I have always been intimidated by cyclists, I'm not sure why. They've just always seemed like very intense people to me. Have you ever watched a road race? Cycling is a full contact sport, on two wheels! That to me is simply insane. They literally push and shove each other...and that's to say nothing of their epic crashes. Cyclists are crazy people.
Being sidelined from running, I have to step up my game in the cycling department. I've been doing somewhat long (for me) rides at a moderate and comfortable pace with people who are fairly nice and much less intimidating than my stereotype of a cyclist (most of them anyway). Women can be slightly tricky, but that's really in any situation. I'm not sure if guys have this problem or not, but a woman moving into the "territory" of another woman can be a sketchy experience.
Today I chose a more advanced ride within the club and was a little worried about it, but I figured I wasn't getting quite the intensity of a workout I need with the other levels, so I needed to grow some balls. And I think the more advanced of a ride you go on, the much more likely you are to be the newcomer of the group, whereas with beginner rides, you might have several newcomers on any given day.
I arrived at the meeting point and began putting my shoes on and getting all set. The ride leader was already there and came over to introduce herself. She mentioned several times that she doesn't normally do this short of a ride (20 miles...I thought it was going to be 30) and that she had planned to go down a super steep grade but maybe we could change it if I was uncomfortable with that (of course I am, steep grades scare the crap out of me). I told her I would be alright and do whatever the group did (crying inside of course).
Three more guys showed up and that was all. It took me a minute to realize that 3 of the riders wore jerseys of the local cycling (racing) club and the other wore a jersey stating he was the winner of some triple crown thing. Oh boy. You're in over your head now. Just keep up, no matter what. They were all older than me, but I knew better than to find any sort of solace in that. I'm pretty sure these people could mop the floor with me.
We headed up the hill, and fortunately I am able to climb hills. I may not be able to descend them, but I can climb them. The pace was comfortable. I actually would have liked a slightly faster pace up hill but I knew better than to try to pass anyone in this group. I'm sure it would've meant certain death. The guys behind me chattered the whole way up the hill. I just tried to hold my line (which is interesting since I have zero bike handling skills). One of the guys gave me pointers after I commented on my inability to hold my line.
Then we came to the famed downhill portion of the ride and it was absolutely no joke. Strava has some of the sections as steeper than 20% which could also be due to losing satellite reception in the trees, but either way, it was steeper than my comfort level. I rode the brakes and prayed I didn't overheat the rims. I kept waiting for my tire to explode and for me to take a mouthful of asphalt at 30 mph.
On one of the first turns I nearly crashed. Before the descent, the guys were giving me advice, like to put my weight on my back tire. Since I was riding the brakes most of the way, with my hands up on the hoods, most of my weight was pushed forward onto my handlebars. It took me about a mile to figure out this was my trouble all along. In any case, on that first turn, I went too wide and refused to lean in, thinking I was going to crash. With my weight on the handlebars, it was hard to sharpen the turn. Near the end of the turn was a big stick in the road. If I hit that stick at this speed and this angle, I was going down for sure. And not just going down, but being thrown from the road since it was an outside turn. My body wouldn't be found for hours. The stick was right in my trajectory and I was unable (or unwilling) to tighten my turn in. At the last second I remembered a conversation I had with a more advanced cyclist on my first ride with the club. Don't look where you don't want to go. I looked down the road into the turn and in my peripheral vision, watched the stick pass an inch or two away from my tire. This is going to be bad.
When I finally made it down to the bottom, I had to haul butt and was still not catching the group. That's right Carrie, you are now "that guy". We had plans to meet up at the bathrooms up the road a ways, so that was my only saving grace. As I rode up, I saw a couple of the other guys just dismounting. So they hadn't been there that long.
I made sure to keep up on the rest of the ride. There was a bit of separation on another downhill, but it wasn't so steep so I felt comfortable going faster. Strava has my max speed at 48 mph, but I doubt it. Again, probably another snafu with the satellite. I hit some mid to high 30's though, so I would believe those. I doubt I went above 40, just knowing me. I tried to sit my weight back on the saddle to keep control of the bike. Really, the direction of the bike is controlled by your hips, not the handlebars, which is the issue I have when I've got a death grip on them and refusing to let go.
Near the end of the ride we stopped for coffee (and the ride leader kept mentioning that she never usually stops for coffee and she never does a ride this short, but it's her recovery day). I feel like she was either judging me or thinking I was judging her, which I certainly was not. Either way, she seemed to have a need to make sure I recognized that she's usually much more intense in her training.
While we had coffee, the group shared some tips with me and also encouraged me to go to a riding clinic, which I always viewed as only for people who wanted to race. One of the guys said that's a common misconception, but it teaches bike handling and riding skills and is beneficial to any rider. I looked it up when I got home and have decided to take a class the last weekend in April.
The group turned out to be very friendly and gave me some good advice. I think the ride leader even warmed up to me a little bit and she was encouraging me to do the "Winter Series" with San Jose Bike Club (the racers...serious people). She mentioned words like crits and time trials...and I'm still in the mindset of "what's a chain ring?". I told her it sounded way over my head and she said no, there's trainers that stick with you in the cat 5's (At least I know what that means). Hum. We'll see. It's still all very intimidating, but hopefully a bike handling class will help with that. Then in May they've got a climbing and descending clinic...specifically made for people like me who use a new set of brake pads each weekend.
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