riding into the heat of july [Archive] - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

azfiddle

07-02-2016, 07:51 AM

I got up extra early to ride with my husband on on Mt. Lemmon. The Tucson Tri-girls run a 6 week set of rides up Mt. Lemmon, going further each week, and they have water and food along the way. My son met up with us and the two of them (much faster than me) went ahead to Molino Basin (mile 5 or so) - usually just a rest stop on the way up. I knew the son was turning around but as soon as I got there, my husband says "I'm done". I wasn't really expecting that. It was kind of warm, and humid (for southern AZ) but usually I just rest for a few minutes and I'm ready to go further.

So... maybe I just would have gone a couple miles further, or to a good turn around spot at Seven Cataracts (mile 9) but I couldn't help feeling irritated that he just decided to stop and turn around so suddenly. We hadn't really talked about how far we were going before we started ... I could have kept going on my own but would have had to ride home an extra five miles (actually 8 miles because we didn't park at the usual spot) and I was grumpy about the whole thing. So...

just 13 miles altogether (about 1500 feet of climbing). Maybe I'll take on the whole mountain again one day next week before I go back to work. And I'm trying not to be too irritable until I get over it.

emily_in_nc

07-02-2016, 09:04 AM

No heat here! It's in the upper 50s here as I write this on July 2. Cray-zee! It's raining today but supposed to be back to the 80s-90s next week, so I guess I shan't complain, but I am a little bummed. We actually had to turn on the heater a little bit ago.

No riding (or even walking) here today in a state park in Iowa where I am sure there are a lot of unhappy campers stuck inside at the moment!

north woods gal

07-02-2016, 12:46 PM

Crankin

07-02-2016, 12:56 PM

Humidity is gone and it's only 75 out. However, the heat is coming, going to be up to 95 by next Wednesday. But, dry.
DH planned a ride so we could get to our favorite soft serve/chocolate dip ice cream place for our first visit of the season. It's very late in the year for our first visit! It's only about 8-9 miles, so we altered a ride we saw on Ride With GPS. We both wanted to go slowly, after yesterday. All was well, beautiful shady, familiar, but not boring roads, when we turned off onto an unpaved road. They were hard packed, but with spots of gravel and a few puddles. I hate this, on a road bike, because I have to slow down a lot. The dirt went on for longer than I wanted, ending in a small climb. I actually think we have been on this road before, and I whined just as much. After this, we were not so far from the ice cream place, so we turned off the route guidance, as I saw one road that I know is dirt. It was nice and quiet at Dairy Joy, as it's in one of the richest towns around here, so they all must be at their beach or mountain homes! From there, we took a straighter shot home, than the original ride had planned, but we still got in 31.5 miles.

emily_in_nc

07-02-2016, 02:15 PM

Great ride, today, to start the month. Sunny and 70s. Did a 30 mile loop, but about 12 miles was a combination of gravel bike path, gravel road and/or sand roads. Love going off pavement and getting completely away from traffic, back into some gorgeous and wild north woods. Have never been able to manage all the fancy MTB riding skills, but get me back along a fairly level and somewhat straight path, even single tack, and I'm fine. I leave the kamikaze stuff to others. :)

Ditto ditto ditto! Sounds like a great ride, NWG! I am glad someone got to ride...I think our rain has finally ended, but today was a real mess, cold and wet from start to (nearly) finish. I have only been outside for about 10 minutes total so the dog could do her business. If it's not raining, we'll get a longer walk in after dinner.

emily_in_nc

07-02-2016, 02:16 PM

It was nice and quiet at Dairy Joy, as it's in one of the richest towns around here, so they all must be at their beach or mountain homes! From there, we took a straighter shot home, than the original ride had planned, but we still got in 31.5 miles.

But you didn't tell us about the ice cream! :D

Crankin

07-03-2016, 03:25 AM

It was fabulous as usual. I got a vanilla-chocolate "twist," with the chocolate dip. They stick the cone in a cup, so it's easier to eat. The kiddie size is 4 oz. and plenty enough.
The food at this place is very good, too.

north woods gal

07-03-2016, 03:49 PM

Last week or so, I posted about doing a remote 8 mile section of gravel/sand roads on my Salsa Fargo with it's 29er 2.2" tires. The Fargo got me through, but with some fishtailing and a few spots were just too deep with sand, so I walked the bike.

Returned, today, only to discover that the road was in much worse shape. For one, the sand was dry and powdery this time around, and, for another, the ATV crowd had the sand churned up pretty good. Not surprising, really, since this is the holiday weekend and this road is a designated ATV trail. Not a problem, anyway. This time, I brought a better bike for the job (that's a story for another post) and had NO issues. Even managed to churn through some muddy spots with great traction. Yup, fit right in with the ATV crowd. :)

As for the ATV folks, they were actually quite nice, slowing way down as the passed as to not raise too much dust and waving as they passed. One ATV rider actually stopped while I was taking a water break to make sure I was okay. Since this road is very isolated and lonely, it was actually nice to have the company. I am totally a solo rider, but I never get completely comfortable being alone out in the woods.

Helene2013

07-04-2016, 04:14 AM

July 1st I set out to ride our Crux. Temperature is not bad and we have time before hitting the heat/humidity index in the 30c+. It's in the Eastern Townships a gravel road, mostly hilly. It was only 44km ride but I knew it would not be easy due to all combinations.

So I did 38km...and stopped (a few times in the last 3km). The last stop was one forced by my husband. He said I've had enough and should stop before getting into an accident. I was overheating and not even cold water on my head, arms, etc did. I was fighting off vomiting but wanted to finish the last 6km left to get to our car. I knew they would be harsh to achieve as there is a big climb for about 3km of those 6 left. Full sun, no shade and it is over 30c now. I just cannot tolerate heat. Add to the fact that I'm out of shape since my knee fracture of January combined with other knee issues prevented me from training properly.

So when he saw me purple and white and unable to cycle more than 12-13km/h on a stretch I'd normally do at 20-21km/h and I was lagging behind he forced me to wait for him at this rest area and he went to get the car. He said it was a good thing that I stopped as he is a fast and strong cyclist and the wind facing us was so strong, full sun and heat that he only was able to manage 24km/h max to get back to the car when he left me. His norm would have been over 34km/h on that stretch.

While waiting for him I tried to lie down on a bench on my back but made the headache worst. So I removed all the clothing that I could, watered myself down with what was left of my 2 bottles and sat and waited for him. It took me a day to get back to normal. I was sooooo disappointed not to complete just those 6km that I could not stop the tears from rolling down. Hubby said I push myself way too hard. He said I should be proud to have accomplish that much in hard conditions, and with minimal training this season, that I did not fall, etc. Those 38km are much better than someone sitting on tv munching on chips and Coke. hihi He's right. But it did take me a good 20-25 minutes to get over this. Then I went for ice cream. :) Life is still good.

So that was my July 1st outing. :) Wanted to go out for a retake yesterday but winds were pushing at 45km/h. Not going to kill myself this time. At least it was soooo cold it would have been perfect weather for me, if it had not been for stupid winds. hihi

Skierchickie2

07-04-2016, 05:43 AM

Wow Helene! That sounds just brutal! It's a good thing you had Hubby with you. Glad you're okay!

north woods gal

07-04-2016, 08:06 AM

As above, Helene. You were fortunate to have someone with you and, especially, someone who recognized the signs of heat stroke. It can be so dangerous precisely because it impairs your thinking and clouds your judgement. Very scary. So glad you caught it in time.

azfiddle

07-04-2016, 08:41 AM

Helene, you can be proud of those 38 km. It's good to know your limits. Even though I live in the desert, I am subject to overheating. I have to plan my rides for the early part of the day, pace myself, drink enough water and sometimes I have had to get off the bike and lay down in some meager shade until I felt okay to ride. Glad you're okay. There are more rides in the future!

Yesterday I rode one mile. That's it. One mile to go to the gym and do some other exercise and swimming. Today I rode just 18.5 miles, pretty flat, and mostly on the bike path. It was warm and humid (50% high for Tucson is very humid). I got going late for summer riding here (after 7 am). And came back in time to watch the last 20k of the Tour de France live.

Geonz

07-04-2016, 12:31 PM

Abnormally cool here, too. We're on four day workweeks for the summer so I could sneak out 8:00 for a 30 mile exploration on Friday for today's ride... and see construction that didn't apply today (don't know if we went past it or if they finished it Friday or...??) ... and then took my new cargo bike to the bike shop for its 30-day checkup (cables tightened, etc, and a little cleaning). Then took my Gazelle the 1.5 miles over to The Bike Project to discern that yes, the bike shop had been correct and it was time to retire it (part of the reason I got the new cargo bike). Too many places with deep rust in that frame... (it got me back home, just fine, but James agreed with the bike shop guy: "You have to stop riding this bike.")
Oh, but there was still a little shopping to do... so a 4-bike 47-mile day :-)

Saturday I led my "Level 1 Saunter" ride in the cool air and ... did an extra loop because otherwise I'd have had to try to do something productive. That and an errand run got me 47 miles, too :)
Sunday was the "Rain. All day." Still rode to church and then in a pause in the precipitation (the heavy rain was a little to the south)... ducked out to investigate a new brewery and tap room which is, in fact, accessible with a multi-use path, *and* theyhave decent bike parking! So... a 12 mile day...

Today we had our annual "perimeter" ride and ... we didn't take the short cut I usually do (mainly because the route determiner has a much higher tolerance for traffic and his route is on Leverett Road which is fast and busy) because it hadn't gone through on Friday's exploration... and Leverett Road wasn't busy at all!
... because *it* was closed. So we added 5 miles and finished at 45.6 miles -- so I rode a little longer way home to take it to 63.
It's the first metric I've done in over a year and yea, every year I get, you know, older... so it feels *very* good to only have a bit of an ache in my left shoulder (and a need for a hot shower since the rain held off for all but that extra 10 miles at the end...)
Lots of things have to "work out" to get in a 1000 mile month (esp. since I'll have a weekend of traveling), but, maybe... except like Helene , I come apart with heat, and ... I'm not going to be a slave to numbers. "No pain, sounds good!"

Crankin

07-04-2016, 12:38 PM

I had a very hot ride today, also, and Helene, I was thinking about you.
We set out at 9:30 AM for the first 25 miles up to Kimball's Fruit Farm in Pepperel, MA, on the border of Hollis, NH. There is one big climb right before you get to the farm, with the rest rolling, a couple of smaller hills. It was OK, the temperature was going up, it's breezy, though and not too humid. There was a lot of shade in this part of the ride. I decided not to mess around, because I always get about 3/4 done with this ride, feel like I am going to bonk, and start chewing Shot Blocks. Today, I ate them every hour and it really helped. Because I rode my Trek, I couldn't bring a cooled lunch, and they don't sell stuff except fruit at the farm. I brought half a walnut butter/jell sandwich for lunch, with a Lara Bar. After lunch, there was less shade in various portions of the ride, a very steep climb (in the shade) after we get back into MA from Nashua, NH, and then we ride a rolling section by a lake that fools you a bit. There is one big climb after this, and then we are sort of heading toward where we start. Maybe 8-10 miles left? Anyway, there seems to be a hill every couple of miles, and right at the end, there is one that is completely unshaded. I was good about drinking my Skratch (I had 2 bottles) and some plain water, which I also used to cool myself. I was losing it when we pulled into the lot where our cars were, but I got in the car, ate another Lara Bar and we were home quickly (the start is in a neighboring town). I then proceeded to drink 2 huge glasses of ice water and eat some left over white beans with whole wheat cous cous.
All in all, I did better than I thought, given the fact it's 87 degrees out, my quads and hamstrings are sore from my hike yesterday, and I rode 48.6 miles, with about 2,500 ft. of climbing. We are bringing people on this ride in 2 weeks and it better be cooler. I was questioning our sanity about doing this, but we have led a version of it for several years and people like to torture themselves, I guess.

north woods gal

07-04-2016, 01:23 PM

Heat plus all those hills makes for some tough riding. Really helps that you know the route and how your body handles it, though. Good for you, Crankin.

