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rebeccaC
06-02-2015, 01:18 AM
on my commute to work....

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8763/18187552238_5b4ace22e5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/tHaXCS)


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NoNo
06-02-2015, 04:51 AM
Great pictures! Looks like you have an interesting and exciting ride in.

Helene2013
06-02-2015, 04:55 AM
Rub it in! Grrrrr. ahahahah

Here we've had super cold rainy weather yesterday, and same today. Even risk of ground frost!!!! We're June 2nd!!!!! Unbelievable. But hey! At least we have water that California does not. haha

Seriously though, very very nice pictures. I think I envy you! :) So many good memories from our camping trip in that State.

rebeccaC
06-02-2015, 09:26 AM
Rub it in! Grrrrr. ahahahah

Here we've had super cold rainy weather yesterday, and same today. Even risk of ground frost!!!! We're June 2nd!!!!! Unbelievable. But hey! At least we have water that California does not. haha

Seriously though, very very nice pictures. I think I envy you! :) So many good memories from our camping trip in that State.

Helene we have water…just not much of it at the moment.:( June/July were good months to ride in Quebec when I lived there!! You’ll have lots of low to mid 20°c days to come. June days here usually have a cloudy marine layer (June gloom) which keeps temps in the mid 60’s to low 70’s, which is perfect climbing temps for me….but then it’s usually 70 +/- 10 degrees year round here.:)

Thanks NoNo. it is a good place for bicycling.

just commutes for riding this week and next for me, have work this weekend so i have a week and a half left for a good workout on my bike.

salsabike
06-02-2015, 03:50 PM
Great pictures!

Crankin
06-03-2015, 02:24 PM
Did a little 19.5 mile ride this afternoon. So nice and cool out, after Saturday's disaster in the 89 degree heat.
Other than my GPS getting stuck at 20.5 mph for a couple of minutes and saying I was "off course," when I was not on any course, a pretty good ride. I stopped messed around with the screen and it righted itself. Also took off my arm warmers, although it was barely 60 degrees, the sun came out.
There's a lot of road resurfacing going on in Concord. It's sorely needed, but it seems like it takes forever, when the neighboring town had better advanced warnings and got it done in 2 days. One place had grooved pavement on a small downhill that is nice to use for momentum for an uphill, but I had to slow down instead. Then, I started to get home a certain way, but, I had to turn back, as it wasn't just grooved pavement, but a one way obstacle course. I hope this gets fixed soon, as it impacts my commute on Tuesdays, when I have to take an alternative street to avoid a traffic back up.

Crankin
06-04-2015, 03:13 PM
A quick little 5 AM dark ride, which isn't really dark at this time of the year! It was predicted to be 44 degrees, but it was 49-50. I was a bit overdressed, in a thermal jersey and short sleeved base layer and wind jacket, but the light tights and winter shoes/woolie bully socks were right on. Not so much the fleece beanie and Mavic fleece lined gloves. But, I only did 10 miles, as I had to be at work by 8:30 and the above mentioned grooved pavement wold have impacted my usual longer route of 15 miles for this time of the morning.
Glad I did it, but very tired. Deciding if I will ride tomorrow or just do boot camp. I have a big eating weekend coming up, as well as a hard 50 mile ride on Sunday.

Helene2013
06-07-2015, 06:53 AM
112km yesterday. Finally nailed a challenge.

Winds were soooo strong coming North at 30km/h plus the gusting. We had 2 different loops to do. 60km and a 50km (a lunch in-between was served). The 50km was the hardest because of the major hills. I only walked the end of the last one - very steep - and I did not want to risk injuring my knees. We only had 25k done by then. After we finished the hillier part of the ride, I was able to get some speed and hit 37km/h for a very long stress (using the wind in my back). Never was able before. The 2nd part of the ride (50km), was flatter but some smallish slopes but the wind was against us probably 40 out of the 50kms. Hubby never complains on a bike but this time he had his truck with the wind. I was rarely able to get 25-26km/h. It was more like 18km/h. Discouraging. For the first time, I was able to ride in the drops to gain some speed from that heavy winds. But I did not feel totally 100% safe so only did this when the road condition was good. Wind was pushing us left and right and it was no fun.

