We met up at Vic's Market. The group was pretty big and there were riders of all levels. We headed out; I was in the front part of the group. After about a mile or so, I heard a lady scream and down she went, taking another girl with her. She had rubbed her front wheel on Nathan's back wheel. What did we learn? Protect your front wheel! I know this is just an easy paced, social ride, but we have to pay attention. Both of the ladies who crashed got up and got back on their bikes. This is when I decided that I was going to stay in the front of the group... pretty much a repeat of the Dunnigan Hills Road Race, only this wasn't a race.
We kept on going through Granite Bay and went up Sierra College. Even though I've lived right behind the first section of Sierra College, I had never climbed it. Up we went. I kept it at a moderate pace since my achilles and knee were still kind of iffy. I taped them up, which seemed to be helping on the ride. After the hill, we kept going for a bit more, down the hill (in which I went by pretty fast because we all know I love going downhill) and we regrouped.
We took off and headed towards Sierra College #2, which I climbed the week before this ride. I climbed it a bit better since my achilles or knee weren't hurting as much. Actually, my achilles was great; it was my knee that was giving me a few issues. Didn't matter, I kept riding. For being as out of shape as I am, I didn't climb too poorly. Regroup. Down English Colony. I was keeping up with the lead group.
We then stopped at a little coffee shop in Loomis; Wild Chicken Coffee. Cool little place. People were getting food and whatnot. We stayed there for a while. Then, a group left and Nathan and I decided to follow. Went through a bit more of Loomis, Newcastle, and the surrounding areas and then hit Auburn-Folsom Rd. The lead group consisted of a few guys and me. As we kept the pace line going, I started to get tired. Ugh! I started to get frustrated. How can a stupid injury get me so out of shape!? Went to the back of the group and a guy in a Ventana jersey says, "Don't fade. Hang in the back of the group!" That gave me enough "go" to stay on. The group kept going, got a little faster, and since I'm just getting back into riding consistently and whatnot, I saw a 6'2" target, sprinted to get behind him, and pretty much got a free ride. It's good being short sometimes! He caught us back to the guys who had gotten away and we all rode together. There were about 7 of us at the end. We were the first to finish the ride and I was the first chick. Dude, that pink bike makes me feel pretty bad ass!
Later on, people asked me if I was the one with the lead group. It's pretty cool getting recognized, even if I'm in poor shape. And people loved my bike! It's awesome being on an eye-catching bike. The base pace ride we had planned turned into somewhat of a hammerfest, which was fine with me. My achilles didn't bother me at all. My knee felt pain, but it wasn't as bad as it was the week before.
Some of the moping went away. You know, the whole "I feel sorry for myself because I'm hurt and this sucks and all of my friends are doing epic rides and I can't because I'm out of shape someone call the whambulance for me." Am I still mopey? Yes, because being injured sucks and having to have self-control sucks even more, especially when friends and teammates are doing awesome rides, but it'll get there. I'm pretty content with this ride. I'm doing something right with my healing. For now, I'll keep doing what I'm doing. I'll be in good enough shape to do some epic rides soon, I just have to play it smart and not hurt myself again!
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