flatter and faster

I've been doing so many hill repeat rides and/or social rides lately that I almost forgot what it feels like to go on a spirited pace ride.

Fixed that tonight by joining 4 others on Max's ride that he had posted on our social bike club's calendar. He posted it as a 15-16 mph pace ride........ uh huh, sure. Anyone who knows Max knows his rides often exceed expectations!

I arrived a few minutes late and thought seriously about pedaling hard to catch up with them... like how hard can it be to catch a group peddling at 15-16 mph? Unfortunately, (or fortunately as the case may be!) I wasn't sure of their route, it was going to be a last minute consensus thing. I drove down the suspected route in an attempt to find them then planned on driving ahead and hopping on the bike to join them "in progress".

Good thing I drove. When I finally jumped in with them I noted that they were pedaling a solid 20 mph. Much harder to catch a group moving that speed!

It was a cool day, never breaking 70 so I decided to wear arm and leg warmers, figuring if I got too warm I could either roll them down or take them off at a stop sign. I was glad I had them on. I never got warm enough to take them off, though I could have and not been cold. As the sun went down I was glad I had them on, there is beginning to be a touch of Autumn in the air in the evening.

I felt good tonight. It was a relatively flat route, but what little hills we had I was able to ride up quite easily... just a little more easily than my riding partners. ;-)

I didn't carry my camera tonight. Too bad, there was a really cool opportunity to get a photo of the shadows of our group in a pace line. Oh well, next time!

Rocky Butte hill repeats again tomorrow. Wonder what the traffic situation will be?


.......road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........34..............0.............0..........0..........34
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......502..............0.............0..........0.........502
April.......524..............0.............0..........0.........524
May........1003..............0.............0..........0........1003
June.......1016..............0............10..........0........1026
July.......1148..............0.............0..........0........1148
August.....1049..............0.............0..........0........1049
YTD........6150..............0............37..........7........6284