But we did it and are very happy.

azfiddle
06-07-2015, 01:23 PM
I posted elsewhere, but my June rides have all been city commuting (3-6 miles a day or so) in Cambridge UK, where I have been visiting my daughter... plus a round trip from Cambridge to Ely. About 15-16 miles by car, 28 by bike each way if you don't get lost (but we got lost, so it was a bit more).

It has been fun, but I won't be sorry to leave the heavy hybrid bike behind and get back on a road bike.

BikeDutchess
06-07-2015, 04:16 PM
Beautiful photos, RebeccaC!

Little Red Riding Hood was yesterday. Went up the night before with my riding besties - 2 longtime friends and my daughter. We had a blast! I haven't been riding much, so decided to drop down to the 50 miler this year. One friend did the 100 and the rest of us met up with her at lunch and at the finish. The 50 mile route was actually much prettier than the 70/100 miler we've ridden in past years. The cut-off after the Benson stop, along Blackrock Rd, was gorgeous! The weather, which had looked threatening as I watched the forecast in the days leading up to the ride, turned out quite wonderful. We had some wind after lunch, but didn't get rained on. My daughter (5 1/2 mos post hip surgery) had no problems with her hip (such a relief). Saw the occasional rider stupidity (why oh why do some women keep ignoring the "single file riding only on this road" signs??), but not as bad as in some years past. The volunteers were fabulous - this year, instead of admonishing riders to do a full stop at every stop sign, volunteers actually helped direct traffic at intersections. Brownies at the first rest stop, and creamies at lunch, yum! It was a super fun day. Even though I didn't win the bike at the raffle. ;)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/414/18580445331_914b261e84_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/uiTD4H)
LRRH 21015 (https://flic.kr/p/uiTD4H) by DutchRosie (https://www.flickr.com/photos/48330200@N04/), on Flickr

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/439/18574010122_cf000c541d.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/uijE6Q)
LRRH 2015 - finish line bling (https://flic.kr/p/uijE6Q) by DutchRosie (https://www.flickr.com/photos/48330200@N04/), on Flickr

Crankin
06-07-2015, 04:49 PM
A good riding weekend, and I am tired! A good tired, though.
Yesterday, did a quick 11 miles and my DH killed me, ending up with the highest average I've had in a long time. I did not intend this! We were busy with a lot of house stuff in the morning and last night we went out with some of our friends from AMC.
Today we did our Kimball Fruit Farm ride, with our friends. We've done this ride for years, and in the past couple of years, we've changed the second half quite a bit. It's a 45-50 mile hilly ride from Boxborough up to Pepperell/Hollis, NH border, then back through Nashua and Dunstable, Tyngsboro, Westward, and Littleton. We are planning to lead it in July, so we needed to test out the changes before we go on our bike tour. The weather was perfect, and the hills, while challenging, felt a little easier thn I remembered. Although the biggest climb is right before the lunch stop, the second half actually has more climbing. There's one change in the end, that involves making a left across a busy road and then riding along by the entrances/exits to I-495. I am a little concerned about people doing this, given the bad behavior I see on some rides, but we have a plan to bring everyone through together. This actually makes the end of the ride a little shorter.
48.8 miles, 2,685 feet of climbing.

lauraelmore1033
06-07-2015, 07:56 PM
Rolled out Sparky (the tadpole trike) fully intending to ride the one mile to the Interurban trail (on the sidewalk, if I had to) for an easy spin, but I couldn't do it. Two houses down from mine, a truck pulled up and suddenly started backing up, and I freaked out, and turned around and went back home. At least I did establish that I could readily sit down and get back up from the low seat, and that the bumps in the driveway didn't hurt the ribs too much if I went over them slowly.

