73.42 km
-
Elevation Gain
674 m
-
Time
3h 50m**
(including pep talks and tube changes)
Finally, today I felt strong on the bike. I had been having trouble not having energy when out for rides. I was slow at the beginning, usually had a decent mid section, and was just beaten by the end.
Today was different.
- I had a good pace at the start and didn’t blow myself up.
- My breathing wasn’t ragged.
- I climbed pretty well.
- I had the speed when I needed it.
- I was in decent control of my bike.
- We had a big C group of really nice people.
- The group leader took breaks to do some coaching/mentoring
- We practiced our paceline skills.
Sadly, near the end, my tire started to go down and I lost contact with my group. If I had recognized this, I could have called them back to help me. Sadly, I let them go thinking it was me getting tired again and since we were close to home, I could just limp it.

I cleaned up all my trash before I left the scene.
A little bit down the road, I found myself with a flat. This was particularly bad as I am not a good tire changer. Luckily, two Newmarket Eagles (Pauline and Steve) stopped to help me even though they had done a long 100 km ride and were probably more knackered than I was. I had gotten the tube out, but hadn’t checked the tire or the rim for things that could cause a leak (nails, glass, or other debris), and might have struggled getting the tired seated correctly.
Of course, the ride home from the incident was painfully slow. I had spent whatever energy I had left struggling with the tire change until they came along. I hope I haven’t bent my rim.
I’ve got a Notre Dame football game starting soon, so short and sweet this will have to be.
That’s one of my favourite areas to ride. I have been thinking about going up there over the weekend – I’ll have to watch the weather. The heat doesn’t bug me but storms are no fun.
Looks like you had a fantastic ride!
It was very nice. We spent time on a couple of roads I hadn’t done before, and one that I had only ridden the opposite way.
Yay! So nice that Pauline & Steve were able to help you. ♡
I was lucky. Pauline was a crackerjack bike mechanic.