I went on a group ride today. It's about 91 degrees with 47% humidity. I questioned my sanity, but it's local, led by someone I ride with and know, and there was a catered lunch afterwards. I correctly chose not to ride to the start, as that would have been close to 50 miles and I knew I would not want to ride home in this weather, after lunch.
So, this is the group that uses human arrows; since I know the area and the leader, I vounteered to arrow on the second turn. Took me awhile to catch back up, after the sweep went by, but, I did. Then, about a mile after that, Jack, the leader, missed a turn, despite having a GPS. One of the safety coordinators for the club yelled out, "Who has a GPS that can ride with Jack and you don't have to arrow." I volunteered, and made everyone happy. However, when we got to a hill in Westford, on a busy street, I got dropped a bit and few of the faster guys stayed with him, until I caught up. I stayed at the back of the front group until he missed another turn, and I yelled out, got the 4-5 guys to reel him in and we turned around. By this time, despite the shady roads, I felt crappy, despite drinking my Skratch and one Shot Block. When we turned onto a street that was in full sun, I finally pulled over, dumped water over my head, and went on. So now, I could see no one. One guy had been behind me, but he went ahead. The whole ride was in familiar territory, so I slowed down. Finally, affter making 2 turns and seeing the human arrows, someone caught up with me. We were almost back, and voilá, there was Jack with one other guy. The 4 of us got to a left turn with a steep little uphill, that I hate, someone else took the arrow post and I took the next one, which was the second to last turn. I got to stand and point the way, under a shady tree, and down what was left of my water and Skratch. I was there awhile, and then I rode back to the start with the sweep.
I don't think I've ever sweat so much. I brought a skort to change into and I could not stop sweating when I was changing, cleaning up. Ate a chicken breast with mushrooms and some salad and had a well deserved beer.
It's really ugly out there. 35.5 miles and Ilearned a nice route that I can make into a 50 miler from my house.