Sky King
06-08-2015, 06:31 AM
We did a ride on Sunday that I haven't done in 15 years. We rode in the Boise Foothills on a Sunday - what were we thinking... Many, many bike riders, Way to many Weekend Warriors who need to attempt to pass on narrow trails or ride your a** on technical descents. We took a relatively inexperienced trail rider with us so quite a bit of waiting, only adding to the crowds. We bailed out on the last half of our planned ride and decided next weekend to go back to the quiet of the desert, yes it means a drive but oh well. Still on for Boise to Ketchum the end of the month, just need to get some miles on the bike. Have yet to ride more than 40 miles in one day and each day of our trip will be about 50 all on dirt roads, carrying gear.

Crankin
06-08-2015, 05:25 PM
I had a really nice commute today. I thought it might rain, but the forecast changed, so off I went. It was coolish, 62 and cloudy/breezy in the morning. On Mondays, I work until 6:45 and it is so much nicer riding home at that time, compared to 6-6:15 if I ride on Tuesdays. Amazing what a difference 30-45 minutes makes. On the way home, it was about 72, but very windy, so it felt cool.
Nothing special, just a hassle free ride, which put me in a good mood!

BikeDutchess
06-08-2015, 08:09 PM
I just did a 2.5 mile ride :) with my daughter to get some after-dinner ice cream. The weather is so nice, perfect temp for a quick evening neighborhood ride. :cool:

rebeccaC
06-08-2015, 10:03 PM
I just did a 2.5 mile ride :) with my daughter to get some after-dinner ice cream. The weather is so nice, perfect temp for a quick evening neighborhood ride. :cool:

:) ......but now i want gelato and brownies and it's too late....smiling photos of women in helmets helps though :) sounds like two good rides!!!

Crankin
06-10-2015, 04:29 PM
A pristine New England day, with no work, but plenty to do. I woke up feeling kinda off, so I decided to bag the 2 group rides I could go to. My friend, Jack, tried to guilt me into doing one of them, with the crazy old guys (i.e. my age or older), but I just didn't want to to do 50 hilly miles today. So, I set out to do a short loop. Right when I was coming to the intersection to turn back home, I was thinking about doing a few more miles when a woman on a tri bike passed me, as I was slowing for the 4 way stop at a busy intersection. I was to the right of the cars, in the shoulder, and there were 2-4 cars in the lane. She went right between me and the cars, where there was not a lot of space. It scared the sh!t out of me and then I got mad. This is not a place where you need to take the lane, but still. If she had stayed behind me and waited for me to stop and cross the intersection, it might have been 20 seconds? So, I went straight through the intersection, at a much faster speed and headed to get an iced coffee. It was nice to sit in the sun and chill, and then I headed home. As I was getting ready to shower, I started feeling really awful, still not sure what it is. Stomach is definitely off, kind of tired,weird muscle aches. Tried everything to calm myself and eventually headed out to do a bunch of stuff and then home to do paperwork.
I am glad I got out there, but praying this resolves when I wake up tomorrow. We leave for France exactly a week from now, and I have a ride to lead tomorrow night, as well as Saturday, although that doesn't look so good from a weather standpoint. It's my club's bike rally, so at least we'll have the happy hour and dinner if the rides get cancelled.

Crankin
06-11-2015, 06:01 PM
We led a 17 mile ride at 6 PM tonight. I had a good time as the sweep, but poor DH had a real azzhole behind him, who kept passing him on the right and making left turns from the right... he said something many times and the guy just got pissed. AMC rides require that we keep people together, as in no one goes ahead of the leader or behind the sweep, and if they do, you are off of the ride. It's different than most bike clubs, but we like it. There was another woman leader in training who was at the back with me. She's a super hiker, but slowed near the end of the ride, and had some issues climbing, but a really nice person. Anyway, it was hotter than hell today, but by 6 PM, it was 82, breezy, and cloudy, and very nice. We were done by 7:15 and I feel good.

azfiddle
06-12-2015, 12:04 AM
I started the bike adventure in Ireland on Tuesday. We got the bikes and all of the information for the routes and set off from Ennis to the seaside town of Kilkee. The route took us on a lot of quiet back roads for the most part- and we only had one bit of confusion over a turn off. We have been mostly using kilometers- but the first day was about 36 miles. It us almost four hours, between picture stops , route checks and the chain on my husband's bike coming off and getting stuck for a while.

