A Little Extra Motivation

(San Francisquito Creek Trail)

Some days it's fun to get out and push yourself to new limits. Go at it solo, and just push and push some more. You don't have to wait for anyone, nor do you have to feel bad because someone is waiting for you...Okay, that is not me. I actually enjoy riding with people. I don't mind waiting for any of my friends when we ride. And to be honest, I LOVE riding road with guys that are faster than me. They push me harder to ride than I push myself. With that said, last weekend I found myself riding solo.

Tangents

(Please know that I occasionally go off on tangents. Usually I think it may give more background to a story, or it is to bring up something I find humorous. You, however, may find that my tangents are neither. Just bare with me, regardless of your thoughts. Someday, it will all come together and you will understand how amazingly my mind operates. If you keep reading my blogs for a while and still haven't figured it out, well then the secret is this...ah crap just realized my tangent was on a tangent...let me get back to the first anticipated tangent so I can get back to the original purpose of the posting...)

I am planning to do the Fall Tour de St. George in and last Saturday was six weeks and counting to the ride. I was thinking that I was going to do the ride solo, and planned to do the 75 mile route, in preparation of 111 mile El Tour de Tucson in November. Now it looks like my buddy Jared may now join me in St. George and he wants to complete the century. So, even though my normal partner in crime was out for the day, I knew I needed to get a good ride in even if it was by myself.

Back to Story At Hand

I left the house thinking I needed to get at least 30 miles in, and hoped to get closer to 40. I also planned to keeping it easy by staying on the trails in town, so off I went. I went out to the end of the trail on the east side of town (about 11 miles in) and turned around to make my way to some other parts of town when I came across Dennis, Lee, and Chris.

Another Tangent

So as I've gotten into cycling, I've hit up various shops in town and gotten to know of a few groups of people that ride together. Out of the big shop in town is the Velo cycling club. These guys are fast, these guys are hard, and for a newer rider like myself, these guys are intimidating.  In an effort to get some experience riding in groups, I met up with a 'beginner' or 'less intense' group of riders a few months back. That's where I met Dennis, Lee, and Chris.

Okay, Let's Stay on Target

As I passed by Dennis and Lee, and their small group I thought about it for a few seconds, and then decided to do an about face and join them for their ride.  I knew that they would be going a decent distance, but I also knew that they would be going a bit slower than even I am used to. (Did I mention, Lee is 79!!? Amazing that this guys rides 60+ miles one day, and 30+ the next day, each week!!!) 

Anyways, just as I expected the ride was great. I took a couple new roads I had not been on before, met a couple new people I didn't know before, and hit a new top speed in my short career of riding at 47.9 mph. I understand that may be slow to most, but I have no need to go any faster. Yet. 

Here are a couple other pics from the ride:

(Coming down Vasquez Canyon Rd)

(Evidence I was there)

And if there was any point that I was going to make with this blog, I guess it would be this. Riding with others can be great, particularly on those days when you need some extra motivation.  I ended up getting in 40 miles that day with the limited time that I had. I am sure if I was riding solo, I would have thought about everything else I could/maybe should have been doing, and justified ending much sooner.