Thoughts on the bike tour

1. While the ride takes you through some beautiful neighborhoods and the weather was delightful, the hills were BRUTAL and there were way way way too many of them.
2. Because of the hills I'm not sure I'd do this ride again.
3. Someone REALLY needs to develop a comfortable bike saddle. Bike butt is an awful awful thing.
4. I thought it would be fun to bike with people till I was invited to bike with a group of ladies. They were super duper nice but I didn't care for the extra unexpected pressure of trying to keep up with them. All it did was make me feel like a total wimp when a woman who outweighed me by at LEAST 150 pounds was so far ahead of me I couldn't see her anymore.
5. The folks that do these tours are the kindest friendliest folks. I had to walk most of the hills and almost everyone that passed me asked if I was okay or if I needed help. I know without a doubt that if I had said yes they would have been right there to help me.
6. The two marshals that were behind me the whole route were stupendous. They helped me fix my bike and showed me how to raise the seat and then when I stopped to drink water or take a break they were right there with me and wouldn't go on till I did. Knowing they were there was a great support.
7. Did I mention bike butt? Because really, ow.
8. While I enjoyed the Trek 7200 I didn't like the dial shifters and I think I need to go even lighter on the bike front.