Weds we rode south of Kilkee in a 23 mile loop that ended with spectacular scenery, on cliffs above the ocean. It was our second day in a row with clear, sunny weather and the colors were brilliant. We then rode 23 miles north to finish in Miltown Malbay.

Thursday we did a loop back inland to see a "tower castle" by the town of Corofin. It was supposed to be an easy day but ended up being 40 miles and 2000 feet of climbing in the end.

This morning we're going north to Doolin, via the cliffs of Moher. It is so easy having our stuff transported to each destination. We get to the towns, have dinner and have found trad music sessions on 3 of the first 4 nights.

BikeDutchess
06-12-2015, 12:23 PM
Now that sounds like a fabulous trip! Hope you'll post some pictures.

Crankin
06-13-2015, 05:07 PM
We had a great bike rally today. Thought it might rain, but instead we had 75-85 degrees and sun. DH led our group quite fast, but it was OK; as the sweep, I would say this is the most together group we've had. I hung at the back with a few people and all was well, until one guy, who had been near the front got slower and slower, until it was only me and him. Finally I asked if he was OK, and he said "no." Gee, you've been slowing and acting weird for 20 minutes and you'll barely admit it now?? We stopped, I gave him Nuun and a Shot Block, and then I had to tell him to actually drink the water with the Nuun, so it would work. He decided to stop at a park and wait for the slightly slower group, doing the same ride. I took off, thinking I'd be alone for the rest of the ride, but the group was waiting for me. Then, all of a sudden, we saw the guy, just as we were taking off. So, he didn't rest and didn't wait for the slower group. He didn't catch up, though. When we drove home to shower, before the dinner, he was standing in the middle of the road with his bike, just before the end. We didn't stop and he did make it back (they had to sign in). Despite the stopping and slowing, my average was faster than it usually is for a sweep. 29 miles.
Showered, went back to Verrill Farm, where we had drinks and dinner under the tent, with live music for happy hour. Very nice. Went out for ice cream with our friends afterwards, and now I am going to rest!

Catrin
06-13-2015, 05:47 PM
Sounds like fun Crankin! Hopefully the guy will learn to listen to his body, that is a lesson we all must learn at some point.

Azfiddle - sounds like a fantastic trip! Pictures would be lovely :cool:

Sky King
06-14-2015, 06:41 AM
Scary just curious, do they have to sign a waiver to do these rides. that could have ended quite badly. Hope he is okay. We have a group that I do the announcing of the ride calendar for but we aren't an organized group. I may need to check with an attorney about our legal obligation should someone end up in distress or get hurt when we are on a ride. We are very group minded, like you. I can see why you left him as he said he'd wait for another group but in hindsight, sounds like he was beyond his ability to think clearly. Of course our group has no claims of being a racing style ride but we do knock out some miles upon occasion.

