Nice ride today with a few members, HerbM, Mark AJ, Hansolo and friends Mike, Ivan, Glen and Aimee. The first section was a nice warm up as the group held the pace down for a bit. Once we hit the bottom of the the damn dam they lifted the pace 22-24 mph. Actually pretty nice. We hung with the group for a while so I took my turn in the rotation. But once we hit 4 corners, I thought it best to back off, let the fast guys go. Pretty sure Aimee could have hung on and I felt I could but the only problem would be riding back. 71 miles is no joke and pretty painful if you blow yourself out at the start so I chose to do my own pace.

HerbM, Aimee and I did a pretty good ride to Seal Beach (from Encanto Park) but once we got close to the coast we ran into the Long Beach organized ride. Some decent riders (meaning behavior) but my gosh there are a ton of dangerous riders. At one point we had to nearly stop as the wannabe's were flying off the bridge from the side into our path with no regard as to "right of way". For 6 miles it was sheer horror ha ha! Again, lots of good slow riders but too many without a clue. We slowed our pace to about 10 mph trying to get around rider after rider when it was clear. HerbM stopped to have a few words for one of the organizers at the PCH turn.

But even so, I felt so much better on today's ride than I did last month. Even with the 10 mph pace, we still averaged 17.2 for the 71 mile ride. Not sure what MarkAJ and the fast group did but they rode strong!

Oh, and thanks to the other riders for offering food. I accepted a P&J sandwich from Glen, Herb offered and Aimee hooked me up with a power waffle treat. Aimee and I showed up a bit early so that I could install her new tire. Somewhere in the mix I managed to hide my 2 P&J's behind my gear. 5 minutes into the ride I remember. Too late now, so thanks guys! Gina got up extra early today to make me breakfast and the sandwiches. So unless I can get down a couple of baked P&J's (in truck for hours), Gina might have a few words for me. So if you don't hear from me for a few day send help!