Causeway and Final Official TR - Training Ride 11

Distance - 33.71
Time - 2.31.18
Average Speed - 13.3mph
Max Speed - 24.0mph

One week to Day 0. I can't believe it's finally this close! My ALC team wanted to do a short (16-mile) ride to celebrate the end of training season. I've finally gotten my new pedals on my bike and need to get my clips all sorted out. So I rode from home, which added about 18 miles. I finally had the opportunity to ride the Causeway bike trail. I had to make a couple stops to work on my clips and then when I first got onto the Causeway, a semi went by a threw some dirt up at me. I thought to myself, "What? People ride this thing everyday for their commute??" The rest was uneventful and the trail was pretty well maintained so, aside from being right next to traffic, it was pretty good.

Once I got into Samantha's neighborhood I had to give her a call for the last few turns. Google Maps put "Turn Right" with no detail, which later I realized meant I was to turn in to the bike path through a park near her house. I had to make a few adjustments to my pedals so it was good that a couple of the other riders were late.

There were 7 of us riding. We crossed a levee, which I'm starting to learn are generally very windy. Or maybe that's just when I ride them! lol Once we turned off the levee, the wind was mainly helpful so that was fun. We stayed together as a group for that one turn then once we made the next turn, everyone split into their speed categories. It was actually pretty fun to ride with the wind! Then back to Samantha's for some grilling, salads, desserts, and drink. Oh... and the pool. A nice afternoon spent getting to know my teammates a little better. I didn't know any of them when I joined the team and we haven't done much to get to know one another since I'm not generally with them much on the training rides (I'm in the back by myself! ha!) And fundraisers are usually loud and we're trying to raise money so that's not the greatest opportunity either. Point is... this was nice!

So I guess we are officially done with ALC11 training. I do intend to go out again tomorrow but I guess that would be considered "unofficial training!" lol