We had a great bike rally today. Thought it might rain, but instead we had 75-85 degrees and sun. DH led our group quite fast, but it was OK; as the sweep, I would say this is the most together group we've had. I hung at the back with a few people and all was well, until one guy, who had been near the front got slower and slower, until it was only me and him. Finally I asked if he was OK, and he said "no." Gee, you've been slowing and acting weird for 20 minutes and you'll barely admit it now?? We stopped, I gave him Nuun and a Shot Block, and then I had to tell him to actually drink the water with the Nuun, so it would work. He decided to stop at a park and wait for the slightly slower group, doing the same ride. I took off, thinking I'd be alone for the rest of the ride, but the group was waiting for me. Then, all of a sudden, we saw the guy, just as we were taking off. So, he didn't rest and didn't wait for the slower group. He didn't catch up, though. When we drove home to shower, before the dinner, he was standing in the middle of the road with his bike, just before the end. We didn't stop and he did make it back (they had to sign in). Despite the stopping and slowing, my average was faster than it usually is for a sweep. 29 miles.
Showered, went back to Verrill Farm, where we had drinks and dinner under the tent, with live music for happy hour. Very nice. Went out for ice cream with our friends afterwards, and now I am going to rest!

Sky King
06-14-2015, 06:43 AM
I was proud of myself yesterday. Did a very hard crossfit class in the am and then a good climbing ride at the end of the day. Was debating on the ride but did fine and felt like I'd earned my gin and tonic ;)

Crankin
06-14-2015, 07:55 AM
Sky King, we do have them sign a waiver. Unlike most bike clubs, we are part of an outdoors club, and our liability rules are the same for us as for the hikers. We are clear in the beginning safety talk that if you go ahead of the leader, or behind the sweep, you are off of the ride. I knew he was bonking, but he did seem better after the stop/brief rest. If he had had an issue after he told me to go ahead, I would not have been liable. I would have been perfectly happy to stay with him on the way back, as it was only about 8-10 miles. Of course, he should have stayed at the park and waited for the second group, but I cannot control the behavior of adults. He was on a mountain bike with slick tires, had appropriate cycling clothes, clipless pedals. He did not look inexperienced, and judging from his riding in the beginning, he was strong. Perhaps he mostly rides in the city; the hills and warmer weather may have played a role. Our pace was pretty brisk (I averaged 14.5, even with all of the stopping and staying behind the slow climbers) and DH's average was around 15.5.
It was much easier handling this, though, than unsafe riding behavior. This is the first year we didn't have that. Well, just one guy, and his wife kept him in line!

Sky King
06-15-2015, 06:49 AM
Yes, we can't control the behavior of adults :p We were discussing this on our ride yesterday and agreed That is someone tells you they will wait for the next group and you can go ahead you certainly can't control their actions.

Sky King, we do have them sign a waiver. Unlike most bike clubs, we are part of an outdoors club, and our liability rules are the same for us as for the hikers. We are clear in the beginning safety talk that if you go ahead of the leader, or behind the sweep, you are off of the ride. I knew he was bonking, but he did seem better after the stop/brief rest. If he had had an issue after he told me to go ahead, I would not have been liable. I would have been perfectly happy to stay with him on the way back, as it was only about 8-10 miles. Of course, he should have stayed at the park and waited for the second group, but I cannot control the behavior of adults. He was on a mountain bike with slick tires, had appropriate cycling clothes, clipless pedals. He did not look inexperienced, and judging from his riding in the beginning, he was strong. Perhaps he mostly rides in the city; the hills and warmer weather may have played a role. Our pace was pretty brisk (I averaged 14.5, even with all of the stopping and staying behind the slow climbers) and DH's average was around 15.5.
It was much easier handling this, though, than unsafe riding behavior. This is the first year we didn't have that. Well, just one guy, and his wife kept him in line!

Crankin
06-15-2015, 10:18 AM
Yesterday we tested the full route for a new ride we are leading in July. It's very local, but with some new roads. The end has a lot more climbing than I think we need for an after work ride, so I told DH that he will need to slow for the last 5 miles. The ride itself is only 16 miles, but yesterday we did it from the house, so it was 29. Stopped for lunch at Ferns and we both were feeling the dead leg feeling.
Total rest today.

