riding through the days of August

[rebeccaC]

met a woman and her daughter awhile ago on a ride into downtown LA. They are spending the weekend with me and we enjoyed a sunrise ride this morning. we rode south on the beach bike path to breakfast in manhattan beach. an easy ride, good conversation, lots of smiles and just an enjoyable time. we are now off on a ride to do some school clothes shopping.

photo by 11 year old gabriella, we are going to do a print of it tonight
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/340/19584110073_0d7467d0f4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/vQzFCe)

why i ride

learning the real contours of back country roads
realizing that it's not always about getting somewhere, but rather the joy of randomness
having a curious young girl want to talk to me about bicycling
testing my potential
learning that pain is temporary
turning lifes friction into momentum

[Crankin]

Today I did a ride that was new for me. In fact, I've rarely even driven in some of these places.
Met our friends in Harvard center (we drove there, as we didn't want to do 75 miles today) and headed out through Bolton, Berlin, and Clinton. The first part of this ride was the same as a ride we did before we went to France, but it is quite rural and almost Vermont -like. Lots of hills. There was one kinda scary left turn onto a busy state road, to climb up to a viewpoint at the Wachusett Reservoir. I had done this once, but so long ago, I was riding my first road bike, and definitely took an easier way to get there. We stopped and took pictures, as DH had never seen this. Then, on to a ride around the reservoir, or part of it, actually. It's really pretty, but we spent a lot of time on 2 busy roads, mostly with good wide shoulders. It stayed cloudy for this part of the ride, thankfully, after a hot and miserable ride yesterday. We rode through the towns of West Boylston, Lancaster, and back to Bolton. First, we stopped at the town green in West Boylston and had a snack/porta potty stop, and then headed to Bolton Orchards, a lunch stop on a lot of our rides. After that, we only had 7 hilly miles left, where we took the scenic route, going up by the Fruitlands Museum, back to Harvard center. We rode about 40 miles, with 3K ft. of climbing. It always amazes me how rural Massachusetts gets, not too far from where I live. And, what's sadder, so many people who live in greater Boston never see any of this.
It's raining out now. Very glad we left at 9 AM and were back home by 1:45.

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[azfiddle]

Another day, another ride up Mount Lemmon for me. Today was the final day of a series run by a group called the Tucson Tri Girls: The easy peasy Lemmon squeasy rides. They start in June, going higher up the mountain each week, and today they finished at The Cookie Cabin in Summerhaven. My 3rd trip to the top this summer, total of 59 miles with my husband delighting in riding his brand new Trek Domane and one of my good friends.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/269/20215487881_1c7a42de83_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wNnEfv)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/wNnEfv) by Sharon Goldwasser (https://www.flickr.com/photos/133571926@N02/), on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/415/20183486026_6daf23c4a7_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wKxDdo)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/wKxDdo) by Sharon Goldwasser (https://www.flickr.com/photos/133571926@N02/), on Flickr


She's wearing the our Team Soul women's cycling club kit.

[khg]

I just did the Ride the Hurricane event today--the road up to Hurricane Ridge is closed to cars for half the day, and it's so fun! The quiet is lovely, and when not looking out for cars, and trying to keep squeezed to the right side of the road, you can look around and enjoy the views so much more. This is my second year doing it, and it is becoming one of my favorite events.

Here's part of why:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/457/20216465976_156f98e07d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wNsF1d)
(Forest fires aren't the best, but lingering smoke from them did did make the views very atmospheric)

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3685/20248517201_352f09d72e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wRhWHx)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/454/20216202606_65ca06368e_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wNrjHm)

[marni]

todays ride started at 7:00 am with a feels like and real temperature of 75. 29 miles and 2 hours later it when we finished it was a real temperature of 84 and a feels like of 97 degrees. Add water and increase heat is also a good way to steam food isn't it?

[rebeccaC]

I just did the Ride the Hurricane event today--

no couch time for you i see :)....beautiful skies!!!!!!

[khg]

no couch time for you i see :)....beautiful skies!!!!!!

There's couch time now! (And between RAMROD and Hurricane Ridge, I spent as much time horizontal as I could...)

