The little loop de loop at the top is repeat visits through Gopher Canyon, a particularly sweltering patch of real estate.
It is not unusual for each of the ride groups to include riders with a spectrum of riding desires and abilities. Ideally, it is best if the riders are have roughly the same abiity level and ride goals. Realistically, this doesn't always happen. I tend to suffer in the heat, while others can excel in it. Some riders excel at climbing while others excel at setting a blistering pace on the flats. Our group has been having trouble riding together as a Team the last few weeks. We had an unfortunate event last weekend where the group got split up for a decently long time which resulted in extra work for some of the riders to reestablish the paceline. No fun. I know that our group isn't alone in this. Perhaps by coincidence, the Coaches decided to really have us focus on riding as a group as much as possible this week. There were a few groans from some of the group but everyone was game to give it a go.
There's too much to tell, but overall I think riding together went a long way to improving trust and solidifying us into a Team rather than a collection of riders. Some riders had to rein it in a little bit, and all riders seemed to be more expressive in their needs. The end result was a slightly slower pace, but a group that really rode together as a Team. Things are really starting to gel. Very exciting stuff.
Totals were 71 Miles and 4400 feet of climbing! I went through 10 bottles of water.
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