Today I had a short 4 mile run on tap, but my boss cancelled our lab meeting because "it's a powder day". So him and the PhD in the group had a ski day, which left my day completely open. I decided to hit a ride with ACTC since opportunities can become scarce sometimes. Once again, 1 pint of beer knocked me over last night so I was slow to get moving this morning. The ideal situation would've been to get my 4 mile run out of the way before the ride so I didn't have to think about it the rest of the day. Since I didn't have my crap together this morning, that was out of the question.
This morning's ride list was a little on the leisure side, which was fine with me since I had a run to do anyway. However....I'm still learning my way around the classification system as this is only my third ride with the club. Rides are categorized in several ways. First, it's either a billy goat, mountain goat, or grizzly. I've only done grizzlies. Grizzlies are special rides that are usually flat. Billy Goats are hilly and Mountain Goats are mountain bike rides.
Rides are also classified under what pace the group maintains and whether they'll stop and wait for you or drop you like a bad habit. Paces are put into groups, of L (leisurely), LM (leisurely to moderate), M (moderate), and then it gets into the crazies with MB, B and S. We won't delve into those quite yet because I haven't done any of those last 3. My first ride with the club was an M (hey, I'm nothing if not brave) which went very well. My second ride was an L, but there was apricot french toast involved, so I didn't hesitate to drop down a couple levels. Today I was given a choice of 4 different LM's, a 54 mile M or a crazy hill ride. I guess I wasn't paying much attention because they were all pretty much hill rides.
Which brings me to the last classification level. The numbers. From 1-6, 1's are basically flat, 6's are basically Mt. Everest. I've done a 2M and a 1L. So I figured today's 4LM would be a good fit, and it was 29 miles, so I was good with that too. It would at least be a good intro into Billy Goats, which made me pretty nervous considering I never really went out of my way to find hills to ride in Montague.
The start of the ride was 8 miles from my place, so I loaded my bike onto the rack and drove to the start. I was cutting it pretty close, so a few people that were already there watched me pull up and hop out in tights, a jacket and fuzzy slippers. I changed into my cleats and slipped cleat covers on, put on my gloves and clacked over to the group. It was pretty cold and drizzly at the start, still socked in by the morning fog. I was beginning to wish I had worn my beanie. We had some short introductions since I was the new guy, and we were off.
I noticed that everyone wore clipless pedals of some kind. Most were road shoes, a couple were mountain bike shoes. Everyone wore long tights and full fingered gloves. I was fitting in ok. The pace was a nice leisurely pace that allowed me a little time to look around without crashing. After a little ways I wondered if these people ever had to pee. We had peed at the start, but I had to go again. Too much coffee? Too much water? I don't know, but since I had no idea where we were or where we were going, I wasn't going to peel off to go.
We passed a couple parks with bathrooms and I started eyeing them. One of the guys fell back, muttering "What do I have to do, piss my pants before she stops?" I laughed as I passed him. Yep, I guess others had to go too. We waited for him to catch up and then ended up stopping at the next park for a break. One of the guys asked me if I've been doing any hills lately. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. A few of the guys started removing layers since we'd be climbing soon. I was keeping mine on. I was still pretty cold.
While the overall physical fitness of the group put me up near the top, and the general pace was a fairly easy one, nothing really makes the hills easier. Short of being able to draft off some one, you're on your own with the hills. That's your own little demon to conquer.
The leader dropped to the back of the group in preparation for the hill. My thinking was she was doing it to make sure I (the new guy) didn't fall behind too much and get lost. I fell in line second to last. As I got up onto the tire of the guy in front of me, I shifted into an easier gear. Several of the guys had slowed considerably. I was faced with a choice. The road ahead curved so I was unable to see how long the hill was going to last, but with the reduction in pace I was guessing it was going to be long. I was thinking it wise to stay with the main group so they wouldn't laugh at me when they passed me up after I had burned myself out. But then the group got too slow and I was unable to hold my cadence. I was going to fall over.
I went ahead and passed, thinking it was a terrible idea and I was going to regret it. I passed three of the guys and focused on the one guy left ahead. As my legs began to burn, I shifted again to an easier gear. I leaned over my handlebars with an occasional glance ahead to look for hazards and anything that signaled the end of the hill. It reminded me of a Sufferfest video I had gotten to help ease the boredom of training indoors. "I've seen you there. When your shoulders drop. When you fix on that wheel in front of you. When you whimper....." Oh the agony.
Up ahead the lead guy pulled over to wait for the rest of the group. I pulled up beside him and unclipped.
"That's impressive" he commented, about my ability to get up ahead of the group. Thank god. I thought.He looked at my chain and commented on how it was even more impressive what gear I made it up in. I told him I had just shifted back up again. He asked about the size of my cassette, I thought he was counting gears. I don't know bike lingo. I'm beginning to learn the language. I listened to him spit out some numbers while I just said I didn't know.