cosc
06-15-2015, 03:05 PM
I enjoyed reading all the ride reports.
Crankin it is very informative reading about rides you lead with the groups of riders. I live in a rural area with only a handful of riders who ride solo.
I could never keep up with the groups you ride with so it is good I crank alone. I am envious of your cycling strength and others gals on this forum.
I rode (Bran) a 7 day Nebraska ride this past week. Country was hilly but beautiful from lots of moisture. Two days were hot with high humidity. I had to stop in a cool place 20-30 minutes to cool down and feel human again. Carrying my baggage to camp was my biggest challenge on this trip. Some roads had nice surfaces but some had horizontal cracks which made me and my bike flinch. The last short but hilly day my bike wasn't changing gears right so I was glad to have that day behind me. My bike is going in for a tune-up this week. It might just need a new chain.
Tailwinds to everyone.

Crankin
06-15-2015, 04:35 PM
Cosc, there are groups that ride all speeds. Speed doesn't matter, the fact you are riding is what matters! I don't do so much group riding anymore, unless I am leading...
Your ride sounds very challenging.

smittykitty
06-20-2015, 06:06 AM
World's Largest Egg, Winlock, WA in the background! We are getting ready for STP in 3 weeks. We rode from home through beautiful, low traffic farm country. Lots of hills and valleys. We are so lucky to have such great riding right out our door! We rode 91 miles. SS17665

azfiddle
06-22-2015, 07:26 AM
We got back from Ireland on Friday night (13 hours of flight time!!) - finished the self-guided tour with about 330 miles. We took two days off - one to just enjoy Galway city and opted to hike one day when it rained.

Everything went smoothly- every B & B was nice in its own way, the cue sheets were very detailed and we lucked out on the weather.

Yesterday I put my saddle and pedals back on my bike at home and ventured out into the desert heat. I rode 25 miles to Saguaro NP and back, but wasn't very enthusiastic in the heat - I think I averaged less than 12 mph!!!

Sky King
06-25-2015, 05:39 AM
Forecast for the weekend 100 to 108 degrees and we depart at 7 am tomorrow for our dirt road ride from Boise to Ketchum/Sun Valley. 155 miles in 3 days, self supported. A bit nervous about the heat.
I just keep telling myself it isn't a race, it isn't my first rodeo and the road, while dirt and gravel, it a good road. I am not even taking my sleeping bag, just my silk liner and a small fleece blanket. Promise to take some photos - perhaps some sunrises as I expect to be on the bike as early as practical everyday.

salsabike
06-25-2015, 10:42 AM
Ride safe and happy, Sky King. Water water water etc.

marni
06-30-2015, 11:57 AM
Todays ride was an out and back from Sealy to Bellville along the infamous Coshatte Rd- 14 elevation changes in 4 miles, mostly just rollers or slightly challenging short slopes but three rel hills with requisite gear changes. One real (to quote a friend) "oh God " hill because that's what you keep saying as you pedal up it. Started at 7:30 am at 83 degrees and finished at 10:30 with the temp at 92- high humidity throughout. Nice to see the whole group together again for the first time in several months and as usual the bakery in Bellville had a lot of good stuff.

And in spite of the miserable rain and thunder and lightning on an almost dily basis, I actually got in 6 rides this month which doubles the my average but is still purely pathetic. Of course with the heat and humidity it is hard to tell when you are all wet from rain or sweat. Most days it's a little like riding through a warm mucous bath.

Crankin
06-30-2015, 04:35 PM
I took my first ride since coming home from France. I went out at 5:15 AM or so, and I was actually passed by another woman rider, as soon as I got out of my neighborhood. Very strange at that time of the morning, since I usually don't see anyone going in my direction for awhile. Today, I saw at least 6 riders before I got to Concord Center, as well as lots of others after. I started out strong, but got tired quickly, as I woke up with my stomach upset from what I ate last night. It was humid as hell, too. Rode 13 miles, with the intention of then riding to work at 9, but I quickly nixed that idea. It's going to rain hard tomorrow, with thunder, so the ride I was really looking forward to, along the NH seacoast, was pushed to Thursday, when, of course, I have to work.

khg
06-30-2015, 06:34 PM
I feel like the last day of the month is a good day for me to post about June adventures on the bike, as other than a big mountain ride yesterday, day-to-day hasn't had much to write home about (or to the forum about...) but the cumulative effect has been worth something.

