My First "B" Ride

Epic Bicycles - my LBS - hosts Monday and Wednesday night group rides for members of the Southern Crescent Cycling Group. Of course, I'm a member. I've been riding w/ the ladies on Thursday nights - it's a great night with lots of socialization - but sometimes I want to ride a little harder than they do so I've been thinking about the group rides that start at the bike shop. According to the forum at SCC, on Monday and Wednesday nights, there is a 6:30 group that calls themselves, "Z" group. It's basically a spoof b/c typically the group breaks apart based on speed and ends up as "A group", "Killer B group", "B group" and "C group". "Z" group is a true no-drop ride led by a guy who claims to need to get back in shape.

I showed up at the shop tonight ready to hang w/ the "Z" group. As I pulled up at 6:05, one group was pulling off. I was crazy nervous - no butterflies in my belly - I was feeling velociraptors flutter around. I felt like a minnow in Lake Superior...all of those cyclist staring at me, undoubtedly wondering who in the hell I was... I noticed Kristen (the only female worker at the LBS) coming out of the shop so I immediately approached her to ask which group was which and "how do I find Z group". Kristen explained that A group was riding off (sure enough...there they went....) and so that made the rest of us "B's". I immediatly explained that I was there for the "Z" group. Insistent that they wouldn't let me drop, Kristen told me to come along. As I typically do, I followed orders and fell in line.

I'm going to make this short - I managed not to die, commit any major cycling blunders (aside of the little scream I let out when we stopped at a light and I thought my foot wasn't going to unclip from the pedal) - and Kristen (and a cool guy named...Mark, maybe?) refused to leave me behind. Okay okay...I dropped a chain at one point too but three awesome guys stopped to make sure I was okay and road with me until we caught the pack (or maybe they were waiting for us?). Either way, I had a blast and conquered just over 22 miles at a speed MUCH faster than I was accustomed to riding. I'm sure Kristen would have liked a better workout, but she was such a team player and stayed with me the whole way. Here's the route we took (if ever you'd told me I'd ride my bicycle from my neck of the woods to Hampton, I'd have laughed uncontrollably...):

I had a blast and although I'm certain that Kristen and I sort of morphed ourselves into "group C", I had a great time, I feel really good about myself and I plan to show up again on Wednesday if my sweet husband will wrangle the rugrats.

WOOT WOOT!!!