Back in the Pack

So yesterday I "spoke" to you all about my venturing forth with the AA group of the Huntington Bicycle Club for the first time in a year. I truly expected to get totally spanked, chewed up and spit out the back of the pack to limp my lonely way homeward. At least I would know the area so I wouldn't be totally lost. I mean from all the e-mails that have been going on within the group about not stopping for dropped riders and a AA designation assumes a certain amount of fitness I figured I would be doing well to hold on for the first 15 miles. It really wouldn't be a matter of IF I would be dropped, it was a matter of WHEN and/or HOW OFTEN.

I figured that since the ride was obstensibly going to Asharoken it might pass close enough to Northport that if I were dropped I could just limp home without having to go the Smith St. lot and face the humiliation of getting there 30 minutes after everyone else. Anyway, that was my state of mind. So I rode to the start instead of driving there so I could just head straight for home at any time.

The ride began with about sixteen riders some of whom I recognized (Paul, Don, Jesus, Adam and a few others whose faces I remember but not their names) but mostly people I didn't know. I checked out their bikes and felt myself feeling inadequate and envious at the same time. Of course, I looked over at Paul's bike and was reminded that here is a rider that doesn't have the most current carbon (or "crabon" as the Bike Snob calls it) ride or componentry and yet he's always in the front group. Of course, Paul is also about 20 pounds lighter than me. However, I did look over the apparent physical shape of the riders (I say "apparent" because it was cold and we were all bundled up which does hide a lot), I guess its an old dancer audition habit - you know, sizing up the competition, and I thought to myself, "there are a few guys who I think I can hang with so it might not be too bad after all".

Well, the ride began a little inaspiciously with the fact that one of the riders forgot his helmet and he got a ride with someone else to go pick up a spare. That delayed us for a little while but we finally were able to get rolling. We finally got on a pretty good straight away and we were cruising along in a nice pace line when someone flatted. That gave us some time to breathe but I think it frustrated some of the more hardcore riders becuase we took off again and the pace upped a bit. Surprisingly enough, I was able to hold on and I stayed smack in the middle of the pack. It did help that we were on familiar roads so I knew what to expect. Most of the rides we were on today I've been on at least once or twice so I knew where the hills were and I knew what it would take to power up the hills. That was lesson number 1 - knowing your route can help you in your strategy to stay with the pack! I didn't have to rely on keeping up if I knew when the next hill would come up.

I got a little behind on one of the climbs but managed to stay in the middle of the group. Out of sixteen riders I was pretty consistently staying in the ninth or tenth wheel so it I always knew there were at least six more guys behind me! As I wrote yesterday, it also helped that I had a lot of anger to get rid of - every hill was another opportunity to release some of the anger that has been building up since Thursday. And boy did I release.

Anyway, as I was releasing some of this anger going up Hammond (a really steep hill in King's Park) and finding myself in the front third of climbers (of course not up near Jesus and the crew but still respectable) I heard a loud "pop" and the guy who had been climbing just behind and to my left just stopped - his chain had snapped. We called ahead to some of the "hammers" and they (after much shouting on our parts) stopped. A few of us had chain tools with us and we were going to help him repair it but he had also broken a carbon spoke - he was out! So we made sure he had someone to call, regrouped and went on.

We continued on through King's Park and at one point I was on the wheel of Paul (my cycling mentor - whether he knows it or not) hanging in no man's land between the pack adn a break away group of six in the front. Suddenly this guy attacks from the pack to bridge up to the front group passing Paul and I. I was feeling strong so I latched onto his wheel and we bridged up to the front group. I just wanted to see if I could hang on - and I could!!!! It felt great in my current out of shapeness to be able to counter an attack like that. I knew I would suffer for it later but at the moment it felt great. We then continued through King's Park - up the long slope of 25A and again I felt strong.

This is where it went wrong. Three riders peeled off at Pulaski to head back and I was sorely tempted to join them but I thought I would try to hang on a little bit longer. It was too bad because these three were three that I thought I would have been able to hang with to Asharoken. Anyway, to make it short, I was too cocky and pushed too hard and after going through King's Park village I started to lose contact with the pack. I was in the back slowly getting blown off the back. I didn't panic though, as long as I could see them I knew I could eventually catch back up since I knew there were hills coming up where I could make up some time. Finally, after a longish straight descent I was able to catch back up to them - just in time for the rest stop - ah, the irony.

After a break we all hopped back on to head to Asharoken - here's where I figured I would lose it and have to limp home. We had a great pace line going at one point and I sat in the middle of the pack clocking 26+ mph for about a mile. Then we realized we had taken a wrong turn and how to regroup, turn around and do it all over again. This is where the bad luck hit again (it always comes in threes, right?) when Doug (one of those I had hoped I could hang with at the back and compete for the Lantern Rouge spot) broke his chain as well! At this point the hammers decided not to wait and just peeled off and headed towards Northport and what we assumed was a more "challenging" ride. The five of us that were left (Doug said he would fix the chain and join us later) headed out to Asharoken. We again formed a pace line across the Eaton's Neck causeway and really got cooking - it was great!!!!!!!

We turned around in Asharoken and headed back only to be found by Doug so he latched on and we started to try a TTT. Eveyone took their share of pulling at the front even though there was a considerable headwind hitting us. I even pulled for a good long time at 19mph! Yeah, its not much but in a headwind it was great.

I really thought I'd completely blow up on the hill out of Eaton's Neck but I didn't - I hung on and made it up as third wheel - right in the middle of the group which is where I'd been 95% of the time on this ride. At this point I told Adam (the ride leader) that I was going to peel off and head for home since once we got to the intersection I'd be three houses away from my front door. He suggested I join them in their final suffering of the ride - going up Scudder. So I said OK - what the heck, I could still limp home easily.

As we hit the base of Scudder I was in the front and I never lost it - I just followed all the advice of all the articles I'd been reading and just spun at a fast tempo the whole way. Granted, I wasn't going fast but I managed to be the first wheel at the top (although Adam got within half a wheel length at one point) - but I think Adam just gave me a gift and let me get up first.

As I peeled off Paul, Adam, Doug and the others left called out "See ya next week!" I truly wish that was so but I'm heading to South Jersey to FINALLY meet my niece Anika!

So, what did I learn? I learned that if I push myself I can still ride with the big boys. I might get dropped but that's how I learn how to ride. I learned that I can make no more excuses - I have to ride to work whenever I can and take the hills whenever I can. I learned that even out of shape and with a non-carbon bike I can still power up (almost) as fast as the others - get in shape (i.e., drop five to ten pounds) and get a few lighter components and I'm there!

But in particular, in the last few rides I learned that cycling can be extremely cathartic to me and compared to the suffering others are going through (especially those with cancer) what I do on the bike is nothing comparatively and I need to suck it up and keep pushing. It's the least I can do to try to support these kids at Sunrise and the others that are going through the pain and struggle of fighting cancer.