Weekend Rides? [Archive] - Page 2 - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

Catrin

06-02-2012, 09:12 AM

I wanted to do my long ride today - but haven't ridden since Monday so I will do that tomorrow afternoon after church - it will be warmer and less windy anyway. Today I chose to do a short (20 mile) ride, windy but fun! I am trying to remember to start out easy for the first mile or so, and to cool down at the end. I am very bad for not doing either...and my legs do appreciate that.

It was so hard to know how to dress, temps were in the windy high 50's at the start and while it is reaching 69 today (92 last Saturday), it was a mite nippy at the start. Since the sun is shining I went with regular shorts and a SS jersey and just dealt with being cool at the start. I warmed up :)

On my way home I cut through a park in which there was a Crit - I didn't know there was one today so took a short break to watch for a bit. It was fun! Amazing to me how close together they ride :eek:

Crankin

06-02-2012, 09:27 AM

It's pouring today, but yesterday was one of the best riding days we've had, in terms of weather. I was supposed to meet Hiakukabou after my one client in the AM, which put me on a limited time schedule. Miraculously, the client called and cancelled and I couldn't really see them later, as I had an eye doctor appt. in the afternoon. So, we met at 9:30 and ended up doing a 38.5 mile ride. We did a ride I do fairly often, but last year, Hirakukibou and I had to walk part of the route, due to repaving, and the road being down to very deep gravel with open sewer grates, etc. There's enough moderate hill climbing to give you a workout and it's pretty. On the way home, we stopped for coffee in west Concord.
I got a taste of city riding near the end, when the Concord Academy graduation festivities were shutting down. The families were also loading all the kid's dorm stuff into their cars, backing the traffic up for about 3/4 of a mile. I did OK going in between the cars and the parked cars for awhile, but then it got a little narrow for me, so I got in the lane, where a huge septic truck was behind me, but he stayed FAR away. I was glad to get through that in one piece.

OakLeaf

06-02-2012, 02:02 PM

I rode almost 14 flat miles! Yay! :rolleyes:

Considering my last ride was two weeks ago and it sort of aggravated my neck and back ... and how little I'd been riding recently anyway for any number of reasons ... I figured to skip the club ride and take it easy today.

I have a choice of two farmers' markets on Saturdays that I don't do the club ride. One is farther away from me, much nicer, and near a 20-mile MUP. The other one is closer, adequate, and near a 2.75-mile MUP. I figured the shorter drive would also mean less temptation to ride farther than I was really ready for ... So, about two and a half laps. It felt really good to be back on the bike. My back felt okay too - we've really made progress this week, and the couple of twinges I had were easily corrected by changing the tilt of my pelvis. I'm probably going to try another bike path ride or two this week.

The bright side is that I found an ugly crack in the sidewall of my front tire. I've been riding so little that there's plenty of tread left on that front. I'll definitely have to replace it before I get on the road (and I already have a spare, figured I'd need it sooner than later). But it's okay for the bike path I think, and if I can get a couple more miles out of a tire that cost way too much, that's okay with me. :)

BikeHN

06-02-2012, 02:10 PM

Did almost 30 miles today. Did some climbing in the Great Smoky Mountains then did a couple of (10+ miles) loops to add. Beautiful chilly morning.

Catrin

06-02-2012, 02:17 PM

Did almost 30 miles today. Did some climbing in the Great Smoky Mountains then did a couple of (10+ miles) loops to add. Beautiful chilly morning.

You made me homesick - grew up in Knoxville, most of my family are in Maryville or Townsend. I didn't ride a bike in those days however. If I can get strong enough hill legs, would love to head down and ride the Foothills Parkway someday :-) Cades Cove, where you took the pictures, certainly, but I love the Parkway. Thankfully my Gunnar has a full mountain bike drivetrain, and this is one of the reasons I had it built that way ;)

Thank you for the pictures!

lovelygamer

06-02-2012, 02:51 PM

We did 10.8 today. My first over 10 in one ride.

murielalex

06-02-2012, 02:58 PM

^ Congrats!

I did a slow 40 miles today, but was maybe a bit too slow as I got poured on about two miles away from home. I used the opportunity to stop at a cafe and have a happy pigout breakfast. Going to get together with three friends tomorrow morning for a short, social ride, where we'll probably spent most of the time at a local coffee shop making fun of each other.

redrhodie

06-03-2012, 07:24 AM

No ride yesterday due to rain, but I got out today for 20 something miles. It was windy, but I was going pretty fast even into the headwind. Then I felt that old familiar thump, thump, thump of a back tire flat. I was riding sew ups, so I just rode home on it. I love that you can do that with tubulars. The rest of the ride was slow, but really enjoyable. It felt like the universe was telling me to chill out.

Thanks universe.

murielalex

06-03-2012, 09:54 AM

Fun with friends! A nice, 25-mile ride before the heat kicked in. It's in the 90s today in South Florida and sticky, humid.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l17/vstanbury/1118daff.jpg

I'm in the green jersey.

Cynedra

06-03-2012, 10:49 AM

We got in 1 mile yesterday in the neighborhood - letting older son ride his own bike. I nearly hit a black snake. Then did yard work the remainder of the day. Although it was hot, it wasn't miserable.

Planned to do about 20 today, but only made it to 17. We were pulling the boys behind - me pulling the trailer and DH pulling the Tug-A-Bug. Son #2 was just being very complainy/argumentative, etc, and I just wasn't feeling it anymore. Of course, he fell asleep for the last three miles and so we probably could have gone a little more.

Roadtrip

06-03-2012, 11:00 AM

DH and I planned on riding today and doing a Birthday ride for my 37th. Was planning on riding the Little Miami trail north of town, but we found the new trail was open locally when we stopped yesterday to do a little recon. Decided to go there instead and check out the trail. Ended up doing just over 10 miles and felt great!!!

It's a start back as I've been struggling getting on the bike with health issues lately and I felt really good afterwards and could have gone further, but this was an EXCELLENT positive ride.

I realized half way out the reason I hated this trail... the traffic on the trail during the weekend is horrid unless you get out really early... so my avg speed was just on 10MPH. The human traffic-- obstructions if you will, it makes you works on handeling skills I guess :)

DH was stressed because of the pedestrian/dog/kids on the trail and just wanted to go. after we'd finished one "loop" and I wasn't really into fighting for my share of space on the trail either.

DH may have better fitness, but I'm a much better bike handeler, even tho I've only been riding for two years and he learned as as kid!

Shannon

Crankin

06-03-2012, 12:09 PM

DH and I did 19.2 miles on our "flat route," which to some might not be so flat, given our start/finish. I am recovering from allergies/a fibro flare up, so I wasn't expecting much. However, we started off slowly until mile 6, which always benefits me, and we rode fairly fast until the last 2 miles up the hill. Taking a day off yesterday made my legs feel great, and I was surprised at how much endurance I had, considering.
The weather forecast looks horrible until the end of the week. I have 12 miles to go to get to 1K for the year, so I am on track for 3K again.

indysteel

06-03-2012, 12:35 PM

DH and I did 46 relatively hilly miles in southern Indiana today. Gorgeous day but we dealt with a lot of traffic. Part of the route goes around a lake, so it wasn't unexpected. I'm happier with my climbing than I've been in a while. I'm still slower than DH, but given his strength to weight ratio, I doubt that's going to change anytime soon!

Catrin

06-03-2012, 02:13 PM

I did 40 miles today, a mixed route that was quite windy going out, but for a change I got a tailwind most of the way back. Ok, not REALLY a true tail wind, more of an angled side wind that helped more than it hurt. I will take it :cool: I was trying to focus more on time in the saddle (3 hours was the target), but am happy with the mileage.

I think my neck has recovered as much as it is going to, and I am happy with how I did today. I've lost a bit of my hill climbing strength in my recovery period but that's not much of a surprise as it wouldn't allow me to climb at all for some time. Now my neck appears to be happy with longer distances it is time to start working on hill-climbing once I get home from the mtb clinic next weekend. THAT will be the real test of my neck, three days on the mountain bike :D

ZenBiker

06-03-2012, 02:19 PM

Little Red Riding Hood (big all-woman ride in northern Utah) was yesterday, so my weekend ride was a long one for me. Ended up with just over 63 miles, a new personal best. :D

Most everyone else I knew there rode 100, but I have more training to do before I can accomplish that. To any Bonneville Cycling Club members on this forum: thanks for a great event!!

Reesha

06-03-2012, 04:50 PM

Congrats Zen :)

This morning I went out for a ride with my coach and personal trainer and did 85 miles with around 4000 feet of climbing. I'd been sick W, Th, F, and Sat... so it was a miracle that I was able to do it, let alone hammer the last 20 miles or so. I learned a valuable lesson... eating 4 eggs and a cup of white rice for breakfast is like eating a BRICK before a long ride. I usually eat 3-4 eggs for breakfast on the weekend, just not an hour before working out. It took 3-4 hours for each of those eggs to settle/digest. Totally unpleasant. I did manage all 85 miles subsisting on 4 bottles of accelerade alone... I just couldn't stomach the thought of solid food after those eggs, even though I brought a few larabars with me.

Still, even though I'm really tuckered... it was a great ride. I do need to check with my doctor about renewing my inhaler prescription after 6 years-- some of those steep climbs had at the edge and racing this spring certainly underscored its necessity. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to get a new one.

That's me riding behind Zach.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/600222_379500098775502_1332001274_n.jpg

Catrin

06-03-2012, 04:57 PM

Reesha, you look great and Road Trip - congratulations on getting out there :cool:

ZenBiker, that just sounds awesome!

goride

06-03-2012, 05:47 PM

No ride Saturday. I was saving my legs for a 75 mile organized ride today. There were 7,200 participants spread over 6 distances and routes, with varying start times. Some friends and I rode the 75 mile route, which was the earliest start at 7:00 a.m. The highlight of the ride was at the beginning, and was an opportunity to ride across a 2.5 mile bridge near the city lakefront that is normally closed to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The bridge was closed to motorized traffic for several hours for this to happen. For the entire ride there was great traffic control, streets (urban, suburban, and country) that were in good riding condition, volunteers at every turn (saw some of them doing some gravel sweeping in a turn as we passed through), ride marshals on bicycles patrolling the route, sag wagons patrolling the route, good rest stops with decent refreshments, etc. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at mile 48 really hit the spot! On top of that, we had perfect weather – 65 at the start and 79 by the end of the ride, sunny with a few passing clouds, and winds of only 10-12 mph for a change :) And most importantly of all, I got to ride with good friends!

ZenBiker

06-03-2012, 06:02 PM

No ride Saturday. I was saving my legs for a 75 mile organized ride today. There were 7,200 participants spread over 6 distances and routes, with varying start times.

Wow, I thought Little Red was big at 3600 riders - your event was DOUBLE that! Sounds like a great ride.

Reesha and Catrin - thanks!

Roadtrip

06-03-2012, 06:03 PM

Thanks Cat!!

lovelygamer

06-03-2012, 06:06 PM

Reesha, you are killing it and looking great while doing it. It sounds like everyone had a great weekend of rides.:D

goride

06-03-2012, 06:21 PM

Wow, I thought Little Red was big at 3600 riders - your event was DOUBLE that! Sounds like a great ride.

But your ride was a women only ride, and our ride was mixed, so that probably accounted for a lot of the difference. The name of your ride picqued my interest right away.

chatnoire

06-03-2012, 06:32 PM

I'm checking in here, since it seems like a good log/conversation place. :) (still a TE newbie)

Got in 31 miles today on an organized ride. The ride details put it at 34 miles/2200 feet of elevation gain, but gps put it at 31/1400. No biggie, since it was the biggest/most intense climbing I've ever done.

Feeling pretty awesome about it! I topped out at 38 mph on a downhill, and worked hard to keep my feet in motion for most of the ride, which included some powering through on the last 1/3, including uphills that I passed people on.

Ours was a mixed ride, 7600 people, with 100, 62, 34, 25 and 7 miles routes, and they also do crits the day before, which I would kind of be interested in for next year. I like speed. :)

Norse

06-04-2012, 08:35 AM

Jo-n-NY

06-04-2012, 09:20 AM

Yesterday was my first organized ride of the season, Bike Boat Bike. We did the 50 mile route which is just the nicest of all the routes offered. If anyone is familiar with Long Island this ride begins out east in Mattituck on the North Fork and we ride through Southhold, Greenport and take a ferry to Shelter Island. We do this every year and it is always fun.

2 weeks is my first century ride in 2 yrs. The last couple of years we only mustered up metrics. I feeling stronger this year so I am curious how I will feel at the 75th mile which always was the breaking point for me. This ride is from Babylon to the lighthouse at Montauk Point. The ride has always ended in the town of Montauk, it is first to go all the way to lighthouse :)

Jo-n-NY

06-04-2012, 09:21 AM

Reesha, love that pic of you and your smiling face. Very nice!!!

limewave

06-04-2012, 09:47 AM

I was able to squeeze in 40 miles with some friends. It was a nice, easy ride. Half on the bike path and half on the road. :)

solobiker

06-04-2012, 01:31 PM

First time out for the year on Saturday (not including my short bike commute to/from work) DH and I rode 18 miles half on single track the other half on forest service roads. It felt great to be out and about on the bike. I have been spending most of my weekend days climbing/hiking. Hope everyone is doing well.:)

Artista

06-04-2012, 04:12 PM

Got in 31 miles today on an organized ride. The ride details put it at 34 miles/2200 feet of elevation gain, but gps put it at 31/1400. No biggie, since it was the biggest/most intense climbing I've ever done.

