Another new record

220 miles this week!  I’m so impressed with her.  Keep in mind, this is a girl who, for all practical purposes didn’t start riding until last summer, has never been what you’d call a serious athlete, and is, well, not necessarily a spring chicken any more (we’re well into our 50s.)  And now she’s out there riding a bike 220 miles in a week.   How cool is that?

So this morning we rode out to Ft. Christmas with a group that left from UCF.  It was billed as a B-C ride.  In recreational road riding there’s this ranking system.  “A” riders are the fast guys, (aka the guys with the $1000 wheel sets).   They’ll typically average in the low- to mid-20 mph range for a ride, and they’ll spend a lot of time cruising at 25+.  “B” riders are very good cyclists who can cruise comfortably for long distances at speeds just over 20 mph, and their average over a whole ride will typically be in the 17, or 18 mph range.  “C” riders are often either newer to cycling or older people like us.  “C” riders can typically cruise at just under 20 mph, or for shorter distances at just over 20 mph, and their average for a ride will usually be in the 15 or 16 mph range.  

If a ride is billed as a C ride, there will sometimes be a promise that no rider will be dropped.  That is, if someone can’t keep up with the group, there will be at least one rider who will stay back and help the slower rider out.  But if a ride is billed as a B-C ride (like this one was), there is usually no such promise, and it’s everyone for themselves—be sure you know how to get back to your car.  I was pretty sure Brenda would be able to handle this ride today, but I’m glad I was there with her because when the B riders took off, there weren’t that many C riders left.  And then when we got to the short-or-long decision point, she and I were about the only ones who wanted to go long.  So we did the long distance (50 miles) and did much of it by ourselves.

But it was a great ride.  We’ve done 114 miles in the last three days.  You know what they say, whatever doesn’t kill you…