It seems as if there is never a dull moment when I ride with the group.. and that sure is not bad—it makes the ride more fun and go by faster.. But of course, I always have something to report, but this time, it is not a fall! Heheh
I met up with the group at 8am in West Hollywood. It’s always a warm welcoming seeing them all. There was huge difference today—we were riding 50miles—one of them is a hill… I come to these training rides with fear—but once I am on the road, that fear starts to go away.
I ride out with the group—but they were going a little too fast. I waited behind for the “sweeping” group, which is the last group to ride out.
We go off and ride—we get to this gas station.. I start to laugh inside. When I rode the 1st time with the group, I want to say it took me an hour to get to that gas station.. It only took like 15-20 mins to get there.. That just shows, how much improvement I have made; not only improvement, but confidence in riding.
We go towards Marina Del Rey, a path that I have gotten more familiar with and more comfortable with. The ride leads to Hermosa Beach—the same route we did last week. It didn’t take much time or effort to get there. But things are about to change….
We start going to Palos Verde—it was the most beautiful scenic ride I have seen on my training rides (I can just imagine riding down the California coast ride in June). This point on though, I started to become fearful. I was told we were going up a hill- for maybe a mile or so. Do you know how difficult it is to go uphill—especially when I went back to regular pedals (I don’t have that extra “pull” I had with my other pedals).
I was with a great group though—Jr, Eric B., and Leo-- they knew how to motivate me… I started to do the first part of the hill (there were different platforms/segments to go to). Half-way through the first one, I can feel my legs burn from the strength I was putting going up hill. I wanted to stop, but I kept telling myself—I CAN DO THIS! And I did, I got to the first platform- I am not going to lie, it took all my energy away. I drank some water.. and continued to ride, up another plat form—I did it. Wow, I can not believe I am doing this. There was still more to go, the last part was a little tricky. We had to go down hill fast, make a quick right, go up hill and get on the left lane right way- to make a left into our half-way gathering away. I did everything good (it was scary, having cars going right by you); the part I had problems, was changing my gears into the right mood. I just walked the last little part up.
What an accomplishment- I just did half of the ride- 25 miles including a big hill.. I know that I can do more and I will…
We rested and ate—and this is where I have those stupid stories to tell you. I wanted to change my gears so I asked Eric B. to help me. We turned the bike over- he asked me to move the pedals, as he changed the gears… well, I started to move the pedals, but the wrong way—the chain comes off the bike and to make it worse, it got tangled up….
Am I prone to accidents? Lol. Just when we were ready to head back, now the guys had to help me put the chain back on. Being that I know NOTHING about bikes, I can just look at the things they did to it…. I felt embarrassed—there isn’t a time, where something will go wrong with me and my cycling..
Hey, at least I have not fallen on this ride.. well not yet…
We got on the road back- the first leg of the route, was a bit scary. We were now going downhill, with traffic; scary huh? We went into a residential area, which was not bad at all, until the climb down. Imagine, how scary it is, riding down the hill, in your bike;
Once we got back to the beach, I was less anxious; I knew more or less, how much time it would take to get back to the park. Riding through the bike path, with all the people walking, or roller-skating, is what made it a lil bit tough. The people walking should just be allowed to walk on the beach, not the bike path; anyone else that is going slow, should automatically go to the far right, so we can pass them… since when did I become did professional, picky cyclist? Well I just wanted to get back.
We get to the bike path/bridge, where I fell last week (as I was making the right turn). Part of me wanted to get off the bike and walk it, but if I have conquered my fears of going up hill, I can make a sharp right turn…. Well, regardless how slow I made the turn, the end result was that I did it!!!
Once we got back to the end of that bike path—I was reminded, 6 miles to go!!! That got me even more hyped up. I wanted to get back to the park, not only to rest, but also because my parking meter was going to expire soon; to my surprise, we got there 7 minutes before it expired.
Wow, what a damn high! I just completed 50 freakin miles! Its hard for me to imagine—especially with a hill in there… this training ride gave me the courage to keep doing it.. oh yeah, and NO FALLS!
I hope to add an extra 10 miles each weekend and riding both days.
My first BIG day is April 19- when I will be riding 100 miles with the LA group!
So, that is a little glimpse of my ride on Saturday. Seems like a lot huh? Well, it was 50 miles! =)
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