Feeling pretty awesome about it! I topped out at 38 mph on a downhill, and worked hard to keep my feet in motion for most of the ride, which included some powering through on the last 1/3, including uphills that I passed people on.

Hey Chatnoire, I did the same ride. I overestimated the difficulty of Russelville Road and underestimated the hills on the last third of the ride. I used EVERY gear combo on my bike except for cross chaining on that ride!

I was really afraid that Russelville Road was going to result in a 4 hr ride for me. I finished in 2 hr 45 min. I was thrilled. 36 mph on some of the downhills helped my average speed a lot:D

What time were you there? We started about 9:15 and finished about 12:30.

goldfinch

06-04-2012, 04:27 PM

Did 61 miles on Saturday out in the horse country, slightly rural West side. For part of the ride I explored a new trail that took me into some real farm country and it was all headwind on the way out but a lovely tailwind on the way back to my rest area. Yesterday just a quick 19 mile jaunt to the Mississippi River and back. It was a beautiful weekend. Next weekend is the MS-150.

I wanted to do that ride but was too late to arrange lodging in the middle as my motorhome is inconveniently 600 miles south of me right now. Hope you have a great ride!

rubysoho

06-04-2012, 05:27 PM

Rode 170 miles over Saturday and Sunday in the NC Tour de Cure. This was my first organized ride, on more hills than I've ever trained on, riding longer than I've ever riden, and I absolutely LOVED it!

It still feels like a dream (though my legs and right knee would disagree, sore but not terribly) and I can't believe I did it. I know a good portion is because the staff and volunteers were fabulous. I felt like the only thing I needed to worry about was pedaling. :)

Reesha

06-04-2012, 05:52 PM

Nice work, Ruby!!! I imagine you are really proud of yourself :)

nscrbug

06-04-2012, 06:27 PM

My weekend riding - 80 miles on Saturday, 92 miles on Sunday, 77 miles today. We had originally set out to ride 100 on Sunday, but ended coming up a bit short and I just didn't have anything left in me to crank out those last 8 miles. :( We'll try again this weekend.

chatnoire

06-04-2012, 06:43 PM

Hey Chatnoire, I did the same ride. I overestimated the difficulty of Russelville Road and underestimated the hills on the last third of the ride. I used EVERY gear combo on my bike except for cross chaining on that ride!

I was really afraid that Russelville Road was going to result in a 4 hr ride for me. I finished in 2 hr 45 min. I was thrilled. 36 mph on some of the downhills helped my average speed a lot:D

What time were you there? We started about 9:15 and finished about 12:30.
Hey Artista!
We pulled away from the start at 8:45, and got back in just before noon, for a total of 2.5 hours in the seat, 3 with breaks. What a fun ride! That last hill was a BEAR, for sure, but in lowest gear, I was able to stay in my seat and keep going, and still had the power to push through. Have you done that one before? It was my first time, and only my second sponsored ride.

chatnoire

06-04-2012, 06:45 PM

Artista

06-04-2012, 07:47 PM

Hey Artista!
We pulled away from the start at 8:45, and got back in just before noon, for a total of 2.5 hours in the seat, 3 with breaks. What a fun ride! That last hill was a BEAR, for sure, but in lowest gear, I was able to stay in my seat and keep going, and still had the power to push through. Have you done that one before? It was my first time, and only my second sponsored ride.
Sounds like we just missed each other. At least I know now that you aren't the young woman who managed to pass me 3 times on the same ride!

Yes, that last hill was TOUGH! I had a blast going really fast on the downhills but I was down to 4mph the last time I looked at my computer on the really steep hill:rolleyes:

This was the first time I've ridden the 1/3 century route. I did the 7 mile Elephant Rock "family" ride about 12 years ago when I was at my lowest ever fitness level. Back then even the family ride was routed over some pretty intense hills. I thought that I was going to die on that ride! Yesterday's ride was my redemption:D

Irulan

06-04-2012, 08:17 PM

I'll play.
Two rides this weekend.
First one.. .we have some great road riding right out the front door... through farm valleys and up into rolling wheat fields. DH and I are experimenting with the route. There is a loop, but about 13 miles of it is state highway, and you can do an out and that ends up with the same mileage ( 42) and no traffic.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8yWKIOVAGQc/T8155zHhXrI/AAAAAAAACkw/kl18Ah_OKk8/s640/IMG_0451.JPG

Second ride, my singlespeed had been whispering to me how neglected it's been feeling. I did an 11 mile loop with my girlfrind and oh what a fun time. This is my titanium SS that I built up out of an old Pro Mongoose a few years ago.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xavrTDYopEc/T814kIqwl1I/AAAAAAAACkg/0BwbvbLah_U/s640/IMG_0526.JPG

chatnoire

06-04-2012, 08:55 PM

Sounds like we just missed each other. At least I know now that you aren't the young woman who managed to pass me 3 times on the same ride!

Yes, that last hill was TOUGH! I had a blast going really fast on the downhills but I was down to 4mph the last time I looked at my computer on the really steep hill:rolleyes:

This was the first time I've ridden the 1/3 century route. I did the 7 mile Elephant Rock "family" ride about 12 years ago when I was at my lowest ever fitness level. Back then even the family ride was routed over some pretty intense hills. I thought that I was going to die on that ride! Yesterday's ride was my redemption:D
Hahaha, yeah, we got passed a few times by some people...including a little girl about 8 years old, pedaling furiously.....she passed my boyfriend, who then passed her, and she *growled* and passed him again!

We must have been just a few miles apart each stop. Are you doing any of the other rides in the area? We are planning on training for the 1/2 century in Boulder in September, which I did last year on my old bike (hard!!!) I was thinking about doing Venus, but my best friend isn't able to come back from Philly for the ride, so I wasn't sure about doing it alone.

lovelygamer

06-05-2012, 05:25 AM

eofelis

06-05-2012, 05:48 AM

I rode the Little Red Riding Hood organized ride in Logan, UT on Saturday. Was any TE gals there? I rode the 50 miler as I haven't been road riding a lot lately. (I've been commuting a lot). I was there with a group of friends. They all rode 80-100 miles, so I rode by myself, which was still quite nice. It was a cool and cloudy day but excellent for a bike ride.

Artista

06-05-2012, 06:12 AM

We must have been just a few miles apart each stop. Are you doing any of the other rides in the area? We are planning on training for the 1/2 century in Boulder in September, which I did last year on my old bike (hard!!!) I was thinking about doing Venus, but my best friend isn't able to come back from Philly for the ride, so I wasn't sure about doing it alone.
I doubt that we'll do any other long-ish road rides this year. Our passion is mtn biking. We committed to doing the Elephant Rock with some friends last winter when June 3rd sounded like it was the distant future. DH and I had a lot of trouble motivating ourselves to get on the road bikes to train for this. In the end, we pulled this ride off with many 1 1/2 hour mtn bike rides and one 32 mile road ride under our belts. I may consider the Boulder and Venus rides if we end up doing many longer mtn bike rides this summer.

I've heard that the Venus de Miles ride is very friendly. I'll bet that you could hook up with someone at the start of the ride so that you wouldn't have to do the whole thing alone.

Norse

06-05-2012, 07:39 AM

I wanted to do that ride but was too late to arrange lodging in the middle as my motorhome is inconveniently 600 miles south of me right now. Hope you have a great ride!

Thanks! Sounds like it's going to be a scorcher this year.

Sky King

06-05-2012, 08:28 AM

More photos once we do the blog post but we had a terrific 3 day adventure with a group of friends - 12 riders, 105 miles, all on dirt and gravel. We had 2 fat bikes, full suspension mtb, front suspension mtb, 3 LHT's, 2 Rivendell's and a Salsa Fargo. Couldn't have ask for a better weather and can't wait to do it again next year.

funkbunny

06-07-2012, 09:51 AM

Sounds like we just missed each other. At least I know now that you aren't the young woman who managed to pass me 3 times on the same ride!

Yes, that last hill was TOUGH! I had a blast going really fast on the downhills but I was down to 4mph the last time I looked at my computer on the really steep hill:rolleyes:

This was the first time I've ridden the 1/3 century route. I did the 7 mile Elephant Rock "family" ride about 12 years ago when I was at my lowest ever fitness level. Back then even the family ride was routed over some pretty intense hills. I thought that I was going to die on that ride! Yesterday's ride was my redemption:D

Hi - I see you and my girl chatnoire discussing ERock. Hope it wasn't me! I can't tell you how many people I passed and then they passed me while I was waiting at the top of the hills for the rest of my "ride team" - it was an excellent game of tag. :)

ERock 30-ish was a great ride - looking forward to heading that way again next year! Maybe they'll have a 50 miler instead of jumping from 30 to 62.

chatnoire

06-07-2012, 06:58 PM

Artista

06-07-2012, 08:11 PM

Hi - I see you and my girl chatnoire discussing ERock. Hope it wasn't me! I can't tell you how many people I passed and then they passed me while I was waiting at the top of the hills for the rest of my "ride team" - it was an excellent game of tag. :)

ERock 30-ish was a great ride - looking forward to heading that way again next year! Maybe they'll have a 50 miler instead of jumping from 30 to 62.
funkbunny, I dunno...we're you wearing all black and riding a blue and silver or black bike? I don't normally pay attention to people that I pass or those who pass me. I think that I was very aware of her, (maybe you:p), because I couldn't imagine riding in the heat dressed in all that black. I passed her right before we got back to the fair grounds, though. I'll bet the poor thing got overheated and slowed down;)

I think that they used to offer a 1/2 century route on the E Rock before the metric century distance got popular. I doubt that they'll bring the 50 miler back. We can expect the locals to be only so patient with intersection delays waiting for all of us cyclists. Besides, your secret is out. Chatnoire says that you can do the metric century!

Speaking of Chatnoire, I'll do the E Rock again if I can come to the wedding!

chatnoire

06-07-2012, 08:22 PM

funkbunny, I dunno...we're you wearing all black and riding a blue and silver or black bike? I don't normally pay attention to people that I pass or those who pass me. I think that I was very aware of her, (maybe you:p), because I couldn't imagine riding in the heat dressed in all that black. I passed her right before we got back to the fair grounds, though. I'll bet the poor thing got overheated and slowed down;)

I think that they used to offer a 1/2 century route on the E Rock before the metric century distance got popular. I doubt that they'll bring the 50 miler back. We can expect the locals to be only so patient with intersection delays waiting for all of us cyclists. Besides, your secret is out. Chatnoire says that you can do the metric century!

Speaking of Chatnoire, I'll do the E Rock again if I can come to the wedding!

She can totally do the 62. She's doing one with us in July, already. :D

chatnoire

06-09-2012, 03:43 PM

Hahahaha, weekend, yay! Guess who learned the importance of a patch/repair kit on today's ride? 9 miles in, no kit, got to sit and wait for everyone to finish and come get me with the car. I'm ready now though, have a full kit, strapped to my seat, spare tube, etc. woo!!!

PS: I love my bike shop. They love me too, it seems, since every time I go in I drop a load of $$

indysteel

06-09-2012, 03:55 PM

I didn't ride today. My legs needed a break. But yesterday, DH and I took the afternoon off and went mountain biking. It was my first time out since returning from Utah and my first time on our local trail since last fall. The ride went well. I did a trail new to me and handled it well. I still find myself more breathless mtbing than I ever do on the road, even on road climbs. I think part of it is that I'm a masher on my road bike, but tend to spin a bit more on my mtb. I think some cadence drills are in my future.

It's funny how much my perspective has changed in my first year of mountain biking. We did some downhills in Utah that were seriously steep (at least to me) so the descents that scared my last year on my local trails don't bother me a bit now. Still, I always experience quite a bit of anticipatory anxiety before I hit the trail. I need to build up some confidence. I wish, too, that we could get out to the trails more often. It's hard to balance it, road biking and all the other stuff we like/have to do.

Crankin

06-09-2012, 05:03 PM

Indy, I never wanted to give up my road biking time to get better at mountain biking, and that's what I never got better!
Yesterday, I did a short 17 mile ride in the afternoon, before going into the city for dinner and theatre, where I showed my DH some new roads I discovered while riding with one of my clients. There were severe storms coming in, and we took more time than needed because I kept hearing a click, every time I turned the pedal and I could feel something weird in my right pedal. After 3 stops, checking everything, shoes, cleats, pedals, we discovered 1) my front QR was loose :eek: and I have no idea how that happened, 2) my right pedal had something wrong with it, even though it didn't seem loose, and 3) my brakes were not working correctly. The brakes got fixed on the road, we continued the ride and about 6 miles from home it started thundering. We got home just as the first drops of rain were falling.
Today, DH rode my bike to try and figure out what was wrong with my pedal, before he ordered new ones. When he went to take it off, it was a little loose. All he had to do was tighten it a bit and all was good. We did a 21 mile ride into Westford and Chelmsford and back. It's a really pretty local ride, with enough climbing to make you work, but a stretch in the middle that is flat.
Tomorrow, hoping to do 50+, riding up one of the steepest local climbs and then having a picnic lunch on the grounds of the winery we ate at last week.

lovelygamer

06-09-2012, 05:08 PM

We did 13.2 today in a shady wooded area. It was a great loop and my longest ride. :)

azfiddle

06-09-2012, 06:22 PM

It's all weekend time for me right now (summer vacation!). Does Friday count? Yesterday I rode 31 miles, up to Molino Basin on Mt. Lemmon, with 2500 feet of climbing. I'm the slowest person up the mountain, but love coming back down.

