With League season over, I decided it was time I rode a PPA funride in my own seeded group to see how I fare. With the mid-year reseeding, I was bumped up from I to G, and this was going to be my first time riding in this group. I arrived with hopes of staying with the front of the bunch all the way, but this was not to be. The Klein Joostenberg Funride is relatively flat, with no big climbs to speak of, just a lot of rollers, as is common in the area. Also common to the area (R44, R302, etc) is a lot of wind. I guess I expected a fairly fast and flat race, where I could hide in the bulk of the group and improve my seeding. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that I went for a run up the mountain on Friday evening which left my legs feeling extremely stiff. Soon into the race we hit some of the first rollers and I could feel my sore muscles quite keenly. Any idea of sitting near the front of the group disappeared and I told myself to stick to the middle of the bunch. I am definitely not used to such big groups anymore, so was a bit uncomfortable, but held my line and pedalled hard to keep up with the fast pace. On one roller I nearly fell off the back, but caught back up with the group. As we got to about an hour my legs were dying on me. The run had taken its toll. As can happen when you run with Team Crazy, up to the Blockhouse, at a pace, into the wind, having not run for over a month... Silly me. As I was beginning to take some serious strain, I felt my back wheel was getting rather sensitive to each and every bump, so I looked down and saw it was going flat. Part of me was upset that I had to stop, but another part (my legs especially) were glad that I had an excuse to get dropped. I took my time changing the tube and got back on the bike, with 48km still to go. Most of this I rode on my own, trying to catch up with a group that had passed me, but to no avail. With about 15km to go, at a point where I was totally fed up with the wind, 6 guys came past and swept me along. They were working in a really good paceline, and I joined in, doing my share of the work. Slowly but surely they stopped doing their bit, and it was just myself and one other rotating at the front. With a few kays to go we dropped all but one, and at the 3km to go mark I fell behind the two guys, my legs now feeling totally pap. Getting off my bike at the end was quite a painful procedure and I collapsed on the lawn, exhausted. Next time I'm going to make sure any running happens either earlier in the week, or not as strenuous... I hope my legs recover before DC this coming weekend...!