April 26 Rides

[SheFly]

I decided to try out the local "Thursday Night Ride" last night. This is run by one of the local clubs, and has different distances and abilities. Before I left, DH told me that I should go and do the A ride (usually they average over 22 mph!) instead, I went out on the A- ride . I figured that I would go out and see how long I could hang onto the group. I had hooked up with the DH of one of my teammates on the way over to Hanscom, and we were easily doing 23 mph on Rte 62 .

As we started the ride, the pace was immediately fast, and we could see the fast A group ahead of us on the road. A couple from our group bridged up to the A group (with one falling back on the climb just after Pope Rd). I managed to hang with my group all the way around Curve Street, back onto 225 and then couldn't hang on climbing the hill. I got dropped there, and ended up riding the rest of the way home solo. I was SO EXCITED that I managed to stay with the fast group for over 1/2 of the ride!

I finished with 40 miles at 20.2 mph! OUCH! Oh - and I did manage to take one town line sprint from the group, too - probably what wore me out! Guess I got in my good training ride this week .

I was going to race this weekend, but the weather looks a little dicey...

SheFly

[mimitabby]

I am taking an advanced Italian class in Fremont (a Seattle neighborhood with a lot of construction going on in the streets) on thursday nights.
The class starts at 6 which means that getting there means traversing downtown at rush hour. I loathe driving in traffic, especially at "rush" hour, which really means standstill hours.
I decided to take the class with a twist; my commute is two buses and two bike rides.
I ride my bike to the bus stop (about a mile to get to the stop where I can catch the most buses) and then get on the bus which takes me to the other side of downtown. Then i ride 3-4 miles (through a lot of messed up streets!) to Fremont, including going over the bride. Going home is a bit more exciting because the bus that I want to take leaves at 748pm and my class gets out at 730!
I asked the teacher if it's okay if i leave 5 minutes early and she was fine with that. I absolutely BOOKED up and down Dexter and made it to the bus with 3 minutes to spare! it was a riot.
Last night was the first time i did it alone, DH has been showing me routes, but this time, he was not available. it went like clockwork. I am also more awake at class, having just ridden.

[Crankin]

I had a fairly nice solo ride, doing the harder version of my loop. It's about 16 miles going that way. When I rode on Tuesday, I felt like H***. My lower back hurt, my quads hurt, and I swore the brakes were on. And it was windy. Yesterday's ride was not perfect, but I managed to average over 15, including the hill climb at the end. I had conferences yesterday. I got to leave at 1:30, so I did my ride at an earlier time and had plenty of time to spare to get back to school at 6.

SheFly, it is nice to read about someone else's ride on the roads I always ride on. My husband used to do those rides and he always came home amazed at how quickly people got dropped... he would start with the Bs and sometimes they would get so crazy, they would be averaging 19-21. One time some woman who was about 65 was leading and said," OK, now we'll pick it up," and he could not even come close to staying with her. Turns out she was a ten time national champion. I can't remember her name, but I used to see her riding around Boxborough when I lived there.

[SheFly]

SheFly, it is nice to read about someone else's ride on the roads I always ride on.

I got pulling the group turning up Strawberry Hill Rd from Barnes Hill, and then couldn't pull off due to traffic until AFTER we were past the school! That wore me out some, and then had to stay with them up over the hill. OOPH!

Good for you on keeping your average up - you have been improving so far this season! I was thinking about you last night as I was riding up Lowell Rd back towards Concord - those are some tough rollers on which to maintain some speed.

Looks like we may not have decent weather for riding this weekend . I will NOT, however, resort to the trainer - I'd rather ride in the rain!

SheFly

p.s.
Didn't do the TT this week. DH had arthroscopic knee surgery, and the rain was my second excuse.