Just decided to relax a bit, today, and go back on pavement with one of the road bikes. (I am fortunate enough to have both MTB and road biking, right out my door.) Did a very easy 25 mile loop past some of my favorite lakes. Met a guy on a fat bike as he was about to head up the same trail I did, yesterday, and warned him about all the ATV activity. On the way home, doing my usual steady 13-14 mph and admiring the scenery, some guy passed me like I was standing still. He did wave, though, as he passed me.

As I rode, today, I reflected on just how lucky I am. My county really is road bike heaven. Hundreds of miles of paved roads with very little traffic and not a single hill that I can't handle with a compact double up front on one of the road bikes. Each road seems more beautiful than the next. Heat, at its summer worst, is very rarely a problem. Life is good in my north woods.

ny biker

07-04-2016, 01:31 PM

We're having bizarre weather for July. A few days ago the forecast for the weekend said it would be near perfect both days, sunny and 80ish degrees, with Sunday a bit less humid than Saturday. So I planned to lead a ride yesterday (Sunday). I didn't expect a big group because it was up in northern Maryland which is a long drive for most of the people in my bike club. It's my favorite place to ride and I haven't been there since December. It's actually not great for long rides in the summer because there are long stretches of unshaded roads through farmland, but with the forecast for near perfect, unhumid weather I figured we'd be okay. Fast forward to Saturday, which does have perfect weather, and the forecast for Sunday has gone downhill, with rain showers expected. But they weren't calling for anything severe so I planned to ride anyway. When I woke up on Sunday, there was a big blotch of rain on the radar map but it was all just barely south of the area where I had planned the ride, with clouds but no rain expected there for the rest of the day. So the ride was on.

As it turned out, only one other person showed up. We started at a park that is a popular starting place for other clubs' bike rides, but hardly anyone was there at all, so I expect the holiday weekend was keeping many people off the bike with plans for cookouts and fireworks. Anyway the skies had cleared more than I had hoped. I've noticed that sometimes a cloudy day is gray and gloomy, but sometimes it can still be fairly bright with mostly white clouds, and that was what we had in the morning. The ride was mostly uneventful. We missed one turn (I was too busy chatting to pay attention to what road we were on) but had no trouble getting back on track when we realized our mistake. There was also a road closed near the end due to a bridge repair, but again we knew the roads well enough to come up with an easy detour. The only real incident was when a driver turned to pull into a parking lot too close to my friend, and he had to brake fast to avoid a crash.

The clouds did start to turn more gray in the afternoon, but overall the weather ended up just fine. The humidity was not too high and the temperature was in the 70s the whole day. We did see an occasional peek of sunshine but never felt uncomfortable. In all we rode 45 miles. The pace was slower than usual for me, my legs felt every hill and my back and neck muscles were sore at the end, but overall it was a good bike ride and a good first long ride after my vacation.

rebeccaC

07-04-2016, 05:04 PM

Just rides around the neighborhood this 4th weekend doing errands, lunching with friends and some shopping. Took time to photograph some of the bikes around here. Mostly city cruisers but saw an interesting e-fatbike. The couple said they got around 50 miles to a solar charge. perfect low 70's with some clouds in the mornings. I feel blessed :)

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7665/28092393035_477a1a901f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JNqRJ4)

https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7367/28092390175_5c42d82401_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JNqQSK)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7295/27989233792_46fe043ea8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JDj95q)

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7581/28079443366_17df83052d_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JMhueU)

https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7390/28013942181_18fd8e07e8_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JFuM28)

and since venice beach is the home of Linus bikes there are quite a few of them
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7413/27477261064_c8955fa556_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HS59qq)

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7329/28113179515_25f8f35710_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JQgoPD)

north woods gal

07-05-2016, 07:38 AM

Love the pics! Very interesting fat bike. Had no idea there was such a thing as a fat bike with juice. :)

azfiddle

07-05-2016, 02:10 PM

It's my last week of vacation.... rode out to look for a rare bird and after 24 miles, discovered the wetlands were close this morning for mosquito treatment. Oh well. I picked up the car from my husband's work at mile 30 and skipped riding home in the heat.

north woods gal

07-05-2016, 04:01 PM

Huge country music festival, here, this week along my favorite bike route. Tons of traffic and much of it is with big RVs and campers. Not the kind of traffic I want passing me, so have been working some bike loops on the opposite direction. Bit more limited in terms of variety, but a couple have some good challenging sand roads to keep my interest level high. Be pretty much fat tire bikes this week. Will get back to the road bikes after the festival.

Crankin

07-06-2016, 05:30 AM

Took a much needed recovery day yesterday. This morning, DH and I went out at about 6:15 and did a 12 mile ride. It is supposed to be 95 today, and the humidity is way up there. I plan to be in the AC; just did not want to go to the gym. Feels like a snow day to me.
DH had done this short route one day without me; I was not that impressed, as there was one traffic-y place I avoid at all cost in that direction. There's a lot less people out than normal, as it's the week most people here take their traditional summer vacation, so it wasn't too bad, but on my early AM rides, I feel like this required too much concentration! We did go through some nice streets in Sudbury, but we had to also cross a busy road twice. Not too mention, my average was well over 15, which for me, at that time of day is a major accomplishment.

rebeccaC

07-07-2016, 09:33 PM

Left work a little early to ride the beach bike path to Manhattan Beach for a gathering of friends.

Got an image of a cute boy...perhaps he thinks people need to know to use caution around his bicycling :)
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7583/27549296534_5e83b8cd98_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HYrm4h)

off to France saturday to watch the TdF ride by the family house in Gordes next thursday on the Mont Ventoux stage.

..safe rides for all !!!!

north woods gal

07-08-2016, 08:19 AM

He may be on to something. :)

Rain, rain, rain for me. That means boring old indoor work on the trainer, but at least I can safely use my iPod to listen to some music. The good news is that the rain will make some of my sandy road trails more rideable with less fishtailing. Will be experimenting to see just how narrow I can go with tires before things get too spooky. Getting off the pavement to experience the huge variety of trail surfaces is very educational and very fun, as always.

azfiddle

07-08-2016, 10:07 AM

Rebecca- hope you will post some pics and descriptions of the ride past Mt. Ventoux. Wow- envious!

It's too hot to be riding later than 9 am- I went out Weds for about 13 miles after watching the end of the TdF stage. Skipped yesterday and rode 17 miles up to Saguaro NP and back.

I had to stop to take a quick pic of this little Mamillaria cactus blooming along side of the road near the park. There were half a dozen or so- all sparked into flowering with recent summer rains. A nice surprise.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7635/28177089165_0e84222f24_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/JVUWWa)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/JVUWWa) by Sharon Goldwasser (https://www.flickr.com/photos/133571926@N02/), on Flickr

Crankin

07-09-2016, 12:00 PM

The cool, misty, humid weather has put me in a lazy mood! I so enjoy the break from the abnormal heat, but it's coming back Wednesday. I rode the one mile to and from the gym on Thursday, where I did my circuit training and yesterday I hiked 4 miles, followed by walking 3.5 miles to dinner and back. So, today, after lounging around, watching the Tour, we went out for an 18 mile flat ride that was very enjoyable, mostly because now, I don't have the steep climb to get home anymore! Almost every other ride I do has some climbing, but this doesn't, only 425 feet of elevation. It was 64 degrees and cloudy and I started out with arm warmers and a vest. I ditched the arm warmers at mile 9, and although I was cool at first, it was fine.
So, I even though I had to force myself out, I am glad I went.

emily_in_nc

07-09-2016, 01:33 PM

I've been away for awhile because my laptop died. I am back now. :-) During the time I was off-line, I did several rides. One was a very hot, hilly ride in the rural Iowa countryside (near Elkhorn) where I think I bonked. We had a rest stop at the top of a hill (in full sunshine) near the end of the ride (which was only 30 miles total but difficult because of the hills). When I stopped, I felt faint and nauseous and had to sit down awhile. I couldn't eat anything but did get some water down.

After the ride, I felt really off for about an hour. I had to sit down in the shower, I felt so light-headed and nauseous. I have hardly ever had anything like this happen, so it was quite strange. I did manage to eat a good lunch and drink a lot of water, and an hour or two later, I felt perfectly normal. It was really unpleasant, though.

The last two rides have been more utilitarian. The first was to pick up my new laptop at Walmart, and the second was to take our clothes to a laundromat. We are staying in a lovely campground about 10 miles from town, and the way there is about half bike path, half road. Very beautiful area (southern Minnesota and northern Iowa). After getting through two nights of helacious thunderstorms with high winds (very scary!) we are now having cool, sunny, breezy, and low humidity days and downright chilly nights (to me, anyway, 50s!) You just can't ask for better in July!

Here are a couple of photos from recent rides.

This first one is of my DH on the ride I bonked on:
18080

And he took this one right before I had to sit down because I felt faint and nauseous. The photo is kind of nice, though!
18081

Here's part of the bike trail near our campground we've been riding on lately:
18082

north woods gal

07-09-2016, 01:52 PM

That's the way it works for me, sometimes, Crankin. I'll sit around, debating whether or not to ride or where to ride, but once I'm out on the bike, I wonder what took me so long. :)

Been having a great week going out of my way to find the nastiest gravel and/or sand backroads and testing my various bikes as to how they performed. Did a full 14 miles of gravel/sand with my standard 26" 2008 vintage Trek 8000 MTB and it did very well, though conditions were excellent, given that we had a nice rain, last night, and the sand was firmed up nice. Have to be very careful in dry sand, though, with this one. Definitely a lot more squirrelly in the dry stuff. When the sand is dry, I use other bikes. Great bike for typical hard surface MTB trails, though. Light, very quick and agile bike.

Did have 25 miles of pavement to get to these gavel/sand roads and back, so even though those old 26" wheels are slow by road bike standards, did okay on the pavement. (LOVE the way the front shock eats those road cracks!) Also used this bike for winter commuting while living in Chicago.

http://i65.tinypic.com/2f0ccxe.jpg

Crankin

07-10-2016, 07:59 AM

Emily, your pictures with the hills look like the San Juan Islands in WA. Lots of ups and downs!

emily_in_nc

07-10-2016, 01:01 PM

Emily, your pictures with the hills look like the San Juan Islands in WA. Lots of ups and downs!

