saturday apr 7th ride

[mimitabby]

we're in wenatchee, we did 76.3 miles on the tandem, way way more than i planned!!!

lots of hills, no heavy winds, NO RAIN, and even a little sun.

i started out feeling really awful have been fighting a cold/sinus thing,
but when we got back (like to Wenatchee) I was feeling much better.

talk about a recovery ride!

pictures later!

[teigyr]

Yay, sounds beautiful!!! I know what you mean about the cold/sinus thing, I'm doing that too. Let's hope my ride tomorrow knocks it out of me.

I can't wait to see pictures! How were the downhills?

[Crankin]

Well, I didn't ride today because I was teaching at my club's bike workshop. Steve and I do "Basic Bike," where we teach about different kinds of bikes, gearing, accessories, clothing. We did four one hour sessions and I am exhausted (more than if I actually rode). At each session, people asked what bike shop we owned or represented, because of all of the shwag that was displayed. The only thing that wasn't ours was one stand and a hybrid bike! Of course, this stuff has been acquired over almost 10 years, but when you see it all spread out on a table, it made me feel a little guilty, like I must be crazy.

Yesterday, I did take my commuter bike on its maiden voyage. I rode 7.9 miles round trip to Concord center and back. There were a few annoying things, like when I tested out the spd pedals in my driveway, I couldn't unclip, so those need to be adjusted and some of the shifting was a little rough. So, I rode on the flat side of the pedals and my feet were flying off every few minutes. It was 35 degrees out when I left, so this was my coldest road ride ever. Well, on a hard tail mtb, I was not going that fast; I actually got up to 15-16 for a bit, but the bike, along with the pannier must weigh 30 lbs. Quite a different feeling from my Kuota. I bought some stuff at one of the stores and had a mocha latte. When I came out of the coffee place, it was snowing :eek: ! Well, flurries, and looking very dark.
I did notice that motorists were much friendlier to me. Three times cars stopped and let me make a left. Now, I ride these roads all of the time and nobody does that. I was wearing cycling clothes, but I looked like a "regular" person, commuting/doing errands.
Hopefully, I will get a real (long) ride in tomorrow.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow Mimi...76 miles with lots of hills??? Amazing. :eek: :)

DH and I did 18 miles today. It was only 26-29 degrees F for our whole ride, so it was kind of cold but it was sunny and no wind, we didn't freeze. In fact, I stayed quite comfortable!
We did one long steady highway incline of about a mile that I remembered from last year a couple of times- I recall how I used to gasp for air and my legs would be in some pain and i had to concentrate real hard to make it up to the end. This time (6 months later) I was only breathing hard (not gasping) and my legs were burning but not in pain at all, and I kept a steady pace that I know was faster than last time (which had seemed to take forever). It was an effort but not unpleasant at all now. YAY, progress that I could really see!
This was a route i used to sort of avoid because of that long hill. Not anymore, it's a good pleasant leg muscle builder now! :p

Oh, and DH put on some nifty Kool-Stop brake pads for me this afternoon. No more losing my braking ability in unexpected downpours. :)

[Wahine]

Mimi - that area is beautiful. I bet you had a fantastic ride.

DH and I rode up along the Klickitat river, one of the few natural rivers left. The grade was steady and moderate until about mile 20, then we had to climb a big pitch with switchbacks. We were rewarded with a large herd of white tail deer and 3 bald eagles. It was quite spectacular. Cloudy and a little rainy but not cold. We turned around at mile 22 and headed back. We saw another bald eagle on our way back to the truck. 3:19:55 for 43.40 miles. Thank goodness that nothing at Ironman is nearly this hilly or I wouldn't make the cut-offs.

