May 12 ride reports

[SouthernBelle]

Me first again!

Meg and I rode a big loop today. Lots of climbing. Had a flat. We both dropped our chains. With my still new Garmin, I can give lots of stats:

Total miles: 56.87 (A PB!)

New max speed: 37.0 (PB!)

Elevation Gain: 3597 feet. (ouch)

Max grade: 21.2% (double ouch)

Interesting point on the climbing for me. My quads didn't bother as much but my glutes did! Hopefully that means my quads are getting stronger and I'm using more muscles.

Hotter today.

[Meg McKilty]

You forgot: we saved two turtles.

[SouthernBelle]

You forgot: we saved two turtles.

muust always rescue turtles.

[meridian]

40-ish mile flat ride today from Lubbock to Slaton and back. First ride of the season over 25 miles. Neck started bugging me a bit on the trip back but overall pretty nice ride for that much of an increase in miles.

Uneventfull - but I did fall at a stop and scratched myself up a bit for the first time this season. A bit embarrasing as it was right on a cross road of a pretty busy highway, and two other cyclists rode up while I was shoving my shifter back to the right place and shaking off the sore hand.

Almost no wind and niiice temps - double bonus.

[pooks]

Husband and I rode to the local cafe for breakfast. Left cafe, rode through downtown area and I noticed my bike was riding funny. I finally stopped to look (just happened to be in front of a fire station) and it was FLAT. Not low, but FLAT. These are armadillos. That's not supposed to happen, dang it!

Firemen are standing around outside, see me, offer to air up my tire. They do, and when I ride off, it's FLAT again. So we call for help. Firemen offer to put fix-a-flat in it, but say if my tube is messed up badly (and as flat as it was, that sounded like a good bet) it might get all over the inside of the tire itself and be a mess. So we turned down that offer.

They plied us with iced tea and air conditioning and we talked bicycles until we finally got me a ride home.

My bike is now getting its flat fixed. I hope to ride some more before the day is over.


Grrrrrrrr.

[Darby361]

36 miles of sunshine, fields, and some hills! Great day!
Trish

[divingbiker]

I did a 40 mile hilly ride in rural Montgomery County, Maryland with a new riding partner--a woman who works in my building and also bicycle commutes. It was a beautiful day and lots of farmers were in the fields. This was my longest ride of the season, and I felt it.

[mimitabby]

I followed Raleighdon and GF of DS on our tandem... I was on my trusty bianchi veloce. There were some true highlights to the ride, one was when I passed a redhaired lady about my age riding my exact bike! :D :D
The next was when we rode over 50 miles instead of just 50 miles and Raleighdon said; if we go 5 more miles we'll have a metric century.
AND I WAS READY FOR IT!

started at the brewery, rode to carnation, fall city and back through redmond.
62 miles!

[Fredwina]

I did some thing Randon related today : I test rode a permanent route. I started from my home rather that designated "start" place, evem thou it added 5 miles. I went to downtown Riverside and started climbing. Noticed that the City Of Riverside had changed a streets name . I also miffed a couple of turns on my cue sheet :o I then rode through Moreneo valley and onto Gilman Springs. Thought It would be a nice quite road. nope! Lots of people using it to get to The Soboba Indian casino. I had lunch in Hemet and turned back. no Fun! 12-16 mph headwinds all the way. That's what get for picking a flat route ;) A my checkpoint at mile 93 , I decided that I could take a different route back and still get 200K in today. I had done the remainder of my route before. Turns out , I was 5 miles short (119). I almost went a different way around Ontario Airport that would have given the 5 miles (only 4 of them would have been into the wind)
ain't this crazy stuff fun?

[RolliePollie]

I am WOMAN! Hear me ROAR!!!

Did my most challenging ride to date...19.6 miles with more hills than I've ever attempted. I went by myself, but that was great because I knew I'd need to rest several times. I made it up all the hills, didn't drop my chain, felt more comfortable with the clipless pedals, averaged 13 mph, and my helmet mirror was even adjusted correctly! The weather today is GORGEOUS...about 70 degrees, sunny, light wind. What a beautiful time of year. Some pictures below - first two are the road in front of my house (note the lovely cracks and patching on the pavement...our road conditions leave a little to be desired around here). Third are irises and the Christmas Tree farm on my property. Gotta love Spring!

I met a couple of ladies from out of the area who were up here riding in the foothills. It was fun chatting with them for a few minutes.

Most important milestone for me today was...I had FUN while riding on the ROAD! I wasn't scared to death the whole time. The ride was challenging but it was SO FUN!

Now I want ice cream :)

[Zen]

Only 11 miles?!
I did a hill I was dreading but on this new bike, not so bad.

