Back in December, I volunteered to lead a group of novice riders on a series of training rides, the culmination of which was going to be the first century ride for the group. There was only a few people should turned out, but they stuck it out, and today was graduation day. We started out at B&L Bikes in Solana Beach, CA and rode up to Laguna Cyclery in Laguna Beach, CA (and back).

The weather started out cold, and I thought it was going to stay cloudy all day, but the sun came out and stayed out at about noon. A great day for riding.

It was exciting being able to lead a group of riders to their first century ride, and it was helpful for me to get n a long training ride prior to my 400K next weekend. I noticed that my hip flexors didn't get really tired until the last 5 miles of the ride. I thought back to the failed 400K last week and tried to figure out why I had to use the lockouts after 35 miles or so last week, and why I didn't use them at all today. It occurred to me that last week, in addition to having the seat a little low, I also rode with my hands on the drops instead of the hoods, to try to be a little more aerodynamic. On all of my training rides, my hands are always on the hoods. I suspect that the combination of a low seat and a new riding position was more than I could handle.

The other thing I noticed is that I can't hold a reasonably high speed (18-22mph) for very long without my legs getting tired. I can throw it in a low gear and climb all day, at low cadence, but high cadences kill me. I suppose it's time to research interval training.

Today's ride also gave me an opportunity to test a new configuration for taking on fuel. instead of a packet of Sustained Energy every 30 miles and flasks of Hammer Gel throughout the ride, I tried to add Sustained Energy to my Flasks to even out the delivery of the Sustainedd Energy. Didn't work out, because the SE makes the gel gritty, and you can't get that grit out of your mouth unless you take on lots of water. Back to the drawing board.

The 400K is next week, and I have time for only a ride or two between now and then. This kind of stinks because it was a week since my previous ride (the aborted 400K) and I had a week off the bike before the 400K. Not really how I'd like to head into a ride, but not much I can do about it either.