Haps...
Although I only did a 25 mile ride with my cycling club today, it was 25 of the most grueling miles I've done all year. The ride was announced as a B/B+ pace (meaning 16-20mph cruising speed) but the leaders were gunning it and the ride was more like a B+/A- pace (18-22mph cruising speed) and throughout the ride, I often found myself falling behind... but I always caught up (particularly on the hill climbs). I'm still getting my "B legs" so this noticeably faster ride definitely pushed me. I hung in there and didn't fade back into the slower group. I kept saying stuff like, "I'm like the Lanterne Rouge. That guy may finish last in the Tour de France, but he finishes!" and "If I don't push myself, I'll never get any better." And there was one rider who also struggled to keep up with the pack (though she fared better than I did) and there were times she was considering throwing in the towel and falling back to the slower group, but when she saw that I wasn't going to give up and was hellbent on finishing (even though the last 1/3 of the ride had me a little gassed), she hung in there too. And, yeah, it was pretty hot outside, but luckily today's route took us through a lot of shaded areas.
I'm developing a quirky reputation with my club as an overenthusiastic climber, the guy who sings while riding (if I feel my pedaling getting erratic I sing "Breaking the Law" to even out my cadence; and I sing the Thundercats theme song when powering up a hill), and now Lanterne Rouge.
And whenever I finish a good ride, the food I crave most is tabbouleh salad with chick peas. I could eat that every day.
And regarding candy, the best licorice is Dutch licorice. All other licorice is nasty in comparison. I'm sure Tomara will agree with me here. I remember growing up eating Dutch licorice (like Dropje) for almost the first decade of my life living in Holland and when I came to America and tried black Twizzlers, it was nasty. It tasted like artificially flavored plastic. Hell, I think all Twizzlers and most American candy tastes like plastic to me. The only American candy I kinda like is Reese's Cups, because I love peanut butter. Otherwise, I get my confections from a local chocolatier about a 10-15 minute drive from my house.