It was a roller coaster for sure! I was glad I rode my Bike Friday as I needed every gear!

NWG, your MTB is lovely. I am partial to a blue bike myself. :D

north woods gal

07-10-2016, 02:59 PM

Thank you. I am partial to blue on my bikes. Have two others that are blue.

emily_in_nc

07-11-2016, 02:15 PM

Thank you. I am partial to blue on my bikes. Have two others that are blue.

Two out of my three bikes are blue. :-)

Today's ride was a windy but fun one. We had a stiff headwind all the way to town, where DH needed to buy a tool. Slow going, but the return trip was so much fun. We barely had to pedal! 22 miles that took us an hour to get there and 48 minutes to return!

north woods gal

07-11-2016, 09:08 PM

Bit windy here, too. I always try to have the wind at may back or at least quartering at my back for the ride back home. Nice to have that extra boost when I'm tired.

The big country music festival is over, but it has been a good week working the gravel and sand roads in the other direction. Did a lot of experimenting with the different bikes as to tire sizes to see how they managed some pretty challenging soft sand conditions. Not surprisingly, the bigger and the wider the tire, the easier it was to negotiate the soft stuff. By the time I got to my 29er plus with its 3" wide tires, I could relax and ignore all the bad spots that caused problems with the narrower/smaller wheeled bikes. Even went out of my way to hit the bad spots. Way fun.

Still, on the hard packed gravel, my Salsa Warbird with its 700x35 tires just flies. In the soft stuff, kind of spooky to ride, though. Couldn't relax for a second. Would get sudden and unpredictable spin outs and way too much fishtailing to make for anything but a nerve racking ride. Oh, well, different bikes for different terrain.

Trek Stashe, 29er plus with 3" tires. A hoot to ride.
http://i67.tinypic.com/288y4d4.jpg

emily_in_nc

07-12-2016, 05:44 AM

I bet that Trek is a blast on gravel!

We rode quite a few unpaved forest service roads down south this spring, and even with our MTBs, there were squirrely areas. And with our Bike Fridays (1.35" tires), they were downright scary in spots, as you experienced with your Salsa. They do great on the hard-packed gravel, like the Katy Trail, but when the surface gets loose...no.

north woods gal

07-12-2016, 06:47 AM

Crankin

07-12-2016, 08:37 AM

I rode to work yesterday, first time to new office. Went a totally stress free route, so no sitting in traffic, ect. A grand total of 2.8 miles. I did not leave until 6:45 PM, so went home the normal way. Of course, right when I got to the train tracks, a train came and I had to stop, but it was quick, as it's on the way to the station.
A total of 5.3 miles.

emily_in_nc

07-12-2016, 05:26 PM

I do find it interesting to ride on all these various off-pavement surfaces, though. Riding conditions on our gravel and sand roads change almost by the day, depending on how much rain we've had (that affects surface hardness), how much traffic has been on the road (those deep ruts left by vehicles are real bike traps) and, of course, any kind of road maintenance (freshly laid gravel and so on). Add to that the fact that you are riding in some really remote backcountry areas and, well, going back to pavement is kind of tame. Biking these back roads really is a great way to get to know the country. It can be a workout, though. Pedaling though 8 miles of wet sand isn't for wimps. :)

That's so true! When we lived in Belize, we rode beach cruisers on packed sandy roads that periodically had huge puddles, or got plowed, or rock put down, etc. So you never really knew what to expect on a day to day basis. It was always an adventure, and I am sure riding the back roads with regularity would be the same! Even on the forest service roads we rode in the national forests down in the southern US states, from one mile to another they could vary incredibly, from nicely packed to deep, scary gravel, to potholes and ruts and washboarding...a little of this, a little of that!

emily_in_nc

07-12-2016, 05:28 PM

Today the wind was down a bit, though it was still breezy. We rode to town to two grocery stores and stocked up on our Bike Fridays. Fortunately, we had more tailwind on the way back again, which helped, since that's when we were loaded down.

Funny comment from an older gentleman behind me in the checkout line: "Are you riding a motorcycle?" :D I had run in with my helmet on for only one item the first store didn't have, so I didn't bother taking it off.

Went over 1400 miles on the year today, by a tenth. 21.1 miles today.

north woods gal

07-12-2016, 07:36 PM

Good for you, Emily. I've always enjoyed running errands on a bike. Just seems so much less stressful than using a car. Also helps to keep me from doing too much impulse buying for lack of not having enough room i the panniers. :)

north woods gal

07-12-2016, 07:43 PM

Crankin

07-13-2016, 08:59 AM

Good work, north woods. That is the stuff that made me sell my very nice mountain bike. But, I can use the excuse it was too big for me!
Went out at 6 AM with DH, as it's going to be about 92 and humid today. Said no to the group ride. We rode about 28 miles, into Harvard and Bolton, doing one of my favorite local climbs, and through our old neighborhood (not the one we just moved from, but the one where we lived before and where I started riding). So much quieter with cars just 5 miles west of here. Beautiful morning, too. On the way back, we stopped for coffee in west Acton and sat outside at the café for about 40 minutes. Then, it was just about 5 miles home. I really needed the coffee; went out after eating a small bowl of quinoa flakes, almond milk, and half a banana, but was afraid to drink coffee so close to a ride. Mistake. I felt really sluggish. It's OK to do it when I am riding 10-12 miles, but not for more.
It's already 88 degrees. Yuck.

emily_in_nc

07-13-2016, 01:38 PM

Returned to a real deal, gnarly MTB singletrack that has defeated me twice, earlier this spring. Lots of hairpin turns, roots, rocks, but mostly killer and abrupt changes in elevation that, previously, had me stalling out. Maybe it's because of all my riding over this summer, but today I completed the easier 2.2 mile loop on my Trek 29er + Stashe. Yippee! A girl can do. Not much for miles, but what a workout. (Whoa! This is getting addicting.)

I bow down in admiration to you! I am not brave enough to do the gnarly stuff. When I first started MTBing around 10 years ago, I was very gung ho, but after taking a few painful falls, I backed off. It's just not fun being injured. I think if I had taken a skills clinic (or three) and really put the time into improving, I probably could have learned to do it, but I was too much a roadie at heart, and then with our various lifestyle changes (living in Belize and Mexico, and road-tripping across the US), I haven't gotten to ride the MTB much at all in the past few years. So I am content with beginner stuff and have no desire to do anything difficult.

As for errands, yes indeed. Of course, that's mostly our only choice right now, as we live in a 32' motorhome, so unless we can stop somewhere on the way between campgrounds, we are limited to bicycles for daily errands. We don't have a towed vehicle, by choice, at the moment. We are trying to see if we can get away without the added expense, insurance, and making our rig that much longer. Bikes have served us well so far. And you're right, panniers do limit the impulse buys. We have to carefully eyeball everything we're buying to ensure we can get it all back with us. So far, so good!

north woods gal

07-13-2016, 05:25 PM

You know, I have always been eager to find any excuse to go bike instead of a car. Oh, I use cars, but to be honest, not a car person at all. I think in past lives, I was a horse person and now the bicycle is my modern day version of a horse or something. :)

Went back and worked the MTB single track routes. Used my fat bike, today. Wow! Just rolls over the rough stuff with ease. Getting very comfortable, now, with what the signs call the easier routes (easier, but definitely not easy) and even took a shot at the harder routes. I soon discovered that the harder routes are labeled harder because of the some of the abrupt, very severe changes in elevation. Just no way I could handle those sudden uphill grades, mostly because you have no chance to build up speed to prepare for them. Twist around a corner and there they are. Stalled out on the bad ones - nowhere near enough strength. On the other hand, actually did well on the more level, but challenging twisty, turny, rocky and rutty stuff. Even managed a couple short bunny hops. Crazy me.

Unfortunately, these trails are a 4 plus mile ride on pavement to get there. Now, 4 miles on pavement is a breeze with just about any bike, even standard mountain bikes, but not a fat bike. The noise those monster 4.8" tires make on pavement will drive you nuts (even road on the shoulder to get a little peace and quiet) and trust me, pushing those monster tires ain't no picnic. They are heavy. Did about 10 miles of trails and about another 10 miles of pavement, total to get there.

Tonight, I feel like I rode at least 50 miles on a road bike. My whole body feels like it's been worked, hard. Mountain biking really is more of an entire body kind of riding compared to road biking. Your whole body tends to get beat up with rough single track, what with all the bumps and the need to wrestle the bike around sharp turns and/or all the sudden shifts in balance. Very different kind of riding compared to road bikes. No wonder the guys at our local shop love it so much. Very macho kind of riding. Still, absolutely love it, myself, now, and having the solitude of the deep woods makes it very special. My monthly mile total will take a hit with all this maintain biking, but I'll be in at least as good a shape, maybe even better, because of it.

Did I mention that they actually groom some of these trails in the winter for fat bike riding in the snow? I am truly blessed with both road bike riding and MTB riding, right out my front door. Life is good in my north woods.

azfiddle

07-13-2016, 08:32 PM

I'm back at work and cannot persuade myself to commute- the afternoon ride home in 105 or 106 degrees just doesn't sound appealing. We rejoined the YMCA (just 6 blocks away!) and so I did a little bit of cardio, strength training and swimming. I might not ride before Saturday :(

north woods gal

07-14-2016, 07:26 AM

Good work, north woods. That is the stuff that made me sell my very nice mountain bike. But, I can use the excuse it was too big for me!

... On the way back, we stopped for coffee in west Acton and sat outside at the café for about 40 minutes. Then, it was just about 5 miles home. I really needed the coffee; went out after eating a small bowl of quinoa flakes, almond milk, and half a banana, but was afraid to drink coffee so close to a ride. Mistake. I felt really sluggish. It's OK to do it when I am riding 10-12 miles, but not for more.

It's already 88 degrees. Yuck.

That is one thing I miss very much with my bicycling in our remote area. When I lived in the Chicago and Portland, Or suburbs, basically living off a bicycle, I would often stop at coffee shops and then sit outside and sip my coffee, no hurry, just relax, do some people watching, maybe read a book. I knew the location of every coffee shop in a 20 mile radius. Oh, yeah, I'm as addicted to coffee as I am to my bicycling.

And speaking of people, even though I am mostly an introvert and all of my riding is solo, I don't know that I will never be totally comfortable with being out in the woods, all alone. You would think that a lifetime of being solo so much of the time, that I would be used to it, but I guess I am really a people person at heart. Not really the group ride type, but would be nice to have a pal on my long rides. My husband is just not up to that kind of riding, though, so I'm on my own.

