September Rides

[Crankin]

Beautiful weather to start out the month. But, heat predicted for next week...
Did another short (10 mile) 5 AM ride today. I haven't been sleeping well, so I was half awake for the beginning. It's always so humid in the early AM, but it was also only 63. Felt strong, until right at the end when the pain of keeping up with DH got to me as I climbed the hill back to my house. He was long gone and in the house.
Tuesdays there is a large group (extremely fast) ride that starts at 5:30 AM on the town green. We saw people riding to the ride, and then doing warm up laps around the green, when we were heading home. Amazingly, some of the riders had no front lights, when it was still fully dark out. I hope they didn't travel far like that.
I am debating whether to do a very warm and hilly group ride tomorrow, or go see a friend from HS that's in town for coffee. I am really exhausted.

[azfiddle]

I took my bike in to get tuned up over the weekend- cranky shifting and some creaks and squeaks that I couldn't get rid of with lube- and picker her up Monday evening. It was stormy so I didn't get out again until Tuesday around 5 pm. It felt surprisingly pleasant out - the sky was overcast and temps might have been in the very high 80's. I think I only took one drink of water in 16 miles. I went out again this afternoon in similar conditions and about the same distance.

The routes were similar, just on the eastern edge of Tucson at the less urban desert edge of the city. Tonight's sunset as I rode back toward the west was spectacular. The shop did a fantastic job- replaced the chain, did a wash and lube. Apparently I spilled some electrolyte drink into the shifters which was causing part of the problem. So it was much smoother to ride.

Saturday I'm going with a friend to do a 66 mile organized ride from Willcox to the edge of the Chiracahua Mountains. The route has some great scenery, not much traffic, and one big hill in the middle (about 1000 foot climb). I'll try to get a few pics.

[Crankin]

We did a 44 mile ride in Little Compton, RI./ Westport, MA and environs. We used the route I am going to be using when I co-lead it in 2 weeks. This ride is an old favorite, ocean and rural views, without the crowds, as the beaches we ride by are all private beaches, so no crowds. Lamar (my friend who I am leading with in a couple of weeks) had changed the last half of the ride, to avoid some sketchy turns, which was great, but it was all a 2-5% grade, a long slog for about 15 miles. I always think this ride is flat easy, but it actually has about 1,900 feet of climbing, all after lunch. Still, we rode it kind of fast for this kind of ride.
The day couldn't have been more perfect. Temperature 78 derees, light breeze, sunny. There was no traffic. When we were done, we cleaned up and changed and headed to Sakonnet Winery and had tapas and wine.

[azfiddle]

Crankin, your rid sounds lovely.

Yesterday, a friend and I rode the Willcox Flyer- 66 miles (actually around 64) east of Tucson. It's a beautiful route that climbs out of Willcox (3800 feet) to the little hamlet of Dos Cabezas, through desert and desert grassland, then dips down into desert grassland/ranchland to a turn around point at the turn-off to Chiracahua National Monument. The weather was very forgiving: a tropical air mass brought all day overcast with a occasional scattered droplets but no actual rain. The temperature never went above 80, mostly from 70-75 until the last half an hour or so and virtually no wind. 2500 feet of climbing, beautiful scenery, good company, and a moving average of 14.5 mph.

Today, I took one of my students and her mom through Saguaro NP on the loop road. They are training for the 40 mile distance of El Tour de Tucson in November and have never done this ride. Some walking took place on the big hill on the back side ("Cardiac Hill") but they did great, riding on hybrid/flat bar road bikes. The 12 year old never complained even though she had to walk on the steeper hills. Still a bit cool this morning though not overcast.

[Crankin]

It's warming up and I wasted the morning doing nothing but reading the paper. Did a quick 14 mile, hilly ride, going up the steeper side of my street on the way home.
Now, it's off to Arlington for Mexican food with DS and DIL.

[azfiddle]

Hey, it's you and me doing all the riding here Crankin!
I was "invited" (facebook friends) to yet another Mt. Lemmon ride. They were planning to go to the very top (the observatory). I was less motivated but still got to Summerhaven. I parked at mile 0 instead of the coffee shop so I shaved 10 miles off of the ride, but not much of the climbing. 50 miles, about 6200 feet of climbing- and got an ice cream bar as my reward instead of going to the cookie cabin.

It was incredibly green above milepost 5, from all the summer rains, but I forgot my phone, and thus, my camera as well, and have no new pictures to share.

