Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Montrose Peloton


This past Saturday, I rode with the Montrose Peloton. Some of these cyclists are pros and others are club racers. They like to train as a peloton on Saturday mornings. I got up early to ride to Descanso Gardens in La Canada where they meet up at 8:00 a.m. I had to bike about 15 miles to get there. It was cold in LC that morning. I could see the fog coming out of my breath. There were only about 20 or so riders at the meeting point, but as we rode along and passed the Rose Bowl and Huntington Drive, the group grew to way over 100 riders. These guys were fast though. I stayed in the back of the pack because I was riding my triathlon bike and didn't want anyone bitching about me riding a tri bike in a peloton. It was hard to keep up with them even when I was going over 30 mph sometimes on the flats. Sometimes I was going 24 mph and they were leaving me behind. I caught up at the lights, but sometimes the pack just blew through lights. Eventually, I got dropped after 20 miles. They usually ride for 40-45 miles in the San Gabriel valley area for the short ride. I got humbled again. I have to train a lot more if I want to ride with pro level riders. As punishment for getting dropped, I made myself bike about 100 miles more. I rode a total of 120 miles that day and my legs were sore. I think I just ran out of juice on my ride with the peloton, because I didn't eat breakfast. I only ate a little bit of bread because I didn't want to have to go to the bathroom during my ride. Next time, I need to eat more, and I definitely need to train a lot more. I didn't take any pictures, because they're so fast that by the time I got out my camera, they would have taken off.

I biked by my old house where I grew up in La Canada. Now, it's worth $1.2 million dollars or more. I also passed by all my schools that I went to: high school, elementary and junior high on my ride.

I missed out on the Fargo hill climb competition because of church though. Here's a picture someone took of the event on Sunday.

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