I’ve gotten into going on group bike rides lately. Twice now I’ve ridden with Spider Monkey Cycling in Chicago.  They do an early morning ride on tuesdays that meanders out of the city northward and then  picks up into a Single Pace Line along Sheridan Dr through Evanston. I had never ridden in groups before but it’s an amazing thing. The pack of 8 people biked around 25 mph and the resistance felt like half of what you  would feel biking alone. We cruised along like this for 5 mi or so with each person pulling in front for 30 sec to a minute at a time. I really like the idea of cycling being a team sport. 

I’m not sure what more I can do to upgrade my bike. I added a carbon fiber seat post this weekend. The item is 3K full carbon that I ordered from Taiwan. The seatpost weighs just over 100 grams which reduced the weight of my bike to around 18 pounds. I’m not sure what actual increase in performance this mod will give me but i seemed to have a little faster starts and a couple mph faster cruising speeds, could just be me feeling good though. Nevertheless, it sure is pretty!

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