I finally made it on a group ride with my moms' group. They leave at 9 from a spot about twenty minutes away by car, and my daughter tends to sleep late so we have never made it before. There were five mothers, six toddlers (one mother has twins). Three of us on road bikes and two on mountain bikes with slicks. The first bit was slow enough that it was difficult to ride -- it took me a while to find the right gear. We stopped and picnicked and let the babies run around a park for a while, then we rode back at a slightly faster pace. The two with mountain bikes bailed out to go home when we got back to their entrances to the bike trail, but my daughter was asleep so I kept riding with the roadies. We picked up the pace and had a great ride. I dropped them off at their exit and rode back to the car, making it just about 20 miles exactly.

It was a lot of fun. I don't do group rides so I need to learn how to stick with someone else's pace. The two with road bikes are both much more experienced riders than I am -- they both race -- but they commented that our paces were well matched and we are planning to ride together soon. The big group rides every Thursday morning and I'm going to try to keep going ... my daughter loved it, and even the slower pace is still a good workout when you are pulling a trailer.

Plus, you should see how happy people look when they come around a corner and see a whole line of mothers and babies out for a ride. Even the crabbiest people on the bike trail (that would be the male time trialers -- they always seem pissed off to see anyone else using the trail during their training time) smiled at us today. (It probably helps that the group leader is a stickler for safety and etiquette.)