If you don't know by now, I love cycling. I guess the only way you would not know that is if you don't know me at all (as in, we are total strangers) and you have never read this blog. So, saying that I love cycling is probably fairly redundant.
Cycling at its base means two kinds of rides for me--the fun ride with wheezing, and the fun ride without wheezing. Yes, they are all fun rides--some just make me work harder (and therefore usually involve at least some element or moments of wheezing--particularly after a climb).
Today's ride was the no-wheezing kind of fun ride. We planned a slowish ride to accommodate those coming off injuries or those who just haven't had opportunities to get out on the bike. This was to be a no drop-regroup-slow the pace-and have fun ride. And it was exactly that!
A handful of us met at Tumwater Falls Park at 11:30. From there we rode over to the Farmers' Market to meet up with Taryn's group of GGGs at 11:45. They were in the process of fixing a flat and were probably about 10 minutes from being ready to go. Taryn told us to go ahead and go. We did, so people wouldn't get cold. That was the only bummer part of the day. I really like riding with Taryn and Michele and don't get the opportunity often enough, but I felt I needed to stay with the group that I had started with (which ALSO had people I REALLY enjoy riding with as well as people I've been wanting to ride with but haven't had the chance--yay Katie!).
We headed out to Boston Harbor. Just for kicks, we went up Ames Rd. to Gull Harbor, then back to Boston Harbor Rd. Michelle was having fun beating Derik to the stop signs. Although, Derik wasn't really trying (Michelle wasn't having to work too hard either). It was pretty comical which just added to the fun of this ride.
Back on Boston Harbor we rode the hills out to the harbor itself, slowing up when necessary to regroup. At 73rd, after we all came to pretty much a complete stop, we decided to go 73rd over to Zangle. 73rd from Boston Harbor is a steep little pitch. So, we all climbed rather slowly.
We ended up doing the majority of the north night ride only in reverse. We took the trail back into town, dropping people when they would get close to their homes. At the bridge over Yelm Hwy, Manek, Ann, and Maggie headed West and I headed East.
For me, it was 34 miles. The average was a relaxed 14.1 mph. It was a fun afternoon with no wheezing!
1 comment:
Although I rarely ride with anyone anymore, when I did the groups were small and no-drop was the rule. Wheezing...well people may have been pushed to wheezing. That's a great way to put it, Wheezing...hehehe
Thanks for posting,
RL
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