Joined a training ride

[kaz]

Well i finally joined a training ride with some club juniors and parents. It was great but hilly and was left behind multiple times but was supported back to the pack by the parents. It was a lot harder than my previous coffee rides.

Must say i was a little disheartened by how unfit i am compared to the juniors but will keep turning up to improve my fitness. Had great fun, but was very tried at the end.

One thing i have learnt is that i need to ride with people who are better than me to improve, even if i get dropped mutltiple times.

Kaz

[JV911]

yep group rides are a great way to improve fitness and ability/skills

keep at it, you'll be glad you did

[Kev365428]

Must say i was a little disheartened by how unfit i am compared to the juniors ........

They have one thing on their side that you'll never get back.....youth.

Kev.

[der Ungar]

Don't be disheartened - we're all (well, a lot of us, anyway) unfit compared to the juniors! When I started hitting the gym 18 months ago, I was a world away from where I am now. Now I'm starting out on a bike and I'll be crap at that to start with, too.

But it sounds like you worked pretty hard and you'll get better and better - just think, one day the kids will watch you blow past them...

Cheers...Michael

[Kalgrm]

They have one thing on their side that you'll never get back.....youth.

Kev.

Ah, but you have one thing on your side that they are years from achieving - rat cunning. "Drop" your bottle in front of their wheel and then see if they can still drop you on the hills....

Seriously though, with a few weeks of training under your belt, you won't be dropped from the group. You will quickly build up your fitness to the average level of the group.

Cheers,
Graeme

[toolonglegs]

A young wippersnapper who was built like Rasmussen had great pleasure in racing up the hills at warp speed when the bunch hit them on our ride last saturday.This happened for the first two 8km climbs but on the final climb which was steeper and longer he must of run out of puff as I could see him not far ahead at the start of the climb...so I clawed him back and then sat just in front of him varying the pace knowing that he would not give up ...finally he had a melt down and I rode off to the summit and had a nice long rest before he reached me looking shattered ...doesn't happen often that I can get my 105kgs up a climb faster than someone at 60kilos but when it does happen it feels good!..
Sorry for the hijack!.
Group rides are good for the social aspect and they do get you out the door when you are being lazy...and for me I get to annoy everyone practicing my crap Français ...but unless you are riding with guys who are stronger than you then they aren't that great for training...

[kaz]

Thanks for all your kind words. I will keep it up and after a couple of weeks hopefully it will improve.

Kaz

[toolonglegs]

Practice makes perfect and the better you get at sucking wheels the longer you will last!.