Sunday, April 19, 2009

A Week to Go and I'm Ready! (I think...)

Egads! A mere week from today I'll be riding in my first organzed ride in quite some time (the Chico Flatflower). It's only thirty miles, so I don't think I'll need to "cheat" like the last one. (Ahem, yeah... But, really, is it cheating when it's not really a race? I don't think so, either.)

So, anyway, I think I'm ready. It's a flat ride, but I haven't ridden with other human beings in quit some time, so I figured I should get out into a club ride. So, swallowing all those self-conscious fears that always come up in times like this, I joined today's "slow" ride. (Did you notice the quotation marks?)

Wowza! We started fast and got faster! Sure, I kept up fine in the beginning, but I forgot the primary rule of rides: save a little energy for later. Don't go all out! So when those hills I already knew would kill me came... they almost really killed me! Ah, but I made it up them all without having to stop (or be completely dropped)!

Of course, that extra mass that turns me into a "hill slug" really helps on the downhills. If they would have gotten out of my way, I really would have shown them how a fat chick can zoom! (Ahem, downhill, that is. I zoom downhill. Just so we're clear.)

But, man, I got a workout! I averaged 14.7 mph for the 21.75 miles, which is quite a bit faster than the 13.7 mph I averaged the last time I rode a similar ride. (Just imagine how high my average speed would have been if I let myself take the descents the way I normally take them!)

So, I'm ready for next week. I think. No, I know. Heck, if all else fails, there's always SAG support, so at least I won't have to cheat. So I'm ready enough.

2 comments:

Arnþór L. Arnarson said...

14.7 mph is absolutely not bad! Especially if you have ascents on the way. :)

I think one day soon you will have to put quotation marks around "fat" in your blog.

Karen said...

Thanks, I'm quite proud of myself for hanging on! I've been on other rides with the club, but I'm pretty sure the bulk of the riders weren't that, um, "zippy".

I'll be happy to be forced to find a new name for my blog, should that time arrive. And, even if it never does, I'll be happy with that as well. Just as long as I never have to put quotation marks around "athlete". ;)