Sunday 7/10/2011 Ride Recap

Three of us - Cons, Herb and I joined 9 other Sub-5 Riders for a ride. The ride started from Union, IL and went north to Lake Geneva. We started riding in a double paceline with a nice tailwind. The ride was in very rural area, the car traffic was minimal, there were very few busy roads crossings. The pace was brisk. Mostly flat terrain until we got to Lake Geneva. There were several, not very long, but steep enough hills to make you shift to the small ring in the front. We made a short stop at an Ice Cream shop in Lake Geneva where we got water and Gatorade. The owner was nice and gave us extra ice. We made a loop around the lake with more hills. A brief stop at a beach stand to get more water and we headed back. Few more hills on the way out of Lake Geneva started to split the group. The wind was in our faces. We re-grouped and started to practice double rotating paceline. It was not a very smooth one. With the heat, humidity and the constant acceleration/deceleration the group started to fall apart and the average speed plummeted. We re-grouped at a highway crossing and continued in a single paceline. Making a good time was out of the question at that point and we continued at a slower pace. We had to make one last water stop at a small store in Union just 2 miles from the finish. We made it safe and stopped for a lunch at the Wild West Town Steakhouse. The burgers were good, the company better. Overall very nice ride, in a new area, with new group, on a very hot and humid day.