First club ride...

Let's start with an observation!  I have noticed that when I ride by myself, it's all good.  And when I ride at an event or club/group ride, I find myself fluctuating between being exhilarated and being mortified.  I definitely feel safer with other riders, but at the same time my learning curve is out there for all to see.  And now, on that note...


Did my first club ride with BRBC this morning.  I rode with the C group (16-18 mph), which may not have been the best idea since I'm on a relatively new bike with really new clipless pedals.  The clipless system is awesome and a way more efficient way to pedal and ride.  However, I can also feel pretty much every muscle in my legs being utilized and that's a whole new feeling.  By being connected to the pedals, I'm both pushing down and then pulling up.  My legs are strong from all my previous riding.  But, I definitely need to build up some of the muscles that were just "along for the ride" before and are being challenged now.


I stayed toward the back of the pack to get a feel for how it goes.  I got dropped shortly before the halfway point around 13 miles, but I could still see the group ahead of me and followed them to the rest stop.  Honestly, I was shocked.  It's so rare that exhaustion kicks in enough to make me question continuing on, but my legs were really hurting.  Again, I attribute it to the new pedals.  I told them if I fell behind that I'm fine making it back to the cars at the starting point, no problem.  Everybody was really nice.  We took off again and I stayed in the middle of the pack and was really proud of myself.  I was having a blast and loving it.  And then, it happened again.  My legs were throbbing and I just couldn't keep the pace.  It was so frustrating watching the pack pull away from me.  I mean, I rode a metric century two months ago, for crying out loud.  What the hell is my problem?!!  A man lingered and I prayed for the best, but feared the worst.  When I came up next to him I said, I really hope you are not waiting for me because that would be way too embarrassing.  He smiled and said it's a no-drop policy and it was no problem.  I protested, but he insisted.  He was a super nice guy and even though he didn't seem to care, I felt really bad holding him up.  We rode the last 4 or 5 miles together (new computer is next on my list, so I don't know for sure.)  He turned off at his neighborhood and I continued down the street back to the starting point, finishing off the nearly 27 mile route in about 2 hours.


It was a bit embarrassing pulling up while everyone from my group was putting their bikes on their racks or in their SUV's.  But again, everyone was nice, someone said "good job", and a few other people stopped me to chat.  That's when I made the mistake.  I was clipped in on one side and slowly pedaled over to my car.  I awkwardly tried to get the other foot unclipped, but it didn't work.  I don't know if it was because my legs were sore or because I was trying to unclip the foot that I usually already have unclipped to stop.  All I know is, it was bad.  I went down, of course, with the bike mangled between my legs.  So bad.  I was okay.  I immediately noticed a very small cut on my shin, my right palm hurt where I landed, and I was already sure some black and blues would start appearing shortly.  Everyone was nice enough not to make a big deal.  Just one man asked if I was okay.  I was still on the ground probably because I was so surprised.  So I said, yes I'm okay and please don't look at me.  We both laughed.  I pulled my right foot toward me and looked at the cleat on the bottom of the shoe.  So stupid.  Yeah, like that's what caused me to fall instead of simple user error.  Ha ha!  After I got up, another man started talking to me and gave me some friendly tips for working the clips.  I totally appreciated that everyone was low key, nice, and helpful.


I came home and got back on the bike to make sure it was okay because I was pretty sure it wasn't.  Sure enough, the chain/gearing is slipping all over the place.  I'll have to take it into the shop when I go to make the next layaway payment on the hubby's bike this week.


When I got home, I looked at the My Tracks program I had going on the cellphone.  I ran it just to get an idea of what went on since I don't have the computer yet.  And I found something really interesting.  It said my max speed  was 22.96 mph.  What, really?!!  I've never done that before unless I'm going down the back side of the overpass by the Turnpike.  It will be really cool to get that computer on the bike and have that information while I'm riding.


So, to summarize... it was good, bad, and ugly.  I will do it again next Saturday.  But, I think I might ride with the D group while I build up my legs, confidence, and experience.  


;-D