This morning the alarm went off at 5:30, but we had been at a concert and after-party for the performers until 1 am. Just no way we were going to do 40 miles on 4 hours of sleep. So now that it's starting to cool down, we're heading out for a sunset ride at Saguaro NP. And maybe a gelato run afterwards!

Crankin

06-10-2012, 01:37 PM

We rode to the Nashoba Winery in Bolton, in a round-a-bout way, going up one of the steepest local climbs I do. The winery itself is at the beginning of a long hill, but we actually went down that street for about a quarter of a mile.
You can pre-order a picnic lunch on line, so it was ready when we got there. We sat on a lovely porch, overlooking the winery and pretended we were in Italy! Lunch was delicious (I had a mozzarella, tomato, basil sandwich on a baguette) and the place was mobbed, with people who came out to the "country" for a day.
Poor DH had something wrong with his bike the whole way. It was either the front derailleur or the chain, so when we got close to home, we stopped at the LBS and they put a new chain on. It's very rare that my DH brings his bike to someone else to do the work. They were having a BMC demo day there, and there were lots of racer boy types hanging out.
The picture is from after we left the winery, at the bottom of the hill, where we could look up and see the vines. 43 miles, with about 1500 ft. of climbing.

goldfinch

06-10-2012, 03:18 PM

Crankin, that Guru sure is pretty.

indysteel

06-10-2012, 04:45 PM

Sounds like a great day, Crankin. I love all the places that you get to ride to. My area is far less interesting.

DH and I did a 36 miler from home over familiar territory. He was feeling sluggish and I was feeling spry so I pulled a good part of the way. I definitely feel stinger this year thanks to our trip to Utah. I feel like I got my mojo back.

Fredwina

06-10-2012, 04:50 PM

Got in about 30 miles before it started to rain pretty bad yesterday. My Nose was acting up today, so I stayed in.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-b4KuUY8rg_w/T9NisVcJIGI/AAAAAAAASNY/ZrSnuej_i1k/s640/100_0995.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E6XCkZtBhZw/T9NiuK0-Q2I/AAAAAAAASNg/Za9tF_9kbxY/s640/100_0996.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SdiTV7BUnDo/T9NiwdxfIuI/AAAAAAAASNo/HxMF4-FAUis/s640/100_0997.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Uobg5B05444/T9Niy1W190I/AAAAAAAASNw/MrB2BdBpP-w/s640/100_0998.JPG

Catrin

06-10-2012, 05:25 PM

... I feel like I got my mojo back.

Awesome :)

I attended a women's mountain bike clinic all weekend, on the bike all day yesterday (drills and a ride) and a 2 hour ride today. Sweet!

chatnoire

06-10-2012, 06:10 PM

Fredwina, those pics are lovely!

Got a ride in today! 32 miles, 700 feet of climb. We were going to go with a couple other people and a local club to do a mountain ride, but opted to sleep in instead. The weather was much cooler today, so we rode this afternoon without much trouble. It was great, though it was a bit hazy on the mountains, due to the big fires happening up north. This pic was at the top of our last hill....

Antaresia

06-10-2012, 08:48 PM

62km day, all flat this time. Here in the GRVD you hear a lot of complaints about how terrible and boring Richmond is, all I can say is that those complainers have obviously never biked it. We went over the Canada line bridge (there's a bike path on the side, I bike it every weekday as part of my commute) and East on River road, kind of narrow but all waterfront and the traffic isn't too bad. Back over the Westmister hwy to the West side of Rmchomd, and down into scenic Steveston to have some fish & beer. And icecream. Biking back up the West **** trail was SO beautiful.

West **** trail:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/photo-15.jpg

The gravel road got annoying fast, but it was worth it.

Antaresia

06-10-2012, 08:50 PM

oh my goodness, **** is censored. Lol. Anyway, if you're confused it's this:

Richomond **** trails (http://www.richmond.ca/parksrec/ptc/trails/map/westdyke.htm)

chatnoire

06-10-2012, 09:13 PM

oh my goodness, **** is censored. Lol. Anyway, if you're confused it's this:

Richomond **** trails (http://www.richmond.ca/parksrec/ptc/trails/map/westdyke.htm)

That's hilarious that it's censored. That's a pretty trail though!

Norse

06-11-2012, 12:06 PM

Did the MS-150 this weekend from near Duluth to a northern Twin Cities burb. This was my 11th straight year. Except for the first year, which I naively did on a mountain bike :eek: this was the most brutal year ever. I thought the constant southerly headwind, which caused my first sub-15 mph average in forever for this ride, on Saturday, was bad. That was a piece of cake compared to yesterday. It was AWFUL!!! Heat (90's) but worst of all - the WIND - the wicked CONSTANT 25-35 mph headwind with gusts over 40 that just about knocked me off my bike more than once and stopped riders dead in their tracks! I have never seen such misery on this ride or so many folks who looked like zombies. People were dropping by the trailside, sides of the road and just sitting, staring blankly. Everyone was joining up with drafting lines but nothing much helped.

On the bright side, riders raised $3 million for the local chapter of the Nat'l MS Society, and it was great training for my upcoming AIDS ride in mid-July - lots of heat training and, thanks to the awful headwind, what was the equivalent of hours and hours of hill climbing work. :rolleyes:

GLC1968

06-11-2012, 12:19 PM

I managed my first ride in at least 3 months but likely more (I honestly can't remember my last outdoor ride!), yesterday.

10 miles on a local MUP. I was really stressed out the whole time, was clumsy and uncoordinated, couldn't stand on the pedals at all (had to try over large bumps), had my rear killing me after just 5 miles and generally had what should have been considered a lousy ride. But you know what? I was riding and outside, none-the-less! So it was awesome. I can't believe that little 10 mile ride took us an hour, too. I've got a LONG way to go...

goldfinch

06-11-2012, 12:20 PM

Did the MS-150 this weekend from near Duluth to a northern Twin Cities burb. This was my 11th straight year. Except for the first year, which I naively did on a mountain bike :eek: this was the most brutal year ever. I thought the constant southerly headwind, which caused my first sub-15 mph average in forever for this ride, on Saturday was bad. That was a piece of cake compared to yesterday. It was AWFUL!!! Heat (90's) but worst of all - the WIND - the wicked CONSTANT 25-35 mph headwind with gusts over 40 that just about knocked me off my bike more than once and stopped riders dead in their tracks! I have never seen such misery on this ride or so many folks who liked like zombies. People were dropping by the trailside, sides of the road and just sitting, staring blankly. Everyone was joining up with drafting lines but nothing much helped.

On the bright side, riders raised $3 million for the local chapter of the Nat'l MS Society, and it was great training for my upcoming AIDS ride in mid-July - lots of heat training and, thanks to the awful headwind, what was the equivalent of hours and hours of hill climbing work. :rolleyes:

I had a friend who did the first day and then didn't do the second. Now I see why! And man that is hot for Minnesota this time of year. I was going to do the ride but didn't get my ducks in a row. Now I am glad I didn't.

Congratulations on beating the wind and the heat.

tulip

06-11-2012, 12:22 PM

22 quick miles with intervals, very flat. Much fun!

Norse

06-11-2012, 01:07 PM

I had a friend who did the first day and then didn't do the second. Now I see why! And man that is hot for Minnesota this time of year. I was going to do the ride but didn't get my ducks in a row. Now I am glad I didn't.

Congratulations on beating the wind and the heat.

Thanks! Yes, if ever there was a year or day to miss, this was it!

indysteel

06-11-2012, 01:12 PM

Wow, Norse. That sounds positively brutal. Good on you for sticking it out, and kudos for your efforts to raise money and awareness for MS.

AppleTree

06-13-2012, 10:01 AM

Did the 45 miles loop of the Flying Wheels ride from Marymoor Park... ended up being "only" 41, but it was hilly too. But still I increased my average speed to.....drum roll.......12.6 mph!! Whoo hoo. I know that is nothing to most of you, but for me it is an achievement. Maybe it had something to do with the nice tailwind at the last stretch, but I will take it.

Met the most fabulous woman as we were grinding uphill and stopping to catch our breath together. An army major who was recovering from a disease that paralyzed her lower left leg...she had only been bicycling for three months and was doing this ride...with a brace and clipless pedals. I was so freaking impressed.

Sunday did a nice recovery ride from home, about 25 miles. Here is a photo of one of my favorite haunts, so beautiful and peaceful overlooking the marina and the Puget Sound in North Everett. Love it.

Catrin

06-16-2012, 09:50 AM

I had wanted to get in a 35-40 mile ride this morning, but IT band started complaining at 26 miles so I sadly called it a morning. It was a great ride, though it was getting pretty warm. Tuesday was my last rest day (between riding and cross-training) so I knew I might be pushing it a bit to have a long ride today so it wasn't a real surprise that my legs started rebelling...but it was still a good ride and I whipped the butt of a mean short yet STEEP hill :)

Tomorrow I won't be able to ride until the heat of the day (92 is the expected high) so I am only planning on getting out and do some mountain bike drills - sort of an active rest day. True rest day Monday. Rest days are good, rest days are good...

Kubla

06-16-2012, 02:29 PM

I finally broke out of my current 10-13 range and rode 18 miles today. <Yay> Stopped at 3 yard sales along the route, but managed not to buy anything. (I'd started out early, but guess I didn't pick the right ones to visit.)

All went well until I had to cross a busy road on my way home. Most drivers in my area do not seem to believe that pedestrians have the right of way. I almost always get off the bike and wait at the crosswalk on the worst roads.

An elderly gentleman stopped to let me cross, but traffic coming from the other direction ignored the stopped traffic. After several cars whizzed by, I signaled for him to go ahead; I didn't want to hold him up any longer and the line behind him was getting longer.

He again smiled and gestured for me to go. It was clear the next oncoming car was not going to stop. The driver in the vehicle behind him grew impatient and leaned on the horn. He in turn honked and shouted something at the offending oncoming car. I prayed I was not going to witness a full-blown road rage incident involving a well-meaning senior citizen. Finally, I was able to cross.

I was close to home when a car abruptly pulled into a driveway in front of me. I had to stop a bit short.

A guy in his 30s jumped out of his car and called out to me. I couldn't imagine what he wanted. He then asked if I had a cell phone he could use "for a minute". (You're stopping a passing bicyclist to borrow a cell phone??) <RED FLAG>

I typically don't trust anyone and told him, "Sorry, I don't carry a phone." "You don't??" he said, surprised. "NOPE!" says I, pushing off to get away as quickly as I could. I did not go right home, just in case...but had a plan for stopping at a neighbor's if it turned out I was being followed. Thankfully, that was the end of the encounter. <Phew>

lovelygamer

06-16-2012, 04:05 PM

Kubla, congrats on breaking that 13 mile barrier. I'm working on that one myself.

We went kayaking today instead of cycling. I will ride my bike tomorrow, probably in the 10-13 mile range.

I had a lot of fun in the kayak and did really well for a first timer.:D When I can, I'll put a picture or two up. We went for 1.5 hours and about three miles.:)

MojoGrrl

06-16-2012, 05:09 PM

Attempted to do the Sierra Century in Plymouth, CA (106 miles, 7400 feet of climbing) today but it was already 100 degrees by about noon, so we cut it short and did the metric route (still 4400 feet of climbing) and I had a brief moment of glory when I took off on my racing bike for a few miles at speeds of 28-35 mph and left my far stronger and more experienced cyclist boyfriend in the dust. It was so hot that almost all of the full century and 200k riders ended up doing the metric. At least one person collapsed from heat exhaustion at the end of the ride, and I'm sure there were a few more casualties. I was pretty wiped out and miserable myself - where my burst of energy and speed came from I have no idea.

Kubla

06-16-2012, 05:10 PM

Crankin

06-16-2012, 05:55 PM

I rode 42 miles today, which included riding to our bike rally, leading a 15 mile ride, and riding home.
Weather was picture perfect. Leading the ride, not so much. We had every kind of issue, from people with borrowed, crappy bikes, people with no air in their tires, helmets on incorrectly, no bike skills, not knowing how to shift. We know that leading the shortest ride of the rally will get less experienced people, but this was the worst. One girl had her crank fall off, but DH fixed it... I ended up leading the last 5 miles when he did this and I had to sprint like hell to catch up to the others. Up a hill. At least I was able to leave the woman (she was with a guy) who was riding about 6-9 mph and couldn't get up any of the hills without walking. As the sweep, I had to stay with her, but her bf said it was OK for me to go ahead once they got back to the next to last road.
I found out the rally was put on Meet Up at the last minute and this is where some of these people came from. Granted, this is more of a social type of riding club than others, but :). My ride report will have some choice words for the event planners.
We were exhausted on the way home, but we booked it and managed to get back, shower, and drive back to the site for the dinner and speaker in about an hour and a half.

chatnoire

06-16-2012, 10:50 PM

Ugh, Crankin, that sounds brutal. I hate poorly planned events.

We did a ride today that was ~35 miles, average speed 12.6 mph, elevation gain 1000 feet. It was cool and breezy, and the last 10 miles were spent outracing a thunderstorm...which never actually made it to our side of town. *shrug* No biggie, the speeds on that half of the ride were good.

We're doing a "recovery ride" tomorrow, less than 10 miles - up to the farmers market, shopping, and riding back before tackling mountains of homework for both of us.

Oh, and of course, I fell again. Gah.

Here's a snap from our ride at the highest point, with the thunderclouds behind us:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--8EpUq7Gwgo/T91vi5pL34I/AAAAAAAAGu8/LNJtu1ObYb8/s640/june%252016%2520rain.JPG

redrhodie

06-17-2012, 06:18 AM

I wasn't going to ride yesterday, but at 3 pm I made the mistake of pumping my tires. I guess I've trained myself to ride after pumping, because once it was done, I had to ride. Now, the reason this is bad is because at 3 pm on a Sat in June around here, traffic is mad. (And I mean both definitions of mad.)