[Crankin]

We need some of your rain, which sounds weird, since you live in the desert!
Yeah, maybe we are the only ones posting, but I only rode 65 miles this week. Today, we rode to our new house, to take measurements. It's really only 4.5 miles, but we cannot ride our bikes the way we drive there. It's very flat, hence my fastest average this year on the way there, and on the way back, until I hit the climb up to my house. Was not feeling too good from beer, a mojito, and Mexican food last night, as well as allergies, but my riding has gotten stronger in the last 2 weeks. A measly total of 15.1 miles, but it was already 88 when we got back, so I was not sad. Spent all afternoon at Lowes, ordering almost everything for our remodeling, except for window treatments. I am wiped, and will see about commuting tomorrow.

[creationsbyuli]

Remember, I'm a beginning (or back to it after many years) rider so my rides aren't huge.... Did 19km with a friend yesterday (my longest on my new bike so far). Had much fun!!177791778017781

We went out fairly early and went longer than we had planned. It was the perfect morning outing.

[azfiddle]

Creationsbyuli- you look SO happy in your picture! It's not at all about how far you went. You had a great time out on your bike :)

[lph]

1778217783Agreed. Awesome grin, creationsbyuli!
I started a Facebook group for cyclists in my area a few days ago and needed a good photo for the page. So for once I have a few photos from my regular commute here. Bear in mind, these are the nicest parts ;-) I didn't bother documenting the messy intersections, the roadwork etc.

[Crankin]

I did my original loop ride, 15.2 miles this morning, before it got too hot. It was 78 out, but about 80% humidity. Thankfully, a breeze, too.
So, I had about 2 weeks of feeling good, and after my trip to Westport Saturday, my allergies and stomach started acting up, and then my weird muscle aches start. Funny, my legs still feel strong, but this ride, although faster than I planned, didn't really feel great. I've also not been sleeping, so if I don't exercise, that won't get solved. I plan to rest again tomorrow, although if I wake up early enough, and feel OK, I might do a dawn ride. With no shower at work, commuting in these temperatures is not really fun, and it's only 10 miles round trip. I can ride more than that if I go out at 5 AM. Probably next longer ride wiill be Saturday, as weather Friday looks crappy.

[Crankin]

Had a really nice 25 mile ride today, when we had to be out of our house for the open house. We basically did one of our flatter routes, and then rode back past our turn off for home and went to have lunch at Ferns, in Carlisle and then rode home. It was cool and rainy in the morning, was wearing arm warmers for the first 6 miles. Then the sun came out. Legs felt good and my average was up there, for a supposedly slow ride.
Going to rain tomorrow. Boo.

[smittykitty]

Warm and sunny today. To celebrate our anniversary (which was yesterday), wer rode 50+miles on rural roads in southwest WA, out the front door. It was a nice mix of hilly and not so hilly. Absolutely beautiful country side, lots of farms. We are very fortunate to have such great cycling so close to home. Legs are tired!

[creationsbyuli]

I puttered around on this gorgeous trail today while my daughter was at the dance studio. Perfect way to kill a couple of hours!!

17795

[creationsbyuli]

Oops. Didn't mean to post the picture twice.

[ny biker]

I've been off my bike way too much over the past couple of months, for good reasons and bad -- vacation with family, sick with a bad cold, ongoing allergy/autoimmune problems, weekend family visit, etc. I have managed to get in enough rides here and there to get back to a decent level of fitness after being sick during the first half of August. I did a few weekend rides that were about 45 miles long with just enough mid-week hill rides to get my legs back. But nothing consistent. Last week my usual post-work hill ride was "rained out" -- they forecast rain between 8 and 10 pm, continuing into the next day and ending in the afternoon, so I decided to push the ride back to the next night, so of course it didn't rain the first night and did rain the next night.

I really don't like riding in the rain. Light rain is okay, I have gear for that, though I rarely have time for the extra clean up that's necessary afterwards. Heavy rain just sucks, and it's not safe.

Yesterday was one of my favorite rides of the year, the Civil War Century. It starts in Frederick County, MD and goes up to the Gettysburg battlefield. That's the metric route, which I prefer. There are longer routes that go to South Mountain battlefield and the full century also goes to Antietam. Those routes have more climbing. I love riding in that part of Maryland and Pennsylvania. There are lots of quiet farm roads and I love the views of the mountains. The CWC is very popular, for good reason. In addition to the great routes, it's very well run and the food is fantastic, with lots of fresh, locally grown produce. Plus ice cream from a local dairy at the end.

