have bike, will travel

Although I am not traveling very far ON my bike, she is keeping me company when I am away from my family this week. This room actually worked out very well and my bike fits in nicely! I even have a nice LCD TV to watch while riding to nowhere. I am on a build week for training, doing under/over's and climbing repeats. CRs are probably the hardest workout for me to do, and as my legs are screaming for me to stop, my mind often takes me to a typical summer ride and the hill that I am "climbing." As I am climbing, I am heading toward the back of the pack. Then a gap forms between me and the last rider. Then the gaps widens. Then I am dropped. 

Getting dropped sucks and it happens to me all too often on group rides. Sometimes there is a kind soul who drops back and helps me catch back up to the pack. Sometimes the whole group will stop to regroup, and other times I am left on my own to find my way back. Often when I have gotten help to catch up to the pack, it is the last thing I wanted. What I really wanted was to just mosey on home at my own pace, shrugging off the day as a loss. Then comes along someone for me to catch their wheel, and then dammit, then I have to try like hell to catch up when I really just wanted to give up.  This is what I love about cycling and group rides, the way everyone pushes each other to try harder, work harder, and do better each ride. Even in the winter, when group riding is months away, I am still working hard to keep up with the "group".