Today was the wonderful other side of bicycling--instead of giant mountains and delighted exhaustion, I tootled along as low-effort as I could. Home to work to dr's appt to home to haircut to grocery store to home. 21 miles all told, and it took me all day :) Some days I ride my bike for the challenge--some days I ride it because I'm lazy. I never once hunted for parking, nor had to walk further than 50 feet from my parking spot to the front door of my destination. Driving would have been way too much effort...

[khg]

Another day, another ride up Mount Lemmon for me.

Love it :)

[Crankin]

First day of our annual trip to the Berkshires. We drove out to Lenox and met our friends, who came out Monday. The ride we did today was one we got from Ride With GPS. Won't do this again. Pretty ride, new roads, but a big fail for me. We had to climb Becket Rd., about 5 miles up, with up to 20% grades. I did about a third of it, up the steepest part, but my legs were toast, and I was afraid I'd fall over. I walked, got back on for a bit, where it flattened, and had to walk again. So demoralizing. Only had to do this once before, out in this area, too. The rest of the ride had plenty of climbing, too, with 2 good downhills. Got back to Lenox, ate lunch at almost 3:00, bought some wine, and finally got to our B and B in Great Barrington at 4:30. Sat by the pool and collapsed. Hey, my average was still in double digits, even with the walking.

[marni]

todays ride was one of minor incidents and pickle juice solutions. I got to the meeting place for the group in good time only to discover that I had forgotten my helmet. Piled the bike back in the car, drove home to get helmet and then drove ahead of the group to meet up with the groups. This meant that I actually started riding atan hour later than usual- think an hour of temperature and humidity increase. We rode off on our usual route and I realized that in spite of not being warmed up, we were going at the goodly clip (for me at least) of 16+ mph and then I realized we had a fairly sturdy tailwind. So much for delusions of adequacy. Shortly after, one of the others last a light and went back to pick it up while having to play frogger to get it before the big trucks ran over it. Then at the halfway stop, she lost a pad off of her glasses and rode on for about 5 miles before she figured out what was going on, and so she and another rode back to search for it. Myself and my bbff rode on and about 4 miles before the car I cramped out. Thankfully I had a shot bottle of pickle juice which solved to problem long enough to get me back to the car. I finished limp as a soggy green bean and just glad to be off the bike. 31 mph at 13.7 in 2:13.

[rebeccaC]

pickle juice ftw!!!....once on a 400k brevet in college i bought a jar of dill pickles, drank the juice waiting in line, paid for it and left the jar and pickles on the counter :)

[Crankin]

Yesterday's ride in the Berkshires was one of our old favorites, done in reverse. So, instead of climbing the Tyringham "wall," interspersed with flats and rolling hills, we did about 11 miles of steady climbing, a few downhills, went down the wall, more ups into Stockbridge, with rollers for the last 9 miles.
I like this better, but it was tough. Roads were so quiet, although some not in great shape. The weather has been perfect, high 70s and dry.

[Crankin]

Yesterday we did the prettiest ride in the Berkshires. We rode out of our inn , into Alford, where we always stop at the town hall to use the bathroom. Then, up, up, up into West Stockbridge, stop for a snack, and then climb up Lenox Mountain. After that, a descent that ends at Kripalu, and on into Stockbridge for lunch. By Friday, the crazies from NYC and Jersey arrive, pretending this isn't Massachusetts. Seriously, I don't know why people from the Boston area don't come here. Ate lunch on a bench in the center of town and then headed back the long way to Great Barrington. More climbing, of course.
40 miles. We are all feeling it today, so we are going to Williamstown to see a Van Gogh exhibit at the Clark.

[Sky King]

Had a very quick S24O last weekend. Seems funny to escape the heat by going to the high desert but that's exactly what we did. Was hazy on Sunday due to some fires east of where we were. No smoke smell though. 17728177291773017731

[Helene2013]

1st ride of August for me. Did a 100km (50km is mostly flat false but hills are frequent). The return is easier as mostly down. Yeah. Although I ate and drank well, I think the heat and sun (even if not hot with a 22c) I had a mild headache half-way through, wanted to vomit a few times. So hubby coached me in breathing and slowing down my cadence (which is always too high due to sparing my knees). Gotta choose the best of the two battles.

