Our "30 mile" bike ride

So today was supposed to be a 30 mile ride. We miss calculated. It was actually 38.5. I made a mistake by looking at the mileage on my bike speedometer before we were done with the ride. When I saw we hit 30 and still had a long way to go I totally shut down. I was SOOO tired.

We rode down Pecos road and did two loops. The normal loop is about 13 miles. The first loop we added distance by starting further out and taking some additional hills. The second loop was the 13 miler. This ride is nice b/c it has a wide bike lane, few stop lights, little traffic and very scenic. There is something cool about being out in the Arizona desert at 5:30 a.m. working up a sweat that is very refreshing.

Each week I try to send out a large invite email to friends to try to get them to join us for the bike rides. I really want to peer pressure folks into doing races with me!! It usually works quite well. I have a lot of people thinking about doing races! I love it!! Today's ride was our largest group ride to date. We had 5 riders at the beginning and 6 at the end. We usually only have 3 during our normal rides - me, Ron and Peter.

Let me tell you about my riding pack. Five of us started the ride at 5:30 (wake up at 4:30). We were all excited to get in some good training. The sixth rider (the Pro - See below) started from his house 5 minutes after we left our meeting spot and 10 miles away from us and ended up catching us before we finished the first loop. He is fast like lightening!

It is interesting for me as a girl to ride with all of these guys. I like seeing all of their personalities come out. As a self-described people watcher, I really took note of who was with us today. It was pretty easy to "name" the boys. I described my fellow riders below.

1. The Gentleman Rider - Ron (my husband) - Ron always waits for me and doesn't leave me to race the other guys. It is too cute. He never wants me to feel alone at the end of the pack. I really like that he is always looking out for me.


2. The Rabbit - Peter (Brother-in-law/training buddy) - Peter is fast and likes to take off. He then circles back and takes off again. We usually end up chasing "the rabbit" the whole way.


3. The Pro - Gary (My friends husband) - He is a cyclist. He rides to be fast and loves bikes. We really slow him down and ask him a lot of questions. He knows it all and gives us lots of tips. (Ex. After our last 20 mile ride, he rode additional miles b/c we didn't push him enough)


4. The Social Guy - Kyle (Our friend who is thinking about doing the Half IronMan with us. He just needs to sign up) - He is the social rider. Kyle is the guy who makes sure he rides and chats with every single biker on the ride. Just cute. He is a fun addition.


5. The Cool/Unique Rider - Eric (My book club friend/neighbor's husband) - He is a strong rider like Gary. Eric is training for a 100 mile ride. What makes him cool/unique is that he rode a bike with only 1 gear. He is a minimalist! The crazy think is he kept right up with all of our multi-gear bikes. There are very few bikers who can do what he did today!


6. Then there is me. I think others would describe me as - The Girl. I am the only girl trying to keep up with the guys. I am really hoping other girls will start riding with me.

Although today's ride was tough, I'm so proud of myself for doing it! I can see myself improving everyday.