I am also a 'wanna be' rider.
When i see groups fly by my car on the road i can't imagine being able to go that fast....for a long period of time!!!!
I am so nervous to ride in a group ride because of that. I spent the past few summers riding my hybrid (i'm learning the terms now) with my daughter Katherine. We took some great rides.
I remember our first "long" ride (at least back then we thought it was!!) was to a town about 15 miles away and we stayed all night at a B&B had breakfast and rode home. We thought that was a huge trip. The next summer we ventured out a little further and last summer we were doing 15 mile rides "just for kicks". THEN...Katherine started at U of Mich. this year, joined the bike team, bought herself a "real" bike and the rest is history!
She talked me into a ride this next summer that goes from SF to Tiajuana (700!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!) over two weeks. Averge is 70 miles a day (!). We started training in January, i bought myself (ok, my husband did ) a Specialized, Aliaz road bike and have been loving it! I had no idea what a difference those little skinny tires with such huge pressure made. You can really fly!!! This nicer weather is so great. I am trying to ride about 20-30 miles a day...today i'm taking off because my knees are telling me to. I feel so much stronger but am still soooo intimidated by group rides. Those buff women would have me crawling into a hole! The nice thing about this ride this summer (it's July 26-Aug. 8th) is that it's not a race...so Katherine and I can ride at our own pace. We like to stop for coffee, stretching breaks, etc...along with way. In the evenings when the group gets to our destination, we do service projects. (the ride is through Global Exchange - Bike Aid) .
Inside i'm totally terrified that the old 'bod' will not hold up, but i do love personal challenges. And i think I'm prob. in better shape now then ever in my life.
There's no way i would ever!!! do a race though. Biking is strickly pleasure only.
Do you have a road bike, mountain bike or hybrid?
Great chatting with you.
My son and i head to Ann Arbor this weekend to visit Katherine - Ann Arbor is a great town! And the school isn't bad either !!!
We LOVE michigan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gretchen