I jumped off the bike and ran 3 miles. This is the beginning of the longer brick workouts for Ironman. Gotta love how your legs feel running after those hills and miles. :eek:

[lesliejo]

Wow Mimi,
I love the ride that you did today. The Klickitat River Road is beautiful.
I rode from White Salmon to Trout Lake this morning. I tried to beat the rain, but no such luck. It started sprinkling about BZ Corners, then turned into a drizzle. No worries though, it was warm and relatively light traffic. Not a lot of road spray. It was only about 42 miles, but a real nice ride to start the day. I will have to head east and do the Klickitat soon. Did you run into many dogs....had a problem last time I rode that route. Good thing my riding buddy had dog biscuits in his bike bag. Looking forward to sunnier days.

[LBTC]

Yay! I finally have a ride report!

Our friends B&C, DH and I drove to Salmon Arm (about 40 minutes away), and rode the Salty Dog race course. The event is May 6 and is a 6 hour enduro mtb race.

After having just learned about the muscles in my abdomen that are involved in the Crohn's symptoms, I was focussed on completing the trail loop, having fun, but avoiding any overuse of the involved muscles. There was quite a lot of climbing on the course, and I'm used to climbing hard and digging in in the cosmic crunch when the sudden steeps happen. However, at just about every change of incline to a bit steeper, I'd feel the familiar twinge. I'd gear down if I could, pedal lighter, and sit up as straight as possible to give my lungs and belly lots of room to breathe.

It worked!! At about 1 hour 40 minutes I started to notice that I wasn't getting twinges anymore, just a fairly constant but low-grade discomfort. More keeping my upper body as relaxed as possible, more long breaths and belly breathing, more slower speed than I'm used to, and consequently, for the rest of the ride and now, several hours later I feel only the slightest discomfort, similar to any evening. Yay! I'm so glad my belly didn't get to full-on cramped stage and seriously, the rest of me feels ready to go again! My legs and lungs feel absolutely fine!

And, despite the slower speed, I really enjoyed myself and felt like I still have the bike skills that took me so many years to acquire. The course has lots of man-made obstacles - ramps, bridges, etc. I haven't been riding these for several years now, and had basically become quite afraid of them. I love that the obstacles on this trail system are all very confidence inspiring! There was only one incident, and the trail goddess and my tires really helped me out with that one - tire had a bit of mud on it, so tire spun on the little ramp, then spun again, then a sort of shot over to one side, luckily it was not a really high ramp, and somehow I managed to pedal through it and not put a foot down. Cool!

There was a super fast section near the end - so much fun! I can do that faster next time now that I know there's nothing super scary on it! There was some fabulous deep tree riding that was just divine! Just the right amount of roots rocks and odd corners, all winding through big trees with little underbrush. My favourite!! No, I wasn't really thrilled by the longish road climb in the middle of the ride, and I so had to go slow on it to keep the belly happy, but that allowed me to enjoy the scenery and the view! as we got higher and higher.

Best of all were all of the (get this) butterflies!! I kid you not! At the onset of the ride, they were just everywhere, and there were at least 4 different species. What a joy to see them! And there, on that terribly long road climb (no, it wasn't that bad, I've ridden worse), as I plodded along, a lovely mourning cload butterfly, fluttered alongside me for a bit, then alighted on a nearby rock to bask in the sun. It didn't even move when I pedaled by. Ah, thank you!

Part way through I also remembered to converse with the trail goddess. I thanked her a lot. What a wonderful world we live in - what a great life to have. To live in such a wonderful area with so many riding opportunities, to have great friends to ride with, who know the trails, and to have enough health to enjoy the riding, and enough new insight in my health condition to adjust my riding style to accommodate my body's new needs.

I'm hoping we can do a nice little ride nearby tomorrow. There's a few other big things to do, but we hope to get out to the park anyway. I'll certainly find out if my "new" body can tolerate the effort two days in a row!

