This ride was pretty good. It was foggy and very humid, but the weather was fairly cool. I had gone out planning to ride 65 miles. On the way out of town, the group sort of formed into groups based on the paces we were riding. I was comfortable in the group I was riding in. We were riding between 19-20 mph. But around 10 miles I decided that I would not be able to hold this pace for 65 miles. So, I slowed down and let the pack leave me. I got into aero position and settled into a nice pace of about 17mph. After a couple of miles, one of the members of the pack came back for me. So, I rode with him until we got to the rest area at mile 20. The rest of the group was waiting for us. So I refilled my water bottle and got a snack and when the group left, I went with them. I decided I would keep up as long as I could and see what happened. When we got to where the courses divided, my entire group decided to do the 36 mile course. So, I decided at that moment to stick with them instead of heading off on my own. I think it was the best decision. At the pace I was riding, I would have bonked on the 65 miles anyway. This was probably much better race prep for my triathlon in 2 weeks. I did a shorter than planned course, but went a lot harder than I would have on the 65 mile course.

We kept a 20 mph average for most of the ride. We had to go a little slower while in the city limits. And we had to stop at several red lights get in and out of town.

At the rest area, the ground was a bit muddy. I got mud in my cleats and I had trouble attaching to my pedals when we started back up. I did manage to finally get clipped in and didn't think any more about it. Then we hit the first red light coming back into town. I normally unclip my left foot when I stop. It wouldn't unclip!! I did manage to get my right foot unclipped in time. But restarting the bike felt a little funny because I was using the opposite foot than what I was used to. At the third stop light, I again unclipped with my right foot (left still wouldn't come out). When the light turned green, I pushed off with my left foot. I must have pushed a little too hard because my bike started to fall the the left. I still couldn't get my foot out and over I fell! I skinned my knee a little, but no other damage (except to my ego). We were only a couple of miles away from the finish at this point thank goodness.

Nothing

I rode my bike around the parking lot a bit. Didn't really do much of a cool-down.


Leftover fatigue from yesterday's 20 mile run.