First "Group" Ride Ever...Fail

Today I went on my first group ride ever. It was supposed to be a 63 mile loop from the foothills up to the mountains, which summited at Caesars Head. This trip did not go as I had planned...but I learned a few things.

1. A steel touring bike with wide tires (my bike) is about 5 times slower than a carbon fiber road bike
2. Even if they may have a $5,000 bike and are in decent shape, it's no fun to get passed by a 75 year old guy
3. Its also not fun to get passed by a 45 year old guy who looks pregnant
4. I really want one of those fast road bikes so I can actually see what I'm made of!
5. The directions are important to figure out before you start riding. You could take a wrong turn and end up cyling 20 more miles than expected (Oh well, it was nice to get 80 miles in)
6. I wish there were break stations on all of my rides that were stocked with delicious food
7. Cyclists make all sorts of crazy hand signals when riding together in a group...I have no idea what any of them mean

Even though I was inconsistent with my speed and wasn't able to stay with a pack for most of the time, the experience was nice.

A couple other nice things from this past week...

1. TTR bikes hooked me up with some new tires and a tune up for an amazing discount! My new friend Micah from over there is about my age and has a cool story. His dad is a missionary in Thailand who started making extremely nice bamboo bikes over there so that he could employ some locals and reach out to the community. Check out their website at www.bamboobikemaker.com Here is one of their bikes

2. I have now lived in the same city as my girlfriend for a week and a half :)
3. While finishing up my ride today I saw on a church sign the verse that I wanted to be my theme for the recovery of my achilles. "Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers work in vain" Psalm 127:1...so again, praise God for a great recovery so far!

8 days until Bike for Burundi! Make a tax deductible donation at http://www.bikeforburundi.com/