Thank you for listening and happy riding to you all!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[mimitabby]

okay, here are some pictures:

http://www.sersale.org/bike/1w.jpg


http://www.sersale.org/bike/2w.jpg
http://www.sersale.org/bike/3w.jpg
http://www.sersale.org/bike/6w.jpg
http://www.sersale.org/bike/7w.jpg
http://www.sersale.org/bike/8dmw.jpg
http://www.sersale.org/bike/10w.jpg
http://www.sersale.org/bike/11w.jpg

we did about 2300 feet of climb, not that much, Lisa!
we were going along the columbia river for a while and we rode up to Beebe state park
(through Orondo ) not Klickitat.

[Aggie_Ama]

Mimi- Fabulous pictures, thanks for posting them.

We had SLEET in TEXAS in APRIL!! DH and I did the next best thing to riding- we visited the local bike shops. We dropped in a new one that sells mainly custom stuff, the had a Waterford frame that was this funky purple and I was in lust. The owner was extremely nice and I felt bad that we wouldn't be using his shop for anything.

More rain forecasted tomorrow, this completely stinks. :(

[lauraelmore1033]

what fabulous pictures, Mimi! 2300 ft of climbing seems like a lot to me:eek:. That must have been a lot of fun, though...

[mountainchick]

Awesome Mimi!

Yesterday I did 29 miles, and today (Sunday) I did 35. Yippee! Its much easier to get out on long rides when my hubby is away. :)

[kelownagirl]

I got out Friday and Saturday for rides this weekend - so nice! Friday I did a fast hard hilly 20k route and did my best times on that route.

Yesterday, I went out with DH and his brother and we did another 40km. One had to ride the MTBike so we didn't go as hard as usual. It was SO nice for me to be able to not be the slowest and I even got to lead quite a bit. I found I was easily able to be far ahead of the one on the MTBike (not possible last year) and I am finding I am MUCH faster up the hills this spring. I love progress! Yesterday it was even warm and sunny and I peeled down to a sleeveless jersey for the trip back and got a sunburn! When I got home, I did a 2km run to see what it felt like.

[Wahine]

LBTC - I'm so glad that you had a good day yesterday. It's fantastic that you got out there and were disciplined enough to go at a pace that your body can handle. It sounds like you're doing much better.:D

[LBTC]

Thanks, Wahine! It was thrilling! I think I managed to do the right things.

I had planned to do a nice road ride today, but I can already feel that I should not...too much discomfort in my lower abdomen, so I know that I probably moved those muscles too much, despite my best efforts. I won't find out my RMT's recommended home care until the next session, so I'll have to just wing it today with rest, trying to not scrunch my belly.

If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Hugs & butterflies,
~T~

[mimitabby]

LBTC, it seems you are on an even tighter tightrope than most of us.
if we overdo it, we'll get cramps. one of the hardest things about riding for me is knowing how to breath when we start really working/climbing. it sounds like your troubles are similar but more precarious.

I'm glad you got out and rode where you used to ride, it must have felt good.

[LBTC]

Thanks, Mimi, I was so happy to be out there, too!

I'm learning that if I let that cramp happen, that I'll probably have pain and fatigue, be really wiped out, not just that afternoon, but probably for days. It's tought to be here at home while DH is out in the sunshine on his fancy new (used) carbon road bike, but I realize it is the right thing to do, and I'm keeping myself occupied / distracted....

I am hoping that now that I understand the muscular connection, that I'll begin to learn how to relax, restore, stretch and strengthen these deep and difficult to reach muscles and hope that that will help with my overall health. Heck, it's a lot easier to understand than digestion!!!

Your ride looked beautiful. One day I hope to have the little camera that I'll be comfortable taking on a ride with me.....until then, all of the pictures stay in my mind...

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[mimitabby]

LBTC
I can only take pictures from the back of the tandem while riding.
DH can take pictures on his single!! while going down the road!! I cannot

[Celeste]

We had SLEET in TEXAS in APRIL!! :(

Well, DH and I were on our hills part of training for our Tahoe TNT ride in June....yup! We had some nasty winds of 20-25 miles an hour and nasty cold rain about 34-36 degrees! Not sure we had sleet in Chappell Hill, TX but it was nasty none the less!

