Not a 'TNT' virgin anymore

On Saturday I did my first official Team In Training ("TNT") ride.  We got together to have the orientation, then a quick ride.  The orientation was...  I'll say it, long.  All the bases were covered.  We went over how to change a tire.  How to signal other riders of dangers in in front of them.  The gear necessary to ride.  We covered basic nutrition.  We had professionals help to ensure we had a proper fit on our bikes.

The beautiful thing about this program is that all these people get together and do this thing.  Looking around the room there were all kinds of people, and all kinds of bikes.  There were mountain bikes.  There were full carbon fiber race bikes.  There were old 10 speeds, along with the tell tale spiderwebs in the spokes...  In a word, everyone was welcome.  Everyone was there.  Pretty cool.

We all rode in order to put us in the proper groups to train.  They don't want the fast people being slowed down by the slow, or the slow being frustrated riding with the fast.  So they had us all ride 9 miles, and timed us.  The object was to ride to the level where you can still talk.  Not overexert yourself.  Just a comfortable out and back.  I'll have to let you know next week which group I am slotted in, but I know that I did the route in just over 30 minutes.  I imagine that puts me in one of the faster slots...  I do know that these people know what they are doing, and I'm glad I'm working with them.  I know I'll learn lots over the next 4 months!

See you on the road!