Tuesday Climbing Ride

A great group of 8 of us set-out to do the clockwise route: Performance Group riders Phil, Gary, Jeff, & myself, along with Peloton Group riders Kevin & Joel, & regular Tuesday night rider Colleen, & new to Cycle Folsom rider Megan. It was another hot night with the mercury peaking in the mid 90s. Everyone rode Ridgeview Rd at their own tempo tackling the climb that tops out at 13%. I thought it would be best to take it a little easier with the heat, so we bypassed the sun baked Montridge Way climb and rendezvoused at the park for a refreshing water stop. The south wind made itself known when we headed out Sophia/Empire Ranch; it noticeably took the spring out of the step of some folks before we got onto the slopes of Cote de Costco (Carpenter Hill). After circumnavigating Carpenter Hill and hitting the 6-9% climb on Empire Ranch twice, we were gruppo compacto on Iron Point until Jeff decided to put in a dig up the gradual slope near McAdoo. I quickly closed down the gap jumping on his wheel. It wasn't my goal to slip off the front with him; I just didn't want him to get away. So there I sat making him do the work. Phil came up from behind and pulled through off the front, and again, I was right on his wheel, not wanting anyone to slip away. With the signal lights, we all ended up being brought back into the group and worked together till the end of the ride. It was a great ride with a dedicated group of cyclists that were challenged in one form or another. My electronics registered a ride of 28 miles in a ride time of 1:48 with an average speed around 15.5-16 mph (max speed of 54 mph descending Beatty!).