Peach Peloton #9

This past Saturday was another in a series of my suffering on the bike called Peach Peloton Rides. I really have enjoyed each and every ride this year, no matter how much I've suffered on them or after them (trust me, I've done plenty of both). This past ride was scheduled for 100 miles. I hadn't ridden that far in quite sometime so I really didn't know what to expect. The weather was a bit on the cool side, but was going to warm up during the ride. I brought out the new knee & arm warmers my folks gave me for a late Christmas present. This would be the second time I got to use them & I loved them after the first ride earlier in the week. I also took a windbreaker that would be able to be shoved in my jersey pocket once the weather started to warm up. Before the ride, Chad told me that I was NOT to take a pull at all today. He wanted me to sit in & finish with everyone instead of pulling like I did last week & not being able to stay with the group until the end. I told him that was fine with me & I just hoped that nobody would be mad about that. Chad told me not to worry about that. We headed out & the ride was fun, we mainly rode 2 abreast & I did what I was told to. I stayed about mid pack & just sat in. We headed to the first attack zone & the pace started to pick up. I couldn't stay with the group, but as always I had a copy of the map, & I stayed within myself. I caught up to the group at the store stop. I rested a bit & refueled before heading out again. The entire ride route was nothing but rollers. We stayed together heading back towards Macon, when Christian seemed to get sick. We slowed & waited for him to rejoin the group. We hit the second attack zone & Chad told me of a shortcut I could use. I took him up on his suggestion & took the shortcut. I rode hard on the shortcut & once I hit Maynards Mill Road, I thought it wouldn't be long until the group came flying past me, but I turned onto Shi Road & still no sign of the group. I was riding hard, but I guess the route they took was longer than I thought, because it wasn't until I was on Moore Road when they came flying past me. We regrouped somewhat at the end of Moore Road & headed back to Howard Middle School. On Zebulon Road, there are a few good climbs which have in the past really hurt going up after a long ride. This time they still were hard, but I didn't drop down to single digits on my computer like I have in the past. It was a good ride & once we got back to the school, Chad told me that I probably learned more sitting in the entire ride than if I took a turn up front & didn't finish. I told him I have learned quite a bit on each ride & look forward to learing more from the group. All in all it was a fun ride & I can at least say I have one century done this year. Stay tuned for more updates