I thought I would never be able to finish and hubby would have to go get the car for the last 13km. But thanks to his help (he also pushed me a bit up a hill) I was able to finish. Always such a good feeling to finish.

Dinner was sooo good. haha So was the bubble/epson salt bath.

Now I'll take an Aleve night as my knees are killing me. Break tomorrow. I'll stick to some filing and grocery shopping. haha

[azfiddle]

Good job Helene :)

My husband and I did a slower paced ride, ended up going just 26 miles, but got spectacular views of the arrival of a flash flood- check out the ride pics thread.

[smittykitty]

Hills are such a mental thing! We went for a ride on local country roads yesterday. No big deal, except I finally felt ready for my "nemesis" hill. It's 8/10 of a mile, but turns out I've been riding much steeper hills all spring/summer long! Why does this hill do this to be every year? I don't think I ever even got up the nerve for it last year! No more, it's just a hill, get over it!

[Crankin]

We did a 28 mile ride on our last day in the Berkshires. Another wonderful, rural, beautiful ride, and this one had quite a few flat miles, too. One steeper hill the middle, and then a long slog up false flats and rollers for the last 10 miles. We had already checked out of the inn, but we were able to change, take a swim in the pool, and then get changed to drive home.
I am beat. The weather was perfect, and heat wasn't a factor, but this kind of riding does me in, on multiple days. I wish I wasn't such a wimp, and the fact that I am getting older means I do need more rest.
Took a walk this morning, couldn't face boot camp. On to work. I will probably rest tomorrow and do the club ride Wednesday.

[azfiddle]

Crankin your trip the Berkshires sounds lovely.

Yesterday I rode 38 miles with a friend. East of Tucson, one of the regular routes for cyclists is out to "Pistol Hill". It goes through some beautiful desert, though housing developments are everywhere, even so far away from any kind of services. The first half has a climb, a short descent and more climbing. The last half is mostly downhill or relatively flat. Total of 1500 feet of climbing. It was not super hot, but humid (for Tucson- 70% to start) and I was happy to stop and refill one of my bottles with ice for the last 5 miles.

[Helene2013]

If I want to nail some of the Natchez Trace on my upcoming trip, I have to get my thighs pumping hard. And cycling outdoor when too hot is just not me, although I try hard. So I did an hour of trainer in the basement with a concentration on working at a low cadence/highest resistence and working on my push/pull. My thighs are burning so they did work. Will try to keep at it for the next couple of weeks. That and back to muscle training.

We are getting rain and major storms as of tonight for the rest of the week. So trainer will be my best friend for now. :)

[Helene2013]

Day 2 on trainer. Same program. Easier today and hubby did the same since it is pouring out here. Feels like it's winter as we normally don't use indoor trainer in summer. But lately, it is either too hot and sticky or raining/stormy outside. So this is the best I can do to keep up with my training if I want to be able to keep a good steady pace outside.

[Crankin]

Today I did a farmstand ride, with the caveat that I went to a farmstand that is on one of my regular shorter loops. There is all kinds of road work going on in Concord center, so getting anywhere else I usually go for produce would have been a mess. Some interesting observations. I was riding my Guru, with the pannier, and also wearing what I'd call "city riding" clothes, my commuting capris that look like leggings and a sleeveless tunic with a pocket, made out of lycra that looks like a regular blouse. I had several roadies pass me so closely, without calling out a warning, I jumped just about every time it happened. Really, I don't mind being passed, especially when I was not trying to go fast, even before my pannier was full! I ride the Guru on regular road rides at times, so it's clearly a (very nice custom) road bike, with a rack. I think the difference was what I was wearing. It was like I was an invisible nuisance to these riders, and the women were worse that the men.
19 miles, and I also stopped at the bank to get cash. Glad I didn't go on the group ride, as I am sort of struggling with some of my usual auto-immune symptoms. This always happens after a hard riding trip, especially in the heat. It started when I got back from France and has been up and down. The riding I did last week in the Berkshires was really hard; I took a short walk Monday and rested yesterday. We are going down the Cape Friday-Sunday, so I may not even take my bike. The riding is horrible there, and you really can only safely go out very early in the AM.
I hate this, so hopefully, my body will settle down, as we are thinking of doing an AMC trip back in the Berkshires over Labor day weekend.

[creationsbyuli]

This week has been busy with my daughter's busy dance life so my new bike had to wait. I've only ventured out on my local little trail that starts just a small distance from our house. I had 30 minutes last night before I had to pick up said daughter at the dance studio. While it's no big ride, the scenery is pretty....

17741

[Crankin]

I commuted today. It was a weird one. I left at 6:40, as I had an 8:00 client, with stuff to do before. Right when I left my neighborhood, I was blinded by solar glare for about half a mile. Considering this is a road with lots of potholes, and I often have to get out in the lane, I was expecting cars to not see me, even with my 2 flashers in the rear. OK, I was done at 5, which is a crappy time to leave for my commute. I actually had some stuff to do, and then I got 2 phone calls. In the middle of this I got a text from DH saying to look at the email he forwarded to me. Apparently, sometime today the construction work on the commuter rail bridge did some kind of damage today and the main road into town was shut down, with no re-opening time. I had an alternate route that is only about 2.4 miles longer; it was that or re-route myself about 7 miles out of my way. I left at 6, and while the route itself was OK, the street I took to get across the highway and nto a neighborhood that cuts off the closed part of the street was the most pothole ridden street I've been on since March. It was so bad, I should have been on a mountain bike. Saw a few other cyclists taking my route, but thankfully, the detoured cars were all going in the other direction. When I got into the very nice neighborhood that was a cut through, I was kind of looking around, when some goofy guy on a Bike Friday passed me. OK, we were coming up to a light where I had to turn left and it was green.I hate stopping at this light, so I sprinted and turned left, of course, from the left side of the road. This genius decided to turn left from the right side of the road, where he then almost cut me off when I got onto Main St. I booked out of there and dropped him. The rest of the ride was my normal commute. It's already noticeably darker at 6:30 PM :(.

[Crankin]

Spent a nice weekend at the Cape with friends; riding in beach towns/tourist areas is not my cup of tea, but we brought our bikes, "in case." On Friday, we went for a pretty strenuous hike in an area I had never been to (unusual, since I spent about 50 summers on the Cape, in some form). The next day, DH and I got up and went out at 6 AM, the only time I feel safe riding around an area, with people who don't know where they are, and lots of elderly drivers. We did 15 miles, pretty quickly. It always surprises me how rolling the riding is here. Pretty, but since the water is surrounding the area, not a lot of through roads.
It's super humid and hot out. Although it was not as hot on the beach, there is something about riding on the Cape that always gets my sinuses/allergies going, if it's summer time. This is the first time I've been on the Cape during the season in a few years, and this solidified my reasons why I stopped going there for vacation in the summer. Fall and spring is OK, but the riding is not great.

[khg]

My husband and I went and stayed in Packwood, WA for the weekend. The great thing about that location is that if you head south, you're biking on Mt St Helens, and if you head north, you're biking on Mt Rainier. In other words, there's a ton of incredible riding there!

On Saturday, we biked up to Windy Ridge on Mt St Helens--it was a really challenging ride. Different than a lot of mountain rides I've done in which you go up constantly, then come back down, this ride had a lot of up and down, with constantly changing gradients, some of them quite challenging. The scenery was gorgeous throughout--particularly amazing was a moment when you came around a bend in the road, and were suddenly in the blast zone from the 1980 eruption. There were a few dead trees standing, cut off at half-height or so, and then a carpet of fallen trees, all oriented the same direction. It was a very humbling view.

We meant to ride on Mt Rainier on Sunday, but my husband had some work stuff come up, so we came home and I did some painful-but-productive hill repeats by our house. We're hoping to head back next weekend, to repeat the Windy Ridge ride and also get our Mt Rainier ride in. I'll get a couple good rides in this week, then do that trip on the weekend, and then I will be doing nothing more strenuous than grocery store runs (14 flat blocks round trip...) for a few days. Hopefully the challenging rides, plus the several days of rest will leave me peppy and strong as I return to the Italian Dolomites to give summer a last hurrah--I'm simultaneously excited and wondering why I'm crazy enough to be doing this again, when I know for sure this time how hard it's going to be!

