The saga of the xXx Racing - Athletico Group Ride

Basic ride details @ the xXx site

I rode this ride last month 2 consecutive Saturdays in Feb (a month ago).  The first Saturday the weather was "nice" for Feb. and quite a few went out on the long route (15-18).  This pace wasn't TOO high and I spent most of my time hiding in the pack - and far as I could tell nobody was really attacking the hills... but EVERY hill I dropped back and had to catch back up.  I did stay with the group until we were almost back in Chicago, but I got a flat when I was on the back and didn't say anything - so I got left behind (but we were close enough so I could find my way).

The next Saturday I said... I'm GOING to finish this ride!!!!  Well, it was extremely cold, the high was about 20... and only 2 others were daring enough to even attempt the long ride (the bulk of the group turned around at the cafe)... I went on the long route and this time not only was the pace higher but I was behind 2 little guys so it was far from hiding in a pack!  I could barely keep up, and again on the hills I was getting left behind and had to keep catching up... after a food break in the middle of nowhere, the pace REALLY picked up, we were cruising 25-28mph and I was suffering like no other time - this was after I'd already put in about 60+ miles.  I held on and we were almost back to the cafe where we were going to warm up... but with maybe 2 miles to go my pants (yea I didn't have tights yet) got caught in the front derailleur and I had to stop... the other 2 kept going and it took me a while to get everything running properly... that was a tough trip back, freezing, got lost and I was totally whipped!

Well I took a few weeks off from the ride (3 to be exact) and trained on some hills and got some tights.  In this time I got a tighter geared cassette and learned how to use it to maintain my cadence... I also really focused on diet and I've been about 99% vegan since that last ride where I got dropped.  Also notable is I joined Strava which has helped me to do some strong intervals and put on the miles to get to places others have ridden.  And perhaps worth mentioning is that I've now been comfortably around 170lbs in this time, I think the first ride I was 180-185 and the next I was a few lbs lighter.

Today was the big day!  I had already had a 70 mile ride earlier in the week, and a good paced ~40 mile ride yesterday... whereas the 2 other times I had a day off before and was 100% fresh.  I debated going or not last night as I was pretty tired and my first race is coming up next week.

The ride started with about 20 people, then broke down to a group of about 10-14 after a stop at the cafe up in highland park.  Early in this ride 4 riders broke away up front and the rest held a more steady pace... I held back for a while thinking we would soon regroup, but soon the riders were in the distance and pulling fast!  The bulk of the group just didn't want to catch up, so I decided to break out of that group and sprint until I caught the faster 4.  I caught up pretty quick, and I think this sparked them to go even faster cuz a min or so after that the pace REALLY picked up and the group behind got totally dropped but I held on!

We did wait and regroup at a stop sign after a sprint, and I'm not sure when or how (I was focusing on the guy in front of me or when I was in front focusing on keeping the pace!)... but a good chunk of the riders dropped off after that and there were 7 left.  The pace stayed high, and one guy split off to go his own route.

Not too long after that one guy totally ran outta gas after the group got a little split up (I don't remember exactly what happened to cause the split)  and we had to sprint to catch the front guys who were really movin - that moment WAS tough and I was feeling it too but I had enough to regroup and hold on, this was a good ways into the ride so I could understand the tired legs.

This was the strongest of the bunch a "ride of attrition", and I hung with em to the end at a really strong pace, definitely the highest of the 3 times I've been on this ride - took my turns in the front (admittedly not as long or fast as a few of the REALLY strong riders cat 3/cat 2!)... and overall it was a blast!  Not only did I not get dropped at any point, but I pulled up some hills and didn't 100% catch an attack up a particularly steep hill but after hesitating/watching the guy fly up the hill after gaining some momentum I did manage to pull past the bulk of the group and have enough in the tank to hold a good pace to be the first to catch the guy in front.  Just a few weeks ago I remember someone went strong up a particular hill and I was dropped off the back of a relatively struggling bunch!

And a sort of a highlight... somewhere in there a random cyclist joined the group - a pretty strong guy who held on no problem.  I was right behind him, and when he got to the front he attacked!  I wasn't sure if the group wanted to follow so I hesitated and looked behind, they knew what was up and whatever was said I got on it to catch him, and did!  He held a high pace for a while and then settled back to the strong pace we were at before.

This is great, I had alot of fun and I FINALLY finished the ride!  I would have likely finished the first week as the pace wasn't so high, MAYBE the second week... but with this being the toughest ride of them all I am very satisfied with the results!

My legs are burnin a bit, but I feel great!  I could ride some more and still hold a good pace if I absolutely had to... but, yea, break time :)

You can review the ride on Strava (from the Wicker Park meetup spot north, where I stopped the ride so I could check the time, I don't think I had to do that and now it doesn't officially say I rode 100 miles consecutively, but you can also see the prior 11 miles as its uploaded as well)...
Here