WOW! Independence Day Ride! (& Loop #15)

Joy here...In one of my favourite movies of all time--Bend it Like Beckham--the two young heroines of the soccer (ahem, football) flick head out for a day of shopping in London's Oxford St district, breaking their parents' rules, having some girl bonding, and generally asserting their sense of identity.  The soundtrack for this day of youthful fun is former Spice Girl Melanie C (aka "Sporty Spice") singing "Independence Day," and as I rode out to meet the Women on Wheels (WOW) riders on this July 4th, I heard her voice ringing in my mind:

This is my independence day

My independence day

Hey, my independence day...

No matter what comes my way

I'm gonna live for today,

This is my, this is my independence day!

After taking over two weeks off my bike, nearly three weeks since my last ride in the park, but finally getting back on this week with Monday's 75km flat ride and Tuesday's Time Trial, I was starting to feel like myself again--independent and full of the spirit of 1990s "girl power"!

Then when I meet up with the rest of the WOW crew under a boiling hot late day sun (temperatures around 34C) the theme of powerful women was destined to continue.  We rode at a reasonable pace to warm up towards Pink Lake, and as we reached that climb, one of the more experienced riders shouted for us to do the climb in our big ring.  I gamely tried for about the first 1/3 of the climb, but then the screaming in my legs forced me to sit down as the two strongest riders pulled ever-so-slowly away from me up the hill.  I crested the hill in 3rd place, just behind the other two, and then we all regrouped before continuing on through the rolling section of the park.

Every now and then we would slow down as some riders got trailed off the back of our 7-woman group, and then as we approached the great, long descent we decided to just rip it as fast as we wanted and regroup later...and that's just what we did.  I was still up front with those other two strong riders, and then as the descent started, I chased one down as fast as I could, and she and I were in first and second place down the descent!

But what goes down must eventually go up...at least in cycling that seems to be the case, so as we regrouped at the bottom of the descent and rolled towards the Fortune Climb, we knew that the hardest part of the ride was just ahead of us.  Again as we approached the climb, that strongest rider shouted for us to stay in our big rings.  The same three of us managed to climb up in our hardest gearing combination, but about 1/3 of the way up the climb, I had no other choice but to sit down.  My legs were full of lactic acid, and the muscles felt like they would give out, and I'd topple over...so with a grunt and a whimper, I sat down again and watched those two stronger riders--still standing--pull ahead of me up the hill.  I recovered as I rode up behind them, pedalling while seated as fast as I could up the incline, passing other riders out for a Wednesday eve ride, but I still never caught them before we crested the hill.  However, just like at Pink Lake, I was only 3rd place.  We regrouped again, and then continued to the peak and the hot, summer view at Champlain Lookout.

Here we are at Champlain Lookout.

On our way down from that highest point to finish our 43km ride, we decided to no longer hold up and wait for those falling off the back of the group.  So I followed those two other stronger riders out over the rolling hills and down some rip-roaring descents (topping 70km/hr).  Each time we hit a bit of a climb, their stronger legs, greater experience, and higher technical facility let them pull away from me a bit, but I pedalled my little heart out to catch up with them each time, so that we tore out of the park in a train of three almost 10 minutes ahead of the rest of the group as a whole (and averaging 27.7km/hr for the ride)...with each and every one of us feeling strong, independent, and powerful.

I guess Americans don't have a monopoly on Independence Day after all.

Over and out,

Joy