riding through the days of August

[azfiddle]

Aromig- I am just like that- slow but can ride a long way. I ride with a women's group on Saturdays (club?team?) not sure what to call it but I am thinking seriously of quitting because they are all faster than me. I average about 14 mph on long rides. I can't keep up and I sense certain amount of tension about waiting for me sometimes. A couple of the women will stay back with me sometimes but not always. I might as well ride by myself and not worry about catching up with them....I even used a coach last year and I didn't get faster.

But I just finished my 4th climb up Mt. Lemmon here since late June- starting at about 2400 feet and riding up over 8000 feet. And I've done several 200k brevets.

[Crankin]

AZ, you and I would be perfectly matched to ride together ...

[Jolt]

Sounds like there are a lot of us here who can ride long but not fast...I agree about it sometimes not being worth trying to ride with others, it can be stressful and take the fun out of the ride. I got my butt kicked Saturday doing the 100k route of D2R2...somebody upthread used the word "sufferfest" to describe some rides and I think that is the perfect description for the day I had. Lots of steep climbing, and a few sections of sketchy surfaces (uphill and down). I definitely wished I had gotten more long rides in before the event...that would have made it more enjoyable for sure. I also should NOT have changed my tires from 1.5" slicks to 1.75" semi-slicks, I think the semi-slicks made me work a lot harder than I needed to and really weren't that helpful for traction. Finally, I should not have carried nearly as much stuff on my bike! My average speed for the ride was something like 8.5 mph, so I ended up with just under 7 hours in the saddle for the 60 miles I rode (ended up taking a small shortcut after making a wrong turn that resulted in a heinous descent/climb on a very poor road right before lunch). I did have a minor wipeout on a curve that came up suddenly on a bit of a loose surface...the rear wheel slid out and down I went. Fortunately the only damage was a little road rash on my left arm. I must say, I have never been so glad to finish a ride! If I do that event again, it will either be the 40-miler if I have only been doing 40-45 mile rides in training, or there will be a lot longer training rides for the 100k. And, I may replace the 26t small chainring with a 22t! On the positive side, the weather held out for us (it didn't rain that day) and the event was very well organized overall. It was also fun walking around and looking at everyone else's bikes--people show up on everything from old mountain bikes, to custom cyclocross/gravel bikes, to one guy on a fatbike pulling his dog in a trailer!! I saw quite a few Surlys too. Word to the wise: if you camp in the big field and stay the night after the ride, try to avoid being placed near the campfire area if you want to get to sleep at a reasonable time. There were drunken shenanigans happening until probably 1 am or so, making it impossible to sleep (I probably should have just joined them!).

[Crankin]

But, you finished, Jolt! That ride has always intrigued me, but it's off the table, as I don't have the proper kind of bike. Certainly not going to do on a road bike with a 34 small ring.
I haven't been riding much. Did a very short ride Saturday, and this morning, DH and I did a 13.2 mile ride at 5 AM. It's fully dark then, now, so back to the "big light." Also, DH tweaked my Garmin, so it is set a bit differently, as to when it start/stops recording mileage. We had noticed that my average was way slower than his on Saturday, even though we were riding together the whole way. So, this morning, I had a nice surprise of an average of over 15. I was working hard, but since I usually have a very good feel for when my average is say, 14 or 15, today my "feeling" matched the Garmin.
It's going to rain like hell later today, so no commute, and hence the ride at 5 AM.

[azfiddle]

Crankin, when are you coming back to Arizona so we can go for a ride

[Crankin]

I honestly don't know. I'd kind of like to do that this winter/early spring. If/when it happens, I will defintely come to Tucson. We only have one relative left in the Valley, but a couple of good friends, too. Of course, there's the matter of having a bike to ride.