Hi on weekends I ride with some friends who are much fitter than me and keeping up with them is difficult. My heart rate today peaked at 193 and I'm 31 years old. So this is dangerous for me right? What's the best way to get my heart rate lower on these kind of rides? Or should I avoid these rides for now?
You can bring your heart rate down by cycling more often.
After just a few months of hilly commuting I'd bought my resting heart rate down from 65 to 47 beats per minute. I'm 59 years old.
Doing anything once per week is better than doing nothing at all, but it's better to do a bit more.
If you can't cycle commute, try to incorporate something else into your daily routine or join a spin class at your local leisure centre.
I'm basically a lazy person when it comes to exercise so I've only ever been fit when I have been able to commute to work by bike. When I've had jobs where cycle commuting is not possible, I've turned into an unfit lard ass in no time.