The Ride to Ft. Myers Beach

September 28, 2014

I was a bit nervous about riding with the fast group two days in a row.  It's a good day when I can hang with them for one ride!  However, I was invited to meet the group at Fit N Fuel, a local coffee shop, in Naples to ride to Ft. Myers Beach bridge and back.   That what I call One of those Florida hills.....a bridge." 

There were 8 riders in the group which included Gretchen the fast gal from Colorado, Brad, Tom, Carlos, Damon , John the pro mechanic, and yours truly. 

The leader, Gretchen, said there was one bridge that would be the hill for the day. They started out fast of course and I tried to hang on the best I could but of course was dropped in the first 8 miles.  In that first 8 miles there were several small bridges....bumps in the road....and  I kept asking if that was the bridge.  They chuckled and said I would know when the big climb was coming..  Gretchen coached me a little with the gearing and said that I needed to go down a gear when at the back of the pace line and go up a gear and spin more when I made it to the front of the line.   I have to remember that.

As I saw them pulling away and coming over the first small bridge I heard my tire puncture.  Ugh.....   It was a flat back tire.  It's the third flat in a month!  John said that he buys tubes by the case because of the junk in the shoulder that causes a lot of flats! Lucky for me that Carlos was riding slower and John was staying with them so they got dropped as well.   They pulled up and into a sandy entrance way to something and John changed the flat for me.   Now you may be asking why I didn't change it since I had watched John just the day before change a flat tire and change my front tire because it was dry rotted.   It was in the interest of trying to catch the group as quickly as possible to get back on the line. 


Carlos dropped off at the 7-11 and said that he would catch us on the way back.  Most of the rides are out and back loops so it's easy to wait and catch the group on the way back home.  We never did see him again until the finish.  He decided to ride back on his own.  Smart move.

John and I continued on and then there it was....The Big Bridge.   I laughed at myself when I realized what they were talking about. Those other bridges were merely a bump in the road.   We decided that the group was probably on their way back by now and we would wait.  Whew!!!

We did wait about 5 minutes and there they were coming back for the ride home.   We caught on but again they were too fast for me and I got dropped.   By that time my shorts were chafing and I was mentally beating myself up that I was too slow.   John and another guy, Brad, stayed with me as the rest of the group sailed on their way back to the start.  John said not to worry about the other group and that riding is about having fun.   I will have to remember that too.  Right now I am always concerned about hanging on and not getting dropped...especially if I don't know my way back to the start!

 I came in with an average of 17.1 mph and the group finished at 18.6 mph.  After all was said and done.....17.1 mph was a great accomplishment for me.  The group went to Fit N Fuel for some coffee and conversation.  I stayed for a short while but I was so tired that I relaxed on the couch with my feet up scratching my two girls and we all fell asleep.