Training Ride

In further preparation for triathlons/bike races/etc, I hopped on my new white “Bird of Prey” and met up with about 40 other people for a training ride today.
We left out of the Agana Shopping Center (the typical meeting place about a mile and a half from our house) and rode 16 miles south and 650 feet up to Cetti Bay overlook, waited for everyone to catch up, then back down the hill. There’s nothing like crouching low on your bike and speeding down the road in excess of 45 miles and hour. Quite exhilarating, and so long as you keep it steady, don’t hit any major pot holes, quite a pure form of transportation.

This was a training ride so there was a lot of talking and not too intense of a pace. However, since these are very competitive and strong athletes, I was challenged to keep up with the pack on more than one occasion. 🙂
After Cetti Bay, we went back down to sea level, then up another hill to the Naval Magazine. No, they don’t have good articles there, but rather a place to store weapons and ammunition. 🙂
Finally, we ended our 40 mile ride with another 650 foot climb up Nimitz Hill. We took the back way, so the road wasn’t too steep, but I still struggled to hold 9 miles an hour!
It’s a very humbling experience to train with those who are better/stronger/faster than you. I know it’s helping me! Ok, well, I hope it’s helping at least. We’ll see in future races…
Jim