Daily ride thread 5/13

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I had a very pleasant 26 mile solo ride this morning - the test run for my newly refit bike.

Still switching stuff out...atta girl. I had some mechanical stuff done this week (new BB), but it still felt like I got a fancy "upgrade"! Did you get some new fancy handlebar tape too?

On to the topic at hand. I'm "training" (in quotes because I'm not really sure what it is) for my first double in August. I am riding with new (nice) people, all of whom are very strong riders, ride regular (not compact) doubles and still spin the same speed as or faster than me on my triple, and really like to ride hard (well, in my estimation, anyhow).

Today we did a ride of what I would once have considered moderate mileage (63+ mi) and with moderate climbing (probably only about 1500', though I may go gmap it to see what it really was). In order to keep up with my friends, I have to push bigger gears (if I spin in my happy place I can't keep up). Needless to say, after 40 miles of pushing too hard, my legs had had enough. I ended up slowing the group down...but for that, the average would have probably been over 19 mph (which is very fast for me). I feel fine now, but I just couldn't hang with them, as much as I'd like to be able to.

(note: same kind of thing happened last week.)

In summary:

(1) I'm feeling more puny than ever (in comparison to my past "ability"). Considering bon bon and couch potato lifestyle.
(2) I tried to say "You know, we're just not compatible riders...I need to go a little slower" but they won't hear it. They claim they will slow down. I like them a lot, but I don't believe them. So while they are riding their comfy pace, I am constantly having to work like mad to keep up. This makes me cranky and my legs gummy.
(3) I am not in as good of shape as I had believed. I know, at least I'm out there, but I thought I was tougher than that. What a wake up call.

I think I'll go have some wine now to make me feel a bit better. Thanks for listening to my hissy fit.

Edit: looks like the climbing was about 3000' total. Still, 3000' ain't much compared to the old days. I'm turning into a "Usta" as in "I usta go do X...".