So, I knew I was probably going to have a stressful ride, and it was. I only did my 18 mile loop, but it was plenty. I yelled at one driver, passed one tour bus in a high risk way because I was boxed in and it was my best option. I took some chances that I normally wouldn't, but nothing bad happened. I really need to reconsider riding at that time here. I know better. Just thanking my lucky stars it turned out fine.

Crankin

06-17-2012, 07:25 AM

Same reason I won't ride through Concord center on a weekend, Red.
And add about 2,000 extra cyclists who all seem to start and finish their rides here. It becomes too much when combined with tour buses, people who don't know where they are going walking out into the middle of the street, and tons of regular people just out doing their weekend errands.

lovelygamer

06-17-2012, 07:37 AM

Pictures from yesterday. I hope to ride the bike later this afternoon. I'm still working out the seat height issues.:rolleyes:

redrhodie

06-17-2012, 07:51 AM

Yeah, Crankin', that sounds bad. There were actually very few cyclists out. Most know better not to go at that time. (I do know better, but I the need to ride outweighed the risk.) This is why I usually do the lbs ride on Sat.

All that adrenalin made for one of my fastest times on that route in a long time, though. :)

hebe

06-17-2012, 08:34 AM

I had two good rides this weekend. On Friday night I'd signed up to do a local Sky Breeze ride. The weather had been awful all week but at least stopped raining, although the wind was 20mph gusting to 35. There was only the leader and myself, but it was a great 12 mile route and I'm sure that I topped my pb for average speed/max speed. However I forgot to start the tracker app on my phone so will never know :rolleyes: This morning I did two laps of my 5mile circuit.

goldfinch

06-17-2012, 09:51 AM

I did 34 miles of rolling hills in the heat of southeast Iowa this morning. I passed a number of Amish people in their buggies and on foot, most likely on their way to church. Everyone exchanged waves with me. It was a very nice ride and at a good pace for me through the hills, beating my prior best average on that route by .5 mph. Close to town I did get buzzed by a car, with the driver leaning on his horn and me with no place to go as there is no paved shoulder. He had plenty of room to move to the other lane and plenty of visibility. What a jerk.

The best part of the entire ride was the break from the incessant itching of my terrible case of poison ivy. For some reason I don't itch when I am riding. But now, off the bike. Ugh.

ZenBiker

06-17-2012, 09:55 AM

I did a nice 34 mile loop with a friend yesterday. It's a ride that cyclists do frequently around here, but this was my first time on it. Last year I was still feeling too new and tentative to try it, fearing I would be in over my head. Yesterday I did it easily. Nice to know I'm progressing!

Just a short ride today, 12 miles to and from church.

Catrin

06-17-2012, 10:45 AM

Congratulations Zenbiker, that is a great feeling!

I was planning on at least doing mountain bike drills for a couple hours this afternoon...but my calves are complaining - unsure if they are just really tight (probably) or something else. They are fine as long as I don't go on my tippy-toes, which tells me they need a break. Sigh...and it is so beautiful, guess it is good I couldn't make it south to the mtb trails today...and they've not had a rest since Monday. Drills can happen tomorrow after work and the place where I go will be far less crowded.

Chatnoire, love the photo you took, looks like you had fun!

Fredwina

06-17-2012, 11:07 AM

Yesterday, I did the Harlem Valley Rail trail:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SJsV32GLX0k/T9zLNRzewgI/AAAAAAAASOY/CEGYB1EY60I/s640/100_1003.JPG
Copake falls:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z9MFswtXRug/T9zLQyg1EoI/AAAAAAAASOg/BJK4P1LFq-s/s640/100_1005.JPG
Amenia (pleasing to the eye), NY:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-uAcuUp9Mfqs/T9zLx-cy3_I/AAAAAAAASP4/AQ5Iic2d-ko/s640/100_1017.JPG
New York City Commuter Train:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-usjTAaMxkz0/T9zL09cvAVI/AAAAAAAASQA/gFDZFJdnZXI/s640/100_1018.JPG
The end, I had about 30 miles:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-955pIO-pQKM/T9zL5RhWUCI/AAAAAAAASQQ/871zNYU5fQw/s640/100_1021.JPG

Fredwina

06-17-2012, 11:12 AM

Today, I stayed close to home
Lindenwald. Martin Van Buren's Home after he lost the election of 1840:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ji2regAZ7ps/T94XLH48NdI/AAAAAAAASRc/NIpNpBCLBvA/s640/100_1028.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ooCnrUL067s/T94XOeOBNJI/AAAAAAAASRk/L7RIYUSvr3c/s640/100_1029.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1TQ_jPoNE9g/T94XXjbMM-I/AAAAAAAASR8/ZKl9BPI0Vrs/s640/100_1034.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wx_WmOUo_2k/T94XbUNyvdI/AAAAAAAASSE/LkrqPzAsMFY/s640/100_1035.JPG
Kinderhook, NY:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4WmqJs3k_9s/T94XkSYOwrI/AAAAAAAASSc/BifboBurT0s/s640/100_1038.JPG
Grave of a President:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dYtNN4E0xCg/T94XnPKq6CI/AAAAAAAASSk/4mj6tPNrpOg/s640/100_1039.JPG

chatnoire

06-17-2012, 01:11 PM

Aaaaahhhh, love the upstate pics!!! I miss New York. I went to grad school near Red Hook and rode my bike all around from Red Hook to Hudson to Tivoli and all the periphery of those areas. I kinda miss it, but not the humidity!

tulip

06-17-2012, 01:19 PM

I was out of town visiting family for Father's Day, but I brought my bike and got one 15 mile ride in.

indysteel

06-17-2012, 02:57 PM

DH and I did about 10 mtb miles today in Brown County. He worked most of yesterday and was pretty pooped today, but we finally rallied around 3 pm and got out to the park. It was hot and dusty but we had the trail to ourselves, which is always nice.

Catrin

06-17-2012, 03:29 PM

indysteel

06-17-2012, 03:37 PM

Sweet - and that is the best time of the day to go, especially on a Sunday. Which trail(s) did you ride?

Limekiln. First time since last fall.

Catrin

06-17-2012, 03:48 PM

Limekiln. First time since last fall.

:) Last weekend was the first for me on LK as well - heading back next weekend if the weather permits & my bike is out of the shop. Glad you had fun!

Crankin

06-17-2012, 06:30 PM

We recovered from yesterday by doing a 19.4 mile picnic ride. We rode 8.5 miles to a pond in a nearby town, where there's a beach, picnic benches, and (most importantly) a porta potty. It's right by the bike trail, which of course on Sunday, is something I will avoid like the plague.
Weather is still cool, clear, and gorgeous, about 68-70. We hung out for about 1.5 hours and then came back a slightly longer way.
It's going up to 90 degrees by Wednesday, so not looking forward to that.

Reesha

06-17-2012, 08:00 PM

Tomorrow morning I start my 3,300 mile bike ride! I can't express how excited I am-- it's such a wonderful group of riders. We had a great dinner tonight and a promising orientation talk this afternoon. I feel like the organizers have everything so well in hand. They have everything down to a science!

94 miles from Seattle, WA to Easton, WA

Already got my S+V potato chips and recoverite for when I am finished :)

You can follow me here if you'd like:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Larissa-Rides-for-Clean-Air/284979924902812

chatnoire

06-17-2012, 08:58 PM

Reesha, good luck!!!

I got in a brief (and I mean BRIEF) ride this morning, just 5 miles. The boyfriend and I cruised on our old bikes up to the local farmers market. I'm thinking about adding a rack and panniers to my old bike so I can carry all sorts of goodies, like the awesome haul we got today:

http://bikesbooksblues.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/20120617-132110.jpg

The small jar is a blueberry jalapeno jam that I'm going to put on salmon before grilling. MMmmmm....

It was HOT when we made it out, and despite a TON of SPF 50, I still feel like I got a little more sun than I'm comfortable with. The riding itself was good though, even on the busy streets. I got honked at while going through the park at one point, though, which was annoying. It was an old guy in a cadillac, after I'd just mashed up a hill while standing on my pedals in a short bike skirt. Dude, if you want that, go to a strip club. Leave me alone. :rolleyes:

BikeHN

06-18-2012, 05:17 AM

Did the Cherohala Challenge this weekend. 62 miles over 5000 ft. elevation gain. Needless to say, I still hurt. I did it though, now everytime this ride comes around each year it can't taunt me. 4 hr. 50 min. ride time. I'll take it considering the farthest I've gone on my bike this year is 32 miles. HA! Here's some pics I took along the way. Absolutely gorgeous.

lovelygamer

06-18-2012, 05:37 AM

sookiesue

06-18-2012, 10:34 AM

40 miles from Portland to Crown Point in the Gorge. Beautiful day for a ride, although it was pretty hot by the time I met up with my family at Crown Point. I was glad I didn't have to keep going!

The highlight of the ride was seeing a large bird flying back and forth across the Old Columbia River Highway. It kept going back and forth, landing in the trees on either side of the road. As I approached it flew about 10 feet in front of me, just above head level and I could see it was a huge turkey vulture! There was some roadkill it was trying to get at in between cars and bikes passing. I've seen lots of different wildlife on my rides but this was first for me!

Owlie

06-19-2012, 07:32 AM

I spent all of last weekend in Boston with my parents and sister (who don't understand how awesome bikes are), so no riding, even though I saw lots of cyclists in Concord and the weather was perfect. I think I caught something there, thanks to the sleep deprivation (my parents can't take relaxing vacations). Sigh.

Antaresia

06-19-2012, 11:19 AM

It's Velopaloza (http://velopalooza.ca/) here in Vancouver, so there are lots of rides going on! Me & my bike buddy Dave did the Fancy Ride yesterday (I know, it's not a weekend ride, hush). I'm really looking forward to the Wine Tour bike ride on Saturday!

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/fancy3.jpg

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/fancy1.jpg

facebook photos (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428747097158840.103430.183516161681936&type=1&l=8bd67bbcfd)

I went with a more costume-ish dress up, I didn't want to ride with my ~really~ nice clothes. We road all along the sea wall, through Stanley park, and ended up on a beach. There was a tall bike with us, and a dude on a BigDummy (I think) with a wicked loud sound system. It was such a nice ride, and we met some really cool people!

Crankin

06-19-2012, 04:24 PM

Owlie.
You probably saw me riding.

Reesha

06-19-2012, 07:55 PM

Day 1 of the Big Ride was so very cold, so very long, and so very wet. But I made it-- and burned 7500 calories! I also had the first flat of the Big Ride in Redmond, WA.

Unfortunately, I seem to have aggravated my patellar ligament in my right knee... possibly due to a 5mm discrepancy between my actual saddle height and how they put it back together... (some question about where the saddle was marked... at the collar or at the actual frame) but the 17 mile climb up Snoqualmie Pass was too much. I rested today and SAGed... took lots of pictures for everyone! It was more fun than I expected-- I am trying to make the most of it. My ligaments are still pretty swollen and inflamed so I doubt I'll be riding tomorrow too. Bummer!

ZenBiker

06-19-2012, 08:18 PM

It's Velopaloza (http://velopalooza.ca/) here in Vancouver, so there are lots of rides going on! Me & my bike buddy Dave did the Fancy Ride yesterday (I know, it's not a weekend ride, hush). I'm really looking forward to the Wine Tour bike ride on Saturday!

I went with a more costume-ish dress up, I didn't want to ride with my ~really~ nice clothes. We road all along the sea wall, through Stanley park, and ended up on a beach. There was a tall bike with us, and a dude on a BigDummy (I think) with a wicked loud sound system. It was such a nice ride, and we met some really cool people!

that looks like fun!

Bike Writer

06-19-2012, 09:40 PM

Crankin

06-20-2012, 04:36 AM

I liked it on Saturday and it worked fine

indysteel

06-23-2012, 05:27 PM

Catrin

06-23-2012, 05:32 PM

DH and I met a couple I know well from road biking at our local MTB trails. They had their 22 year old nephew with him who's new to it. You wouldn't have known that looking at him though. He did great. We did about 18 miles and had a blast. We were all pretty well matched, and it was nice for DH to have another guy to ride with. We have tentative plans to go to two other parks soon to ride. They've been to both and can show us the ropes.

Sounds great Indy!

My mountain bike came out of the shop today so I took it to Fort Harrison and practiced in the beginners loop there. It really is too easy for me, but a perfect place to practice skills. Tomorrow I've a long ride planned to and from my gym for a Bosu class. We will see, but I think I should be able to have some ice cream tomorrow afternoon after riding for 43 miles with an hour long hard Bosu class halfway through the ride ;)

Will ride for Blue Bell Ice Cream :)

Owlie

06-23-2012, 06:39 PM

I essentially rode 48 miles (round trip) for ice cream and a sandwich. :o ...after not riding for two weeks. Bad idea. I went out in the afternoon (bad idea), pushed it on the way out (bad idea), and got on the bike too soon after eating (worse idea). You can see where this is going. There was no puking, but it was a pretty miserable 14 miles back to Xenia, where I refilled my water bottles, then sat on a bench, totally exhausted, and called my boyfriend to ask "Do I have to ride the ten miles back to the car?"

Owlie

06-23-2012, 06:53 PM

riding. Daily.

And, i'm getting a new bike!!!!

oh?

