Ride Recap - 5/6 and 5/7 Rides to Cuba Road and Ascension Cemetery

Saturday was the first ride of the year by our group to the rollers on Cuba Road. There was a heavy mist for the entire ride that required wiping off glasses at every stop and making the roads slick. Total ride distance was about 75 mile ride with a  pace on most of the flat section of the ride of about 21 mph. Felix did yeoman duty in taking far more than his fair share of the pulls.The group included:

Dave
Felix
Gary
George
Big Bob
Rich
Randy P.

It was easy to find a good draft to get in behind on the pace line. I was the runt of the litter among our group on this ride.

The 55 mile Sunday ride which included the Three Sisters on St. Mary's Road and a loop around Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville was at a significantly faster pace than the Saturday ride, in part due to pulls by Clay and Martin, and also due to drier, safer roads. The wind was out of the ESE, so the fact that our average bike computer time (including stops) going north was above 20 mph was not all that noteworthy. However, our average bike computer time coming home against the wind was also above 20 mph. The fastest stretch of the ride came as we were on Waukegan Road heading toward 176 and a brief stop at Panera Bread. Martin pulled us along at 26 mph clip against the wind during this stretch. I doubt that I was the only one that was just barely able to remain in the pace line hanging on by my finger nails during this part of the ride.

The group included:

Big Bob
Clay
Dave
Felix
Martin
Randy P.
and George left another ride when he saw us on St. Mary's road and joined us. Also Julianne Meurice, Nancy Berte, and her husband rode with us from Panera Bread to the Skokie Valley Bikeway