The weather forecast for yesterday was a bit mixed. Some of my trusted weather sources were saying that there would be rain on and off, but it wouldn't start until afternoon. One website said rain all day. Guess which was correct.

If it had been any other ride, I would have just stayed home. I checked "epic ride in heavy rain because I paid the registration fee in advance" off my to-do list years ago. And over the past few years I've done enough club rides in the same part of Maryland and Pennsylvania to learn the roads well. I've even led some rides up there. I can go back any time. In fact I was just there last month. But yesterday I had plans to meet up with a friend who I haven't seen in a while. So I packed up the car and headed north. I figured I had options -- they have a 50 and 25 mile route that you can choose in addition to the longer routes, and over breakfast I mapped out a shortcut back from the rest stop near the mid-point of the metric just in case. My friend was doing one of the longer routes and we were going to meet at that rest stop, where all the routes comes together.

It wasn't raining when I got to the start, but the radar map did not look good. I decided to do the metric route. It differs from the 50-miler near the start -- the 50-mile route heads north right away while the metric goes south first and then circles back up north. I had my Gore rain jacket and helmet cover and a rear fender on my bike. Light rain started after only a few miles, but it was manageable. I stopped after a while to put on toe covers, since I have such problems with cold feet and temps were in the 60s. When I reached the first rest stop I checked the radar map again -- there was heavy rain heading our way. I started riding again. Heavier rain started to come down.

After riding just a few more miles, my feet were soaked and my jacket looked like it was going to soak through. Conditions had gone from manageable to this-is-not-fun. And I was worried that I would get cold if/when my jacket soaked through. So I decided to bail. I reached an intersection with a road that I knew would take me back toward the start, and I made the turn. I actually passed a couple of cyclists going the other way -- by coincidence I was going back on the roads that the 50-milers used at the start of the ride. I ended up riding 25 miles in all. I got back to my car, put the bike inside, got in and closed the door. Changed into dry clothes, texted my friend to let her know where I was and offer to come get her if she decided not to finish. Then I made the long walk up to the picnic area through the field where all the cars were parked. It was not muddy (yet) but I wished I had thought to bring my rain boots. At least I had the umbrella that I keep in the car.

Although my ride was over, the day was not. I had a sandwich and more fresh fruit. Drove up to the last rest stop, waited for my friend there and drove her back to the start. There was very heavy rain while I was waiting there. People were soaked through, some wearing trash bags, some shivering with teeth chattering. Fortunately the rest stop is at a fire station so they were able to move things indoors. Once back at the picnic we had ice cream, waited for her husband and some other friends to finish, saw a couple of those friends and chatted with them while they ate. I ate way too many peaches, but they were too good to pass up. I also ate too much ice cream considering I only rode 25 miles.

I thought about going out for a ride today since I didn't go far yesterday, but I was too tired last night to do anything other than hang stuff up to dry and do laundry. I need to finish cleaning my bike today.

I've signed up for a metric next Saturday and another on Oct 4. Both are in northwest Virginia, both raise money for charity. I'm also planning to do two more metrics in southern Maryland in October. I usually prefer shorter rides in the fall, especially since I hate starting early when it's chilly in the morning but will warm up nicely in the afternoon. But I haven't done nearly as much riding as usual this summer, so I'm hoping to get in some good long rides before winter sets in.

[azfiddle]

I rode 20 miles on the Surly, including a stop at the bank, bakery and getting most of the groceries, on Saturday. Today my husband and I opted for a hike, as I had accumulated more than 112 miles this week (50 miles Monday on Mt. Lemmon, an evening ride Thursday and one 22 mile work commute on Friday). It was a pretty casual hike into Sabino Canyon, which has enough water to support willows, cottonwoods and ash trees in the bottom. The walk was just 3 miles or so, with a lot of birding (migration was in full swing) and looking at flowers, lizards and tiny baby Red-spotted Toads.

[Crankin]

That hike sounds nice. I didn't ride yesterday, as it was drizzly/rainy on and off all day. I could have ridden, but every time I looked outside, it was raining. I went to a yoga class, and it was awful. Way too easy, and I don't want to spend time doing foot reflexology. Four weeks left at this gym and I cannot wait to go back to my old gym.
NY, I have not ridden that much this season, either, just about 1,850 miles. I thought I might make 3K this year, but I don't think so. I am getting worried I won't make 2,500, which is about my usual, give or take an extra 200. I love fall, so I am going to have to kick it up. This week looks good.

