Cycling Class

I can honestly say that I love my cycling class.  We have had the last 2 classes cancelled because of rain and I was definitely missing my class.  So last night as I drove to class I was very excited to ride.  I didn't care what we did in class...I was just looking forward to being there.

A large majority of the people in my class are doing the Columbia Triathlon on Saturday so John was concerned about doing anything to strenuous.  He decided that we should ride the 5 mile loop a few times.  This loop includes a challenging climb, a gradual downhill where you can gather good speed, and the flat-ish Race Rd where we do our time trials.

We rode out and back on Race Road as a warmup.  During our first loop, I struggled on the hill but felt really good about the rest of the loop.  But as we were coming down Race Rd, John pulled up next to me and said I wasn't keeping my cadence up high enough.  I was trying to conserve my energy for the hill but I didn't realize my cadence had dropped that low.

We all stopped and gathered together before we started the 2nd loop.  John told us that on this loop he really wanted us to push it on the Race Rd section.  As we got going, a car was approaching to our left.  I had only clipped out on the left side.  For some reason, I guess I panicked and leaned to the right.  Well that foot was still clipped into the pedal so...yep, I fell over.

I didn't really hurt myself badly.  I scraped up the palm of my hand and my elbow and will have a pretty bruise on my hip, but my pride was what suffered the most.  I was quite embarrassed.  One of the instructors helped me up and asked if I was ok.  I smiled, thanked him and hopped on my bike as quickly as I could.  Let's get going on this loop!

The instructor rode along with me.  I think he must have thought I needed help after that rookie fall.  Actually as we started the hill, I was really glad he was next to me.  He helped me figure out when to shift my gears and gave me suggestions on how to tackle each part of the climb.  After the hill was over, I was determined to prove to him that I could hang.  So I shifted into my big ring and took off.

Of course he kept up with me.  As we were riding, I was asking questions and he was giving me advice.  I love this part of my cycling class...the opportunity to talk with those who know a lot more than I do.  He made the comment "well at least you're not afraid of going fast".  I said "nope, unless I'm going downhill".  He said "you are going down hill".  I looked down at my computer and saw that we were going 32 MPH!  Holy cow!  I was riding at 32 MPH, having a calm conversation and was totally in control.  I've come a long way!

When we made the turn onto Race Road, I was determined to give it everything I had.  The instructor fell back to ride with someone else and I focused on the rider in front of me.  I caught her and focused on the next one.

So other than the fall, it was a great class!