B&O Bicycle Tour

I had an interesting experience on Saturday.  My new friend E suggested that we attend a group bike ride with the B&O Trail Association.  When it was first suggested I immediately said NO because the ride was to commence in the middle of the night.  Ok...9am isn't the middle of the night for most people, but I really covet my Saturday morning sleep and this type of event would really cut into weekend ritual.  But when I was asked for a second or third time I caved and I decided I would participate.

Ems suggested that we sign up together because "couples" got a price break.  Um...the price break was only $2 and it was a bit weird to sign up as a couple with my friend. I have decided that for future events perhaps I should just go ahead and sign up on my own.  We decided to meet at 8:30am at the event location in Brownsburg.  Do you know what time I need to get up to be in Brownsburg at 8:30am.  Ding...Ding...Ding...If you guessed 6:30am you would be right.  Seriously 6:30am.  I am pretty sure that this biking thing isn't a passing phase if I am actually willing to get up at 6:30am on the weekend.  I don't even get up that early during the week for work.  Sigh!

I  got up on time (OK...close to on time but who is counting).  I was almost ready to leave I get an email from E asking if we are still going to the ride due to the impending rain in the forecast.  After a 15 minute discussion we all decide to forge ahead.  I had decided since I was already up, dressed and awake there wasn't going to be much to stop me from moving forward with my plans.  This 15 minute discussion put me behind and I had to drive a bit faster than than I originally anticipated. 

As I was driving to the event I get a text that says, "I don't look like I fit in here."  Ugg...I immediately got all nervous and twitchy.  I was already a bit apprehensive about going to this event because I don't consider myself a real "cyclist" and I knew that this event would be a mecca for them.  I wasn't wrong.  When I arrived there were hundreds of people in their cycling shirts and shorts.  Yea...I don't have a cycling shirt and my cycling shorts are covered up with my regular biking pants.  I shook off those self doubting thoughts and found my friends.

Since we are talking about cycling shorts I should mention that I was a bit distracted by the plethora of men in their tight shorts.  Um...these shorts leave little to the imagination.  Seriously...little to the imagination.   I was contently reminding myself to look at the guys faces and not at their shorts but it was very difficult.  I donned my sunglasses rather quickly as to obscure my wondering eyes.  Just last week I read this blog post about a similar topic and it cracked me up.

When our group was ready we headed out.  This event was designed to allow people to depart on their own time schedule so there wasn't a mass shotgun start that lumped everyone together.  There were five of us that started together but we soon broke off into a faster and slower group.  Unfortunately, I wasn't part of the fast group.  Boo!!!!  We chose the 25 mile ride and the beginning of the course was very difficult.  The ride took us through the country side of Hendrick County and there was a series of 4 hills that kicked my ass.  They were very very hard.  It wasn't that a single one of them was too hard it was that there were too many so close together. 

I usually ride up and down the Monon trail so riding out on the open road was a totally different experience.  Even though the hills were not gigantic by most standards they were tough for me because I almost always ride on flat and even ground.  After we finished the hilly section the terrain flattened out but then we were riding right into the wind. The wind was blowing at about 10 to 15 mph because we were expecting a spring storm.  Then the rain started.  It was disconcerting at first.  I mean usually when it rains I run for cover but we just decided to push through it.  After the first five minutes of rain I got used it it and learned to live with the uncomfortableness.   It rained the rest of the morning and it stopped when we reached the end of the course.  It looks like we timed that just right.

The event has a SAG stop in the middle of the course that had drinks and snacks for us.  I was appreciative of the orange Gatorade and brownies.  Yea sugar.  I needed that boost of energy for the rest of the ride.  We stayed there for about 10 minutes and then we headed back out.  The funny part was when we were there we kept trying to stand under the trees and under the roof to stay out of the rain.  Um...we were just riding in the rain and completely soaked.  I guess it is human nature to try and stay as dry as possible.

We finished our 25 miles in about 2.5 hours and my average speed was 11.8.  That is really high for me and I pushed myself on this ride.  I usually ride at about 10mph but I guess the rain and the competition of the real cyclists spurred us on.  When we got back to the park the B&O organization had lunch ready for us.  There was pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and fruit salad.  It tasted good after that long ride.

It was a good day and I am glad that I participated in this event. It allowed me to get over my nervousness of this new experience and hopefully enjoy future events.  The next scheduled group ride is at the end of June and is the Nite Ride.  See this link for the info on that event.