I Ride C

On Sunday I made the transition to level C. There was a self-paced ride for levels C and up. There was a choice of a long (44 miles) and short (35 miles) route with a sweeper riding at the back of each ride, instead of a leader at the front. This offered several advantages. First DH and I could both ride, even though we did not ride together. We both chose the shorter option. He found some guys that rode his pace and I found some folks that rode my slower pace. At the end of the ride, his bike was already on the car and he put my bike on the rack while I visited Dunkin’ Donuts. Second and more important, having a leader at the back gave me the security of knowing that I would not be left in the dust or struggle to keep up the pace set by the faster riders. I ended up riding faster than my usual pace and finished with the middle of the pack. Woohoo! It was a hot day, but we were done before things really heated up. I actually emptied my Camelback at mile 28, which was good and bad. Good that I drank that much water but obviously bad that I had to ride the last 7 miles on empty. Overall I declared the ride a major success. DH enjoyed it, too, and the iced coffee was excellent.