Gotta give it up to the west side!

Remember that old song? Good stuff.

First West Mountain Ride of the Year

Working at SBR Sports is awesome for so many reasons and among those reasons: I am meeting so many great athletes that have the same passion as me. Do you know what this means in addition to making new friends? Invitations to group rides! Group rides are my absolute most favorite way to train in the winter. It gives me a chance to go with fast people that push me the entire ride. I don't like pushing this hard on a training ride during race season because I race almost every weekend and there's no way I could train fast, race fast and keep functioning normally. Group rides are just such a good way for me to be social and get an awesome workout  at the same time. I haven't been on any group rides in the last couple years which is a cryin' shame. So on Friday I was invited to tag along with the UVU Cycling team dudes and ride around West Mountain. Bobby and I were already planning on riding West Mtn with our friend Ammie B so it was pretty much perfect. We met at one of the team members house in Mapleton and headed out towards Woodland Hills. They warned us that it was a little hilly. I didn't really expect it to be as hilly as it was, it seemed like we rode every hill that was possible. I'm not complaining especially because I haven't ridden outside since September minus the one ride I did in December down in St G. So I was quite excited about being outside! I was also impressed with my fitness level because I beat everybody up all the climbs except one of the UVU guys that was a great climber. It feels good to be getting back in shape! So we got out of Woodland HILLS and had been on the bike for 1:15 hrs and hadn't even started around the mountain. Oh boy! I was getting a little nervous that we'd be out there longer than I had brought food for, but also didn't want to go home. The team started a pace line once on the back side of the mountain and we weren't able to jump on it because Bobby's computer sensor was rubbing and being really annoying so we wanted to fix that. So it was up to us three (Me, Bobby & Ammie) to try and catch up. Bobby and I rotated pulling the whole way to catch some stragglers that had fallen off the train and were ahead of us. It took the entire stretch of the back of the mountain to catch one of them. Holy crap was I dying! When we re-grouped with some of the pace liners to head home I was so excited to sit back and enjoy an easy ride back to the car. It ended up being 12 miles and we all took turns pulling, which I was so grateful for because it would have been a miserable 12 miles if I had been alone (that's why group rides rock!). I was so hungry and my legs were full of lactic acid. When we got back their was an amazing lunch waiting for us and a warm house! It was the most beautiful thing :D 

Total Ride Time: 2:59 hours
Total Distance: 51.26 miles
Average Heart Rate: 140 bpm
Calories Burned 2,551

Didn't get pictures of the whole group :( Sorry.