Crankin

07-14-2016, 08:15 AM

I don't mind short solo rides, but I most enjoy riding with 1-5 others. Not so much group rides now, although, I notice in the fall and early spring, when the groups are smaller, I enjoy it more. It's not the socializing, it's the poor bike etiquette I dislike. In fact, I thought I would make more real friends from this group, but, it hasn't happened. I have made friends through the group I lead for. Since I am very extroverted, I am always looking for connections.
And yes, I would say most cyclists are coffee addicts.

emily_in_nc

07-14-2016, 02:12 PM

Today was another windy one! But gorgeous, sunny, and cool; only in the 70s with a dewpoint of 52. Amazing for July. Supposed to heat up in the next few days, so we'll enjoy this while it lasts. Wind was in the 20 mph range sustained with gusts to 30! In the direction of the headwind, it was super tough going, but at least not scary, as the cross wind could be. I was having to work really hard to keep my bike upright! Fortunately, traffic is extremely light in this area until you get to town, and the passing cars and trucks are super courteous, get all the way in the other lane to pass. When we had a tailwind, we were flying. So much fun! Rode into town, rode some of the river trails there, took some photos, found the place I wanted to leave a few batteries to recycle, then rode back. 36 miles, my longest ride in awhile. :)

north woods gal

07-14-2016, 07:47 PM

That's a good ride in my book, all the more so with that kind of wind. We had that kind of wind, yesterday, up to 30 mph. Those are the days when I go do trails with mountain bike, rather than be out in the open on the road with a road bike. Back in the deep woods on single track, wind isn't much of a factor. Way overdue for some road bike time, though.

Crankin

07-16-2016, 09:33 AM

That was one of the reasons I wanted to mountain bike, because you could avoid the windy conditions that are usually here in the spring.
Didn't get out quite early enough today. Thankfully, only one person signed up for our ride we were going to lead, so the 3 of us leading cancelled it. It's not as humid today, but already was 82 at 9:30 when we went out. Did a route that takes you into the area of town where there are tons of riders. It's mostly shady and the one climb that counts is near the beginning. We were going kind of fast, until about 4 miles from home, I felt like I was just drained. That side of the street is not so shady! We only did 20 miles, but I think I had some heat exhaustion going on. I drank a bottle of Nuun, but when I came home I filled my 24 oz bottle I use at work, with ice and water and drank that over the next hour, but I didn't feel better until I took a shower. Weird, because my legs felt good and my average was fairly high for me.
Probably no riding tomorrow, as we are having a shower for my son and DIL. I guess I couold get out early AM.

emily_in_nc

07-16-2016, 09:55 AM

north woods gal

07-16-2016, 04:39 PM

The mountain biking continues, even though I could just as easily get back to my road biking, now that the traffic is back to normal after the big music festival. Actually, my mountain biking automatically includes a fair number of pavement miles, too, because I ride my bike to my mountain bike spots. Sure, I could load the bike into the car and drive to my spots and then go biking, but I've always done everything in my power to keep a car out of the equation for my outdoor activities. In fact, there have been several times in my life when I have sold my car and lived solely off my bicycle and been very happy.

Anyway, 60 plus miles of all kinds, these last two days - pavement, gravel roads, sand roads, mysterious fire and logging roads that haven't seen a vehicle in years, and my favorite, lots and lots of tough single track. Getting better on the single track. Only a few bumps and bruises. :)

ny biker

07-18-2016, 09:11 AM

Catching up -- I've gotten in some good rides over the past few weeks. Summer has finally heated up. Last weekend (the 9th or 10th, don't remember which) I rode 55 miles with some friends in a shady, sparsely-populated part of southern Maryland. Another friend was leading it as a club ride but starting later in the morning, too late for me on a hot day -- even with many miles shaded by trees, the ones at the end were too exposed. As luck would have it someone else needed to start early due to having plans that afternoon, so three of us joined her at 8 am. Despite the early start I still had heat rash on my legs (probably related in part to a flare up of hives that I've been dealing with).

Then I had to postpone last week's Wednesday hill ride due to the threat of storms. There was a chance I'd be able to avoid the rain but I've just become too risk-averse when it comes to summer storms with the possibility of lightning, wind and/or heavy rain. As it turned out, it didn't rain at home but there was a pop-up storm a few miles away where I would have been riding. We had the same storm chance on Thursday, so I went to the gym that night and finally did the hill ride after work on Friday. It was uneventful except for one on-the-fly decision to change the route slightly -- the road I chose to explore ended up being a very steep hill. With every pedal stroke I considered stopping and turning around, but I did make it to the top (with tired legs and on the verge of wheezing).

ny biker

07-18-2016, 09:59 AM

Catching up, part 2 -- yesterday's ride was one that I won't forget.

A friend had planned a long birthday ride on Saturday, but I decided not to go because it would have involved riding all afternoon on another hot sunny day. I'm still not fully acclimated to the heat yet, and with the recent flare-up of chronic hives finally calming down I didn't want to put myself under the physical stress of being outside during the hottest part of the day. Instead I decided to do a ride on Sunday in northern Maryland with the club that I rarely ride with. The reason I rarely do this club's rides is their survival-of-the-fittest approach -- there's never a sweep, and if you have a mechanical or health problem you're left behind. And there's also so much pace inflation that you're likely to be dropped early and left to ride alone even though you're maintaining the advertised pace. But this is an area I know well, I was able to plan some short cuts in case I needed them, and a friend was going to be there so I could ride with her. Most importantly the ride started early enough that we would be finished early in the afternoon.

So, as expected, my friend and I were dropped immediately. After a few miles I noticed one man who was riding alone not far ahead of us, and we caught up with him at an intersection. He asked if he could ride with us, and we said of course, please do. It turned out that his Garmin was not working and he didn't have a cue sheet, so he had no idea when or where to turn. And he was new to the area, having moved here just a few weeks ago after a job change and a divorce.

Somewhere around mile 12-13 he asks how far to the first rest stop, because he had inadvertantly left his water bottles at home. The first stop is 28 miles into this 65-mile ride, well over two hours of riding at our pace. There are no other stores around in this rural area and not much shade. So we stop and give him some water (my friend and I both started with two full bottles.) We ride on and reach the rest stop (a convenience store/gas station) with much interesting conversation but no further incidents.

Riding on, around mile 35 we reach a steep hill. He walks up part of it. No problem, we wait at the top under a tree. He hasn't ridden in months due to all the stuff that's been going on in his life. He starts riding more slowly and I ride ahead, keeping an eye on him with my handlebar mirror. By mile 45 he's been out of sight for a while so I stop and wait, then ride back about a mile until I see him coming. It's quite hot by now and we have a bit of a headwind. Around mile 49 we're close to the next stop (another convenience store) but I'm starting to bonk so we stop in the shade for a snack. My friend had gone ahead but we all meet up at the store where we cool off in the shade and get more food and cold drinks.

We hit the road again with 15 miles to go. With 5 miles to go my friend and I reach an intersection and stop in the shade to wait for him. After a few minutes we don't see him so we start riding back, and find him after about a mile working on a flat tire. We spent at least 45 minutes trying to fix that flat. Three different tubes fail when we try to inflate them -- apparently due to stem problems. The tire -- a Conti GP Attack, I think -- was very tight, very hard to get off and on the rim. At one point we thought maybe my friend's frame pump wasn't working so we tried mine instead. Finally we give up, tell him we will ride back to our cars and one of us will drive back to get him.

So much for starting early in order to finish by early afternoon -- by the time we finished riding the last few (unshaded) miles it was 3 pm and the heat rash was already appearing on my legs. But the club I usually ride with is not like the one we were riding with yesterday -- we never leave anyone stranded. I volunteered to drive back to get him. I quickly loaded up my car, drank some orange juice that was in my cooler, made a quick pitstop at a nearby gas station and headed back to where we left him. He had started walking so I found him about a mile and half from where we'd left him. We got his bike into my car and soon were back at the ride start.

Over the years I've been helped by many people who were patient enough to wait when I needed to rest or helped me fix a flat or gave me water when I was too hot. I'm glad I had the chance to pay it forward. In the end my friend and I agreed that it was a fun ride in spite of the drama.

Aromig

07-18-2016, 10:38 AM

Over the years I've been helped by many people who were patient enough to wait when I needed to rest or helped me fix a flat or gave me water when I was too hot. I'm glad I had the chance to pay it forward. In the end my friend and I agreed that it was a fun ride in spite of the drama.

That is an awesome attitude! In the past, I've been annoyed by such drama (really, didn't bring water bottles? maybe he should have just tried to join the next week when he hadn't forgotten), but then again, it does feel good to pay it forward. And there but for the grace of God go I....I've always appreciated when I'm not alone. If he's new to the area, and recently divorced, and had other things going on, I'm sure the kindness you shared him was greatly appreciated. Good for you!

Crankin

07-18-2016, 12:48 PM

Yes, I may have been more than mildly mad, too, but only if it was on a ride I was leading; if I just happened to be in a group with someone in that situation, not so much. And even though I get upset, I help. They may have done something stupid, but if it's health or safety, I don't mess around. People are generally appreciative. And the last one I tried to help sent an apology for being a beeach to me!

emily_in_nc

07-18-2016, 02:37 PM

You are definitely a good soul, NY! I think I would have been majorly annoyed at someone showing up to a 65-mile summer ride with no water bottles. WTF! We do all have brain farts, myself included, but I am still sure I would not have been happy to have to share my water with someone who was obviously not ready to do that ride for many reasons. Good on you.

We did another grocery ride today. We overbought, and I still can't believe we actually got it all into DH's two panniers and rear basket, my Rackpacker and small backpack. As we started out with this load, we realized that both our rear tires were low, and with all that weight, that was not a good thing. So, we stopped and DH pumped them up. We made it back to our motorhome without incident, and this ride put me over 1500 miles for the year (by .9!) Yay! A very pretty day with highs in the low 80s, sunshine, low humidity, and light wind.

We're due for some very hot and humid weather in the next few days, which we've mostly avoided until now, but it is mid-July, so I truly can't complain!

north woods gal

07-18-2016, 04:28 PM

NY, absolutely you did right. The guy was in way over his head to attempt that long a ride being so out of shape and so unprepared. Sounds like that was only part of the problem, too. Without your help, things may have ended very badly for him. You were true blue to the bikers code of always offering a helping hand. I salute you.

north woods gal

07-18-2016, 04:50 PM

Emily, we're forecast to have our typical once a summer heat wave later in the week, too. Usually once a summer, we hit 90 or at least close to it for a couple of days.

Today was just gorgeous, though. Been getting reports of a good wild blueberry crop, this year, so headed back on the MTB trails, again, to see what I could find. Good excuse, anyway, as I have been very much in a MTB mood for awhile. Just something so darn beautiful being way back in the woods on a bike, no traffic, no noise, just wild trails, deep woods and lakes to keep you company. No blueberries, but raspberries, galore, though most are still green. Saw a flock of Wild Turkey hens and a doe with twin fawns, too.

Been all enamored of the big wheel/wide tire trend in mountain bikes, of late and, yes, there are advantages. Took my old standard 26" Trek MTB out, today, and, have to say, though, there are still things the old standard 26ers can do better for me than the new bigger wheel/tire formats.

On the unforgiving, twisty and spooky up and down single track, did better with the 26" Trek than with any other bike, this week. A good old 26er still gives me the best control on the tricky stiff as long as things are firm, underneath. (When things get loose and sloppy, things do get a bit spooky. Also have to be careful with obstructions in the trail because there is lower clearance with a 26er.) Managed to get up some climbs with the 26er that had me stalling out with the bigger wheel and tire MTBs, this week (the fat bike was really hard to push up the steeps.) Also, didn't overrun turns the way I sometimes do with the bigger wheel bikes, again, that fat bike being notoriously slow get turned for me.

