Midweek ride with JoyRiders

It was with a mixed sense of anticipation and apprehension that JN and I rode to LH to join the JoyRider Wed newbie ride this morning. We'd heard much about the group, how large and enthusiastic the group is, and how fast they ride. But promptings from Sharon and Jodan brought us there - just to see for ourselves.

The website notes that newbie rides are at about 27 kph. With some mileage in the bank, we thought we could meet that speed.

We were early arriving at LH, reaching there about 4:50 am. Only one other rider was there. Within minutes, more than 40 to 50 gathered, all with blinkers and all primed for the ride. Caught up with Sharon and Joyce, and got introduced to many others. A friendly bunch of guys.

As newbies, we suck to the rear. Riding in twos is something we are new at, so we tended to leave some distance between us and the front cyclists. The route was via Thomson and Upper Thomson Road, not our usual Old Thomson Road. Almost missed the Mandai/Seletar reservoir turning. Several did not turn, opting to go the easier (?) route.

As we were not going to do RRR, we thought we would push it a bit along this stretch and we did have a good workout. Joyce teased us for overtaking, but the truth was that we were pretty flat by the end of this stretch.

We were among the last to arrive at Mandai Shell, and with less than a couple of minutes rest, the train was rollin'.

Got caught behind a traffic light and we saw later that Sharon and another lady rider were waiting for us. Thanks, ladies!

We got back at 6:11 am. Couldn't believe how early we were done.

Overall, good ride. Ave speed: 27.7 kph, a tad faster than our usual.

We really appreciated how the seasoned riders took care of us, especially making sure that we were ok.

Riding in a big group posed different challenges. It was almost like a race where we had to look out for others constantly. To consider overtaking, and looking back to see if the path was clear. To have others overtake us. To slow down or speed up with the group, etc. What we couldn't see was the front pack... only at the start at LH and at Mandai Shell. Real speedsters they were!