Owlie

06-23-2012, 07:38 PM

You deserve it!

sempronialou

06-23-2012, 08:24 PM

I went about 25 miles today. My goal was to go as far as I could on this particular road that is bike friendly. It's a park system that is very scenic. The county shuts down part of the road on Saturdays in the late spring and summer for people to cycle, roller blade, walk, or run on the road. Anyway, I got pretty far until the road merged into another busy road. I was too chicken to go further, so I turned around. I was tired by the time I road home. It was very beautiful today. A big black bug hit me in the teeth on the way back. I found it rather humorous and slightly painful since it bounced off my lip. So I guess I was a happy cyclist today. :-)

Reesha

06-23-2012, 08:42 PM

Owlie

06-23-2012, 09:01 PM

I rode 77 miles from Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, ID! 88 miles tomorrow and we will head into Montana, State #3:

Pics: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.376768579057279.90606.284979924902812&type=1

and lots more pics and updates: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Larissa-Rides-for-Clean-Air/284979924902812

It's fascinating to read about your journey. And I had a good laugh over the showers comment. They sound like the ones at my junior high, at least until they built the shiny new gym.

Catrin

06-24-2012, 04:21 AM

I am really enjoying reading about your great adventure, and it is certainly that! Glad to read the knee is doing a bit better, and may it all be downhill today and with a good tailwind :cool:

Crankin

06-24-2012, 04:59 AM

We're in the Berkshires. Yesterday we did 42 miles, including climbing the Tyringham "wall." The ride didn't start off so great, as I had a flat just as we got outside of Stockbridge; a huge staple in my tire. But, the weather was great. The climbing felt really hard today. I think it was the 5 mile climb after doing the "wall" that got me. My speed wasn't slower than usual for this kind of ride, I just felt challenged. Best part was that the thunderstorm hit right when we got back in the car, as opposed to last year.

Kubla

06-24-2012, 11:50 AM

After several consecutive days of oppressive heat and humidity that was not conducive to outdoor activity, we finally got a break in the weather.

The Aurora and I went on a pleasant 13.5 mile ride locally. (I sometimes feel silly posting this modest distance amongst those who ride 30-50 miles, but for this heavier rider approaching Senior Citizen status, it certainly feels like an accomplishment.) Traffic was light-and it was refreshing not to have to deal with muggy air.

I stumbled upon just one yard sale along the way-it seems Saturday is the more popular day for them around here.

Now to focus on getting out during the week after work...

Catrin

06-24-2012, 12:03 PM

This morning I had planned a 20 mile ride to my gym (from my bike store), attend an hour long advanced Bosu class, then ride the 20 miles back to my car. Yesterday on an easy mountain bike trail my back wheel hit some deep dust wrong and I went down - bike and I are fine except my bad knee is a bit sore from the fall and I had lost some skin from two sides of that knee.

As much as I wanted to do that 40 mile ride, I decided it probably wasn't a really good idea - between the sore knee and the Bosu class - the instructor is HARD. So I rode 13 miles to the gym, and took a 15 mile route home afterwards. In those last couple of miles I was very thankful that I didn't have to ride another 10-12 miles to get to my car...the knee feels better than when I started though, I was just running out of energy as I got closer to home. The temps were rising and the Bosu class was hard, fun, but hard.

Great ride though, and a great Bosu workout (which also featured kettlebells on the Bosu ball - fun!)

Kubla, glad you were able to get out and enjoy the weather! Whatever our distances, they are accomplishments for us so never feel silly about posting them. You are out there riding your bike and enjoying the world around you - that is the part that matters! Sometimes I feel the same way about the the distances I ride...

Fredwina

06-24-2012, 12:53 PM

No ridiing yesterday, as I took a day trip to New York City. Did get in about an hour and a half today.

ZenBiker

06-24-2012, 12:58 PM

Another hot, windy weekend here. Seems like we have a red flag warning in the weather forecast every day. At least it still cools down overnight, and riding conditions are good up til about 10 am. Got a quick 21 miles in this morning, running errands in town then tacking on a 12 mile recreational loop before heading home.

Crankin

06-24-2012, 04:31 PM

We did a 15.4 mile flat-ish ride before we left Great Barrington this morning. We convinced the B and B owner to let us keep one of our rooms (we went with friends) about an hour after check out, so we could shower. It was a great ride and we saw lots of cyclists.
We were out of there at noon, drove to Amherst, and had a great lunch at a place we used to go to when my son was at U Mass. It was only about an hour and 20 minutes to home from there, which went very quickly.
I have taken the whole day off on Wednesday, so I can do a group ride on the southern Maine coast. There is now a "spirited" group that often does the same or longer ride as the group I ride with. I am torn; I am not sure I can do a 16 mph average for 47 miles. Most of the ride is flat, with the exception of one "mountain," which is really just a small mountain, elevation about 500 feet. The other riders, who usually average around 13.5 are great and experienced, but some of them ride very, ah, squirrelly. I guess I will decide when I get there.
Pic from yesterday.

AppleTree

06-24-2012, 05:07 PM

40 miles today after taking a few rest days following a 65 mile day Wednesday. Up north to the park, where on the bluff I could look down and see the farmers market at the marina and hear music playing. Then wishing I had brought my Jamis bike with panniers so I could go down to it! I wanted to so bad, it was a beautiful morning for the market.

Wow, Crankin, Amherst and Concord, what a lovely, historical area you ride in, I am so jealous. Maine coast!! I would love to see photos of that ride, sounds like heaven.

I did have to chuckle though, at the "500 feet" and "mountain"...over in this direction we would call those "hills". :D Although, to me it wouldn't make much of a difference, I'd still be walking up 'em.

never2late

06-24-2012, 05:34 PM

I charted a new course yesterday that I thought would be about 55 miles. It included lots of hill work as I am getting ready for a 72 mile ride in heat next month. Well, after stopping off at two different covered bridges and missing an
important turn, I ended up 12 miles off course. I wasn't concerned and knew I could back track, but when my dear husband texted me, 'want me to come and get you', I decided to take him up on his offer. I ended my ride covering 67.62 miles and he saved me from adding six more.

My longest distance ever...and I figured I'd be so sore today. But can happily say no aching body parts.

Here's a picture of my new ride:

Crankin

06-24-2012, 06:16 PM

I don't consider 500 feet a mountain, either, but the name of the hill includes the word "mountain."
Most of what I ride are considered hills, but some are quite steep, such as the riding I did in the Berkshires. The only real mountains I've done are in Europe.
Will try to take some pictures on Wednesday. Right now the weather looks iffy for the AM, so not sure if the ride will be a go.

nscrbug

06-24-2012, 07:18 PM

I rode my longest ride ever, yesterday....116 miles. :eek: Hadn't planned on it, but that's what we ended up doing. Left the house at 5:45am and didn't get back until after 2pm...so it was a fairly casual pace...but still such a long day in the saddle. I've come to realize, that once I hit the 90-mile mark...everything beyond that is just mindless pedaling, to me. :p Like I'm not really enjoying it much, at that point...but I just want to finish and be done with it. I sincerely doubt that I will ever ride that kind of mileage in one day, again. I felt like a zombie for the rest of the day.

Today we rode 77...and with not much recovery from Saturday's ride, it was rough getting through it. I'm getting too old for this. :o

Linda

Reesha

06-24-2012, 07:32 PM

I'd like to follow your ride but the link does not work. I loved reading about a rider last year on that same ride. I really enjoyed it.

Try this? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Larissa-Rides-for-Clean-Air/284979924902812

Or just Facebook search "Larissa Rides for Clean Air"

Should pop up!

Reesha

06-24-2012, 07:34 PM

It's fascinating to read about your journey. And I had a good laugh over the showers comment. They sound like the ones at my junior high, at least until they built the shiny new gym.

Oh man, there really is nothing worse than being misted at with lukewarm water when all you want to do is be bathed in hot hot hot water.

I am really enjoying reading about your great adventure, and it is certainly that! Glad to read the knee is doing a bit better, and may it all be downhill today and with a good tailwind :cool:

I'm glad you're both enjoying it!

Reesha

06-24-2012, 07:41 PM

Today we did 88 miles and tomorrow we have 101 miles from Thompson Falls to Missoula, MT. There's about 3000 feet of climbing, but since I can't stand on my pedals for climbs due to my knee injury it's going to be a total bummer. My hammies and glutes are getting stronger though and I'm much better at pedaling without using my quads much at all (particularly on the right, though it's easier to be symmetrical about it).

Today was just incredible... I can't wait to post pictures once I get to Missoula, such beauty: moody, broody clouds resting on gorgeous mountains and then it cleared right out as we got closer to Thompson Falls. My rear end was screaming at me-- the pressure is just insane after this many LOoooooong days in a row-- EVERYBODY on the trip is feeling it. Luckily no chafing or saddle sores developing. Still, the thought of sitting on that saddle all day tomorrow is pretty much the worst right now. More poor tender buns.

The best part about all this riding is the massive quantities of food we eat. Today I had:
3 packets of apple cinnamon oatmeal and a banana first thing

On the bike: 2/3 Reese's fast break, 2 sleeves margarita shot blocks, cheese crackers with peanut butter, 1/2 baguette with nutella, pickles, some beef jerky I picked up at a convenience store when i was craving meat, some nuun tablets in my water

Dinner: salad with bleu cheese, grilled chicken breast with a humongous pile of mashed potatoes and gravy, sauteed mushrooms, corn and then banana cream pie for dessert.

It's pretty hard to get enough calories eating healthy stuff because it just won't all fit. I had to cram the pie into me. One thing I have learned is to avoid any and all foods that will make me want to go urgently on the bike. That eliminates a number of my favorite veggies, but fewer things are worse than having to go #2 badly and there being no services for 30 miles. I've got wet ones with me, but there's no making that any better.

Anyway. I'm having fun. Everyone on this trip is just wonderful and entertaining and warm and kind and I would recommend this ride to anyone who wants a big adventure. It's seamlessly organized and a great deal for riders for a wonderful cause.

chatnoire

06-24-2012, 09:32 PM

We did 42.4 miles today... it was excellent, EXCEPT that it was BRUTALLY HOT. I think the boyfriend may have been on the verge of heat exhaustion, as he was getting goosebumps in the last 5 miles. We tried to stop and cool off with wetting down our heads, drinking water, eating shot bloks, and so on, but it was still just the plain fact that we were doing 42 miles on pavement in the sun in 95 degree heat.

It's definitely made me want to get a few lighter colored jerseys, though!

Reesha

06-27-2012, 08:22 PM

We've been busy this week! We did an (easy!?!) century today from Missoula, MT to Avon, MT after having done another century from Thompson Falls to Missoula just the other day. Today we had cool weather, crystal clear blue skies, and tail winds. Made it to camp with 7 hours of riding and 4000 feet of climbing. Pie in my belly and friends all around me!

Here are some shots from the last few days:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/295485_378947518839385_1632351411_n.jpg

My friend Ben after a very painful (everyone had sore bums) century to Missoula:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/425980_378970828837054_80472170_n.jpg
Checkpoint:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/548060_378983995502404_2008789029_n.jpg
A perfect bend in the road:
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/309897_378983035502500_1988094744_n.jpg
The moooon!
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/555252_378984688835668_378541076_n.jpg

redrhodie

06-28-2012, 04:24 AM

Reesha, even the bikes look exhausted! Beautiful pictures.

Catrin

06-30-2012, 08:19 AM

Reesha, even the bikes look exhausted! Beautiful pictures.

Glad to see the bikes get to rest as well, they DO look tired! Pictures are just beautiful, thank you for sharing them. It looks HOT though...

This morning I got out at 7:15 for my first ride since last Sunday as I've been trying to give my bruised patella a chance to heal. It was right at 30 miles and I focused on making it 30 easy urban miles. There were only 3 hills in that route that made me downshift, and I just focused on enjoying the cool air after the huge thunderstorms we had before dawn this morning. I HAD planned on heading out at 5am, but the alarm woke me to sounds of thunder and rain, so I just went back to sleep smiling.

Things were starting to heat up again by the time I got home so I timed it well. I did not, however, have the right kind of liquid nutrition with me for a 2.5 hour ride with climbing temps. I wasn't sure how far I would ride as I left it up to my knee. She felt fine - no more painful after 30 miles than before, and indeed it feels much better now than it has all week :D As soon as I walked into the door I tossed a scoop of Accelerade, water, and 3 cubes of ice into the blender. It went down very well! I did take one salt stick capsule during the ride and had a small energy bar. I should have had Heed with me but had forgotten I am out...

My route took me downtown, and then back north to check out 24 Hours of Booty and Bootyville. This is the first year it has been held in Indianapolis, and I think I want to do this next year with my mom in mind. They have already scheduled it for 2013 and I wound up riding part of the route as that was how I got there/went home. It didn't seem to be a huge operation, but this was the first year it was here so one assumes it will likely draw more people next year.

Owlie

06-30-2012, 12:27 PM

Look at that sky! Reesha, your pictures are gorgeous.

I had planned a dawn ride, but a thunderstorm got in the way of that plan. Fell asleep again and woke up at 9:30--kitty has been waking me up at 4:15 or so, so I've been sleep-deprived. Between that. sheer laziness and a flat tire, I didn't get out until about 11:30. It wasn't too hot, just oppressively sticky. 20.2 miles, with free food (some event) in the middle. I just confirmed that I can't do real food when it's hot, but the potato chips were welcome!