[Crankin]

Did my little 5:15 AM ride, 13 miles. It was 59 out and very dry, so I was wearing knickers, LS light thermal jersey, and a vest. I also went back in to put on full fingered gloves. I've ridden at this temperature on other mornings and I've been sweating to death; I figured out it's from the humidity. So nice and fall like today. Too bad it's going up to the upper 80s this week.
So many more people up and about at this time than when I first started doing these rides. I definitely notice it.

[ny biker]

Did my little 5:15 AM ride, 13 miles. It was 59 out and very dry, so I was wearing knickers, LS light thermal jersey, and a vest. I also went back in to put on full fingered gloves. I've ridden at this temperature on other mornings and I've been sweating to death; I figured out it's from the humidity. So nice and fall like today. Too bad it's going up to the upper 80s this week.
So many more people up and about at this time than when I first started doing these rides. I definitely notice it.

Whereas I'm thinking YAY it's going to the upper 80s this week. :D

I'm planning to do a supported metric on Saturday a bit west of where I live, closer to the mountains and away from the heat island of the city. The forecast for here is for a cool morning, low humidity, warming up to near 90. I was at an event at the LBS the other day where they had 25% off clothing, so I picked up a black PI shrug. I figured I'd wear it over a sleeveless jersey to start the ride, then would take it off as the temperature went up. But last night I looked at the label and it's a cooling shrug -- Icefil fabric, supposed to cool you down as you sweat. This is not what I want when it's below 70 -- I'd be better off just wearing the sleeveless jersey by itself. So I'm deciding if I should return the shrug or not. I already have 3 DeSoto Coolwings and two pairs of arm cooler sleeves, don't need another cooling shrug, and I doubt I'll want to wear a black one on a hot sunny day.

Anyway. I already have a Shebeest shrug that's intended to be more like lightweight arm warmers. I got the PI one because I'm not thrilled with the fit of the Shebeest shrug. But I will wear that on Saturday. And rejoice as the day warms up. Yay summer, hang around as long as you'd like.

[azfiddle]

Monday night- quick 10 miles on the bike path. Wednesday afternoon sunset ride with my son - his first trip around the loop at Saguaro NP and he cruised right by me! He did his first 10 mile ride a month ago, and yesterday he did a 30 mile flat ride in the morning and the 8 mile loop (with a big hill). Admittedly he's 25 so that helps...

[Crankin]

This relates to the comment I made to you on FB.
When my older son had been riding a month, he went out with DH and I to do the same little ride I did yesterday, about 11 miles. Aside from the fact a spoke broke on his bike about 3 miles in, I realized quickly that he would be riding with DH, and I would be the sweep. I pictured a skinny little 28 year old, who told me he was out of shape! I know age is the difference, but still. When I started doing aerobics at his age, I had to pull over on the side of the road, because I thought I was going to pass out after the class. It took me at least 5 months to feel in shape. I was really shocked he was so fast.

[Crankin]

Rode with my friend yesterday. She was at the Cape for the whole summer, so we haven't ridden together much this year. She is a good, but slow rider, but I decided that since lots of hard rides in a row seem to set off my auto-immune symptoms, I'd rather ride with her than not ride (I have 2 other rides planned this weekend). Actually, I was relieved that I didn't have to help lead the Friday morning ride. We just did 21 miles, but, on my most favorite roads in Acton and Boxborough. Very quiet, so much more than around Concord, and I mean with cyclists, too, not just cars. Enough hills to keep me satisfied, despite the very slow speed. I went ahead on the hills, though, and then waited.
Riding with my other friend this morning. Supposed to be there in an hour and right now it's 62 degrees and foggy.

[ny biker]

I did my usual post-work hill ride on Wednesday. The weather was nice. I thought about leaving work early so I could get in some miles before sunset, but then there would be more traffic to contend with so I decided not to rush. We're at the point where I'm starting at dusk but soon it will be totally dark before I start. :( Before my office moved I could do most of my summer night rides without any lights. Since my office moved to an area that's 25 miles from home and not good for evening cycling, I never manage to get to my ride start early enough to make it all the way through without needing them.

