Yesterday I did the Wednesday nite ride at the Old Stone Church in West boylston. Usually I don't get to ride on wednesday nites, but when I do it's fun. Compared to the first time I did the ride, I've definitely improved and gotten stronger. The first time, we took Laurel street to holden, up Elmwood to Ball Hill, then to princeton center. My memory of that first ride was "holy shit these guys are fast." On the first climb up Elmwood and jefferson rd, I got dropped. Luckily they slowed down a bit, but not quite enough for me to recover. By the time I got to brook station road, they were long gone. There was a 2 other people near me. I tried my best to grind up Ball Hill road, but there was no chance of me catching them.
The next time I did the WNR, I did better and managed to hang on until the top of ball hill road. Fast forward 2 years and things are different. For the first half of the ride, I can just hang on the climbs. I'm still at the back of the group, but I'm ok with that. Compared to 2011, my avg mph up the climbs are 2-3mph faster. On a good day, I can hold the wheel in front of me.
Without a doubt I've gotten stronger, but the fast guys are even faster now. That's a good thing and gives me motivation. The downside is that my training sucks. I have no rhyme or reason to how I train. I don't have a plan or schedule laid out. Every day I look forward to my ride and just ride. I'm too happy to be riding to think about how I should be training. The thing, I'm ok with that. I ride for health and fun. For me, it's not about racing or killing myself. The act of spinning up a steep hill makes me happy. I don't know how much more progress I can make without getting serious about training, but I don't really care. At the end of the day, I'm just happy to be healthy and energetic. I hope to keep it up and live to 100. My ultimate goal is to ride a century when I am 100. I want to live long enough to see my great grandchildren. If I'm lucky and live healthy, maybe I'll live long enough to see my great great grandchildren.
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