I have to say I was a bit nervous about doing a 62 mile ride with the group today. I haven't ridden that far since I left NJ. The speed was another concern.
Well my concerns were founded. The group rode at a pace of 19.1 mph for the 61 mile ride. Ouch. I was able to hang on but not without some cursing.....isn't that my style these days.....when I could barely hang on.
Several things I will say about the ride. The first is that the rest stop was 32 miles into the ride and Tom Hammell knows quite well how I look for that rest stop at 25 miles....or less. The second thing is that when I got to the rest stop...there were Oreo cookies covered with peanut butter and a slice of banana as well as some water. That's it??? Very poor nutrition for riding that far at a fast pace. Needless to say I was very disappointed. I finally asked one of the serving people to give me a half of a banana with peanut butter and skip the cookie. He cheerfully obliged thank goodness!
There was a crash in the faster group....yes a faster group....which I was not in...thank goodness. One cyclist hit the front guy and the gal behind him crashed into him. He was obviously in a lot of pain as I found out later he broke his collarbone. The gal, who also went down....well her carbon bike broke apart near the back wheel. I feel for her as the bike was totally trashed.
Photos the group I rode with today.
The second photo is Natalia who inadvertently was left out of the first photo. She has only been riding about five months and she is already riding strong!
Here is a little history about Ave Maria which is where the rest stop was located.
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/rawfile_0404_ave-maria/
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