BPCC Saturday Club Ride - May 9 09

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The Tour of the Orchards started today so I fully expected to see a smaller group at the club ride this morning. Happy to see the rain stopped,as it has been wet for the last week,I headed out to Bedford anxious to get in a good ride.

As expected many members were away racing or officiating the two Saturday stages of the Annapolis Valley stage race hosted by Breakaway Cycling but we still ended up with 30+ riders. Hopefully the race had a good turnout and decent weather as well.I considered racing but my lack of training time, unfamilarity with the course routes, this nagging cough, forecasted rain and family commitments made an early season weekend of racing a flight of fancy.

I ended up riding with about 4 different groups today as there was the chance to switch around depending on how your legs felt as the ride progressed over the 50 km loop. With many of the faster riders away racing in the valley it gave some of the intermediate riders the opportunity to "ride up" with the remnants of the faster groups. Not only is it good for training but builds confidence and bike handling skills at higher average speeds.Early in May I must say the overall fitness of the club is high with many riders exhibiting good early season form. Especially the ladies group,who by all accounts,laid down a serious effort today.

I felt strong on the bike today and my goal of developing skill at cycling in the drops while pacelining is paying dividends. I spent much of the return trip riding in the drops and am beginning to like the positioning in terms of comfort and wattage. Back at the shop I had a 31.3 kph average over 60 km and ended with a 30.2kph average over 70 km after the cycle home via the busy Bedford Highway and the climb to Clayton Park.

Geo`s thumbs up.....

The ladies group who completed the 50 km circuit with a respectable 29+kph average. Way to go girls!

MV for sporting the new Saxobank kit,riding strong with the fast group and logging a metric century by the time he got home. Nice!

ZE for hanging in with the fellas and riding strong all day. Congrats on the new car purchase too......sweet ride!

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