Crankin

06-30-2012, 01:05 PM

We did a North Shore beach and country ride. I've done this ride a couple of times; it's nice, mostly flat, a little climbing in the second half (1200 ft.). We start out in Topsfield and head to Ipswich center, along the river and by several nature preserves and marshes. There is one spot in Ipswich center where you have to stop at a hugely busy intersection and wait for a clearing or a nice person to stop. Then, once you get across, you ride up a hill. It's a little awkward. I actually got off my bike and walked, no one was stopping. Then we ride to the beach loop part of the ride. It was windy and the greenhead flies are out, but we did stop and look at the view. Then we head back, along the shore, through some nice neighborhoods, along some bluffs and eventually head back to Ipswich center, where we bought sandwiches for later. Usually, we eat in a park right after this, but we got started early, so we continued on. We rode to Georgetown center, got more water and ate in a shady park. After the beach, most of the ride is shaded and there were hazy clouds. Good thing, as it was 91-94 during the ride; it didn't seem to bother me at all. It's dry out and I hydrated well. The fact that the ride doesn't have much elevation helped, too. There's one little obnoxious climb after leaving Georgetown, where we got into farm country in Rowley and Topsfield. We went ahead of our friends, got back to the car and changed out of the sweaty stuff in the car,poured water over my head.
46 miles, and we stopped for frozen yogurt at Cherry Hill Farm in Danvers on the way back.

ZenBiker

07-01-2012, 10:16 AM

Did a nice 28 mile ride on a nearby National Monument - great scenery, good road, minimal traffic. The small down side is loading up bikes and traveling to a good starting point (I'm spoiled - many rides around here can be done starting from my driveway).

We started at 7am to beat the heat, but there was no avoiding the smoke from wildfires. I've attached a pic from not quite halfway through the ride. It's hard to appreciate how much smoke is in the air unless you've seen it under normal conditions, so I'm also attaching pics of the view from my backyard on a typical day, and today. There are three fires within a 100 mile radius, none closer than 25 miles or so, but collectively they're having quite an effect on air quality.

Crankin

07-01-2012, 01:05 PM

Did about 30 local miles today, over to the Delaney Reservation in Stow and then stopping at the Acton-Boxborough Farmer's Market. It was hotter than yesterday and more humid, but this ride is all shady. Leaving at 8:45 helped. Got some really good strawberries and lettuce, but we only had one bag (I didn't have my pannier on).
Then we came home, ate lunch and I went swimming in the pond for the first time this year.

Owlie

07-01-2012, 04:34 PM

30 miles starting at 7am. Temperature was good, but it was horribly humid, and despite a large breakfast, I was hungry by the time I got home.

Norse

07-02-2012, 09:10 AM

The weather is soooooo icky! Temps in the 90's, dew points in the 70s, no end in sight. As my Red Ribbon Ride (the MN AIDs/HIV fundraising ride) is coming up in mid-July though, must keep going out and training! I did 55.5 miles on Saturday and just 31 yesterday. The humidity was actually worse yesterday and 10 minutes into the ride I had sweat dripping off of my chin. :eek: Oh, of course I also had to have rear flat less than a couple of miles from home. I was proud that I managed to change it in 15 minutes as it used to take me 20 for a rear.

I am planning a long ride on the 4th and forecast looks awful. :( Oh well, a bad day on the bike beats the best day in the office.

velo

07-02-2012, 09:27 AM

I've been riding only 3 weeks, and I don't have my old legs yet, but I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Right now, I'm just focusing on aerobic fitness and losing weight. It was super hot this weekend, but I got out early both days and was thankful for that, as the temps quickly climbed and we also got afternoon storms. On Saturday it was particularly hot, but I got 33 miles in. I was out at 6:30 and back at 8:30 but it was already so sticky outside, I couldn't imagine riding any more! Sunday, I slept in an extra 30 minutes and rode 26, but was still back before it got too bad. I'm lucky that I can ride in the am on the weekdays, too. I distinctly remember riding all summer long after work and the heat not getting to me so much. Must be the age and the extra pounds. :o

Catrin

07-04-2012, 07:21 AM

Holiday = Weekend, at least that is why I am posting this here ;)

16 mile ride this morning to test my knee to get an idea about whether I will be able to mountain bike tomorrow. I focused on intensity and climbing to see what my knee thinks - and while it did start to complain at the end it wasn't bad. Getting hot fast and it is HUMID, glad I got my ride in early.

So I should be able to mtb tomorrow :) It shouldn't be TOO hot by 10 am...I hope. At least I will be in the woods and out of direct sunshine.

Crankin

07-04-2012, 10:14 AM

It does feel like the weekend.
DH and I did a 17.5 mile loop in a direction we rarely do. It's humid as h*ll, as it rained until about 9 AM. This ride has a good hill near the beginning, and we wondered why there were tons of riders coming down the hill. We soon found out why; we got caught in the town of Lincoln 4th of July parade. I wanted to stop and wait, but DH wanted to get out of there, so we rode along side, behind the floats and fire engines, dodging parade watchers and a few assorted other weird things. I got to practice my handling skills :eek:, though I was a little worried we might get stopped by the police.
Tons of cyclists out. Leaving soon to go to a BBQ, although the heat/humidity kind of took away my appetite.

murielalex

07-04-2012, 12:07 PM

It does feel like the weekend.

Yes, it does. :)

Got out this morning at 6AM. Had a 60-mile ride planned, but halfway through, just wasn't feeling it (too hot and too many crazy people getting out on the road by the ocean), so cut it to 40 with a nice, big breakfast at mile 32. Got poured on for the last six miles, but it felt great. I only hope my shoes dry out by tomorrow morning!

Owlie

07-04-2012, 01:22 PM

I am officially an idiot.

I've been rather sleep-deprived for the last few days, so I slept through my alarm clock. I didn't get out on the trail until 9:15. It was already pretty warm. And then for some unfathomable reason, I insisted on making it a 52-mile ride. I made it back to the car, somehow, around 3:00.

Yes, I am feeling it. I consumed enough water to float a battleship, along with a metric ton of shot blocks. That and taking plenty of rest stops in the shade helped a lot.

Norse

07-05-2012, 08:46 AM

61.5 miles yesterday in awful heat and humidity. Starting temp at 8:00 am: 82, dewpoint 77; finish temp 97, dewpoint 72, heat index 104. Highest temp registered by my bike computer yesterday: 109! Eeeeeeeeeeek! I stayed well hydrated, and that was critical! I was pleased that I managed to average 14.5 mph overall, and that I was still producing sweat at the end. The last 15 miles were the hardest, I just wanted to be done.

Catrin

07-07-2012, 08:19 AM

Rode 10 miles EARLY this morning - wanted to ride further but my sore chest muscles apparently dislike road riding more than mountain biking. Still got 10 miles in however, and that is far better than sitting on the couch, I will take it...

Winding Road and I saw several deer, a doe and several older fawns. 11:00 and it is already 97 degrees :eek: Relief comes tomorrow :D

Megustalaplaya

07-07-2012, 10:39 AM

Rode 31 miles this morning. Humidity was up and made for a not so great ride. I seriously need to move out West. :)

Blueberry

07-07-2012, 11:30 AM

No ride for me again today. The 100+ degree weather is messing up my summer riding:( It's just too blasted hot. And I have a new saddle to try on the bike that I don't like to put on the trainer. Might be a night ride in my future tonight - I think I'll put the Generator Hub back on....

indysteel

07-07-2012, 01:14 PM

No ride for me either. My last two rides ion this heat did not go well. I darn near threw up on the side of the road/trail. I might try to get out early tomorrow for a short road ride.

goldfinch

07-07-2012, 01:26 PM

Beautiful here today in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Spouse and I went for a leisure ride on Sugar Island. It was 67F when we left and maybe 72F when we got back. This was his longest ride since returning to biking, a bit more than 13 miles for him. I did 15 miles. There was a steep hill that he wasn't interested in and I did it twice. Barely.

Giulianna23

07-07-2012, 01:31 PM

20 miles early this morning....didn't feel the heat that much...maybe I was excited because I just got my bike back last night from the shop, went in for a tune up and it rides so much nice and smooth than before. I was riding my sons walmart MB for the past 4 days and is sooo heavy and slow but I wanted to keep commuting to work and working out. I am really enjoying it.

I love my steel bike.....and I just can't wait to get my new Giant which is on its way :)

Catrin

07-07-2012, 02:18 PM

Yayy Giulianna23, sounds like you had fun!

The only reason I went out this morning was I could hit it around 7am...and it was hot and muggy then! I am glad I did it as I won't ride tomorrow so I can rest and prepare for my camping trip Monday.

redrhodie

07-07-2012, 02:54 PM

I did the lbs ride, and was excited to see my buddy back on his bike since hip surgery in May. Best ride in a long time, even though it was hotter than hell. We did our regular peace ride route, but the pacemaker blew us apart. So much for the peace part. But I felt pretty good on the hills today. 30 miles.

Crankin

07-07-2012, 04:11 PM

This morning DH and met Veronica and Thom for breakfast, after they flew in to Boston, on their way to Maine. When we got home, it was really threatening looking out and extremely humid. 82 degrees, 80% humidity. I really didn't want to push it, as I've been over doing it a bit (OK, a lot) and it's exacerbating things that don't need to be bothering me! So, we agreed to do a short ride, easy pace. Of course, we started going up Strawberry Hill, so not easy there, and the, when we had about 6 miles left, raindrops started spritzing. It ended up being an 11 mile ride, at a 16 average, which is fast for me.
Tomorrow I will be doing about 35 miles and it's supposed to be hot, but not humid.

lovelygamer

07-08-2012, 08:53 AM

I went out early today and rode 16.5 miles (my longest ride ever). I was trying for 20 but the heat index hit 100 and I ran out of water. I was maxed out. On the way home, I was looking for a store I could buy Gatorade at and I passed a guy out watering a garden. I asked him for water from his garden hose and he actually went and got me a cup of ice water. What a dear. If I am going to be riding that long, I need to get some electrolyte replacement tabs or gels. Great to be back on my bike though!! PS I wore my new Bontrager Jersey for the first time. It's nice!:D After today's very long solo ride, I realized I really enjoy solo rides. I ordered a road ID bracelet so I don't have to carry all of my emergency cards and things with me.

Giulianna23

07-08-2012, 09:58 AM

Went for 18 miles this morning at 6:30 am...... after 7 miles a good 10 minutes resting at a park to cool off .. took a few pics and back to business.

Yesterday I went to the store and bought a rear rack ....installed it and today I took 2 extra water bottles in a small cooler bag. After running out of water yesterday I realized the importance of having the option of extra cold beverages handy in this weather.

chatnoire

07-08-2012, 09:58 AM

It would have been a lovely week/weekend for riding. It's been 70's, overcast, and breezy, with afternoon thunderstorms.

Only, I didn't get out for a ride this weekend, because Wednesday, 50 miles into a 60 mile ride, I was passing a family on the cherry creek path near REI, and the kid with them went into my lane, right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, and went right over my handlebars, landing face first on the path. I broke my scapula, chipped my front tooth, and got serious road rash and facial contusions.

My bike is ok though! And I got a front seat view of the insanity that is Denver Health's trauma center. 7+ cops there that night, each with their own prisoner/patient. Scary.

Catrin

07-08-2012, 10:02 AM

chatnoire

07-08-2012, 10:40 AM

lovelygamer

07-08-2012, 10:56 AM

Catrin

07-08-2012, 10:57 AM

Thanks, Catrin. They definitely could have been much worse. No ribs cracked, no lung puncture (common with a broken scapula), and thank god I've got some core strength to help move me around, since the shoulder blade is connected to so many major muscle groups.

So glad that you weren't injured worse - I am a firm believer that increased strength and fitness really helps serve to moderate injury when it comes. Hang in there!

Crankin

07-08-2012, 12:33 PM

Heal quickly, Chatnoire.
We were supposed to do a 35 mile ride with friends today, but woke up to an email saying they were at the ER :eek:. It turned out to be a bad stomach thing, but after all that, no riding for them. So, we lolled around and watched the tour, ate lunch, and then went out for a 23.5 mile ride around Concord and Carlisle. We went on roads in the opposite direction than usual and on some of the roads I ride with my 13 y/o client. These roads are in horrible condition, some requiring almost mountain bike like maneuvers. Oh, did I mention there was a lot of climbing in this ride, too? We set out to do a slow ride, but in the beginning, a guy passed us on the flat part of Strawberry Hill Rd, like "hey you two dorks." I could tell he was going to slow on the hill and I got a "shock of adrenaline" as my son used to say when he was racing. I dropped him on the curve near the top of the hill, leaving DH to wonder what had got into me. I never do this. But, this tired me out and I struggled for the rest of the ride.
I should probably take a few days off from everything, but I'm just not willing to do that now. When we were about 5 miles from home, I ate a Shot Block, which did make me feel better. When I got back, I noticed the temperature was 89 degrees and it was 82 when we left. I think the heat got to me, too, although it's not humid.
I will not be riding to boot camp at 4:45 AM tomorrow.

velo

07-08-2012, 01:45 PM

I didn't ride yesterday. I was getting sick on Friday and yesterday was not feeling up to snuff. I considered just going out on the trail for a short ride, but the heat was atrocious. It never made it out of the 80's overnight Friday night and I wanted to sleep a little later than 6am, so when I got up at nearly 8am, it was already over 90F with bad humidity. Rest day. Then this morning, after coughing up some gunk (sorry for the gross visual) and my throat stopped hurting, I got out before it got too hot. Got in 25, but felt off the whole time. I don't feel *bad*, just coughing a little and some congestion. As usual, I was glad I did it after the fact, though. After today, we're supposed to get a break in the heat, so I can ride this week.

