Group Riding

Last night I went to my first group ride. It was also the first time I rode on the roads versus on the gravel trail near my house. I was insanely nervous going to the ride even though it was a women's beginner ride. I have pretty much zero cycling experience and didn't want to look as out of place as I felt. But I knew that if I want to become a better cyclist I need to practice both with other people and out on the road.

The group, which ended up only being two people besides myself, met around 6:00. After being asked about my cycling history we set out on our ride. The leader said we were probably ride about 26 miles, which was a lot more than I was expecting. Normally this wouldn't have been an issue but based on my rough run that morning I was pretty nervous about how my legs would hold up.

My biggest concern was riding in traffic but the majority of the roads we took had hardly any cars. The ride was mostly rolling hills with a few flat sections, a pretty big downhill, and a killer false flat. I have always thought that I can't ride hills yet they ended up being my strongest part yesterday. I'm not a big fan of anything too big or long but I'm really starting to enjoy rollers.

I think we ended up riding a little under 28 miles in about 2 hours. I'm not sure how long we were out there because we had to stop a few times for stop lights and a flat tire. It wasn't the fastest ride but it was great practice for me.

I was really grateful that there were only two other people at the ride just because it made it less stressful for me. It was one less thing for me to worry about. In the end I had a great time and can't wait to go back for more rides. I never thought I could like riding so much but I was smiling ear to ear the entire time.