I went out for my first group ride yesterday with three others I've known only through Facebook. These guys ride the same 35 mile loop every week, so I wasn't particularly optimistic about my chances of keeping up with them since the route covers the very steepest climbs in central Florida, including one so steep that many riders prefer to simply walk it.
Making matters worse was the fact that the others all had cassettes designed specifically for climbing. When one of them noticed that my bike still had the stock cassette, he said, "Looks like one of us is going to be walking up Sugarloaf hill."
Too late for me to back out after having driven for nearly an hour to get to our meeting spot, so off we went. The first climbs seemed easy enough, but then one of them warned me that we were approaching a hill dubbed "The Wall", apparently so named because it goes almost instantly from flat to a steep grade, which really takes you by surprise. That one was tough, but to my amazement I managed to outpace all the other riders. When I crested the top, I couldn't even see them any longer. I managed to repeat that performance on all the hills thereafter, and I started thinking to myself that maybe they were conserving their energy for the final and worst climb: Sugarloaf hill. As we finally reached Sugarloaf, my suspicions may have been confirmed, as all three raced passed me toward the base of the hill. I got there about 100 yards behind them, but managed to close the distance quickly. As soon as I began the climb, I realized I was in for an epic battle. I could only maintain a speed of 7.3 mph, and I'd run out of gears. But I also noticed that I was catching up to the other three fairly quickly. The third rider was a former Iron Man competitor, and I thought he'd just pull away the moment he realized I was attempting to pass him, but he looked utterly spent. I passed the second rider, who looked like he was about to bail (he didn't), and then I passed the lead rider, John. John's bike had a cassette on it that looked like something he'd sourced from a mountain bike. The final gears were enormous, and I suspect this was the climb he envisioned when selecting those huge gears. He was pedaling much faster than I was, but it didn't seem to be helping. I passed him, and then another rider, and that's when I saw someone whose physique looked like a serious racer, riding up Sugarloaf on a Specialized Epic S-Works. I got closer and closer to him, determined to be the first one to reach the top. When I pulled up alongside, I recognized him as Dale Serge, a pro-racer I've known for about a year. My elation at passing him was dashed when he told me he was on his 29th climb.He did three more, for a total of 32 runs up Sugarloaf.
The return trip was uneventful, except for one mad dash down a long flat road that seemed to go on forever.
My legs still feel knackered, and even my arms are sore, but it was worth it. This was not only my first group ride, it was also my first ride in decades on roads rather than trails, and the first time I've done any serious climbs since the late 1970's. I'll definitely be doing it again in the coming weeks... but with a different cassette.
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I did just over 20 miles on my Halfords Hybrid bike this morning and stopped at a bike hire place that sells coffee. The lad working there had a 12 month old Scott Comp CR1 that he was selling for an old school mate. The bike was half the new price so I bought it and saved a fortune................even though it was double the amount I intended to spend on a road bike
Another great ride this morning.
Did 20miles with an average speed of 16mph in one hit although I kept messing about with cycle app and managed loose a bit of my ride.
It was Cloudy and cool when I set off, then by the time I got home the sun was just breaking through the clouds so timed it just right.
Got home & had a nice shower, now sitting in the garden with a beer.
love that assisted ridingBuying second hand makes a lot of sense. I don't know why bicycles are so expensive these days. It's just lunacy that a top end road bike costs roughly the same amount of money as a motorcycle, and that people are paying $400 for a set of titanium pedals.
Ditchling Beacon is fecking vertical!
DAMHIK