The other guys started to join us and pulled over while we waited for the leader. Ahh. That's why she fell to the back. She caught up and we carried on.
Next hill. By now I had unzipped my jacket a little, but the sun was coming out. Too late. No more adjustments, we've got ourselves a hill. I pulled up behind the lead guy again and tried to find my gear. It was messy. Finally I got settled in and put my head down. "I've seen you there. When your shoulders drop..." I tucked my head close to my handlebars and watched my shadow curl up in the fetal position. Looks about right.
I mashed through my gears again, the fatigue starting to get to my brain. My legs and lungs burned. The lead guy was up ahead by not too much, but there was no way I was catching him. The rest of the group was far behind. I tried to shift into an easier gear and it wouldn't go. I tried again. SHIFT!!!! My brain was screaming. I looked between my knees at the rear cassette, trying to see if I was in the last gear. I was. I looked at the front chain rings. I've got two on this bike and I was in the smaller one. And it was at this point in time, deeply embedded in an ocean of mental and physical anguish, that I completely forgot what that means.
Big rings, small rings. Cogs, cassettes, derailleurs, chainrings. God, I just don't know. At one point I had this all figured out. That went out the window. I yearned for an easier gear. I eyed the front chainrings. Is bigger or smaller easier? Well look at the back, they're opposites. I tried to look back and lost my balance and went all over the road. Man I hope they can't see me. I was in the largest ring in the back...the smallest in the front. I knew for a fact I was shifting in the right direction on that rear set. This doesn't make any sense! Why would it be easier to be in the larger ring in the back? Well Carrie, why would it be easier to be in the larger ring in the front? It probably would not.
I put my head down and focused on ensuring a smooth circular motion with my stroke. Eventually the hill started to level out and I decided to try shifting the front chain ring. While I may be a total idiot after fatigue takes over, thankfully my bike is not. Today I decided that Ruby is my "SmartBike". You people may have smartphones, but I have a smartbike and that means all the world to me. Because had I been able to shift, it would've been a disaster. Thankfully the angle of the chain at that point would not even allow for shifting and I gave up and parked next to the lead rider.
He looked over at me. "If you're able to do that, you're ready for a lot more than this."
I laughed. If only he knew my battle. I swallowed my pride. "Oh my god, ok, let's talk about gears." I realize at this point I should probably know a little bit about bike gears, but I don't know. I just shift until it feels right. Turned out I was correct in assuming I was completely in the lowest gear possible. Apparently I just need to work on those goat legs. He didn't say that though, he was impressed, especially considering my lack of hill training.
After the other guys caught up, everyone had to compare the size of their cogs while we waited for the ride leader to catch up. While I listened to their discussion and tried to figure out what they were talking about, I looked around at everyone's cogs and realized, to my surprise, that mine was actually larger than everyone's there. Hmmm. I kept my mouth shut. It's pretty cool to ride with the club because I'm learning so much about bike handling and gear. I've been looking at everyone's mirrors and don't really like the kind that slip onto your helmet or side of your bike. One of the guys had one today that clips onto his sunglasses and it's quite small. He said I had to figure out which one works for me though since sometimes it can make people dizzy. I can imagine.
After the leader caught up, we took off downhill. I was definitely in the back on this one, riding the brakes while everyone else picked up speed. My max speed was 36 mph, I'm guessing the others were going over 40. I can't imagine crashing at that speed.
We stopped for coffee and bagels and I got yet another awesome hint. One of the guys had the same pedals that I had, which requires a little more care with the cleats on our shoes. I got some simple "coffee shop" covers that I slip onto the metal cleats before going inside somewhere or walking more than a few steps. I was telling the group how on one of my rides I had forgotten to remove them and couldn't figure out why I couldn't clip in. Meanwhile the group had left me in the dust. The guy flipped his foot up at me and said, "That's why you need these". They were awesome! They were cleat covers like mine except that they left the hole for the pedal open. So there's no taking covers on and off, you just leave them in place. I have got to get me some of those.
We finished the ride and I headed home...to run my 4 miler. Oh how I did not want to go for a run. I was tired and hungry and just wanted to sit and eat. Well m'lady, that ride was optional, this run is not. Get out there. I changed into running clothes, switched my Garmin over to run mode and headed out the door, muttering profanities.
I know that come time to start training for triathlons, I will have to do "brick" workouts where I go for a bike ride and then immediately go for a run. I had a significant amount of time between the two today, but still my body was repulsed at the notion of driving my legs into the ground after a 29 mile hill ride. I started out walking, and then started to jog. Oh the profanity that came out then. This was going to be miserable. Man was I tired.
I managed to finish with a decent time and immediately began stuffing my mouth upon entering my apartment. It was one of those times when I could not get nutrition into my blood stream fast enough. I just started shoveling food in as fast as I could.
Now I need to study...but I think I'll have a hot soak in the tub first...then more food.
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