I was fortunate enough to have my friend Dwight from the Minerva Design Cycling team come out and offer advice as I was riding.
I got at the front during the warmup lap which was my first mistake. I should have fallen back a little bit and hid in the middle of the pack. Once we neared the horse farm Mike let the gun off and the pack took off. I was slowly getting chewed up and spit out the back. I fell off and then I get tapped on the back and Dwight yells get in a bigger gear and get up there! I managed to get back on the group, but got dropped again at the first pop of a hill before the right hand turn.
So Dwight rode with me and pushed me. I thought I had been riding as hard as I possibly could the last few weeks. I was wrong. Just when I thought I would puke or the thought of passing out would cross my mind we hit a downhill. Dwight would say get in a harder gear, keep pedaling, you are recovering now. We hit the base of a hill, Dwight would yell adjust your gearing stand up, ride!
I won’t lie .. I was hurting so bad that I actually was not liking Dwight at those moments, but I am glad he came out and did that for me. Those were the hardest 2 laps I have ridden this year.
I also heard that Tyler attacked the group 3 times that night. Nothing came of the attacks, but 7 weeks ago the thought of attacking would have never occurred to him. Hopefully I will continue to improve so he is not out there by himself. My goal for this season is just to finish a race with the pack.
Bike on Sun, Aug 15
50.08 mi in 276:26 (10.9 mph)
HR 151 bpm - Burned 1,977 C
Cadence 76 rpm