Yesterday I did the ride I planned to do near the Shenandoah mountains. Well actually it wasn't quite what I planned. It was a ride to raise money for a free health clinic, with the start/finish at a volunteer fire department so there was a chance for them to raise some donations too. It took place just east of the mountains but not too far west of a flat rural area where I ride a few times per year. Before the ride I looked at the route maps that were posted on map my ride. That website said that the 60-mile route had 1100 feet of climbing and the 33-miler had only 675 feet of climbing. I know that MMR typically underestimates the elevation gain on its routes, and I know the mountains were nearby, but I was too busy to try to find out what the terrain was really like so I just figured maybe the routes were in a valley.

Boy was I wrong. It was all rolling hills, some quite steep. Since I haven't been riding much lately I was feeling it almost from the beginning in my legs and my lower back. The ride was a mass start to allow for the police to control traffic in the beginning, which meant that all the faster riders -- just about everyone -- left me behind. I planned to do the 60-mile route, but shortly after the first rest stop I realized that I had a decision to make -- struggle through a long painful ride by myself and be one of the last to finish, possibly finding that they had run out of food by the time I got back, or switch to the 33-mile route and enjoy the scenery (and the food). I chose door number 2. I do confess that my decision was heavily influenced by the fact that the post-ride lunch included freshly-baked pie.

The scenery really was beautiful. Plenty of leafy green trees, mountain views, long stone fences lining the roads. It was a sunny day, possibly our last hot day of the year but there was plenty of shade. Once I decided to switch to the shorter route I no longer cared about being far behind most of the other riders, so I stopped to take some photos which I'll post later. I spent a lot of time thinking about a friend who moved out to this part of Virginia about 10 or so years ago. She led the first group ride I ever did and encouraged me to sign up for my first organized ride, the Tour du Port in Baltimore. After she moved we lost touch but then reconnected on Facebook. She spent a few years in Afghanistan (she was a military contractor) and adopted a rescue dog. She didn't do much bicycling after she moved but she did buy a motorcycle, and she must have really enjoyed riding it out there. She died unexpectedly just about a year ago, and her dog died just last week. I think about her often and wish I could have told her about my ride yesterday. Maybe we could have met up there and spent some time together.

Just as I finished the ride I met up with a friend who had done a different route which included some gravel roads. We had lunch together, then she left and I went to get some of that pie. There were a several varieties to choose from. I took a slice of blueberry-peach pie, then spotted the strawberry rhubard. My father loves strawberry rhubarb pie and last week was his 80th birthday, so I had to have some in his honor. So yes, despite only riding 33 miles I indulged in two desserts. But hey, those were some hilly miles and I did get a workout.

As I tucked into the pie a woman sat down across from me and we had a nice chat. She actually looked a little like the friend I'd been thinking about and it turned out that they were both from the same state.

So it was not the day I had planned, but it was a good ride and a good day. I think next year I might bring my mountain bike and do the paved/gravel route.

p.s. My Garmin estimated the total elevation gain was about 2300 feet, and after I got home I mapped out both the 33 and 60 mile routes on Ride with GPS, which indicated 2600 feet of climbing on the shorter route and nearly 4000 for the longer route. So RWGPS was greater by a factor of 4, and I think it was closer to being accurate.

[Crankin]

Today I was the sweep for the same ride I did over Labor Day Weekend, in Tiverton, RI/Westport, MA. Again, beautiful, cooler weather. We had about 10 people, and of course, there was one who was much slower than everyone else. So slow, that on the last hill, I had to get in front of her, or I was going to fall over, and the leader, my friend, Lamar, rode back to see if we were OK, just when I had stopped to text him. We did the older route, which has a scary left turn right at the top of said hill, and I had to almost yell at the woman to get in the lane, as I had already blocked the traffic for us, with aggressive signaling. Once we turned onto the last road, which is a bit of a slog, maybe a steady 3% grade, Lamar told me he would sweep and I sprinted so far ahead, I got back about 30 seconds after the guy who had been far in front. I was kind of angry that Lamar had not screened her well enough, and this is why we do this; we are required by liability rules to keep everyone together. Then, my GPS was not working right, because he had not done the waypoints right. He doesn't have a GPS, just uses Ride with GPS to do cue sheets. I know this route well, but we have changed it so many times, I wanted to keep some of the others in sight!
Anyway, it was 42 miles and I am not even tired, because I was going slowly for at least 25 of those miles. After the ride, we went out to eat at a traditional New England seafood place overlooking a bay. The glass of wine I had calmed me down! On the way home Lamar, his girlfriend, and I stopped at my favorite soft serve ice cream place near home, so that was a nice end to the day.
Yesterday I rode 30 miles in Harvard, MA with a friend, so I actually rode 116 miles this week, a lot more than I have been doing.

