Measuring Progress

It is pretty apparent to me that I've made some significant improvement in my riding since last year.  Well, actually this time last year, I didn't even have a bike and wasn't thinking much about riding.  But on Sunday I had the opportunity to ride the same route that I had ridden in August of last year.  I was riding on a borrowed hybrid bike and had only done 3 rides prior to this last year.  It was my first ever ride longer than 11 miles.

So there are a few key differences in yesterday's ride.  First, I no longer have that borrowed hybrid.  I now own a road bike and 11 miles would rarely be a complete ride.  Hills are no longer daunting to me...they still suck most of the time but at least I can get up them.

I met up with Daryl in Severna Park and we drove to Chestertown together.  We were riding with his friends from Cross Courts...both of which had ridden with us last year.  I was looking forward to seeing how far I had come with my riding.  I knew that this year I wouldn't be the caboose like I was last year...I was fully expecting to be able to keep up with the group this year.

So the 4 of us set out from Wilmer Park at 9 am.  It was Daryl, Carolyn, Tom and me.  We casually rode through Chestertown and I took the opportunity to spin at a higher cadence and warm up my legs.  We got onto the back roads and Daryl and I took the front with Carolyn and Tom right behind us.  There were some nice rolling hills on this first part and I had to laugh at myself a year ago remembering how I had struggled on these mild climbs.

We took the turn onto 213 and I decided that I wanted to really blow it out for a bit.  So I took off on my own and cranked up the speed to 21-22 MPH.  The road is mostly flat at this point with just some minor grade inclines so it was easy to hold that pace.  At Kennedyville I pulled over and stopped to wait for the rest of the group.  This has never happened before...ME having to wait for the rest of the group!  Granted, I knew that they were not pushing the pace and I was...but it was a good feeling to know that at least for a brief moment, I was ahead of the pack.

Daryl had made a wrong turn so we had to wait a few more minutes for him to roll up.  Once he did, we kept on going up 213 to Molly's where there were bathrooms and a store to replenish supplies.  It rained on us briefly, but at this point in the ride it felt quite refreshing.

We left the store and rode the long way to Still Pond.  This part of the ride featured some really fun downhills.  We all enjoyed catching some speed.  We stopped just before Still Pond for another break then headed towards Betterton.

I knew that the timing was perfect for my parents to be driving to church.  So I was looking out for them as we headed into Betterton.  Sure enough, they passed us.  Just to be sure they saw me, I started waving like a madwoman as soon as I saw Mom's car.  They smiled and waved back as they passed.

We all regrouped again at the beach in Betterton.  Just then, Candi drove by.  Daryl called me the mayor and I said "actually THAT was the mayor!"  It was at this point that I realized we were taking a much more leisurely pace than I had planned...and I was going to be running short on time.  We had originally planned to ride the same route as last year, which was 41 miles.  But we agreed that because of the time we would take the short cut and only do 33 miles.  That was disappointing but I think it was the right call based on my obligations back at home.

So we struggled up the hill...it always sucks worse going up a hill when you have to start from a stand-still.  I pointed out my grandparents' old house and several other houses of friends as we rode through town.  Then we got back out on the roads and we got serious about the pace.  Daryl and I worked on the hills and I really tried to focus on my cadence when going up the hills.  This part of the ride featured the most amount of hills in the quickest succession.  None were monstrous hills but they were all challenging in their own way.

I was having trouble shifting from the big ring to the small ring and several times I just gave up and muscled up the hill in the big ring.  I need to talk to John about the shifting to figure out why it's so hard for me. 

We regrouped right before the bridge near Still Pond Creek.  I remembered the hill just beyond that bridge being a doozy so I wanted to get some Gatorade and eat a few sport beans and get my head on straight for the hill.  This allowed Carolyn and Tom to catch up with us, so we all started out for the hill together.

I don't like to pass people on hills, but I also can't afford to lose my momentum on a climb either.  So I passed both Carolyn and Tom on the way up.  When I got to the top of the hill, I thought that it wasn't as bad as I had remembered it from last year.  Big smile! 

We rode a few more miles before hitting the decision point for the shortcut vs. the longer course.  I checked with Daryl to make sure he was OK with the shortcut.  After getting his agreement, I made the turn at the high school.  There was a healthy headwind at this point and I was suffering from lack of endurance and lack of nutrition.  I am really bad at proper fueling for a ride...I need to work on this.  Daryl took the lead and I tried to draft as best as I can.  Drafting still makes me nervous, but it was so much easier to ride if I did it.  I was so thankful to Daryl for taking the lead at this point.  I was struggling big time.

I took over the lead once we got into Chestertown and the excitement of almost being done pushed me for the last mile or so.  I was so thankful to see Wilmer Park! 

Takeaways from the ride: 
-I need to focus on nutrition before and during rides.  The struggle at the end of the ride is a direct result of not having enough fuel left.
-I need to start doing more long rides to build up my endurance.  33 miles is not that far, but I was feeling the effects of my lack of endurance at the end.  Proper nutrition will help with this also.
-I have made HUGE improvements over the last time I rode this route.  The uphills were easier and the downhills were more fun.  I need to remember to pat myself on the back every now and then.
-When budgeting my time for a long ride, I need to do a better job of estimating how many stops will be taken.  This was a more social ride than I had expected.  It was nice and enjoyable, but took more time than I had allotted.