Fast Ride Day

Apparently Thursday is Fast Day

I should have been nervous when only 5 other people showed up. Today we were pushing for speed. It was also the first time I got "an assist" going up a hill. I checked my Garmin and it said I was averaging 21.1 mph when I got dropped at mile ~8.5. The nice thing about the dark and the bike lights is how far away they are visible from.The group was kind enough to wait for me. I think they were worried about me getting lost. I should have mentioned that I rode a lot of these roads last year and that I also had a GPS device tracking my routes.

Dropped II

So once we got into more familiar territory (aka, the previous day's route) I got dropped again at about mile 17.5. This time for good. Yeah, they were going fast and I'm not at that speed level yet. Especially with flat terrain and little opportunity to rest and recover. The group kept going. That was fine, I didn't want to hold them up anymore. They were kind enough to send one guy back to check on me. Though I think he was glad for it. He was struggling just like me and I provided a good excuse for him to fall back.

Oh well, I won't get faster if I don't go faster. The best way to do that is ride with faster people. Though I am starting to yearn for the hills of Massachusetts a little bit ;-)

Jim - The Un-official Leader

Jim is the unofficial leader of this group. They are trying to get it going much like the group rides around Mobile Proper. Like just about everybody down here he is very nice and welcoming.

This is Lee. He comes all the way from France, where he races!

Lee is the one who gave me the "assist" up a climb. He also gave me a number if tips during the ride. They helped, but not enough for me to keep up the pace.