Local cycling group Charles River Wheelers has this organized ride starting from the mighty squirrel brewery in Waltham, going all the way out to Harvard (the town, not the school) and back. It has a reputation of being aggressive because of the long distance (68 miles that's 100km+), some steep hills and the fast pace. I did it last year and almost died, but also set a bunch of PRs...
This year I was hoping to set more PRs with some strong and fast cyclists I have in mind. But one of them became the ride leader so he had to stay with the main group and couldn't join the breakaway. I dropped the main group on the first big hill. And 3 others joined me later. We picked up another after the first rest stop at mile 17, who was dropped by the fastest group. 5 of us made it to Harvard General Store without much surprises, except that the last few hills became really hard for 3 of the group. One rider started having cramps. But everyone put in great effort pulling ahead. Cycling is a team sport.
After we ate, hydrated, rested and peed, we started our ride back to Waltham. After the first few hills, one rider started really struggling going up hills. He later told us not to wait for him because his legs got cramped. He had to just ride back slowly. We continued our ride with the fast pace, averaging 21mph on flat roads. After mile 50 or so when we passed Hanscom, one more rider (the one on the left) started struggling. He eventually got dropped on a long gradual hill. Kevin (the one in the middle) and I pressed on, though I can tell he was in pain. But he is a fighter, he still made tremendous effort trying to keep up with me. I had a bit of pain on my knees but nothing really bothered me at all. We finally made it to the Mighty Squirrel, and we had some lovely iced tea.
#cycling #CyclistLife #GroupRide #CyclingClub #Boston #Massachusetts