[Helene2013]

I had not planned doing any ride before the upcoming weekend. Too busy since we came back from vacation Friday evening. We had to be at my friend at 1pm pm to chat about our trip and pick up my cat she was catsitting for us. Well hubby saw a few bikes go by our house and was itching to go. So I dressed and we went for a quick 30km. Not long but satisfying and I pushed myself hard on this one. It was pretty windy too. But oh so nice cool. Amen to fall decent weather. Came back to shower and off we were at 2pm. She was glad we pushed our arrival time as she was behind in her schedule. She works on Sunday morning. So it worked out well.

[azfiddle]

Yesterday was the group ride- about 40 miles. A frequent destination (Saguaro NP) but from a more distant starting point and with an extra bit out to the easternmost section of Tucson, ending that part with a half mile climb that gets up to 11% for a bit. Ouch! Today we took the new-riding son on his first ride up Mt. Lemmon- just about 4.5 miles from the base (plus the 5 miles from where we park the car) - 1500 feet of climbing and he did great. He took a few stops but as soon as he got back on the bike he was always able to ride faster than me (but not my husband). He's loving it! Wait 'til we unveil the touring bike we found him on Craigslist.... not sure it will wait until the holidays to be unwrapped.....

[Crankin]

I had a really nice 5 AM 12 mile ride this morning. Did not see the same amount of cars as last Tuesday, and no deer ran across the road in front of me, scaring me to death! It was 53 when I left, a bit warmer than I thought it would be. Yesterday was 48 at the same time, so when I put out my clothes last night, I based it on that. Still, not really over-heated, although I did stop about 3 miles from home, and take off my head cover.
First time wearing tights since the spring, and I was glad I had those on.

[cosc]

Helene, glad you got to ride in cooler temps. Very refreshing after the heat of Tennessee.
NY Biker, I'm jealous of the beautiful but challenging rides you accomplish.
Azfiddle, terrific to add a son to your cycling family.
Crankin, you bike reports inspire me to get on my bike no matter the circumstance and "Just do It". You always have a colorful ride, some on the blues side and others sunshine, but all end up beautiful.

[Helene2013]

Another 30km tonight. It was soooo cool, no wind. To me this is perfect riding weather. Could have done easily 2 more hours but was getting dark and needed to come home to my dogs. And to say hubby was whining it was too chilly for him. Lol mismatched couple on temperature. Lol it was one of my fastest outings to date.

[ny biker]

I'm supposed to go out for a ride tonight. The weather is beautiful. Yet I feel so lazy!

I'm working from home so to change things up I think I will ride around my neighborhood, going in circles up and down the hills. Hopefully there won't be much traffic.

I posted a long hilly ride on my club schedule for Saturday so of course now they say it will rain. But scattered light rain -- maybe we can still get some miles in. The route I planned includes 2 short cuts.

Looking ahead to the following weekend's charity ride -- the metric route is just as hilly as the one I chose not to do last weekend (and shares some of the same roads). I need to log some miles!

[Crankin]

OK, I am coming clean. I rode on Yom Kippur. Sat all morning in services, looking out at the most perfect weather imaginable. I could not concentrate and had a generally bad attitude that I don't usually have. Yeah, I didn't fast, either, so came home, ate lunch and did a teeny 11 mile ride, as I had a ton of paperwork to do. I felt really good after the ride, went to the store, and then settled down and did my work. The weather guy is now saying "best day ever." Rest day tomorrow, but I plan on doing at least 20 on Friday.
I guess my list of sins for the new year has already started :).

[ny biker]

I'm supposed to go out for a ride tonight. The weather is beautiful. Yet I feel so lazy!

I'm working from home so to change things up I think I will ride around my neighborhood, going in circles up and down the hills. Hopefully there won't be much traffic.

I posted a long hilly ride on my club schedule for Saturday so of course now they say it will rain. But scattered light rain -- maybe we can still get some miles in. The route I planned includes 2 short cuts.

Looking ahead to the following weekend's charity ride -- the metric route is just as hilly as the one I chose not to do last weekend (and shares some of the same roads). I need to log some miles!

