Out before the sun got too hot in NJ today for the annual bike club Labor Day rides. This year four area cycling clubs got together for a joint start. Various pace options (A = faster, B = less fast, C = slower, etc) were on offer, which allowed me to fall in with a different bike club and pace than I normally ride with. I grabbed the back of the Team Evesham A-pace group!
Short summary - I had a blast! After spending much of July and August preparing for a 100-mile ride it felt great to put all of that training to use. The group rolled along at 20-22 miles per hour (mph) with a handful of breakaways approaching 35+ mph. I hung on to some of those breakaways, but definitely not all of them. Having other riders flying past really raises the competitive hackles and pushes you on to greater heights.
I need to do this again next year. Or sooner.