[rebeccaC]

I'm simultaneously excited and wondering why I'm crazy enough to be doing this again, when I know for sure this time how hard it's going to be!
but now you also know you can do it and how beautiful the rides are :)

......you make me feel like i'm lazy :):)


nice image creationsbyuli !!!!!!

[azfiddle]

Khg- we rode on Mt. St. Helens about 5 years ago- it was gorgeous.

Tonight, my husband and I went out for an hour on the bike path after dark (with lights of course). We saw a baby Western Diamondback rattlesnake and shooed it off the path. It was incredibly hot out still- about 95 degrees when we started. We also saw a Colorado River Toad and a rodent- either a pocket mouse or kangaroo rat- along the path. Surprisingly, we saw about 7 or 8 other cyclists even though we started at 8 pm. We went about 10 miles but it was very pleasant. Much less demanding than the two rides on the weekend.

[wildnrg01]

Was good to know everyone is being sporty and health conscious and enjoying the August fun run. :)

[Helene2013]

So far...still cycling INSIDE! Weather is overly hot and humid here. Hubby did try a 20km ride Saturday and said it was truly painful. Coming from him, it must have been.

So I did my training inside on trainer last night. At least we're moving and keeping up...

[Crankin]

Demoralizing ride experience today, but it turned out OK in the end. The cycling group that seemed perfect for me has been evolving over the past 10 years. There is often a longer and shorter ride, which is fine, but the longer ride is always at a faster pace. I have always been on the edge of that pace, and I have gone out with these guys (some women, too) a few times over the past 10 years. Today I really wanted to do the long ride, as the shorter ride was advertised at a "relaxed" pace, which means slower than the "normal" pace for this group. So, what's happened is longer always = faster. I can't do 42 miles, with 2K feet of climbing at the faster pace, but I started out anyway. My friend, Jack, who I lead with for another club was sweeping and after about 5 miles, I stayed with him. I tried to abandon then, but he encouraged me and also said he'd go as slowly as I needed. I ride with him a lot, and he knows what I can do. But, after about 11.5 miles, I was at the point where if I continued, it was lots of climbing and I just was not having fun. I am feeling better than in the last few weeks, but my immune system is still wreaking havoc on my body, mostly when I ride. Then I get pissed at myself for being lazy. It's true I don't like to "train," and have been able to do what I want in almost every case. And this group (the faster ones) is almost all older than me, or my age... so I told Jack I was abandoning and I actually had a lovely, bit slower ride home. I had ridden to the start, so I didn't have to go get my car. Got in 27 miles, and despite the heat and humidity, most of it was shaded.
DH is telling me I need to be kind to myself, but it just gets me angrier when he does this, as he is riding more and getting very fast. I don't have time to do all of the modalities that helped me the last time I went through this (acupuncture, PT, massage, meditation), so I think I am going to pick one thing, which will probably be massage. I also don't feel as badly as I did a few years ago, I know I am not dying, and it will pass. It does seem to be related to the hot weather, and always happens near the end of the summer or early fall.

[Crankin]

I'm a leader for AMC, not this club. There's a lot of cross over between the groups, and I wouldn't have to "pass" any tests. My issue is that today's shorter ride was advertised at a relaxed pace. In this group, this means slower than the established "regular Wednesday Wheeler pace." The people who show up for anything advertised as relaxed tend to have squirelly bike skills and they scare me! I would have gone on the shorter ride, if it had been the regular pace. I am always in the front of that group, mostly because I climb better than a lot of them. Part of the group splitting stems from 2 things: one, a lot of the original people are too old to ride (like 80+ or dead!) and this group of people around my age have become more visible. They do nothing but ride, long crazy rides every day, but they don't want to give up doing this ride. They are very nice and encouraging, but... the other reason is the groups were getting so big, that we have had the police called on us in a few towns. Anyway, next week is just one ride, up the NH/Maine Seacoast, led by 2 women who ride at about my speed. I haven't been into driving far to rides, but, it's summer and I love this ride.
I really don't want to get involved with leading for another group, but I will mention this to someone who may be able to do something. I guess, if push comes to shove, I could lead a slightly slower paced version of a long ride. I also think i need to commit to getting out with the faster group in the winter, if the roads are OK, or at least start out with them in some of the early season rides.

