the back.

in the first race last year, against women, it was exactly the opposite. I got quite far behind on the climb, made some distance up on the level, and reeled her in on the downhills. You could have pushed me over with a feather when I realized that! completely the opposite of what I expected!

Keep riding! And please keep posting about it!! We wanna watch you improve, too!

Namaste,
~T~

[trigurl]

thanks LBTC! I am still stoked about that ride!

I hope to ride with a man from my gym who is an avid biker, this evening, it is a little cool today so I don't know if he will want to - I will tho, today is the mountain climb, 7 miles up, if it isn't too cold I plan on doing a loop after that hopefully get in close to 20 miles.

I didn't bring tights so if it doesn't warm up enough I may have do the mtn. then to go to the gym and finish riding

The bike club also does this mtn ride that I am doing but I can't push myself on the hills or my breathing gets out of control, so I do it at my pace.

I am keeping my fingers crossed you get some riding in this week!

[LBTC]

I am keeping my fingers crossed you get some riding in this week!

thanks, Trigurl!
I got to kickboxing last night (it was raining), and I rode my bike to work this morning. of course, that only takes 4 minutes. I have to ride home at lunch, though, as I forgot I need the car to get to another doctor appointment at the end of the day! oops

Tomorrow night I'll ride with the guys and that will hopefully go really well.

Let us know if your gym friend rides with you! sounds like it would be an excellent ride for you!!

namaste,
~T~

[KSH]

CONGRATS!

I know my first few group rides with my LBS were HARD! I could not keep up... and at the end of the 30 miles.... I would be riding alone... and very tired. The group was not *tight* or very friendly.

I then started searching for cycling clubs/groups... and I found two local ones that host "no drop rides". Meaning: If you are slow, they won't lose you.

That is what worked best for me.

I found people who were friendly, and at the start of the rides I always go around and shake hands.

Here is another good thing to do... tell the riders your experience... and that you are new! You will find one kind soul who will keep an eye on you, and make sure you don't get lost. That is how I finally stopped getting dropped by myself.

Best of luck! Group rides are fun... it is great being in a pack of cyclists!

[trigurl]

There was one kind lady that let me keep up with her , if not I would have had to turn around b/c I didn't know where they were going!

There was a group called GRITS (girls riding in the streets) and they had beginner rides but they don't have any planned, I think there just wasn't enough interest, of course last year they had several rides for "road" bikes only I had my hybrid then and I put road tires on it but NO, they wouldn't let me participate!

I will call around and see what I can find out!



Ride on!