Second Group Ride

This past Sunday afternoon we went out for our second team ride, the Boiling Springs loop. Normally the team rides occur on Saturdays, but this Saturday it was in the 30's with wind gusts near 50 mph...luckily for us our coaches decided that it would be best to move the ride to Sunday instead.

Just like last week, we started at the Mechanicsburg High School and rode through Boiling Springs farm country. The main difference this week was mileage. This loop was a beautiful 25 miles through plowed fields, dairy farms, and for a time followed one of the world's best trout streams, the Yellow Breeches. I wish I could stop and take pictures, but with the group moving at an average of 15 mph, I'd get left behind in a hurry.

I learned the importance of drafting during this ride. It's something you hear about in cycling all the time, but until you try to ride in front of the pack, you don't realize how nice it is to tucked behind the person in front of you and let them push the air for you. There were a couple times that I drifted back off the lead pack, and I really had to fight my way back.

We only had a few mishaps on this ride, Jenelle is still working out her favorite way to come to a complete stop. She managed to have a low speed crash, caused by the fact that she un-clipped her left foot before coming to a complete stop (as you should), but then leaned to the right side where her foot was still clipped in the pedal. I would blame it on nerves and the fact that she's still getting used to the whole stopping procedure. It sounds simple, but when your feet are clipped into the pedals and you can't touch the ground when seated, it's a bit like walking and texting with your shoelaces tied together.

On another note (and the reason for all the training and rides), we are looking forward to sending out our fundraising letters this week. Because of you we can say that we only need to raise $4,100 more to reach our fundraising goal for the LLS. This is our way of giving back to the community and helping those who struggle with a life threatening diagnosis everyday. We know by raising funds for the LLS we are directly contributing to research that will one day find cures for blood cancers.

The stats are a little off for this ride, due to the fact that I forgot to turn on the app until a mile into the ride. Click here to see the route!

Ride Stats
Total distance: 38.00 km (23.6 mi)
Moving time: 1:32:50
Average moving speed: 24.56 km/h (15.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 48.00 km/h (29.8 mi/h)
Elevation gain: 543 m (1780 ft)