Anyway, I still think that for us gals, the old reliable 26er is still a practical choice for our strength levels, compared to bikes with the bigger, fatter and heavier wheels and tires as far as control, at least when it comes to hitting the steep stuff as well as the very precise twisty stuff (though I have yet to try the new 27.5 bikes). The old 26er is still a very useful bike for me. Just an observation.

http://i64.tinypic.com/35lxbi8.jpg

Geonz

07-18-2016, 09:01 PM

Here's a solution: ride at night! We did a "Moonlight Ride West" this month, and about a dozen people (we'll see if we get the >50 tomorrow for the Standard Eastern version, but we're not on a weekend so who knows? and I'll be at a bike meeting and can't go unless it gets canceled for lack of quorum).
We had some wild storms this a.m. but in the afternoon but a single cell formed... happily a little further north and east than our destination (Mahomet DQ). It gave us an *awesome* color-cloud show that I've got a snap of but I don't think did the colors right, and the blue under the moon sky had a linear color pattern I've honestly never ever seen before with almost stripes of three shads of blue. I'm sure it was a mathematical function of the light reflecting off that thunderstorm cell.
There was neat cloud-to-cloud lightning here and there, too... little sparklies... which were over and done with by the time darkness really fell.
I'm going to put in a bid to find a local vendor who wants to feed us... DQ is so cold and processed and "fast food" as opposed to the Sidney Dairy Barn...
Ride back was Under THe Moon and since we were goin' east we could see it! Where there were cool microclimates there was spoooooky mist on the ground... and I'm glad the big honkin' bug that whanged down my shirt wasn't a biter, but it was a burrower so my attempts to find it and get it outta there ended with an exoskeleton crunch. THankfully I remembered it and tossed the bra in the shower and rinsed... it looked like a common beetle (and 3/4 inch... not really honkin' big...) -- but obvioulsy one of the flying sort.
My left shoulder is all stiff, though, which started two weeks ago Friday with a badly hung camelbak 30 mile ride. Hot shower but... I don't know if a massage (which I don't generally partake of) or a muscle relaxer (same there... I'm a chill dude) ... or maybe ice? would unlock things.
But dude! Yesterday I had ZERO miles!!! (the only day in many months for that to be true) because I was driving Baltimore to Urbana and Traffic Happened... but today was 52. I'll add pics soon...

Geonz

07-18-2016, 09:02 PM

GOod call :) When we did 106 I didn't have to go to work and I just stayed inside as if it were a blizzard. Swimming's a great idea!

Geonz

07-18-2016, 09:12 PM

Per Crankin's hopefully non-hive-generating ride... Hey, sometimes when you see somebody whose Day is Going To Suckville Hard and Fast... and you can be the one to make it Not Suck... that's a good day, even if it takes the day. He was prob'ly feeling like a black burnt biscuit on a hot summer day, as they say in Culpeper Virginia when you're so low you gotta step on a nickel to see over a dime...

emily_in_nc

07-19-2016, 12:58 PM

Anyway, I still think that for us gals, the old reliable 26er is still a practical choice for our strength levels, compared to bikes with the bigger, fatter and heavier wheels and tires as far as control, at least when it comes to hitting the steep stuff as well as the very precise twisty stuff (though I have yet to try the new 27.5 bikes). The old 26er is still a very useful bike for me. Just an observation.

Glad to hear you think that since you have a lot of experience with different types of MTB/gravel bikes, and since a 26"-er is the only one I have, I'm really glad to hear it. I'm only 5'1.5" tall and a lightweight besides, so I've always felt like bikes with larger wheelsizes would just be too much bike, too much weight, and possibly too tall for me as well. My 700c road bike feels HUGE after riding my 20" wheeled Bike Friday and my 26" MTB.

We've been lucky so far and have not had the intense heat yet. Yesterday was still very nice in the 80s and not too humid, then this morning we had a lot of rain, so this was my day to take off the bike. Tomorrow and Thurs. are supposed to be our hot days, with highs in the 90s. Not looking forward to that, but being used to summers in NC, only two days of 90+ in a long while are nothing to complain about!

Crankin

07-19-2016, 03:52 PM

I commuted today, the big 5.3 mile round trip. We are having 2 days of normal 70-80 degree summer weather, and then of course starting Thursday 4 days of temperatures reaching pretty close to 95+. The same 4 days we are doing our annual cycling trip to the Berkshires. It will be just 1-3 degrees cooler there. Other than asking the owner of the B and B if she can give us breakfast earlier, so we can start earlier, there's not much we can do. I may actually take my Camelbak, to use in addition to my bottles filled with lots of Skratch.
Today was beautiful and tomorrow I am doing a 35 mile group ride, that is local and ends in a party at one of the member's home.

north woods gal

07-19-2016, 05:39 PM

Be careful with that heat, girls, though I'm sure all of your are. Our forecasted few days of 90 degree weather has been backed off to the upper 80s, so still very doable for me, though, of course, I will also be careful.

Been getting beat up with the mountain biking. It's either spilling from hitting a turn too late or side swiping a rock or stump or getting smacked by vegetation as I pass and so on. Have the bruises to show for it. Whew! I'm anything but a daredevil, too.

In my defense, though, the area I bike has no "easy" loops, just one section labeled as "easier" on the map. Meanest single track I've tried and I have ridden singletrack in a lot of areas. In 8 miles, there is only about a mile that is fairly level with only mild corners. All the rest is constant and severe up and down, no rests in between, quick turns, one after another, roots and rocks galore. You can't relax for a second. Love the challenge, but the best I'll ever be on this stuff is somewhere around an intermediate skill level, if even that. I do worry, too, about taking a really bad spill and injuring myself being back there, all by myself. I'm no spring chicken, either. Not smart.

emily_in_nc

07-20-2016, 06:56 AM

NWG, when I started MTBing and went with friends to a park rated "easy to intermediate" single track, I couldn't believe what they considered "easy". It was hard to me and still had roots, rocks, climbs/descents, and switchbacks. Sheesh. Then of course the "easy" trails hooked into intermediate ones, so you could easily end up on a more difficult trail without realizing it unless you turned around and went back the way you came in. I fell quite a few times, had bruises and scrapes, and I also bailed out frequently and walked as I got so terrified. I always said that there was a fine line between exiliaration and terror while MTBing!

My worst fall was when the end of my handlebar clipped a tree (just not paying good enough attention as it was on an easy, straight section of the trail). The handlebar whipped around so fast, and I fell hard on my side and hit my head HARD. Had bad whiplash on the side of my neck that lasted a long time. After that was when I stopped going to that park and moved over to a different trail that was double-track and not technical, just challenging aerobically with a lot of climbing. Felt a lot more comfortable there!

Be super careful out there -- it would indeed be terrible to take a bad fall when by yourself, especially if there's no cell signal. In fact, I wouldn't do it alone if there were no cell signal.

north woods gal

07-20-2016, 07:45 AM

Yeah, Emily, I do know what you are saying. Fortunately, I can get a cell signal out there since it isn't too far from town, but it is very hilly, so maybe I better check to make sure how much coverage I get, next time out.

One of my weirdest MTB injuries actually occurred on a single track down in Illinois, while I was living in Chicago. Back then, I loved all kinds of hoop earrings and, well, you guessed it, I was heading downhill and snagged the loop in one ear on a low hanging branch. Ripped open my ear lobe into two halves. Hardly fatal and I had a surgeon repair it, but ouch!

My injury, this week, was with the fat bike. Now, a fat bike is as stable as it gets, but they are just too slow to turn on really technical single track. Great where you don't need to twist and turn, but not so great when the trail looks like a can of worms. Anyway, went just a tiny bit wide on a sharp turn and my pedal snagged on a stump. Pulled the bike right out from under me. Went down, but just a few scratches.

The problem is when I do this easiest trail, the whole trail, perfectly, I get such a sense of accomplishment that I want to go back for more. Really is my own fault for getting bruises. :)

north woods gal

07-20-2016, 07:56 AM

Speaking of mountain bikes, went online, last night, just to see what was out there in 26" wheel mountain bikes, thinking it might be nice to get a full suspension model for the trails I have been riding. Yikes! Looks like the bike people are dropping the 26ers from their lines and going to the next wheel size up in the 650B/27.5. Not sure how this would work for me. I can do all my technical climbing on the trail with my current 26er, but even though I am supposedly tall enough for a 29er to be a proper fit, I just can't climb as well with it. And to think I almost sold off my 26er for a new bike. I'm keeping it, now. Thought I would share this if anyone is shopping for an MTB.

Crankin

07-20-2016, 01:11 PM

OK, I did a group ride today, that I have done a few times. It's not hot (79 now) out and it was a congenial group. DH and I went out with the longer ride group (37 miles) as opposed to 22 miles and people who ride slower than me. This ride was advertised as "regular Wednesday Wheeler pace," which means cruising at 14-18, but slowing on hills, etc, so on really hilly rides, your average might be 13. A lot of times, the longer ride has been co-opted by a group of mostly guys who are lovely, but fast. I've written about this before, and although they invited me to join their invitation only rides on other days, I went once, and it almost killed me. Off we went. I stayed in the front, mostly due to the fact it's often squirrelly in the back. After about 7 miles we started up some hillier roads in my old neighborhood. I slowed, and DH, who had been in the back, caught up with the front. I was trying to pace myself up Strawberry Hill, but I wasn't even going my slowest, and I was falling back. OK, after that, we were treated to new pavement in the town of Carlisle, which is notorious for awful roads. That was fun, until we went off the route, into a development in Westford. I have been on this road twice, and we actually almost bought a house there, 20 years ago. It's a climb similar to my old street, but longer and unshaded. I kept slowing, and repeating positive thoughts to myself. The sun got to me... we soon stopped at a ball field for a break. DH said,"You must have been flying," as I came in just a couple of minutes behind the front group. I seriously wanted to bail, but I wasn't last by any means, so on we went. There weren't any hard climbs after that, just rollers with a viscious pace for me, but by this time I was starving, had eaten my Lara Bar and one Shot Block, and then we stopped at Great Brook Farm for another break, only about 6 miles from the end. I told DH I needed to just get back, so we went off alone, taking a shorter way, which actually ended up being the advertised distance. Got cleaned up and changed in the car, and enjoyed a beer and food.
I don't know why this stresses me out so much. I *can* ride this fast, but it makes me feel crappy and brings me to tears at times. I am trying to be tougher, though. I've had some faster rides with DH, which I find easier.
Off to the Berkshires for 4 days of riding, which will be slow! It's really hilly and it's going to be hot.

north woods gal

07-20-2016, 03:52 PM

Cranking, my heart goes out to you. Might the stress be from the fact that when you do go on a group ride like this that you feel you must ride at your best? In other words, maybe you feel that you no longer have a choice in the matter, the decision has been taken out of your hands? I know there are days when I just want to cruise and enjoy the ride and then maybe push myself when and if the spirit moves me. Being something of an introvert, trying to make a good showing with all those other people around might be very stressful for me.

