Wed. Lees Ride - ouch

I finally made it out for a group ride - the Lees (team?) ride that leaves from the south store on Wed's at 5:30 (info). I needed some practice riding next to people (instead of by myself like I've been doing) and figured the pace would be a little higher than I'm comfortable with. Well I was right! It was a good challenge, aided by winds that were sustained in the 20's and 30's and gusting to the high 30's.

A few miles into it I ran over a piece of wood and immediately heard a "thunk thunk thunk" on my front wheel. Worried about a flat, I stopped, but luckily it was just my computer magnet. So I readjusted it and set off. The only other woman on the ride, Tanya (I think), had stopped with me, which was really nice of her. She rides for Lipsmackers, a women's pro team. So now we had to catch a group of about 10 guys riding fast with a tailwind. It took about 10 minutes but we did it, although I wasn't much help. Tanya probably could have had a conversation but I was huffing and puffing the whole way.

Things slowed down a bit for a few miles as we wound through Loveland and then we turned into the wind. The pace picked up and I think people were attacking. As usual I found myself at the back - I don't feel like I can go fast enough to stick in the middle of an accelerating group of testosterone. Eventually we went up a little hill and I decided I'd had enough and popped off the back. I was immediately frustrated by this decision - why can't I push myself just a little harder?? So often when I lose a wheel I immediately let my mental game get in the way. Anyway, I was pooped and didn't want to go hard anymore - even though now I was riding into a headwind by myself.

At this point we were on Glade Road near Masonville. I tried to keep my pace up and kept an even distance between myself and two guys who had popped off the back too. But never caught them - too bad, some drafting would have been helpful!! Anyway, then came the hills around Horsetooth and I went as hard as I could (not to say that is very fast). There was a lot of cursing at myself as I did this. Good times. Finally made it to the last hill and my left calf was on the verge of a serious cramp. I told it to buck up and stay with me. I seem to talk to myself a lot when I'm suffering. Then I decided to go up Maniac - actually had to stop in a pseudo-track stand 2/3 of the way up to catch my breath - I was completely out of gas. But then pushed it the rest of the way up and then it was downhill from there!

SO it was a hard ride for me but definitely good too. It ended up being 38.4 miles and I averaged 17.8 mph. Hey not too shabby considering all the hills and wind!