My cleat broke right at the beginning of the ride:( . Coaches told me it was not a good idea to ride the hills with only one foot clicked in. I was bummed, but decided to help with SAG services instead. Good thing too; our ride was supposed to be 45 miles....Most only made it half way and SAG'd back to the start. Independence, TX was the dying point for most at about 25 mile mark.

Frozen fingers, hands, toes, feet and legs. We are just not used to riding in these freezing conditions down here! And for our first real hill training, it was rough! Hubby continued on with the ride and he completed 30.15 miles with 11.5 mph average. He felt bad that he had to SAG some...I told him I was proud of him that he completed as much as he did. I thought everyone did great considering the conditions.

I was cheering my team on at the top of the hills and posting my Jeep at corners that had no signs where they needed to turn. Good to see my team dig in when I was cheering them on.

Will get my cleat fixed tomorrow so I can ride during the week. Bummed I have missed out on some hill training. Getting nervous that I am falling behind. But maybe I was in the place I needed to be.

[Kano]

Our sixteen mile ride yesterday morning turned into twenty, which was a fun surprise! Tater missed the ride -- SPIN had its first group ride of the season, with a surprising 35 or so riders sprawled out along an 8 mile path to a coffee shop. (which was very busy, so we wandered off to the Moxie Java down the road) Funny how an out and back route turned out to be 8 miles to the coffee stop and 12 back!

We were just cruising along, back toward the parking lot where we'd left the cars, wondering why none of the route looked real familiar (did we see that hoard of cattle on the way out?), but we were following many others in our group, and had many behind us, so we MUST be going the right way, yes? Turned out most of the group took an "alternate" route back. Eventually, we did meet up with the "non-alternate" members of the group, and found the parking lot!

This was the longest ride so far on my new bike, and aside from that disoriented feeling of being just a little bit lost, it was a breeze! (some hand troubles, so I think I will try, was it Lisa's or Mimi's suggestion to adjust the handlebars just a smidge?) And, I'll gleefully admit, it was a delight to NOT be the last rider in!

DH and I decided that it must have been a downhill ride going out, and uphill coming back, because we weren't going near as fast on the way back -- but it didn't LOOK like we were climbing, except a few times. BUT what I thought was really cool was that I didn't use my small ring, and didn't go below 10mph all day, even on the hills! Well, no, that's not quite right, I did have to slow down for a bit, til it was safe to pass other riders.

It was a bit cool when we started -- about 49 degrees. Got really nice by the time we finished, and then later in the day it got rainy, and most of today was rainy too. Good thing we got in a nice ride yesterday!

Karen in Boise

[mountainchick]

Karen, sounds like you guys had a good ride. I think those are my favorite, getting lost :)

My Saturday ride, I started riding and just kept going. I didn't know where I was for the first half, but ended up circling back to a place I knew and kept on going. Its a little harder here where if you ask someone about the next town over they sometimes don't know how to get there on the roads. That and they might not be able to understand my broken Japanese!

[DebW]

20 mile ride on Saturday through Wayland, Sudbury, and Marlboro. Went up the big steep hill on Edmands Rd. in Marlboro for the 1st time this year. My lowest gear still works, and I needed it. Rather chilly - I cut the ride 5 miles short because my feet were cold.

[smilingcat]

managed to do my old training route

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/smilingcat-s-training-route

but I had to stop on the hill climb. also fell over when I forgot to unclip out of my pedals when I stopped. :rolleyes: (yes ladies, it happens to all of us no matter how experienced you are.)

Tad cold, and slightly windy. But was it fun. The views were just gorgeous. and riding by the ocean, I could smell the clean salt air. The early June gloom, the heavy marine layer/heavy dark overcast, and with the cold temp, it felt like January rides.

I need to take pictures of Lunada Bay, several at Malga Cove and from the top of Hawthorn Blvd. You would think I was riding in Tuscany. Hills, honest to goodness fountains in the middle of the "town center" , surrounded by tiled roof villas.

Shawn