Crankin

07-20-2016, 06:08 PM

Geonz

07-20-2016, 06:46 PM

Yes, I do feel the need to keep up, and since the ride was listed to be a certain way, and it wasn't, I can get quite negative in an instant. But, I think doing this once in awhile is good for me. A few things I notice are, that I am better at group rides in the early spring/winter or even fall, when this group is smaller, and even the fast guys slow down. I start feeling burned out with riding by this time of year, but it has to do with the hotter weather. I have a chronic issue (I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a few years ago, but I don't have a lot of the common symptoms) that rears its head in heat, that is more than heat exhaustion. I push through it, because it's the same every year. I was way ahead in my mileage by the end of June, but I have not ridden that much in July, so it will end up the same. I really want to get to 3K miles this year, and the the years I've done this were years I did this Wednesday ride quite a bit. These people are nice, not typical azzhole riders, so I deal. They are not my best friends, but after 11 years, they know me. And, a lot of them overlap with the group I lead for.
I really wish I had started riding much earlier in my life, like when I started doing aerobics at the gym, in my late 20s/early 30s.

If wishes were fishes... yea, the one thing that will make me all kinds of cranky and negative is a co-opted supposed-to-be-cruising ride, and I *don't* get negative fast.
So... last year "caught up" with you... welp, you're still pretty even though, right? ... I'm reminding myself NOT to be a slave to numbers this weekend because if I ride long I could make up for this week's low mileage but... I wilt in the heat and it's supposed to get to 96 Friday (which since we're on four-day weeks is my "day off - ride long" day). Happily, I *can* tell myself that I am at least a small chunk ahead of last year.
Unhappily, my shoulder is still all tight adn hurting ... I guess I should dig out the heating pad, as absurd as that seems in the heat.
I promised to ride around in a gorilla suit Saturday... I think I'll find my shoulder bags and load them up with ice packs for air conditioning...

Crankin

07-21-2016, 03:27 AM

Ha, ha, Sue. I am generally not a slave to numbers. I stopped weaing my HR monitor years ago, and while I do look at my stats after a ride, I don't upload them anywhere, except for writing in an old fashioned training log. Since I don't focus on average speed like I used to, most of my "numbers" focus goes to miles ridden in a year. But, any time I start doing more of another sport, it takes away from this. This year it's hiking. A few times, it was running. In the end, I always go back to cycling more. I can handle the gym 2X a week with the amount of riding I do, but not much more. I just am in awe of those who can do the 2x a day workouts on a regular basis. Yeah, I can go to the gym and commute to work, or take a shorter, slower ride, but not much else.

north woods gal

07-21-2016, 07:49 AM

Being the largely internally motivated best I am, yeah, I can also get too hung up on the numbers. I still keep a log of miles ridden, every day and an ongoing monthly tally, but my miles are down quite a bit, this month, because of my mountain bike riding. Miles accumulated in that kind of riding, especially working technical single track, have little in common with miles accumulated via pavement riding on the road bike, so not sure why I bother. I suppose it might be more meaningful to use hours biked when comparing the two types of riding, but even that is iffy. I can promise you this: one hour of work on some of my local single track leaves me huffing and puffing and shaking like no hour of road biking ever has.

On the plus side, though, much to be said for mountain biking back in the deep woods on these hot days. Always shaded and cool, but once back out in the open on the pavement to get back home, the sun can be murder.

Aromig

07-21-2016, 09:16 AM

Yes, I do feel the need to keep up, and since the ride was listed to be a certain way, and it wasn't, I can get quite negative in an instant.

This is me. I can usually keep up when I want to, but there are times I just want a nice bike ride. Sometimes I ride to lunch with work colleagues, and one of them has gotten to be a very fast rider. We're riding on a rail-trail with lots of runners/stop signs etc. and he just won't slow down. He'll try, but he just can't help but be pushing the pace. And I can't help but keep up and then at the end I've decided I didn't like the ride anyway. And why in the world would I want to get sweaty at lunch and take the time to shower, etc. if I'm not enjoying it? So I've been avoiding that ride... If I complain about the pace I'll hear "yes, but you were keeping up so I presumed it was ok." I just need to find a way to be more vocal that doesn't make me feel like I'm admitting failure or weakness.

Crankin

07-21-2016, 02:41 PM

Our first ride on our vacation was 28 miles of a ride we used to do in the opposite direction. Beautiful and quite hilly, despite only 1,479 ft of climbing. It was warm, but not terrible. Came back and had rum swizzle a by the pool and now off to dinner at a farm to table place for our friend's birthday.
Going to do a short flatter ride tomorrow. There's storms coming in the afternoon.

emily_in_nc

07-21-2016, 06:06 PM

Yesterday was our last ride in Jackson County, MN, as we have moved farther north in the state now. The wind was blowing hard again, 20 mph sustained from the south, so we chose to do an east-west out and back route. Mostly flat to very lightly rolling along a lovely, smooth county road, so even with a cross wind the entire way, it made for a pretty fast and fun ride. Only negative were the aggressive Red-Winged Blackbirds dive-bombing and squawking at us in various places along the route. Kinda scary! We experienced this back in 2014 when we rode some trails in the upper midwest in June. They get very territorial during nesting season.

Tomorrow we'll be riding part of the Lake Wobegon Trail. We rode a bit of it in 2014 as well, and it was nice, so I am looking forward to it and hoping there aren't too many blackbirds along the way. High is supposed to be in the low 90s with oppressive humidity, so I am not thrilled with that, so at least it will be mostly flat, but sunny. Ugh.

NWG, that's interesting about many MTB manufacturers moving away from 26-ers. Like all other bicycle fads, there's a good chance that things will swing back to smaller wheels eventually, but in the meantime, this makes it harder to find a bike with that wheel size. Have you thought about looking for a used one on ebay? I was lucky enough to buy my wonderful Jamis from Catrin here a few years ago -- a fullie, which was what I wanted, 26" wheels, and fits me perfectly. I will not let it go, especially since 26-ers are getting harder to find!

north woods gal

07-21-2016, 07:30 PM

Emily, yes, I will be looking for used if need be and I suspect you're right about about that size coming back. Probably some good deals out there, right now on 26s, what with all the marketing folks pushing people to buy the bigger wheels sizes

Went to the same technical single track trail that I rode with the 29er, yesterday, but this time with the 26 and I just can't deny the results. Third time I've done this test with both bikes, just to be sure, but results always the same. The 26 climbs better for me because I can accelerate, quickly and instantly, just enough to get me over some steep climbs that had me stalled out with the 29er. The 29er is a better bike for some trails and uses, but I need time to work up some momentum with it to get me over the steep humps. Just not a luxury I have on this single track with all its sharp twists and turns. Also, can make turns with the 26 that I just can't make with the 29.

On the other hand, in this same area, we have some loose gravel and deep sand trails and the 29er plus Trek is a MUCH better bike for that kind of trail and the fat bike even better. This stuff just swallows the 26.

I might see if I can try a 27.5 on this route for comparison.

Geonz

07-22-2016, 09:20 AM

Well, the forecast lied -- happily. We had pretty big showers around 3 a.m. and it was just plain pleasant, which was good 'cause I didn't get out the door 'til after 9:30. I'd figured I might just do 9 miles but ... ended up with 28, changing the route to avoid the crop spraying... going by people working on roofs and the likes made me really glad it was taking its time to warm up... i'ts 84 now at 12:18 so I suspect we won't get to 91 after all, which is adjusted down already.
Just like last Friday, but a different person -- somebody was out *undoing* my loop! We went by each other twice on the four mile grid :) Since it was abou ttwo miles apart, we were goin' about the same speed... I prefer clockwise 'cause it's right turns.
Love my Fridays off, tho' ... I'm going to do some work related stuff...

Crankin

07-22-2016, 01:52 PM

Catrin

07-22-2016, 01:59 PM

Our ride today was only 21.5 miles and was hot and humid. Beautiful, with a 5 mile hill in the middle. It was shady, though.
Went out to lunch and to the Norman Rockwell Museum. It was 95 in downtown Great Barrington today ...

Sounds like a nice ride Crankin, and the shade certainly helped a lot. I remember enjoying riding in very high temps for some odd reason, your post reminded me of that. How did you like the museum visit?

ny biker

07-22-2016, 02:07 PM

I remember the Norman Rockwell museum from a visit many years ago.

I did my weekly hill ride on Wednesday after work. It was hot but the least hot day in a string of 90+ days with hotter more humid days about to hit. And starting around 7 pm means I don't have to deal with the sun, so overall it wasn't bad. The ride was uneventful except I was trying to listen to a baseball game on my phone (the summer college league where my nephew is an intern) and they were having technical problems so I had to keep stopping to refresh the page.

Planning now for a ride on Sunday with very hot weather expected and not many shady trees along the route. Starting early, bringing extra water and will plan to be proactive and stop a few times when we do encounter some shade rather than waiting until the heat gets to me but there's no shade in sight.

north woods gal

07-22-2016, 04:09 PM

Hottest day of the year, so far, at 90 degrees. This is typically a once or twice temp for us during the summer and some summers we don't make it to 90, at all. Still, with the humidity, I decided to play it safe and go back into the deep, dark woods for some mountain biking, rather than be out in the hot sun on the pavement. Not the greatest strategy, though, given the way it's all uphill and downhill in my MTB area. Even after drinking plenty fluids, I was getting a bit light headed, so called it quits, early, and rode back home. Might have been better to ride one of my more level road bike loops. Oh, well.

Crankin

07-23-2016, 02:48 AM

The museum was excellent. This was the third time I've been there, once to this site and once when it was in downtown Stockbridge. The grounds are exquisite.

Crankin

07-23-2016, 12:18 PM

Ok, I completed the entire 41 mile ride today, despite including a 2 mile climb up Lenox Mountain (it's not that bad if you are goi g between 5 and 9 mph). And despite waking up with what may be a UTI or just a yeast infection, plus a stomach that is not quite right, either (too much of a black bean burger). Anyway, this ride is hilly the whole way, with about 2,500 ft of climbing. The first half, including the climb is shady and it was't too hot. It's less humid today. Had a nice lunch in Stockbridge, but with 15 miles to go, it was about 90 out and very little shade. DH was tired, too, so we rode as fast as we could back to the inn. More climbing that I always forget!
Sat by the pool to recover and now heading out to CVS to see if I can make myself feel better. Then later off to Lenox for good food.
We may not ride tomorrow. Will see in the AM.

Catrin

07-23-2016, 12:34 PM

41 miles in this heat? I think you did great! Hope your stomach improves quickly!

Crankin

07-23-2016, 02:00 PM

Catrin

07-23-2016, 02:08 PM

Thanks, Catrin. The lack of humidity helped. I drank 2 bottles of Skratch, a little water, plus some lemon carbonated water at lunch.
I could not have done this yesterday, it was hotter, with high humidity.

I hope our humidity isn't headed your way - it's been horrible here. Good you got the long ride in today in case it comes tomorrow.

emily_in_nc

07-23-2016, 02:12 PM

Yes, 41 miles in this heat is excellent, Crankin! Hope you are feeling much better.