As I was riding I noticed a sound that I knew wasn't right and dropped the chain not long after that.
Now I know what that sound means.
For some reason I could not push the lever for the front chain ring far enough, my wrist had to be turned at an impossible angle so I ended up getting a bar end friction shifter for that side only.
Still in the process of becoming one with the bike.

[7rider]

Good for you, Janice! Awesome!
DH, MDHillSlug, and I did our 40-mile Triathalon Loop through Montgomery and Howard Counties.
We rode at various times with a local Diabetes Ride. DH tried giving chase when a fast group passed us, but he (wisely) waited at at next intersection for MDHS and I, who were in no mood to chase!
Was a nice ride, but challenging.
2,700' of climbing in 40 miles. Ugh. 14.7 mph average.

[mimitabby]

Nice pictures Sara
yes, it's probably nice not worrying about other's expectations of you while you are climbing hills.
good job!

[Popoki_Nui]

Sixty kilometer romp on "Vee" (http://http://www.geocities.com/tristar350/Bianchi.html) through the rolling farmlands of Central Saanich, finishing off downtown at the harbour. Silly season (once known as tourist season) is fully underway; today only three cruise ships in berth. Yesterday, five ships disgorged 10,000 tourists into downtown Victoria. Yikes. It's only mid-May...:eek:

[HillSlugger]

Good for you, Janice! Awesome!
DH, MDHillSlug, and I did our 40-mile Triathalon Loop through Montgomery and Howard Counties.
We rode at various times with a local Diabetes Ride. DH tried giving chase when a fast group passed us, but he (wisely) waited at at next intersection for MDHS and I, who were in no mood to chase!
Was a nice ride, but challenging.
2,700' of climbing in 40 miles. Ugh. 14.7 mph average.

I wanted to do a 40 mile tuneup ride before my 50 mile Diabetes ride and Regina volunteered to take me out. Little did I know she was trying to kill me! I've never done so much climbing before and my little Slug legs were giving out by the end (my thighs started cramping around mile 37). Luckily the Diabetes ride has only a little over 1000 ft of climbing (but 200 ft are in one hill!)

This was my first ride with narrower handlebars and they made a real difference in my shoulder and hand comfort. I've never been comfortable on the hoods and used to do most of my riding on the drops. Today I was able to ride the hoods and I only had a little bit of hand numbness. It's amazing the difference that 2cm can make.

[tygab]

yes, I *finally* got out to enjoy some of this great spring weather. It has been a crazy but good spring for us, centering at present around home acquisition which has taken quite a lot of focus away from my efforts at consistent training for tris etc. But, oddly have managed to hang on to some semblance of fitness.

With my DH off in another country for several weeks, I finally decided I needed to carve out some bike time. Got a coworker who just picked up a new bike to come out for a ride, and it was his very first voyage. I probably pushed him a bit hard for his first bike ride as he faded toward the end and our pace was very tempered to begin with, :( but he said he had a great time and plans to do longer rides each weekend.

Did 32 miles mix of hills and flat terrain, a usual loop of the hubby's and mine. It was cool to capture some ride data in the Garmin.

Do not have my seat muscles for the year, they will be sore tomorrow and possibly some of my other muscles too. Other than that the ride felt pretty good aerobically. Lots of cyclists out today. I love seeing lots of cyclists because the more of us there are the more drivers get accustomed to sharing!

Can't wait to go again, so I'll try to pick up a group ride midweek or so.

[Starfish]

I finally got to the top of Hurricane Ridge! I am quite proud of myself...5127 feet in 19 miles up. Forty mile total trip. I am going to attempt attaching photos.

Also, saw two bears!

[Fredwina]

I finally got to the top of Hurricane Ridge! I am quite proud of myself...5127 feet in 19 miles up. Forty mile total trip. I am going to attempt attaching photos.

Also, saw two bears!

Congrats, Starfish!:D

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

SouthernBelle & Meg- Yes must always rescue turtles! Last year we were cycling with some friends and DH was riding ahead with friend #1 and I was a ways back with friend #2. We passed a huge snapping turtle right in the middle of the highway, trying to cross to the pond. I stopped and Friend #2 watched in horror while I grabbed it by the tail and dragged it accross the road, down the bank and watched it dash into the pond.
We then kept riding and eventually caught up with DH and #1 who were stopped and waiting for us. #1 said that my DH had explained to her that the reason we were taking so long was probably that I was busy rescuing that big monster turtle they had passed, and that we'd catch up soon. He knows me pretty well. :rolleyes:

Mimi- maybe that red haired lady was YOU and you were crossing a tear in the time/space/continueum/paralleluniverse!! :eek: :eek:

Starfish- INCREDIBLE photos and ride!!!! :eek: :eek: