Every day the same thing. I set the alarm for 5:15am. Eat strawberries as I get dressed and complete the preparations. I ride the 1 mile to the ride starting point. It is still dark but the streets are well lighted. They are cobbly so the ride over is a bit jaring.
I am always the first one there. As 6am approaches, a few or a lot of riders roll in. Some ride their bikes over, others drive and then get ready. Usually one or two chase vehicles set up. They ride behind us with flashing lights to protect us from buses and motorists. I never understood under what groups or auspices the chase vehicles operated. One was from Elite Cyclery where I rent my bike and Jonatahn Botoa from the store would sometimes ride with us.
Usually before 6:15, the riders gather at the head of the road and head off. We go out 27 Kilometers on the Hotel Road and then turn and come back. As I learned last year when I first came to Cancun, the local roads and drivers are not suited to biking. But the Hotel Road is in good shape and the same drivers are on it each morning at 6am so they have some experience with what we are up to. Riding as a group, it is called a pellaton in bike talk, we act just like a car. We slow and speed up. Motor vehicles pass us if they want but because we are all together, we project each other. We often go through red lights. The riders whistle if they are afraid they are not seen by drivers. I can’t whistle so I just yell.(:-)
The ride starts at a leisurely pace and then picks up speed by 2-3 Kilometers out. I love to enjoy this slow pace but this year I learned that I have to push to get with the front group. All kinds of events unfold. A light changes. A bus stops. A pot hole is dodged. A rider is tired or has a mechanical problem. Incidents like these result in slowing but always the people in front re-accelorate sooner than the back dwelers and there is a mad chase to catch up.
The pace is generally too fast for me, over 18 MPH. I am more comfortable below 16. Throw in these all out balls to the wall efforts needed to catch back up and I am dying. As I will say in detail in entries below, I can only pant breath for so long. I finally have to face the music and drop off the pace.
Last year I only made it to the “Blue Statue” turn around twice. This year I made it all 8 days I rode but sometimes I had already been dropped and was just motoring home on my own. Twice I made it all the way out and back with other riders but there were extenuating circumstances in each case.