We did 35 on the Lake Wobegon Trail yesterday in the 90-degree heat. We needed to do laundry in the morning so didn't get out until after lunch -- ouch. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves, just a couple single riders and one poor guy hiking in the blazing sun and heat. Ouch!

It's a very pretty trail we'd done a little of, before we had to turn back due to rain, in 2014 when we visited Minnesota. Now we'll hopefully get to do the entire thing before leaving this spot. I must say it's nice to ride in flatter country again after Missouri and Iowa hills!

18103

north woods gal

07-24-2016, 04:37 PM

Now that is flat! Send some my way. :)

Not that hot, today - just low 80s - but the humidity was over 70 percent. Hard to even breathe. Once, again, headed back into the woods to get out of the sun, but I really do need to get some serious road bike work going. My monthly miles tally is way off with all the mountain biking, but, hey, I am having fun and that's what counts.

Crankin

07-24-2016, 05:10 PM

Finished up our trip with a 16 mile ride that was the opposite direction of the 21 mile route we had done Friday, with a bit removed. Mostly flat, until the last 5 miles, which is a set of rollers.
Cleaned up in the powder room at the inn , as we had already checked out and drove straight home.
All in all, a good trip, and we were able to be flexible with the rides because of the heat. We did miss out on doing the one other traditional long 45 mile ride we usually do, but there's always the next time.
Our friends are moving to Amherst in 2 weeks, which is also in western MA, but not in the Berkshires. My older son went to school there, so we are very familiar with the area, but have only ridden there once. It's also very hilly, so we are looking forward to doing some riding in new places, as it's only a little over an hour from here.

emily_in_nc

07-24-2016, 05:50 PM

We did a grocery ride this morning mostly on the Lake Wobegon Trail, just a short 17.3 mile round trip. The nicest part was that we had a decent tailwind on the way back with the groceries, plus it's ever so slightly downhill from Sauk Centre to Melrose, so we were flying!

Tomorrow we're riding east to St. Joseph and back, which will be over 50 miles, and uphill (slight) and into a headwind on the way back. Unfortunate, but it's our last day here, so it's now or never! We have a few stops planned as there's a good bakery on the way, a Little Free Library (I have a couple books to donate), and a DQ. We will not starve. :D Looks like a pretty day with a low of 58 in the am :eek: and high of 86, so we'll have a wide range. I doubt we'll get going before it hits 70, though.

emily_in_nc

07-25-2016, 07:07 PM

Finished the Lake Wobegon Trail today -- a lovely day, though a bit windier than predicted. The entire way back we rode with a fully-loaded solo tourist who was going across the US east to west. He started in Mass. He was really strong, especially considering how much weight he was carrying on a heavy bike. He drafted behind us for 26 miles and was very interesting to talk to.

Ended up with 58.7 miles total, my longest ride of the year. Yay!

Crankin

07-26-2016, 03:17 AM

Emily, was he from here? If so, do you happen to know his name?

north woods gal

07-26-2016, 06:57 AM

Way cool, Emily, to meet such a biker. I've often dreamed of packing up and riding across the country on my bicycle, but have never really been in a position to do so. I'm retired, now, so I do have the time and I can still do it, physically (even have the bikes and most of the equipment to do it), but my hubby couldn't handle it and not sure how smart it would be to go that far riding solo. I get spooked enough as it is, just riding solo in my neck of the woods.

ny biker

07-26-2016, 01:40 PM

I was talking to someone the other day about the cross-country solo bike tour that he did years ago. He had wanted to do it in college but couldn't afford it. So after he'd been working for a few years he got his boss to allow him to take a long vacation, 6 weeks I think, and cycled from east to west, camping along the way. Of course this was before smartphones and gps devices. He said he learned a lot about being independent.

I don't remember if I mentioned -- I took my bike to the shop on Friday night for a derailleur adjustment because the shifting was off, and they said the rear hub needed maintenance. I was planning to do a 50-mile charity ride on Sunday and they said I could probably do that okay, but I got the impression that the bike would not be rideable if it failed while I was out there.

I was going to do the charity ride (a fundraiser for a volunteer fire department) with a friend, but her plans changed so I rode it on my own. The start was about a 90-minute drive from my house. Due to the continuing heat wave I wanted to start early, so I woke up way before dawn in order to be on the road by 6:00, arriving around 7:30, ready to roll at 8:00. A couple of months ago I had worked out a way to short-cut the 100-mile route down to about 76 miles and had hoped to do that, but it turned out to be too hot for that. I also had a thought about adding a detour on some really nice roads to lengthen their 50-mile route a bit, but it was even too hot for that. In fact I was so worried about the heat that I figured out a way to shortcut their 50-mile route down to 35, just in case. But it didn't seem too hot when I reached the decision point for that, so I continued on the 50-mile route.

I was fine when I reached the first rest stop, about halfway through the ride. I was there for a while, chatting with a few other riders, then talking to the volunteer bike mechanic about the shop where he works. When I started to ride again it seemed to have gotten hotter. I had brought three water bottles with me -- two for drinking and one (a collapsible bottle) for pouring water on my head and back and on the sleeves of my Cool Wings. I had put one regular bottle and the collapsible one in the freezer overnight so I'd have cold water for as long as possible. And for a while I had the collapsible bottle on my back under my jersey to cool me down.

The second stop was for water and ice only, no food. It was 10 miles after the first stop and 15 miles from the end. It seemed like more than 10 miles to get there -- the sun was starting to feel pretty hot and there was not much shade. There were plenty of trees in every direction but very few were anywhere near the road. But I knew it would be this way, hence the third bottle and ice. I stayed at the second stop for a while, too, chatting with the same riders that I saw at the first one plus one other man. We had an interesting conversation. It turned out that one of them got engaged to his wife at a restaurant in my hometown. While I was there I saw someone from my bike club riding past.

Once I got going again it was very hot. Since there were long stretches without shade, I had decided in advance to be proactive and stop several times when I did find a shady tree just to cool down for a few minutes and pour water on me. This seemed to help. I didn't feel great when I finished but was much better than I normally would be after spending so much time in the sun with temps in the high 90s.

At the end I saw the fellow club member who had passed me at the water stop. He had done the full century. He sat with me while I ate, and after a while we were joined by a couple of other club members. I was glad to see them, since I didn't think there would be anyone that I knew on the ride. The post-ride lunch was in the air-conditioned fire station, so we all had a chance to cool down before the long drive home.

I dropped my bike off at the LBS for the hub maintenance yesterday. I'm not sure how long it will take so I might be off the bike until the weekend.

north woods gal

07-26-2016, 04:29 PM

High 90s is serious heat, NY, but sounds like you played it right. Like the alternate routes as a backup plan.

Speaking of backups, do have another bike you can ride in the meantime? If you were closer, be glad to lend you one of mine. :)

ny biker

07-26-2016, 05:44 PM

Well thanks! I have a mountain bike but there are some fit issues with it (handlebars and pedals) that I haven't had a chance to address. And also I'm having a flare up of the chronic hives so a day or two of rest probably isn't a bad thing. Not to mention that we might have thunderstorms the next few days that would prevent a bike ride even if it wasn't in the shop. So if I end up able to ride that's fine, but if not that's fine too.

emily_in_nc

07-26-2016, 05:54 PM

Emily, was he from here? If so, do you happen to know his name?

Crankin, his name is Brent, and I didn't ask which city in Mass. he was from. Sorry! Super nice guy, though.

Crankin

07-27-2016, 04:00 AM

I do know a Brent who could do this, but since I just saw him, it's not the same person...

Sky King

07-27-2016, 04:41 AM

We did another laundry ride yesterday. Finally, finally a day with nearly no wind. Temp in the 70s! Doesn't get much better. Just a nice little 20-miler round trip and two clean loads of laundry to show for it. :cool: Today is cleaning and yoga -- I've ridden quite a few days in a row, so it is time for a day off! Transport not sport :) Sunday we had many errands to run and we wanted to ride our bicycles. We managed to buy new sheets at JC Penny's in the local mall, visit a friend at an assisted living, treat ourselves to lunch, do our grocery shopping and visit the fruit and veggie stand. A round robin day that included 26 miles of bike riding.

Crankin

07-27-2016, 06:57 AM

I could not bring myself to do a 40 mile club ride in the heat today. The ride itself is local and nothing hard, has the usual short, steep climbs around here. I think my 4 days of riding in 90+ heat last week gave me a bad attitude. So, I went to the gym and did my second power lifting class of the week. Enough weights until next week, so I think I will skip circuit training tomorrow early AM, and do a 5 AM ride, which is the time it's decently cool. We are supposed to have rain starting tomorrow night, through Friday, and hopefully, this front will be blown out. I am now behind in miles, which sucks, since I was ahead in June. Oh well.

ny biker

07-27-2016, 07:18 AM

Over these past few weeks I've been able to ride in the heat thanks to some hard lessons that I've learned in the past about avoiding dehydration, getting enough salt, taking breaks to cool down. But on two different days I rode more miles than I wanted, more than I knew I should have, because I was with people who wanted to do longer rides and are not as affected by the heat as I am. I've paid the price after each ride with heat rash followed by several days of hives -- an autoimmune flare-up. From now on I will really have to stick to my own plan and do shorter rides in this type of weather, regardless of what others want to do. Hopefully there will be situations where I can just take a short cut and then wait for others to catch up so I don't end up having to ride alone.

Anyway now that I've learned the lesson, the current heat wave is almost over. It will still be hot but should not be as bad.

The weird thing is that even with all the planning and strategizing and getting up early to deal with riding in the hot sun, I still have this feeling in the back of my mind that the cold weather will be back any day now, with tights and booties and extra layers and unrelenting cold feet. It's not true, we'll have a couple more months before it starts to get cold again, but I can't shake the feeling that summer will be gone in a heartbeat and winter cold is imminent. Maybe I need to get out of the air conditioning more...

Crankin

07-27-2016, 07:25 AM

I am like you, NY, in that riding in the heat produces an autoimmune flare up. During my trip, it affected my GI symptoms. In retrospect, I have had this every summer, which is why I start out so motivated, usually die out around now, and get my mojo back in September. I also have built up my ability to tolerate riding in the heat (I never could have done this last trip ten years ago), and when I first started riding, I would have been at the gym, in spin class.
Yes, it will still be in the 80s this weekend, but not humid, so that is more normal. DH is helping our friends move to Amherst on Saturday (well, the male half is starting his job Monday, so he is going ahead), so I will either ride with my friend, his wife, or do a club ride.

ny biker

07-27-2016, 07:37 AM

I'm waiting another day or two to see how the weather forecast shapes up before planning anything this weekend. Specifically I'm hoping they are able to forecast the timing of thunderstorms with reasonable accuracy. I do hate getting caught in thunderstorms, and when they come at the end of a heat wave they often pack some strong winds.

(I wish I knew what to do to help my immune system calm down again. I'm taking two kinds of antihistamines -- H1 and H2 receptors. Other that than I'm just trying to get enough sleep and stay out of the heat for a couple of days. I've tried to eat more "anti-inflammatory" foods over the past few months, tuna a few times a week, an apple almost every day, more fruits in general, leafy greens. I had been eating walnuts and almonds pretty regularly but they seem to bother my stomach.)

north woods gal

07-27-2016, 10:02 AM

Having been caught out in some severe T storms, you are absolutely right to be cautious. They can be very dangerous for a biker and in so many ways. I've waited out my share in whatever shelter I could find at the time.