[khg]

Yesterday was really fun--just errands, checking in at work briefly, feeding my mom's cat, and so on. I tootled along on my single speed bike, which is simultaneously really relaxing to ride (spins out pretty quickly on the flats, so might as well just go a relaxed pace) and a great challenge and core workout whenever there's a significant uphill. I ended up taking some back roads in the city that I hadn't been on in years--one through a beautiful, peaceful greenbelt, another through the increasingly-vibrant neighborhood I grew up in. I was having such a fun time that I completely lost track of time, and didn't get to lunch until 3:00--when I looked at the time, it suddenly made much more sense why I was feeling a little loopy! It was a lovely day, and 21 miles that I did not put on my car...

But tomorrow, more mountains.

[Crankin]

I commuted yesterday. A real lack of traffic, as school is starting earlier here this year, and a lot of people are away. It's noticeable. It was not too hot, but so humid, that when I arrived, my hair was still soaked with sweat in some parts, that I couldn't really get the flat iron to do its magic. This has never happened. I mean, it's only 5.4 miles! I had to make a second attempt after my first client, but I generally ended up having a very bad hair day.
On my way home, I slowed down for a light that was red, but turned green, when I was the third vehicle back. There is a right turn only lane and the lane on the left goes straight (you could turn left here, but not many do). I was directly in the middle of the lane, going straight when I got the feeling that someone was doing something funky. A woman in a Mini decided I didn't have the right to be in the lane, so she decided to pass me, going into the oncoming lane, over a yellow line. The oncoming car laid on the horn, as I yelled some nice swears. I mean, I was sprinting through the intersection, to move over to the right, but you need to stay a little out in the lane here, as there are parked cars, as well as traffic entering the center of town.
One of the more egregious commuting incidents I've had.

[Aromig]

DH is telling me I need to be kind to myself, but it just gets me angrier when he does this, as he is riding more and getting very fast.

I'm going through this now. A friend that I rode a lot with last year has been focusing on getting faster and faster. Because of various issues, I'm slower this year and I find that riding with him just makes me angry at myself as well as self-conscious. I'm looking for others to ride with, but I'm running into the same problems with the local group ride that you have with this group. I can ride forever, but I'm not fast, especially if you add hills. I'm much faster than the short ride group (not all are on road bikes, its a more relaxed ride for sure) but I'm not fast enough for the long ride group and I exhaust myself trying to keep up. I'm new to this group, and I can't make many rides because of my work schedule so that just adds to my self-consciousness. So I'm riding a lot by myself and I've just resolved to work harder over the winter.

[steppink]

I was thinking about this the other day, that I can ride for a long time, I would ride all day if the day didn't get in the way!
I have also been having vague thoughts lately of maybe joining some sort of group for rides, but I have a hybrid not a road bike and I think all these groups are road bike people and I am definitely not fast enough for those groups and am also slow on hills, so I will stay a solo rider for the foreseeable future. Luckily I think I am pretty good company for myself so I don't mind it haha! :-)

[Crankin]

I have steadfastly had the attitude that I don't "train," but since I live in a hilly area, on top of a bigger hill, I am OK at climbing. However, I am content to do my climbing at a slow pace, so I don't blow up on a long ride. I also do boot camp, trail run, and other outdoor stuff in the winter. This strategy worked for me for about 7 years, then I had some health issues, and it took me a year to get almost back to where I was. Compared to other almost 62 year olds, I am no slouch. Problem is, I know and ride with a lot of people my age or older that just do sufferfests everyday. I also have some weird medical issues that seem to be aggravated by riding in hot weather. I have a couple of other friends to ride with, but they are slower than me.
I am rejoining my old health club in October, so I can take advantage of more spin classes this winter; there are not enough at times i can go where I go now. Although I x country ski and snow shoe like crazy, I have issues making myself get on the trainer at home. I am hoping more spin classes and maybe a bike trip to jump start my season in March will help. I'd like to be just a teeny teeny bit faster, like 1 mph on average.

