My description for this ride included the following:
36-ish miles at a C+ pace, because I haven't been riding in this cold (and I took the bike out for a couple of short rides, and boy HOWDY, am I outta shape). Nobody dropped (especially me).
I posted it on the Tuesday, and by Thursday afternoon it was full, with two waiting (one of whom was Laura OLPH, who decided to list her own ride). For every cancellation, there was another registrant.
At the ride start, I looked around...
...and realized everybody who had showed up for this ride was in better shape than I was. Evidently, there were a lot of faster riders who were coming out, because after our cold, snowy February, they were ready to ride, and would take whatever was offered.
I decided to let the fast folks sprint off the front right away, hoping they'd tire and we'd end up with some semblance of a group ride. I needn't have worried; they did have a group ride... but the few of us at the back weren't really part of it; we had, in essence, two rides: Dave H, Amol, and me at a C+ pace, and everybody else waiting for us at the turns.
Everything's still closed, so we stopped at the Montgomery Arboretum for a potty break.
(Above: Do you think you're tough? Amol is wearing shorts and one layer on top, on a day that didn't get above 40F,)
From there, we went up to Town Line and across the Blackwells Mills causeway. On Canal Road, I discovered I had a brake bind, but opening the brake offered only a little relief from my tiredness.
For the rest of the ride, I fell to the back; Dave H and Amol cajoled me along. I had to take a break about two miles from the end. After that, I death-marched back to the parking lot, in time to offer thanks to the participants, and then limped home.
No comments:
Post a Comment