Riding with the big girls

This weekend Kevin and I got together with a group of friends and their families for an annual camping weekend in Wisconsin. This was our 4th annual event and it's always a fun time. Our plan was to go on a group ride with kids and families Saturday morning, a faster, longer ride in the afternoon and a leisurely canoe trip on Sunday.

We went for a great family ride in Saturday morning along the Elroy Sparta Trail. It was great morning and beautiful weather. If you haven't been there, it's a nice trip for kids.

That afternoon a group of us went out for another longer, faster ride. I was a little apprehensive because as we left I realized just who I was riding with -- all the guys and 1 woman were Ironman finishers and the other women was amazingly strong and a master swimmer. I was still recovering from my 12 hour race and wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up. I got dropped on the first climb but they waited and then the fun began. I was drafting behind one of the guys and my goal was to stay on his wheel as we crested a hill. To my surprise I was still on his wheel on the other side and off we went on a straight away with the wind at our back. I managed to stay on his wheel the entire time and when we got to a stopping point to regroup he commented that his speedometer clocked us at 29 miles per hour! I know I haven't been that fast on my bike in a long time.

We then broke up and the guys went to do a longer, hillier ride while we three women headed on a loop back to the campground. This part was even more fun. We rode in a paceline, helping each other and were going at a pretty good pace - much faster than I normally ride. I was so excited that I could keep up as well as really push my road riding to another level. It was one of the best road rides I've had. We drafted each other on flats, some climbs and some really fun downhills. I felt like I was on a roller coaster!

The next day was a leisurely canoe trip down the Kickapoo River for about 4 hours and it couldn't have been a better end to the weekend.

The next few weeks I will be busy with travelling for Labor Day. I also have 3 endurance races in a row in September and I'm really excited about those challenges.

Enjoy the rest of summer!