Kubla

07-08-2012, 03:54 PM

(Chatnoire, so sorry to hear of your accident. Hope you are feeling a little better and that your recovery will be speedy.)

I really wanted to ride yesterday and had planned to head out shortly after breakfast.

However, though it was overcast much of the day, the humidity was horrific. I opted instead to use that time slot to clean the corral...and save the ride for today when it would be drier. At least if I became overcome by the heat I could stop what I was doing and return to the house.

The humidity was lower today, but the temperature soared near 90. I managed to get an early start and was pleased to log 20 miles of pleasant riding on many tree-lined roads. (I drank two large bottles of water...should I be carrying anything different in this oppressive weather?)

murielalex

07-08-2012, 04:13 PM

Did 64 miles, which is the longest ride I've done before. Had to stop for about 20 minutes and cool off at 48 miles, and went through six 21 oz. bottles of water. Other than my legs being toast, I'm surprised I feel so good.

goldfinch

07-08-2012, 04:18 PM

nscrbug

07-08-2012, 05:03 PM

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Chatnoire! We (hubby, friend, and I) rode 100 today...our 2nd century of the season so far. It was much cooler out this morning, so I sort of had a feeling that we would shoot for 100 today. Yesterday, we rode 63 miles in extreme heat and humidity...which was utterly miserable. My Garmin indicated that it was 103 degrees at about 9:15am. In reality, it was probably more like 97 or 98 degrees (Garmin always seems a bit on the high side with temps)...but when it's that hot that early in the morning, it feels all the same to me...which is pretty awful. Glad to have gotten my 100-miler for July out of the way...now I don't have to think about one for at least a month. ;)

Linda

indysteel

07-08-2012, 06:35 PM

OMG Chatnoire!!! How awful. Heal well.

Miranda

07-08-2012, 06:52 PM

My xc bike... new rack/bag combo... newly found rurual/urban route loop 15mi.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg230/rotarydial/599907_10150951703419495_1642659295_n.jpg

It's been 100+ degrees and humid here in the midwest. Not our norm. Just miserable. SO glad the temps broke to the 80s today to comfortably ride.

I'm re-discovering urban riding from childhood and loving it. Thought this pic down by the water was pretty and wanted to share.:)

marni

07-08-2012, 07:06 PM

had lovely 25 mile ride with West Texas today. Turns out her parent have recently bought a house not far from me. Yay for a Team Estrogen meetup.

Miranda

07-08-2012, 07:06 PM

We've been busy this week! We did an (easy!?!) century...
Here are some shots from the last few days...

Loved the pics! Thanks for sharing!:cool:

lovelygamer

07-08-2012, 08:07 PM

Owlie

07-08-2012, 08:43 PM

Heal quickly, chatnoire!
And Murielalex, congratulations on the metric!

20.2 miles before work. I did the second half as intervals until the trail got too crowded to do it safely.

Sky King

07-09-2012, 07:08 AM

Chatnoire - Ouch, glad you are on the mend.

After 7 days of car vacation with much beer drinking and a little fly fishing we went out early on Sunday before the heat. other than feeling the lack of exercise, all was fine until about 5 miles from home. The DH was experiencing testosterone issues and was chasing a "racer type" about 1/4 in front of me when I flatted - ugh. I had already changed said tire prior to the ride as I managed to pick up a goat head on Saturday.
Found a bit of shade and proceeded to change my tire, expecting to see the DH rolling back to find me - nope. So now I was hot, tired and cranky and feeling unloved. Rode home and yelled at him. He said he had turned around but couldn't see me so figured I had gone the alternative route (the one we normally take). Of course I just yelled more as we have an agreement to be group minded and to never go a different direction w/o letting riding partners know. As you can tell I am still a bit irritated. Discovered the flat was due to my patch on my tube failing. Sheesh

Norse

07-09-2012, 07:52 AM

Heat and dewpoint finally broke a little bit this weekend. I got in 60 miles on Saturday and 57 yesterday. I feel like I am right where I want to be for my upcoming 4 day, 300 mile Red Ribbon Ride beginning next Thursday.

Antaresia

07-09-2012, 11:05 AM

Ugh, it was hot here this weekend, for the first time this summer. I went out with my friend, who was recovering form surgery. He isn't a strong biker but otherwise he's pretty athletic, into running and weight lifting. We did a short, flat ride on the West **** trail.

It's hard to capture the beauty of the place, part of the appeal is the wide open spaces,the marsh, and hazy mountains in the distance. Doesn't really make for good photos though.
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/Apollo-1.png

The trail
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/westdyke01.png

our bikes, taking a break. My friend is taller than I am, his bike is described as 17 inches (my bikes is 21"). We traded bikes for a while, for fun, it felt like I was riding a little kid's bike. I don't know how he does it, but he realizes it's too small and has plans to replace it.
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/ourbikes.png

We met some tiny cows. We also saw a bald eagle!
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/westdykecows.png

So, this friend isn't a bike guy, so it looks like I have another project : D
When we were heading out, we were comparing speeds and I asked what his PSI was.
"I don't know, 2.5. Or 200, or something"
"that doesn't make any sense to me"
"I'll show you"
so he stops, hauls out his pump, and shows me the point to where he's pumping his tires up.
me: "that's....25. You're pumping up your tires to 25?!"
I checked the side of his tires, it's 65. He didn't quite believe me, but pumps it up to 55, and he can't believe the difference :cool:

sookiesue

07-09-2012, 03:43 PM

First - Chatnoire, I hope you heal quickly! I love seeing kids on bikes but they do make me wary - I know how unpredictable my own kid is when we're riding together, he has almost taken me out once or twice!

This weekend was my longest ride of the year so far - 55 miles! There was an unexpected detour (a road on the map turned out to be un-bike-able gravel so I had to go 10 miles around!) that took me through some beautiful country. I was a little nervous, though, because my husband and kids were meeting me at a campground that has no cell service, so I couldn't tell him I had the detour. We had set an estimated-time-of-arrival for me, and also an estimated-time-that-you-should-start-worrying-and-come-look-for-me, and I didn't know if I could make it around the detour and back to my planned route by the time he might come looking for me. So, I was trying to ride pretty fast.

Not too many cars passed me on the country road, but one of them had some punk in it who yelled at me and really startled me. It got into my head and I got a bit weirded-out about being off on a little country road, with no one knowing EXACTLY where I was, and then there are lots of loud barking dogs, and aggressive anti-bike people all around (yep, in my head, I know...).

I was telling myself how ridiculous I was being and starting to calm down when I could see up ahead a truck that had pulled off the road, and next to it was a really BIG dog. I figured the dog would be under the control of the people with the truck, so I didn't get too worried about that, but I was a little nervous about the people - were they going to yell at me like that other meanie had? As I pass them, it's a group of youngish (teenage? early 20's?) men. One of them yells, "Hey, you're making good time!" and another one yells "Right on!" Turns out this truck had passed me a while back. They smiled and waved and I smiled back, feeling like all was right with the world again, cycling in the country is awesome, and yes, people are generally decent and kind.

And the dog didn't even look at me.

chatnoire

07-12-2012, 10:06 AM

Sookiesue - don't you love it when you get put back into that good head space on your ride? I find I'm really susceptible to that inner dialogue (especially the negative.)

Thanks for the wishes everyone. I find out tomorrow what the plan is for surgery, and other than that, I'm looking into a trainer we can get so I can keep everything else in shape.

Catrin

07-14-2012, 09:53 AM

Chatnoire, I hope you are feeling a bit better, sending you gentle hugs and prayers.

They keep teasing us with the possibility of rain and thunderstorms...but keep pushing it back. Sigh. We are under emergency water restrictions and the grass is pure tinder, we so badly need rain.

Headed out for a 12 mile ride to test my recovery. The short ride was nice, overall my average speed was higher than it ever has been and my heart rate lower than expected. Time to start ramping things up again - will head out early tomorrow morning for a longer road ride :) It was also delightful to ride in cooler temperatures!

Crankin

07-14-2012, 02:36 PM

Send those cool temperatures this way, Catrin.
So we were supposed to do the ride we had planned for last Sunday, when my friend spent the night before in the ER due to stomach issues. I woke up today to an email from her DH saying he now had a slightly milder version of what she had :mad:. We were up, so we went out at 7:40 AM and did about 22 miles of a slightly different way of one of our local rides. It ended up being flatter than usual in the beginning, as DH was tired from a lot of commuting and we were on main roads. When we turned onto the regular part of this ride, I had lots of energy and ended up going 12 mph up a steep hill. I guess I don't realize how hilly most of the "normal" riding I do is. On the way home, there was a para-cyclist in front of us, who was flying. DH decided he didn't want to draft him, so I had to book it to pass the guy and keep up with DH.
Thankfully, it stayed cloudy and was only about 80 while we rode. It is supposed to be brutally hot and humid tomorrow, when we are going to do the planned ride, which is about 35 miles. We're leaving at 8:30, I am hoping to convince the friends to make it earlier. Right now, it's about 90, sunny, and 45% humidity.
There was an MS ride starting out of Concord today, and the shorter route went right by my street and some of the route I did. That was another reason we went out early.
The heat isn't supposed to break until Wednesday afternoon.

Catrin

07-15-2012, 06:16 AM

Cool temps for this summer is all relative, we had the low temperature of 89 yesterday, but it felt refreshing! mid-90's continue in the forecasts... The skies taunt us with what looks like rain clouds, we can smell rain and the wind picks up...but then the front passes through with no precipitation. We saw about 3 raindrops yesterday and that was the most in quite some time.

22.5 miles this morning, wanted to go 35 but I also want to go to an advanced Bosu class later this morning to test the recovery of my side/chest muscles so figured I shouldn't over-do it as my knee just recovered from the previous injury. I rode out of my front door at 6:30 this morning and it was a sweet ride :)

It was a more urban route than my usual, there was little traffic though I seemed to hit every red light possible... I felt very good, and while I don't care that much about my average speed, it was higher than ever @ 13.55. For me and my riding position/bike geometry I think that is pretty good!

velo

07-15-2012, 08:48 AM

I had one of those rides with shifting winds where it seems you have a headwind the entire time. Ugh! My route was mostly from the south to the north with a loop at the end to head me back south toward home and I swear, the wind was coming from the NNW on the way out and the SSW on the way back. Still it wasn't too bad. I wanted to do a little more, but got a late start after sleeping in. 36 really beautiful, quiet country miles for today, and rode 37 yesterday.

Crankin

07-15-2012, 10:46 AM

We finally did the "Sight Ride," named so because it's about 3/4 of the route of a charity ride we used to do called Cycle for Sight, for the Lions club. Rode 8 miles to meet our friends at 8:30, where we learned she had dropped his wallet in the toilet a Dunkin Donuts. Not sure how that happened. It was hotter than hell already and humid, but most of this ride is very shady, until we are back fairly close to home. We rode through Sudbury, Weston, Waltham, Lincoln, and Bedford, and then back to Concord. While I used to do a lot of group rides on these roads, I don't ride them that much anymore, so it was a nice change. Saw lots of wildlife in the Great Meadows Refuge, as well as many, many cyclists out early today, to beat the heat.
Usually, we stop to eat lunch in Concord center, but it was only 10:50, so we headed home and split from our friends. On the way up my street, just about at the 8% grade spot, I shifted down to the lowest cog in the rear. I was already in my granny on the front, and was exhausted and hot. My chain fell off and I was on too steep of a hill to use the put it in the big ring trick to get the chain back on without stopping. I was able to get unclipped and not crash, which just a couple of years ago would have definitely happened. I pushed my bike across the street to a driveway, which got the chain back on, and headed up the hill.
It was shifting funny for a few days, so DH is going to check it now.
The ride was just under 40 miles, with 1500 feet of climbing.

Fredwina

07-15-2012, 10:48 AM

Not much
Up the hudson:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I3TsrXPK8Y0/UAL66pSyXpI/AAAAAAAASqo/fVFW79qNjpI/s640/100_1254.JPG
Patina:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5_AKd-CUet8/UAL69aIaAHI/AAAAAAAASqw/KWFDP-Q5iZc/s640/100_1255.JPG
Under the B&A:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ADDRTKcRiYc/UAL6_vfHWJI/AAAAAAAASq4/Sf6qLpGCJCg/s640/100_1256.JPG
For Mimi and Don:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cA1r4X-BQFY/UAL7Ax9MkwI/AAAAAAAASrA/HQFFnWy-u0Y/s640/100_1257.JPG
The Uss Slater:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CsJj7ltfQHg/UAL7DAsLk7I/AAAAAAAASrE/09p7XyJLR98/s640/100_1258.JPG
I was going to ride some more to work off that Coolatta, but it started to rain, so I headed back

tangentgirl

07-15-2012, 12:55 PM

Gorgeous day! It's been june-gloomy the last few days, but today is bright and sunny. Nice short ride with a friend, beach and hills, breakfast, woohoo!

Owlie

07-15-2012, 06:09 PM

Rain yesterday morning-->no ride; and I had to work until 7. Threatened to rain this morning, and work-->no ride. I was going to ride after work, but my parents were in town and asked if I wanted to get coffee, then my sister wanted to hang out for a bit. Now I'm starving. Will ride tomorrow.

Sky King

07-16-2012, 06:53 AM

I was able to take one of my friends out yesterday for her first ride, she is coming off a bad year of illness, and in the midst of an unexpected divorce. Only rode 14 miles with a two hour break in the middle to visit another friend but she did great. Helped her work on her gearing and shifting. Was nice to put a smile on her face.