[azfiddle]

Aromig- I am just like that- slow but can ride a long way. I ride with a women's group on Saturdays (club?team?) not sure what to call it but I am thinking seriously of quitting because they are all faster than me. I average about 14 mph on long rides. I can't keep up and I sense certain amount of tension about waiting for me sometimes. A couple of the women will stay back with me sometimes but not always. I might as well ride by myself and not worry about catching up with them....I even used a coach last year and I didn't get faster.

But I just finished my 4th climb up Mt. Lemmon here since late June- starting at about 2400 feet and riding up over 8000 feet. And I've done several 200k brevets.

[Crankin]

AZ, you and I would be perfectly matched to ride together ...

[Jolt]

Sounds like there are a lot of us here who can ride long but not fast...I agree about it sometimes not being worth trying to ride with others, it can be stressful and take the fun out of the ride. I got my butt kicked Saturday doing the 100k route of D2R2...somebody upthread used the word "sufferfest" to describe some rides and I think that is the perfect description for the day I had. Lots of steep climbing, and a few sections of sketchy surfaces (uphill and down). I definitely wished I had gotten more long rides in before the event...that would have made it more enjoyable for sure. I also should NOT have changed my tires from 1.5" slicks to 1.75" semi-slicks, I think the semi-slicks made me work a lot harder than I needed to and really weren't that helpful for traction. Finally, I should not have carried nearly as much stuff on my bike! My average speed for the ride was something like 8.5 mph, so I ended up with just under 7 hours in the saddle for the 60 miles I rode (ended up taking a small shortcut after making a wrong turn that resulted in a heinous descent/climb on a very poor road right before lunch). I did have a minor wipeout on a curve that came up suddenly on a bit of a loose surface...the rear wheel slid out and down I went. Fortunately the only damage was a little road rash on my left arm. I must say, I have never been so glad to finish a ride! If I do that event again, it will either be the 40-miler if I have only been doing 40-45 mile rides in training, or there will be a lot longer training rides for the 100k. And, I may replace the 26t small chainring with a 22t! On the positive side, the weather held out for us (it didn't rain that day) and the event was very well organized overall. It was also fun walking around and looking at everyone else's bikes--people show up on everything from old mountain bikes, to custom cyclocross/gravel bikes, to one guy on a fatbike pulling his dog in a trailer!! I saw quite a few Surlys too. Word to the wise: if you camp in the big field and stay the night after the ride, try to avoid being placed near the campfire area if you want to get to sleep at a reasonable time. There were drunken shenanigans happening until probably 1 am or so, making it impossible to sleep (I probably should have just joined them!).

[Crankin]

But, you finished, Jolt! That ride has always intrigued me, but it's off the table, as I don't have the proper kind of bike. Certainly not going to do on a road bike with a 34 small ring.
I haven't been riding much. Did a very short ride Saturday, and this morning, DH and I did a 13.2 mile ride at 5 AM. It's fully dark then, now, so back to the "big light." Also, DH tweaked my Garmin, so it is set a bit differently, as to when it start/stops recording mileage. We had noticed that my average was way slower than his on Saturday, even though we were riding together the whole way. So, this morning, I had a nice surprise of an average of over 15. I was working hard, but since I usually have a very good feel for when my average is say, 14 or 15, today my "feeling" matched the Garmin.
It's going to rain like hell later today, so no commute, and hence the ride at 5 AM.

[azfiddle]

Crankin, when are you coming back to Arizona so we can go for a ride ;)

[Crankin]

I honestly don't know. I'd kind of like to do that this winter/early spring. If/when it happens, I will defintely come to Tucson. We only have one relative left in the Valley, but a couple of good friends, too. Of course, there's the matter of having a bike to ride.

