Today was essentially my first group ride in about 2 months, and, first group ride in North Carolina. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get my ass handed to me! Well..kinda I guess.
First off, big thanks to my brother-in-training-who-I-miss Justin for hooking me up with his uncle Steve. Steve (whom I actually did a ride with out in Colorado 2 years ago!) invited me to his group ride out in Cary today, since I'd been jonesing for some outdoor intensity and company other than myself. Anyway, I woke up a bit late, only because I expected it to have snowed a bunch. It didn't. As such, I quickly logged on to the Raliegh Rides google group and noticed that the ride was still on, and, to my luck, was postponed to a 10am start. I quickly gathered my stuff, and, shot out the door. Cary is about 25 or so miles East of Carrboro, so, with no traffic, I figured to make it with enough time to suit up, warm up, and, maybe talk to a few people. It was chilly, so, when I arrived, people were hunkered into their cars or, on the other side of the parking lot in the sun. I did run into Steve though, and, we made with the pleasantries.
The ride started out on relatively flat to rolling terrain amongst the wind and damp air. I was dressed perfectly, and, was psyched to get a decent ride in. Up until this point though, my longest ride had been about 2hrs in the last 8 weeks or so. I'd also had a good week of training (intervals on the trainer & commute), so, I was feeling good and confident. Since I had no idea where I was, or, where I was going, I simply chose to sit in the group, and, try to make small talk with the locals. I met a few people here and there that were nice, and, most people were just getting off, or, still in cross season so they were still kinda flying. Anyway, the group was civil, and, stayed together the entire time I was in it.
At about the 18 mile or so mark (1hr ish), we hit a hill. I started to drift back off the front, and, eventually, found myself tail gunning up a smaller hill, eventually getting spit out the back by myself. Yikes. Not good. I had no idea where I was (luckily I DID have my Garmin with me...phew!). Another guy jumped off the back, and, was turning around as well. I asked if I could tag along back to the coffee shop/start point, and, he said absolutely.
As we rode back to the car, the weather changed dramatically. It started to DUMP. When I say dump...I mean DUMP! We were so unprepared for this, as, the weather folks predicted it for the night before (it never showed up...). We rode as fast as we could to get back to the car, and, eventually, with 4 miles to go, the skies opened up and it was blue sky and sunny again. The irony. I was pretty shot from the whole gig, but, needless to say, was bummed I wasn't going to be able to finish the actual ride. The thought of 4hrs and/or 60 miles is so far from my mind right now...which is a huge ego blast, and, very sad. However, when I ride now (as always since Wyatt's been bored), whether it's 1 or 2 hours, I ride as hard as I can. Either way, I need to do some serious commuting over the next few weeks (if possible) and some serious interval stuff on the trainer at least to get moving! I'm also going to try out the local Chapel Hill group ride next weekend which has 2 different speeds...an A & a B group. The follow the same route so if you do the A, and, get dropped, you can pick up the B and finish that way. Plus, the thought of driving 30 minutes, as, opposed to riding 1.5 miles is way more appetizing!
Finished up with 2hrs 13 mintes 1327KJ.
Tomorrow will probably be a trainer day with the weather, but, I was able to get the Tour of Evergreen DVD for the Tacx! The route follows Deer Creek & High Grade...it's gonna blow my mind. I can't wait!! I might cry though...:-(
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