See, posting here is making a commitment. I hauled my butt out there and rode 20.7 miles without ever leaving my neighborhood. There's a community center at the top of a hill on the other side of the 'hood, with roads that go in a circle down the hill and back up again. So I rode over there for a warm up, then did 10 clockwise hill repeats, a brief spin around some flat roads for a break, then 10 hill repeats counter-clockwise, or maybe it was 11, I lost count. Then I rode back over to my side of the 'hood, and for one last effort I kept going past my house down the hill to the dead end and came back up again. As I turned around at the bottom there was a man standing on his front porch whistling "Pennies from Heaven." :D Estimated total elevation gain was about 1500 feet. My quads are feeling it. Mission accomplished!!

Riding around my neighborhood is not as nice as it used to be. Traffic is not too heavy but it's constant and most people either have no patience or are just clueless. The main through streets have bike lanes but there are many parked cars so the risk of being doored is also constant. And the squirrels are especially stupid around here, running in front of you and then stopping like they want to get run over. But tonight things went well. Perhaps we finally have enough cyclists in this area that people are more accustomed to sharing the roads. And I guess the squirrels were napping...

[Crankin]

45 miles on the north shore, starting in Topsfield, going to Ipswich Neck, and back through Rowley and one other town. A perfect blend of ocean in the beginning, rural, and semi-suburbia roads. It was very busy at first, but once we ate lunch, and got out of Ipswich, it died down, probably due to the Patriots' game. We saw house with 20 cars parked in front, so I guess lots were partying.
This ride is pretty flat, save for 2 hills after lunch, but it did seem long for the last 10 miles. Perfect riding temperatures between 60 and 70. I was a bit nervous, as it was 35 this morning...

[azfiddle]

Possibly the best ride all month: 8 mile leisurely loop through Saguaro National Park with the super moon and eclipse. About 11 of us rode together, including my son and one of my 7th grade students who is training for El Tour de Tucson. We also saw Cassiopeia, Ursa Major (The Big Dipper), Scorpius, Sagittarius, the Hubble Space Telescope (identified with the Skyview app on my phone), as well as a baby gopher snake, a Tiger Rattlesnake, a Western Diamondback and couple of rodents (maybe a pocket mouse and kangaroo rat.

[Helene2013]

Did 58km on gravel (with rolling hills) on Saturday. The last 10km were the worst ones as I got tired but managed to nail it all, and no walking up the hills. Yeah.
Yesterday we decided to go back and use another path (asphalt this time) but got there to a blocked entrance due to maintenance and it will reopen only in November (by then it will be too cold and probably snowing!) Deuh! So we took car and drove to a nearby city to get another path and faced to another...closed too. So we were only able to ride 13km but a very frustrating one.

But the good thing is that next spring those paths will be all freshly done, so very nice to ride on. yeah.

[ny biker]

I led a club ride on Saturday, 57 miles with as many hills as possible. More miles and more climbing than I've done in a while, with a strong headwind for much it. It was a good workout. I was overdressed, prepared for possible rain which didn't happen (not that I'm complaining about that.) The unneeded layers were wool so I was okay, though without the wind I probably would have been more uncomfortable. Afterwards I stopped at a deli for lunch then headed over to a bike club meeting to discuss our recent century ride. I was an hour early but feeling very sleepy so I took a quick nap in my car to pass the time.

So now I feel ready to attempt the hilly metric that I was planning to do this coming weekend. Except -- I looked at more details on the web page of the group that's organizing the ride, including rest stop information. For the metric route there is 30 miles between the first and second rest stops, with no bathrooms at the second rest stop, then 10 more miles to a stop that does have facilities. So that's 40 miles without a bathroom break and since those miles include some steep hills and 5 miles of gravel, my pace will be slower than usual. So I'd be looking at 3-4 hours without a bathroom break. Maybe that won't be a problem, but then again maybe it will and there's no way to know in advance. So most likely I will do the 45 mile route instead. It will still be a nice ride and a respectable distance. The extra miles on the longer route are like a lollipop -- out on a certain road, circle around and then come back on the same road. If I'm feeling good I can get some extra miles by making the turn from the 45 onto the metric course and then turning around early. On the other hand, we're in for heavy rain tonight and might get a tropical storm in a few days, so the weather might change my plans for me.

But I feel good about the last two rides I've done.

[Crankin]

Eh, it looks like heavy, tropical rain for about 10 days... so, I did a quick 11 mile ride at 5 AM. It was 100% humidity, which was really like fog in some places. DH drove by me, when I was half way through my ride and said my light is really, really bright.
Glad I went. I've been sick for about a week, with a cold/viral thing. Felt good when I woke up, and not too bad during the day. Normalcy is returning.
Not looking forward to being at the gym during the rain. I was really looking forward to getting some miles in over the next few days.

