Lead the pack

I know this blog is titled Singletrack Chronicles, but I am a cyclist. I ride on the road, in the dirt, on everything from pavement to peat gravel, in the rain, and in the snow. The point of this blog is to chronicle my riding...as well as my weight loss. Ride first....the weight loss will come.....right?

I have for the past two weeks joined Velo City for their Tuesday night group ride. They have four groups and this week my friend Chris was leading the C group. Advertised pace was 17-20. The first two groups headed out and I rolled up to talk to Chris for a minute. Little did I know at this point was that I would end up leading the group with Chris for the first half of the ride. It was nice to be at the front and not holding on for dear life. We rode a solid pace out of Holland and eventually turned East to ride with the wind. Before I knew it we were at the longest climb of the ride. It seemed like the pace picked up, but I was just getting picked off one rider at a time on this climb. I honestly am rather tired of this scenario.....but hills are my weakness. I was not the last one to the top, but there were not very many of the 25 in our group behind me. Still....moral victory of sorts for me....not being the weakest link. At this point we were about 15 miles in. I was done leading and dropped back into the group.

What a change of pace that was. I went from leading to just dropping in and the rest of the ride was very enjoyable. The group has a very wide range of riders. Some strong. Some new to group road riding, such as myself. I tucked into the middle and every now and then the group would fracture some. People would move up, fall back, move up again. An interesting dynamic for sure. I just held my pace and would fall in line behind whomever was there. We made the final turn back towards the shop and arrived shortly thereafter. Good ride. 29 solid miles. 15 were more difficult, 14 were easier. It made me more confident about moving back up to the B group for next weeks ride. The speed is higher and I surely won't be on the front, but I can still hang with them. Major booster.

The next few weeks will be busy with holidays and an ever growing to-do list. I will update when I can, but it might be rather boring here for a few. That being said, weight loss is still a primary factor here. I started to do meal replacement shakes with my lovely wife so we can look good for our trip to Punta Cana in mid -June. They work, the problem last week was still me. I lost 4.5 pounds the first week. Gained .75 back the second. I know it was from not eating right and eating WAAAAY too much. I had a bad Wed-Friday. Got my focus back on Saturday and ate less on Sunday. So far this week I am down 2.5 pounds so clearly if I stay on track I will lose the weight and be skinnier for the trip. Marathon, not a sprint. I will get there. I am on my way. The closest milestone is breaking into the 230's. Haven't been there for years....and it is time.

Like I said....I will get there.....one pedal stroke at a time.