Shortened Ride to Gosport

Earlier today I said I was going on my first BBC ride... 46 miles to Gosport. I sort of made it!

I stopped by BikeSmiths and had them adjust my rear derailleur. It changed gears better, but turns out it's still pretty jumpy in the low gears, so I think I'll have to take it back in for some more adjustment before the bike trip in a few weeks.

Anyway, we grouped up at Bryan Park. It was mostly people I didn't really know, only a couple that I did, but then Rachel showed up so I knew I was okay. We did the pre-ride routine of going over the route and meetup spots and then we were off.

I pretty much rode sweep.

aka I was slow.

But I managed to hold my own okay. I was able to keep the group in my sights for the most part. But, as always, after a while the group broke up some.

A smaller group of us convened in Stinesville (about 18 miles in). At this point Rachel, Allan, and I decided we would take the short route back. I actually did something strange to my back yesterday and it was starting to hurt so I was glad there were other short route takers. Otherwise I probably would have tagged along to Gosport, but it would have been much more painful.

We actually made pretty good time out to Stinesville (I think about 15-16 mph average). We took it pretty easy on the way back. We probably could have gone faster, but I was okay with not. We even stopped to save a tiny turtle at one point.

All told, I made it back to my house with 41 miles under my belt at an 11.7 mph average speed. So far it seems that every time I ride, I double my yearly mileage!

And, my butt hurts some (I think I need to tighten my Brooks), and some hills were more difficult than I would like, but I didn't have to walk and I don't feel awful now. I mean, I'm glad I did the short route, but I'm not dead for the rest of the day. I think that's a good sign.