T and I are prepping for our upcoming 65 mile Cindy Rella ride. Our first 'training' ride was last week's 25 mile ride. So this week we figured we could handle a 40 miler. All righty then. We joined a Luna Chix/Valley Spokesman Bicycle club training ride yesterday that started out in Dublin about a half an hour from home. Their web site stressed that we needed to be there fully equipped and ready to ride for the 8:30 start time. So worried about getting there on time, T realized as she picked me up that she forgot some stuff....like long pants. Doh! Well, we arrived plenty early, got geared up and then....stood around for about 20-25 mintues. So much for punctuality. We did get to score some free Luna bars/drinks/smoothie mix while we waited. Schweet.
After a quick 'instructional' talk about things like calling out to pass, obeying traffic laws, being aware of trail courtesy, riding single file, etc. we were finally off. Within the first 15 minutes of the ride all the above rules where chucked out the window by the majority of the riders. There were passes without calling, riding side by side, running lights and stop signs. You name it, we saw it. A four way stop means everyone stops and takes their turn, not that all the cars have to wait for the bikes. Geeze people.
Anyway, we hit quite a few 'rolling' hills which weren't too bad to get up. You rock Ruby! However because of the number of people around us, we didn't even get to enjoy the speed of the downhill because someone was always in the way. Yeah Phil, no reward for us. Eventually we found ourselves riding along on our own, having stopped to ditch my jacket. We missed a turn, but only one. Good thing I had the route posted to my bars. And good thing it was a dead end we hit when we missed the one turn, or we might still be out there. :-)
After about 30 miles, I was ready to get off that saddle. And when we finished I had some aching muscles right around my knees. Ouch. I have to say though that I'm not as sore today (in the tush) as I thought I might be. Granted I'm not looking forward to the 16 mile ride we have planned for tomorrow, but my butt's not screaming either.
One thing I have to work on is incorporating my technology properly. Whenever we make a pit stop, I pause my Garmin, but I frequently forget to restart it. Sigh. Or I forget my heart rate monitor. One of these days I'll get it all pulled together. Since I was a few miles shy on my mapping, I stole Tina's map. Thanks T. :-)
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