I Can't Ride 55

Miracles never cease.  Some friends of mine convinced me to go on a bike ride this morning.  The ride was set to leave at 6:30 a.m., which meant that I had to get up at 5:45 a.m.  I'm still not sure how I did it.  My riding buddies were doing a 90 mile ride.  I couldn't go that far because I had volleyball practice--so I had to settle for 55 miles.

Here is my ride by the numbers:

• 197 - # of minutes of total riding time
• 55 - # of miles ridden
• 38 - Maximum mph achieved during the ride
• 17 - Average mph for the ride (including the monster hills the last 3 miles!)
• 10 - # of riders in our group
• 2 - # of times my water bottles fell off the bike (luckily I retrieved them both)
• 2 - # of close calls with vehicles that almost hit me
• 1 - # of drivers that honked to let me know that they were really, really close to hitting me
• 1 - # of times I almost dropped, then caught, my iPhone while taking pictures at 20 mph!
• 0 - # of more miles I felt like I could have ridden by the time I was done!

For the most part, I rode solo--due to a series of unfortunate events.  Riding by yourself is an interesting experience.  It gives you plenty of time to think.  Even though it was dark outside when I started--and cold--I felt like I enjoyed the time to myself.

The Peloton

When I entered Camp Pendleton, I went to ask the sentry if he had seen a large group of riders wearing the same riding kit that I was wearing.  Just then, I looked back to see a gaggle of riders heading up the hill to the sentry check point.  It was my friends!

There were 10 of us at that point and I only knew about 4 of the guys fairly well.  I was struck by how friendly several of the riders that I had never met before were.  They came up and introduced themselves and were very nice.  They had never met me and they only knew that I was part of the "team" because I was wearing the same jersey that they were.  

Riding with the "peloton" was really fun.  It was the first time that I had every really ridden with a group of such a sizable number.  I felt an instant sense of comaraderie with my fellow riders.  I noticed something else as well about riding in a pack. I spent less energy cycling and went faster.  I think that there may be some sort of life lesson in that somewhere.

At one point, one of my water bottles popped out of its cage.  I didn't know it, but one of my fellow riders told me so that I could go get it.  At another point, there was a road sign in the middle of the bicycle lane.  I saw one of the experienced riders make some hand signs to those of us that were behind him, motioning us to be cautious so that we could avoid the (unseen) road hazard.  I thought that that was an amazing display of courtesy, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

My only regret was that I couldn't finish the ride with them.  Oh well, I'm sure that there will be other rides in my future.

I managed to get a few good pics during the ride.  At one point, while riding, my iPhone slipped from my grasp.  I was doing about 20 mph at the time...but somehow I managed to snag it out of thin air before it crashed to the road beneath me.  Thank goodness for another small miracle.  I took a self-portrait as well, but realized I couldn't possibly post it after I saw it and realized how haggard and tired I looked during the ride!  Yikes!

Team Eco Pro

Coming home, I found myself riding alone again.  Thank goodness for my iPod.  The last 3 miles of my route were almost entirely up hill and I was gassed.  Somehow I managed to finish and stumble off my bike and into the house on rubbery legs.  Just in time to change and drive the boys to volleyball practice.  Saturdays--at least at our house--are certainly no day of rest!