Mostly through commuting and errand-running, I've put about 300 miles on my bikes in June. I have some big rides coming up, both in terms of length and degree of challenge, and I meant to do more in June, but... Getting ready for a big new career challenge, busy with existing work, a fun little bout of food poisoning, etc. The usual excuses.

But often during June on my little rides--especially on my commute home--I've been picking sections to to go all-out on, sometimes more just as a way to burn off stress at the end of the day than any purposeful training plan (and there were still plenty of times I crawled home as pitifully slowly as I could). But my commute essentially turned into a bit of an unorganized interval training session. And I've been feeling good. Really good!

I decided that feeling good wasn't just wishful thinking when I set a new personal best of 5:07 on one of the hills on my commute home--having biked it over 100 times, I was pretty thrilled. And then a few days later, biked the same hill in 4:45!

And then yesterday I biked up Mt Baker (the ride went from 1000' to 5000' with about 4500' total elevation gain because of some rolling hills)--since I hadn't been doing longer rides, or sustained climbs for a while, I wasn't sure how it would go, but I had so much fun! I felt great the whole way up, and like I could have kept riding for much longer.

So, long story short, June's rides individually weren't that interesting that I wanted to write about them. But I feel like despite my disappointment with myself about not getting more riding in, that the sum total of the month was actually a noticeable improvement in my fitness, aka my fun capacity!

And it's a good thing too, since I have the STP double century on July 11th, and the big RAMROD ride on July 29th, and a few other similar challenges planned for next month... Whee...

Sky King
07-02-2015, 06:54 AM
Decided I better check in and let you know we survived - there were certainly moments... Day 1 did not start off as planned, one of the last minute riders was an hour late for departure. The bike hermit and I waited for him and sent everyone else off. With 54 miles to cover that put us on the worst section of the ride at the hottest time of day - one guy said his garmin said is was 115 degrees. Guess what, some nail polish melts at that temperature - It was quite strange to take off my socks and shoes and see smeared nail polish everywhere. We lost 2 riders after that day. Thankfully day 2 & 3 had way more shade and lots of opportunities for jumping into rivers and creeks. Also being able to start between 6:30 and 7 am helped. Day 2 was 59 miles but after an early climb was relatively flat - rode through what I swear is the heart of ATV country - talk about dusty, they are like angry ants. Day 3 was really pretty. We had a major 5 mile climb but no traffic and some nice trees spaced just right for shade breaks. The last 20 miles is all downhill. Dropping off the mountain was like walking into a furnace. Big biking events in Ketchum so a bit overwhelming with bikes, music and crowds - we managed to find a bar with a patio and hide out until the Pedal Idaho Van picked us up. - Something we will do again, so nice to not have to juggle transportation.
I did manage to put to much pressure on the palm of my right hand and now have numb little finger and ring finger. I know if was the heat and fatigue on day one. Also managed to get a saddle sore - that's a first, again I attribute to the heat and fatigue.

I didn't take any photos so am at the mercy of the rest of the group but will post a few when I have more.
Looking forward to staying home and out of the heat - we've been over 100 for over 8 days now, whine

Crankin
07-02-2015, 07:56 AM
Sky King, the only time I've ever had a saddle sore has been on multi day trips in high temps. This time, I took the Preparation H with me to France, and after the first ride, I felt something starting, I applied after showering, before bed, and before riding. It worked! I used it every day and it's the first time I didn't have a saddle sore from heat.
I commuted today for the first time since my trip. I had a client at 8, so I could leave early, before traffic, and of course, no school buses. I am done at 3, so an easy ride home.

Sky King
07-03-2015, 07:41 AM
Thanks Crankin, I did put some on the minute we got home, I do think it helped