It’s been a while since I chronicled anything here, due to various commitments, but I’ve been riding regularly and there have been goings on to mention.
The warped wheel I mentioned in my last post was damaged beyond repair, so I quickly got a replacement set of wheels. The new ones are Mavic Aksiums (black) and I like them just fine (and they’re delightfully inexpensive!), though I believe they’re not so good at staying true as the stock Shimano’s that came with my CAAD 9. They’ve not gone wobbly or anything, but I did have to adjust them slightly after each of the first 3 rides. Surely they’re just responding to first use. Here’s hoping they hold true from now on.
A couple weeks ago I went on my first large group ride (20 – 30 riders) with the Texas Flyers club on the bluebonnet ride. It was an interesting experience on a very windy day. About 8 miles in the group started to split. I had no idea what to expect, but I was in the front and went with the fast group.
Turns out that was a gutsy choice, as we then turned into the wind and I got picked to lead for a while. I did my stint for a few minutes and started drifting back. Just when I got to the rear of the fast group, it split. I had to hoof it up toward the front and bridge to make the leading group (in a strong headwind). I was pretty tired when I got there and then that group split into 3 leaders and the 4 of us playing catchup.
My group started working together in echelon to try and catch the others, but after only 10 minutes two of the riders gave up and it was left to me and another guy to try and bridge. The two of us kept working in echelon, but the leaders had three, and 100 yards became 300 yards …became 500 yards within a few minutes. We continued the ride in silence and just did our work to get back home. I worked harder on that ride than I’ve worked on any other ride ever. It was seriously like a criterium.
Last week was too cold/rainy and I didn’t do the group ride (dunno if anyone did) and instead just rode the trainer, but I’m aiming for this Sunday to catch up again. Hope it’s not windy. Also, I might just tuck in the pack and let the regulars do the work this time.