As some of you know, I've been on a bit of a mission to get my butt back in shape and to hopefully do some bicycle road racing next spring and summer. I've been training 10-15 hours per week on the bike, eating healthy for the most part, haven't had a beer in a month 
Q), and generally suffering a lot. Finally had some encouraging results this past Saturday; I decided to hop into a local 45 mile ride that goes off every Saturday morning and makes a loop through counties east of Atlanta. The plan was to stay with the group as long as I could and then ride the rest of the way in by myself. I had pretty much zero aspirations of making it all the way through with the group since there are three good-sized climbs that they typically fly up and I figured I'd get spit out on one of them given my marginal fitness.
We started out hauling ass right off the bat.....group was somewhere around 60 riders with a dozen or so local racers hitting it hard at the front of the group. I was seeing 25-28 mph on the flatter roads leading up to the first climb, but was hiding in the middle of the group (read: drafting big-time) so I was hanging in there. Hit the bottom of the first climb and the group decides to keep a steady pace to the top. I was hurting, but managed to stay in the main group by starting the climb at the front of the group and slowly drifting to the back by the end of the climb (a fair amount of distance in a group this big). Five miles of flat-ish roads and we're at the base of the next climb....and I'm in the back of the back....AND my front derailleur won't kick the chain off the the big front chainring to the smaller one so I'm stuck in a huge gear. Not good.
I manage to get up and over the first, steep bit of the climb thanks to a well-timed shove from a very fit friend of mine who noticed I was in some trouble and then just hoovered wheels the rest of the way up......trying to grab whatever draft there was on the climb. Heart rate was 190+ the entire time up the climb (my max is 200 :Q). I somehow notice through my own personal haze of pain that the two guys whose wheels I'm desperately trying to hold are having a conversation about what they did last night!!! I'm almost coughing my lungs up and they're having a chat. *sigh*
Anywho, long story short; I made it over the third and final climb in the same spectacularly painful fashion and rolled with the group the rest of the way back. Was pleased to overhear several of the regulars bitching about how fast it was today (24mph average for 45 miles....ouch). Nice to know that me not getting dropped wasn't due to an abnormally slow ride or anything.
I was wasted when I finally got home, but really, really psyched to have finished the ride. It's little things like that which make all the training hours worth it. I am now doubly motivated for spring. Hopefully I'll be able to post some race results for you all then.
Q), and generally suffering a lot. Finally had some encouraging results this past Saturday; I decided to hop into a local 45 mile ride that goes off every Saturday morning and makes a loop through counties east of Atlanta. The plan was to stay with the group as long as I could and then ride the rest of the way in by myself. I had pretty much zero aspirations of making it all the way through with the group since there are three good-sized climbs that they typically fly up and I figured I'd get spit out on one of them given my marginal fitness.We started out hauling ass right off the bat.....group was somewhere around 60 riders with a dozen or so local racers hitting it hard at the front of the group. I was seeing 25-28 mph on the flatter roads leading up to the first climb, but was hiding in the middle of the group (read: drafting big-time) so I was hanging in there. Hit the bottom of the first climb and the group decides to keep a steady pace to the top. I was hurting, but managed to stay in the main group by starting the climb at the front of the group and slowly drifting to the back by the end of the climb (a fair amount of distance in a group this big). Five miles of flat-ish roads and we're at the base of the next climb....and I'm in the back of the back....AND my front derailleur won't kick the chain off the the big front chainring to the smaller one so I'm stuck in a huge gear. Not good.
I manage to get up and over the first, steep bit of the climb thanks to a well-timed shove from a very fit friend of mine who noticed I was in some trouble and then just hoovered wheels the rest of the way up......trying to grab whatever draft there was on the climb. Heart rate was 190+ the entire time up the climb (my max is 200 :Q). I somehow notice through my own personal haze of pain that the two guys whose wheels I'm desperately trying to hold are having a conversation about what they did last night!!! I'm almost coughing my lungs up and they're having a chat. *sigh*
Anywho, long story short; I made it over the third and final climb in the same spectacularly painful fashion and rolled with the group the rest of the way back. Was pleased to overhear several of the regulars bitching about how fast it was today (24mph average for 45 miles....ouch). Nice to know that me not getting dropped wasn't due to an abnormally slow ride or anything.
I was wasted when I finally got home, but really, really psyched to have finished the ride. It's little things like that which make all the training hours worth it. I am now doubly motivated for spring. Hopefully I'll be able to post some race results for you all then.
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