Sorry for the delay in updating from this weekend's training ride -- Naomi was out of town, fulfilling bridesmaidly duties at a bachelorette party, and Meredith has spent much of the week too incapacitated by food poisoning to give an effective retelling.
We were back in Westchester this weekend, for a 38 mile ride that promised the steepest hill we'd encounter throughout our entire training regimen. Gulp. The 30-degree weather seemed to have deterred many riders, as turnout was fairly low. However much we always prefer to see a strong team turnout, there is no denying that riding with a smaller group can be more fun!
Meredith set off with a group of 6 riders, who had the roads largely to themselves for the entire ride. The conditions hadn't improved much since the last ride, and we were constantly calling out and trying to navigate around holes. The small-ish size of our group enabled some more hands-on coaching. Meredith has been experimenting with gear shifting, but is never quite sure when she is in the "correct" gear. She received a good amount of feedback from the head coach, and now feels a little more confident about what she is doing. The group also practiced riding in a paceline. For the uninitiated, a paceline is a simultaneously exhilarating and nervewracking (for a newbie at least) way of riding as a team to increase speed. You ride in a line, with your tire several inches from the tire of the bike in front of you, with your eyes at the level of the hips of the rider in front of you. The idea is that you are able to go faster with less effort, because the rider at the very front of the line creates a draft, which reduces wind resistance for the rear riders. In order to keep things equitable, the riders take turns at the front, with the old leader pulling off to the side and slowing to drop to the back as a new leader moves forward. A bit nerve-wracking for someone who has only been road cycling for a month and a half, but also very fun!
The Big Hill, all the way in Greenwich, CT, was a bit fear-inspiring, plus looooooong! It was the first time Meredith has ever been tempted to get off and walk in order to make the pain in her quads stop. But she stuck with it and was the first of her group to make it to the top! Once again, all those Spinning classes with high resistance paid off! There were two other thigh-busting hills on the course, which were all vanquished after a good deal of panting one's way to the top, but the most fun part of the ride were the rolling hills at the middle and towards the end of the ride. With 6 riders who have been riding together for most of the training rides, it was pretty easy to just relax and let loose on these rolling hills, and slingshot through the backroads of Westchester County and Connecticut at 30+mph. Fun, and definitely one of the things that makes a person feel like they're getting more comfortable on a bike!
This Saturday, we are back in New Jersey for a 36 mile ride. We're continuing to add mileage to each of our two routes, at a more gradual pace -- our last ride that started in Jersey was 34 miles. This one also takes us on a slightly different route to our destination in Nyack -- we are in quite a bit of suspense about how this one will differ from the route we've used the previous two times!
As always, we are grateful for our generous donees. We wanted to take this moment to remind you that our ride is approaching, and we still have some ways to go on our goals. Please click the links on the left side of the page to support this worthy cause. Thank you, and till next week!
xo,
Meredith and Naomi
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