Giulianna23

07-16-2012, 07:06 AM

Did a 20 mile ride Sat morning. Didn't ride on Sunday ...went to bed late, woke up at 6:00 a.m but just couln't get up.... I was very tired. I said...oh well... I'll just ride in the evening and try some new lights I got...but nop... was busy all day and by the time I was done it was too late. :(

Norse

07-16-2012, 08:00 AM

Tapering this weekend - rode 51 miles Saturday and, as is my tradition on the eve of the Red Ribbon Ride, did Mental Toughness with the Evil Coach Troy yesterday. I am glad that I forced myself and get out and ride in all this awful hot, humid weather we have been experiencing over the past month because that's what the forecast is looking like for the Ride, which begins Thursday. :eek:

indysteel

07-16-2012, 08:31 AM

The weekend feels like a bit of a failure on the ride front. We intended to mountain bike either Saturday or Sunday. There were spotty showers/storm in the areas on Saturday, so Sunday it was. Come Sunday morning, however, my seasonal allergies decided to flare and I felt really lethargic. MTBing is so much harder on me than road riding and it really sucks to do on less than a full tank. So, we opted to skip the MTB ride in favor of a 20-mile road ride. Wouldn't you know, that I ended up feeling great during the ride. Grrrr. Maybe next weekend.....

I am sort of scared of what's to come allergy wise though. Ragweed season still isn't in full swing yet. This could get a lot worse before it gets better.

smittykitty

07-16-2012, 10:47 AM

Pretty happy to be one of the 2,624 women of the 10,000 Seattle to Portland riders. It was a blast! The weather wasn't sure what to do, but turned out just fine. 71 degrees is way better than the forecasted 91 around here.

Glad I did a lot of training. It really made a difference. Made it 120 miles day one and 80 to finish day two. We had a great group of six family/friends and great support.

Wow, I might have to consider myself a "real cyclist":)

indysteel

07-16-2012, 01:21 PM

Great job, SmittyKitty! Oh, and I definitely think you should consider yourself a "real cyclist" now, although I'd argue you probably should have already considered yourself that.

Catrin

07-16-2012, 02:32 PM

Yayy Smitty Kitty, sounds like it was a great weekend! I agree with Indy, you should have considered yourself a "real cyclist" long before now ;)

smittykitty

07-16-2012, 04:45 PM

Ah Thanks:)

azfiddle

07-16-2012, 07:16 PM

Rode with my regular group on Saturday- 40 miles south of Tucson, with very much appreciated cloud cover and not too hot for a summer afternoon here. Sunday morning, I skipped the climb up Mt. Lemmon because of obligations, but rode up as far as the base of the mountain and wandered around for about 25 miles.

Fredwina

07-22-2012, 02:01 PM

I did some video's For Raleighdon, but You Tube blocked them in the US due to copyright issues. I split the songs up and they went fine (so Far)
http://youtu.be/tQ6ZdO7H_bU
and
http://youtu.be/ISLvk6lD4hQ

Crankin

07-22-2012, 04:22 PM

I rode Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but not near the amounts I should be. Getting ready for vacation, work, and a close friend's birthday party are partly to blame, but some of it is my attitude. I'm a little burned out, I think because I never really took a break from riding outdoors this past year. I am still about 20 miles short of 1500 miles, which I should have easily passed this weekend.
Our vacation to the San Juan Islands has changed a bit. We just can't do all the riding we had hoped, due to the ferry schedule, not wanting to miss the fabulous breakfast at the B and B, and wanting to get back to Friday Harbor for some good dinners, as well as visit with friends we have on the island. So, we are going to limit our riding to San Juan Island and do one day on Lopez Island.

murielalex

07-22-2012, 04:53 PM

Rode 60 miles on Saturday, which I'd done before with no problems, but this time, the last 10 miles kicked my butt, and though I'd never experienced this before, it felt like my feet were on fire. Not fun at all. I did a nice 30-mile ride this morning. Even though the gusts off the ocean were worse than yesterday, it was cloudy with a light drizzle, and really very lovely. I'm glad I went out today. At the end of the ride yesterday, I was ready to sell my bike for a ride home and never look back.

Catrin

07-22-2012, 05:28 PM

I only rode once this weekend, had a very short ride yesterday to test the strained hip flexor to see if I can ride without pain. I can :) I decided to take a couple more days off just to be safe.

I am a little frustrated from the old injuries I keep tweaking on the bike this summer - though my most recent isn't old and is from running, not riding. My little short ride yesterday was fun though, and I didn't bother even putting on my HRM. I will get back to it in a few days when I won't have to worry about sticking close to home in case I start hurting. I've 2 months before a 50 (or 75) mile charity ride and I fully intend to do it without over-use injuries this time - the last time didn't work out so well for that ride.

lovelygamer

07-22-2012, 07:04 PM

I did 35 miles this weekend with Saturday being my first 25 mile ride. I was slow (7speed hybrid) but I made it. I even calculated my water and didn't run out plus I have nunn tablets now too so that helped.

Today's short recovery ride turned into a mountain bike trail that kicked my behind. So much for recovery.

Antaresia

07-22-2012, 11:50 PM

I had plans for a 40km ride on Sunday, but the night before I went to lantern festival with my friend. She had finally decided to get a bike....how about tomorrow?

yup.

So, I road a few cities over (15km) to meet her at my favorite bike shop, and hey her roommate wants a bike too, so he's coming as well. This bike shop specializes in vintage & bikes for budgets. It's where I got my ccm mixte and my orange apollo.

She gets a BRC (old local brand) for $75, and he gets....a HUFFY. lol, it was $45. He could have afforded better, but he liked the huffy! It weighs a frigging ton. We rode back to Vancouver, neither of them had ridden in a looooong time. We took it slow.

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/Candoia/bike/newwest.png

I am so excited to have more bike-friends.

Owlie

07-23-2012, 01:41 AM

I rode 20.2 on Friday. I wish I'd ridden Saturday, because it was gorgeous.

sookiesue

07-23-2012, 09:08 AM

Biked my 12 mile hill-training loop on Friday evening, after a week and a half off my bike (on vacation). Surprised myself by beating my PR on this loop by 2 1/2 minutes!

Then lifted my 5 year old son back onto his bed in the middle of the night and triggered a moderate back spasm.:( A little muscle relaxer and lots of advil and I was feeling ok in the morning, but wasn't able to do my planned 40 mile ride.

I did go out for about 15 miles to see if it felt better or worse with a bike ride, and discovered that it felt better while riding, probably due to the fact that I could support myself a bit with my arms instead of relying on my back for all the work. Didn't want to push it, though, and kept it short.

Next day, I could feel it in my mid-back/shoulders that I had been making them do more work than usual!

Hoping a couple more days of rest will mend this and I can get back to a regular riding schedule tomorrow.

Trying to be mindful that I should be appreciative that I only experience this occasionally and no longer live in chronic pain, but overall, back spasms suck.

Norse

07-23-2012, 11:51 AM

I spent the past 4 days doing the Red Ribbon Ride which is the AIDS/HIV ride for MN - a grand total of approximately 300 miles. Weather-wise, it may have been the RRR's best year ever - the dewpoint stayed reasonable, the temps under 90 and we frequently had glorious cloud-cover. Rain on the second leg of day 3 did cause one of my teamates to go down hard right behind me. He had a cut above his eye that was bleeding and bruises and gashes filled with road-dirt and pebbles in his shoulder, arm and leg. Mr. Tough Guy though insisted on continuing and he did! Day 3 also saw another teammate total his bike in the most bizarre way: he had athletic tape around a knee (many developed knee trouble during and following the unrelenting, multiple steep hills of day 2) which came loose, got stuck in a spoke, then the rear derailleur and when it was over, his derailleur was turned inside out, flipped 180, nowhere near the back cassette and it somehow bent the frame of his bike. Oh, another teammate got his tire caught in a crevass riding out of town on day 3 and flipped over his handlebars, but he was ok. There was more; day 3 was the Twilight Zone for our group.

I suffered from a saddle sore that was acquired in training, and of course got worse during 4 days of hard riding, but other than that, my body and bike both did very well. All in all, it was a fun, tough, delightful 4 days of bike riding with a great group of people for a very good cause - I achieved a personal fund-raising best of a little over $1,800! Yea donors!

lovelygamer

07-24-2012, 05:45 AM

Norse

07-25-2012, 08:26 AM

Congratulations! That sounds like an awesome ride and accomplishment on both the fundraising and the riding. I'm glad your teammate is okay. Goodness.

Thanks! I just heard from Mr. Tough Guy this morning - he and his bike are both safe and sound at home, neither feeling any worse for the crash. :)

Giulianna23

07-28-2012, 07:10 PM

Jumped from 20 miles weekend rides to 30miles today and feeling great!!!!.The weather was really good and I got a nice workout. Looking forward to 30 more tomorrow.

Crankin

07-28-2012, 09:17 PM

Did our first ride on San Juan Island. Well, I was not mentally prepared for the climbing. The first 11 miles to Roach Harbor were rolling, but I was having issues with the different feel of the bike with the Arkel pack on the back, the off camber bike lane, and the chip seal. I'm a cautious descender at best and the whole combo slowed me down, even more than the "touring pace" I planned. We ate lunch in Roach Harbor and after that, we had a nice 15% grade out of there, and then continued relentless climbs. But, I settled in and the scenery was beautiful.
31 miles with 2300 ft of climbing.
Tomorrow, Lopez Island, supposedly flat. I am tired.

Kubla

07-29-2012, 03:22 AM

Yesterday my friend (riding a Specialized Crosstrail) and I (Jamis Aurora) headed out shortly after 8:00 a.m. and rode 17 miles through 3 towns.

Most were nicely-shaded (very hilly) country roads-some unpaved-but the ride did involve crossing a couple busy intersections to get to "a better place". On the return route, we opted to take some dirt paths and pedal within a cranberry bog in the area. It was a pleasant change of pace, and the Aurora handled the variant terrain fairly well.

The weather forecast for today is iffy; I'm not sure I'll be able to get out again. (Perhaps more accurately, I'm not sure my legs are up for the task. We'll see...)

Gypsy

07-29-2012, 07:21 AM

Did a quick ride today, since I have a lot to do and had the pleasure of changing a flat for the first time by myself. Until now, I've ridden with friends who knew how to change it or strangers would stop and help.

This time is was all me!:D

And I did it!

velo

07-29-2012, 08:39 AM

I got to ride only about 30 miles total M-R due to being out of town each day for a work-related class. It was really hot and humid in the evenings so I had to keep the rides short and easy. This weekend, though, the weather was really nice, and I got to ride Friday, Saturday and today. It was a little windy on Friday and really, really windy Saturday (did some intervals into the wind on the way out) but today there wasn't nary a leaf rustling with low humidity and temps in the low 70'sF. So beautiful today! I was able to get in 34mi. on Friday, 36mi. on Saturday and 43mi. today. It's been so horribly hot and miserable all summer, we (I) really needed a weekend like this!

lovelygamer

07-29-2012, 09:20 AM

I went out for ten miles yesterday with my other half. It was a beautiful country ride. We even did a couple of miles of trails. Those always kick my butt. I am not cut out for mountain biking. I did ten more on Sunday, at dusk. Beat my best time @ 52 minutes and that was after waiting in traffic three times.

I've been out looking at entry level road bikes this week. So much to think about. So far, I've looked at Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale:D

Catrin

07-29-2012, 03:35 PM

Great time on the mountain bike yesterday in my favorite park :cool: Went to an interesting workout this morning, and finished off this beautiful day with a 25 mile road ride. Wanted to go further, but this weekend is the first time in a few weeks due to a small injury. All my bits and parts feel just fine :D

Owlie

07-29-2012, 05:32 PM

14.8 miles this morning. First ride in over a week, what with the weather, work, and feeling utterly exhausted.

jdubble

07-29-2012, 06:23 PM

A new record for me - I did 80 miles on my own bike (not the tandem) yesterday! The most I'd done before that in one go was around 65 miles. The Chris King Gourmet (metric+) Century accounted for 70 miles, and the extra 10 was biking to and from the event start/finish at Chris King HQ. The ride was great - two big hills, one right off the bat before I was really warmed up, and one just about at the end when I was cooked. Oh well, I made it up them eventually. After the final climb was done, I felt great and the last 10 miles flew by (thankfully mostly downhill at that point). I hadn't thought to pack a towel or comb with my clothes for the dinner for afterwards, but I jumped in the employee showers back at Chris King HQ anyway and wow, was that the best shower ever. Even with no soap and no towel :)

Then this morning, my cyclocross teammates came over to try on sample kits for our pending team kit order and they talked me into going out for an easy recovery spin with them. Which turned into a 34.5 mile quick paced ride. *sigh* So much for recovery.

Crankin

07-29-2012, 07:01 PM

Rode on Lopez Island today. It's beautiful, but definitely not flat. Who writes these descriptions?
Lots of riders here, but not crowded on the roads. Had a good lunch, but we are now waiting for the ferry back to Friday Harbor ( a 2 hr wait) and I fully admit to having onion rings as my recovery food.

jdubble

07-29-2012, 07:15 PM

chatnoire

07-30-2012, 11:44 AM

I got in a ride this weekend! First time on the bike since the crash. We set it up with a trainer, a step stool with a step high enough to reach my phone, tv remote and steps for me. I rode for an hour at approx zone 2, possibly 3.

I needed help getting on and off the bike, and I don't have the upper body strength on my left side to grip the handlebars for balance yet, so I don't know that I'm ready to go on the road. I will probably try for another hour tonight, and again later in the week, as I am also starting PT. Yay, exercise!

I'll admit, it was a little nerve wracking to be on the bike again, despite the safety of the set up.