Two Rides

It's been a busy, busy week. The little bits are in sports camps (baseball/gymnastics) this week, so I'm hanging out with the big kid (B1). He sleeps until 10:30 or so, giving me plenty of time to work each morning. Tuesday, he went with me out the Silver Comet Trail for a 15 mile ride. That was the plan. At 7.5 miles, he asked if we could go just another mile or so. We ended up with a total of 17.5 before heading off to get him the massive amounts of food he needed to refuel.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have B1 as a riding buddy. It was so cute when he looked down at the computer & saw he'd been going 18.5 mph for a few minutes. (Wait. Not cute. I'm going to need to retool my language to talk about him, now that he's a teenager.) In a couple of weeks, we'll have another week where it's just the two of us. I think I'll take the opportunity to introduce him to riding in traffic. He doesn't grasp the difference between a ride in our neighborhood and a ride over to Roswell Road yet. Lunch at Steak & Shake one day, and maybe a ride to see a matinee of Indiana Jones ought to do the trick.

While we were riding Tuesday, I stopped by the Silver Comet Depot to check on the Wednesday group ride. It's a ride for women that heads out around 6:30 each week. They want people there at 6:00, just in case you need to inflate tires, buy drinks, etc. before the shop closes. They also keep the shop open a bit late to let ladies rent a bike for the ride. It's a great time to try out something different, if you're used to riding just cruisers or mountain bikes.

I made it out there last night for the ride. There were just three of us, all on road bikes. We kept about a 14-15mph pace, and went 30 miles. Since all my riding is either solo or with my family, this was a great new experience. Riding with the group made me more aware of my form. Since I was just tagging along, I kept a much steadier pace than I do on my own. I pushed myself in spots along the trail where I'm usually lazy, and took it a bit easier in areas where I normally push. At the end, I was beginning to tire, but in the good workout sort of way.

I can't quite take the time every week, but I am going to get out there for at least one of the group rides each month. Holly may be adding an extra ride day, which will probably mean I can make a couple of rides. I'm really looking forward to the next time I go.