[ny biker]

This continues to be a Year Where Things Don't Go As Planned for me. The charity ride I was going to do this weekend has been canceled due to the weather. Even if it hadn't been canceled, I had already decided I would not go unless the chance of rain and wind dropped significantly -- I've done enough cold, wet and/or windy rides, and it would not have been worth the long drive out there.

So here are the rides I wanted to do but missed this year:

Ride to End Hunger in April - too sick to ride. This is the first time since they started this event that I was not there.
My bike club's annual May Metric -- still too sick to ride.
Firefighter 50 in July -- conflict with family event
Civil War Century in September -- shortened due to rain
Rappahannock Rough Ride -- shortened due to back pain and lack of fitness from previous canceled/shortened rides
JCCNV Wounded Warrior ride this weekend -- canceled due to rain.
Crop Hop scheduled for next weekend -- canceled due to problems with road conditions.

Plus there were many other weekends where I either was not able to ride at all or had to do much shorter rides than I wanted because of lingering effects of illness.

I am grateful that I have not had any serious problems, but I've been struggling with some stressful situations for a while now and being off the bike -- and completely inactive at times -- has really made things worse.

Maybe I need to learn something like knitting to fill in when I can't ride my bike (or go to the gym or for a walk).

Meanwhile I need to decide on what to do next weekend, in place of the Crop Hop. I've been planning to register for a metric century near Fredericksburg, VA. With all this rain I feel like I want a guarantee of sunshine before I commit the money, but I guess I'll roll the dice and sign up and then just keep my fingers crossed.

I'm glad Joaquin is heading out to sea, but this multi-day storm we've got now is pretty bad. The eastern shore of Maryland has been hit hard -- they actually canceled the Seagull Century this weekend -- and I hear things are really bad in South Carolina.

[Crankin]

Yes, it does seem like they are getting socked down south. Our coastal areas are getting pretty bad winds and rain tonight and tomorrow, but it is unrelated to the hurricane. I think it will be drizzly tomorrow, so not sure what I will do. It will be dry, but cold and windy on Sunday. Since DH is leaving for Tokyo at 10:45, I will get out there, no matter what. I have a 38 mile ride I've been wanting to do, and damn it, I will do it, and treat myself to a nice lunch during the ride. We had plans to do a club ride (either 35 or 55 miles) on Columbus Day, as DH gets back on Sunday and thought it would help him get back on the right time.. The lunch party after was cancelled, and now DH says they are coming to install the counters at the condo that day. I will probably do the ride by myself, though the 55 mile version will be fast. I can do it myself, at my own speed, since it is all familiar.
We are considering doing a metric or a century on the 17th. Haven't trained at all, but it's flat, and I am looking forward to riding in a new area.It's not supported, but it is organized. I know i can do the metric, especially with some good riding over Columbus Day weekend, but it might be crazy to try the century. On the other hand, I didn't train for the one I did, and I did fine.

[marni]

todays ride started at 65 degrees and finished 40 miles and 2:30 later at 85 degrees with low humidity. Unfortunately it won't last but it sure was a nice change from 90 degrees 70% humidity.

I expect that my Moab bike trip next week will provide more of the same.

[rebeccaC]

I expect that my Moab bike trip next week will provide more of the same.

have a great time in the moab area...i was there for a couple of days two weeks ago and luv'ed it!!!!!!!...middle 70's to around 80 and high 60's to low 70's on the island in the sky mesa top in canyon lands np....some beautiful hikes, nice riding roads and from conversations there are some amazing mb trails!!!!

[azfiddle]

Yes, Moab should be beautiful!

Out here it's FINALLY almost cool. We rode 56 miles this morning, taking a longer, flatter route than the planned trip up Mt. Lemmon. Still got in 2000 feet of climbing but not the constant ascent we would have had. I need to get in a few more long rides as El Tour de Tucson is around the corner- 6 weeks away. Just four of us rode today - 2 other women from my group and my husband came along. And then we went out for lunch at Le Buzz, the coffee shop at where lots of cyclists go after rides. Not too hot- I only drank 2 bottles of water on the ride.

[Crankin]

That sounds nice, AZ.
OMG, I see some blue sky peaking out!

[ny biker]

Still gray here, but looking at the trees out my window I don't see much evidence of wind.

I have some reading and tutorials to do this month for work, so I will work on that today. Might do a short ride later, or not.