[khg]

Yay! I'm at the airport, and my next August bike riding will be in the Dolomite mountains in Italy! Wishing everyone happy riding!

[Crankin]

Have fun, KHG. Dolomites just sounds really, really hard!
Did a 29 mile ride with a small group today. It's a ride I designed for my club's rally and now the other club uses it, too. There were 2 really nice women there, my friends Jack and Eli, and one man, who was really elderly. We all went slowly for him, which was fine, until he had a chain problem and we stopped for a really long time, after we had done the biggest climb, where he walked. I had to be back to meet our real estate agent at our house at 3, shower, etc. So I went ahead at 12:15, and made it back to my car at Verril Farm by 1:05. I was so hungry, I ate half a sandwich in the car, and had plenty of time to shower, change, etc. I felt pretty good, even when I was going fast (er) after I left the group, so it seems like my medical things/allergies are all settling down.

[rebeccaC]

have a great ride and wonderful time khg!!!!!!!

[khg]

Thanks! The riding in the Dolomites is definitely really hard--but it's also really rewarding! Stunningly gorgeous scenery, nice roads, courteous--even encouraging--drivers, and so on.

Another awesome thing is that Italy is about the best country to be hungry in...

[marni]

we are having a brief "cool spell" here in Houston. Did a delightful 30 miles today in almost no humidity, with temps in the mid 80's instead of high 90's. Bliss. It might last through the weekend but then we'll be back in the soggy swety 90s.

I am so ready for fall.

[Crankin]

Hard to believe this is the last weekend of August.
I was the sweep for my club's usual 30 mile ride. Three whole people showed up, which is actually good. We slightly changed the route d/t grooved pavement, thankfully, because I am getting bored of doing the same route. If I make a new route, leaving from the same spot, it will be fine with the leader. I have been lazy.
It was so much cooler than the last time I did this ride, 2 weeks ago. I also know how much better I am feeling. And, I was going slower, as the 2 women at the back got slower as the ride went on. I ate lunch with with the leader and one of the participants, but I was good and had a salad. A nice day, all in all.

[azfiddle]

Last night we did a moonlight ride around Saguaro National Park's 8 mile loop. The road winds along the western slope of the Rincon Mountains, so the night before the full moon is even better than the night of the full moon. We started at sunset and although the moon was up, the ridge blocked it for a while and we got to see it rise again at the top of the hill, halfway around the loop road. I'll post pictures on the picture thread. It was gorgeous! No snakes or nightbirds, 3 or 4 little rodents, probably kangaroo rats, and 2 tarantulas (not scary for me).

[Crankin]

Nice pictures! I imagine you will be getting some cooler nights in a couple of weeks.
Did a quick 14 mile hilly ride around noon today. DH is tired from doing work around the house and I didn't want to push any parts of my body, after riding 60 miles so far this week. My bike has been shifting weirdly, so we had to stop a couple of times, and then DH put it on the stand when we got home. It's not the chain. We think the derailleur hangar may have been bent sometime during our trip to the Berkshires. Hoping it's OK now. I didn't need to hear DH telling me I should have got Di2...

[azfiddle]

Crankin, it will be more than a month before things really start cooling off. Meanwhile- early morning and late afternoon/evening are the only options.

I took my bike in today for some maintenance. It has been riding and shifting a little less smoothly. I guess I got some electrolyte into the shifter and they're going to clean it up, and also it was time for a new chain.

[Crankin]

I imagine nights and early AM are the only options for riding! I was remembering that sometime in September it gets cooler for like 2 hours, when it is dark out :). Also, I remember that when September came, I'd always be expecting it to cool down, when in reality, it never felt cooler until almost November. The thing about Tucson, compared to the Valley, is that it seemed like it actually did cool down at night, even in the summer. It never got below 90 or 95 in Tempe.
Deciding if I am going to ride today...
ETA:
Did a fast a nice 20 mile ride into Acton and Stow. It's getting hot and humid again, and I was glad to be done by noon.

[khg]

Three days in to my Dolomites trip, and I think I have a ton of new smile lines carved into my face--the riding is so hard, but so unbelievably beautiful!!! Pictures will be eventually coming :)