August coming up and that is a rough month for my allergies, specifically hay fever/ragweed and once that starts, it triggers allergies to all sorts of other things. One thing that helps with allergies and also hot weather for me, is to reduce my overall calorie intake and staying with more of my usual greens with some fruits. Yes, nuts can be iffy for some people, but I tend to add more of those in my diet during the winter months.

I'm another one that pushes to reach some pre-determined goal, so I know what some of you are up against as far as overdoing it. Came home, yesterday, cut up and bruised - again - from doing more nasty mountain biking. I'm beginning to feel like I should be in one of those mountain biking commercials where everyone looks like they've been though a war. :) Got a lecture about it when I got home. Nice to have a hubby that helps me to put on the brakes, when needed.

Thunderstorms, today, so will ride some indoor miles. If you're not set up to ride indoors on a trainer, I recommend it as a great way to get some miles in when heading out is not an option or just not too healthy for some reason. Just catch a few miles on the indoor trainer and go as far as you are able and not have to worry about bonking and finding yourself 10 miles away from home.

Aromig

07-27-2016, 10:20 AM

The weird thing is that even with all the planning and strategizing and getting up early to deal with riding in the hot sun, I still have this feeling in the back of my mind that the cold weather will be back any day now, with tights and booties and extra layers and unrelenting cold feet. It's not true, we'll have a couple more months before it starts to get cold again, but I can't shake the feeling that summer will be gone in a heartbeat and winter cold is imminent. Maybe I need to get out of the air conditioning more...

I'm there with you. I'm riding in temps I'm not acclimated to (we had such a cool rainy spring) and I don't really want to ride in some of these temps -- but I feel I'm missing an opportunity if I don't. I only have an opportunity (because of daylight) to ride in the weekday mornings during June and July and I haven't taken advantage of that and it's almost over! This is just making me feel even more anxious.

Crankin

07-27-2016, 11:47 AM

Yes, I get antsy when I know I am missing precious riding time. But, I also do other sports, i.e. hiking and winter sports, cross country skiing and snow shoeing. The season for winter sports here is short (8-10 weeks) and often involves some travel. There was little of that last winter, but I did get to ride through the winter, something that hasn't happened in 3-4 years. But, I feel somewhat rejuvenated already from this little break from riding. It's not like I was lying around on my azz. I am finally able to lift a higher weight above my head, with shoulder presses, so I've seen progress there.

emily_in_nc

07-27-2016, 12:32 PM

What a bust. We'd planned on a ride on the Paul Bunyan Trail (MN) today, but the first half of the day was raining, and the second half, while not raining, the unpaved road in the park is muddy, the mosquitoes are thick as thieves (they absolutely swarm you when you exit your rig -- almost NO ONE is outside today even though the campground is pretty full), and I just can't bring myself to trash my bike with dirt/mud and have to coat myself in DEET just to go on a ride. We leave here tomorrow, so it may come to that if the next campground is more of the same.

I must say, though, this is only the second campground of the year (starting in Jan. in Florida) where we've had a significant mosquito issue. We've had more problems with flies than mosquitoes. We have really been lucky, but perhaps the luck has finally run out. It has rained so much here it's only surprising the mozzies haven't found us sooner. Hopefully as we move west into North Dakota, they will be less of a problem.

Crankin

07-27-2016, 01:06 PM

Ugh, Emily. It doesn't sound like optimal conditions for riding!
I have no problems coating myself in DEET for hiking, but I have never had to do it for riding. A couple of times when DH and I led after work rides, we had to stop to help people with mechanicals and it was only then, we were attacked by mosquitos. And this was only in a certain area, near a working dairy farm. I was surprised though, when I hiked with my former colleague 2 weeks ago, that she came dressed in shorts and a tank top, with a long sleeved blouse over it. She had no bug spray. It was early AM, around 7 and it was humid as hell out. I sprayed myself like crazy and had no issues, while she was swatting herself the whole time.

north woods gal

07-27-2016, 02:04 PM

emily_in_nc

07-27-2016, 04:51 PM

My biggest problem with the nasties, other than a few ticks back in the woods, has been the deer and black flies and, ouch, they really can bite. I do have to spray for them when I ride, sometimes. Odd thing, though, they swarm around my helmet as I ride, but only seem to land and bite on the back of my legs and, of all places, my riding gloves. Now, why would they be attracted to my riding gloves and try to bite though that fabric? (And, yes, they can bite though them.) As for mosquitoes, yeah, they are getting nastier by the week, since it has been a wet summer for us. Usually not an issue until I stop, though. If I break down, back in the woods and have to walk out, then not so good. :) Up here, we never step outdoors the summer without the bug spray.

Emily, the farther west you go in the Dakotas and Nebraska, the drier the climate gets, so hopefully things will improve for you. The eastern parts of those states can still be quite muggy, though. By the time you hit the western borders, almost desert dry. For sure, you will be out in the great wide open. Have fun.

Thank you! I am really looking forward to heading west now. We have another 8 nights in Minnesota, then we head into North Dakota. After three nights crossing the state, we'll be in the western portion, at Teddy Roosevelt NP. When we visited there (too briefly, which is why we're returning) in 2014, we had no bug problems whatsoever. Then we'll head into northeast Wyoming and western South Dakota for awhile. Eventually we do have to make our way back east since we have appointments in NC in early November, but by then, the mozzies will hopefully be much less than this time of year!

Totally am with you on the blackflies. We experienced those mostly in Missouri and both got a few bites, but nothing like the swarms of mosquitoes here. Truly never experienced anything like it. We had to take Paisley out for a jog tonight instead of a walk, and they still got us! :mad:

north woods gal

07-27-2016, 07:13 PM

Crankin

07-28-2016, 03:51 AM

I rode my bike to the gym at 5:30 AM. Round trip, 2.2 miles... but going there is up a 5% grade hill, so it gets the HR up. Good warm up for circuit training.
This is the last time I'll go to power class on Wednesday and then do circuit early Thursday. Not only am I just sore all over, my SI joint is screaming, despite doing my stretches. Most of it comes from sitting for 8 hours on Tuesday, at work, so I can't change that.
A very pleasant downhill one mile back home this morning, and only 70 degrees, but humid. It's going to be 95 later.

emily_in_nc

07-29-2016, 02:28 PM

Teddy Roosevelt NP has some great mountain biking trails, but officials warn you that if it does rain, the clay soils become treacherous until dry. I'm guessing they have more road bike type trails, too. Might want to check it out.

We've actually been there before (but not long enough!) There's a gorgeous loop road around the park that we can ride our road bikes on, and for MTB there's the Mah-dah-hey and Buffalo Gap singletrack trails in nearby Medora. We only did a day trip before (were staying in Dickinson) so just rode part of the Mah-dah-hey. Hoping to do more this time around! And there's lovely hiking too; we did a long hike there on a different day trip last time too.

Today's 20-mile ride was on our MTBs too, in fact. We're staying in a national forest campground in northern Minnesota and rode the lovely unpaved (but well packed) national forest roads in the area (Chippewa NF). Aside from being followed by deer flies, it was lovely. VERY sad to see all the trees down from the severe storms here in the past couple of weeks, though. :( Some areas looked like a tornado went through but were most likely straight-line winds. Big props to the national forest crews as it appeared that many trees fell across the roads, but all had been cut and moved out of the way by today; that's pretty quick cleanup!

north woods gal

07-29-2016, 04:47 PM

That's lovely country, for sure, Emily. Have been in that area many times. My mother's family is from the Duluth area and we vacationed north of there and traveled through there many times as kids.

After two solid weeks of mountain biking and some challenging mountain biking, at that, head back out on the pavement to get caught up on some miles for the month. Did include 3 miles of hard packed gravel, but the Salsa Warbird is designed for just that kind of work, so no issues. Finished the day with a very pleasant 32 miles, weather sunny and in the 70s. Can't beat that.

Now, after two weeks of solid mountain biking, back in the deep remote woods, you'd think I'd see more wildlife than when road biking. Not so. I actually see more wildlife when road biking. Saw my second bear of the year, again while road biking, run across the road in front of me, today, right next to someone's home!

My theory is that riding pavement is quieter than riding rocky single track, so wildlife can't hear me coming on the road bike or maybe they're more conditioned to listen and watch for vehicles. Often flush animals right in front of me on the road bike, but seldom on the mountain bike. Another possibility is that wildlife is attracted to plants, such as berries, that grow along the road where there is more sunshine. Also helps that I can see way out ahead while on the road bike. Back in the single track, the cover is so thick that I mostly hear animals run off, but seldom see them. Would rather NOT come face to face with a bear in the thick stuff, anyway. Way out in front, down the road, is good. :)

Crankin

07-30-2016, 12:04 PM

I did a group ride today, which went pretty well. I rode to the start, at the HS in my town, 4.8 miles. Some of the people who signed up didn't show, so there were about 8-9 of us, including the leaders. The woman who led the ride was in my leadership training in 2005 and has come on several of our rides. She talks a blue streak, and always seems a little braggy (I know that's not a word), but now I think she just talks a lot. But, I was a bit worried, because I thought she was a super fast rider, despite the fact the average was advertised at 12-14, for a pretty hilly ride (2K+ ft.) So, I had no need to worry. She's a fast hiker and runner, but she has trouble climbing, mostly because she is spinning out and losing speed, then she gets tired. So on the first 2 climbs, I stayed with her, and everyone went ahead and then waited. I knew what was coming and I wanted to save my energy! I stayed in the middle of the group climbing the big hill into Harvard Center. We stopped for lunch, but it was really early... I was not hungry, but I made myself eat half a sandwich. We had a couple of shorter climbs after that, which was hard right after eating, but, all of a sudden I got a second wind, and all of those people who had been going ahead didn't. The last part of the ride deviated from the GPS route, because someone else had devised it, and she apparently did not live around here, and it would have taken us through some horrible traffic, around stores. I helped lead us through some of the changes, after a climb, as I was in front. We finally got back to Concord and all of a sudden, I was ravenously hungry. I split off from the group to head home, but I actually stopped and ate half of my Lara Bar and then rode the 4.6 miles home. It's 85 out, but no humidity, and somewhat cloudy, so not as bad as last weekend. A total of 54 miles, my longest ride this year.

emily_in_nc

07-30-2016, 12:37 PM

Good job, Crankin! I did my longest ride of the year in the past week too, but not hilly like yours. :)

NWG, +1 on not wanting to sneak up on a bear. After what happened to the guy mountain biking in Glacier NP especially, although I am sure you are seeing Black Bears and not Grizzlies. Still...a bear's a bear. I have never seen one, actually. Just as soon keep it that way on a bike.

Here are a few photos of the tree damage here in the Chippewa Nat'l Forest in northern Minnesota from recent heavy storms. It was so sad to see so many beautiful trees down. Some had snapped off half-way up the trunks, others fell over at the root ball.

18110 18111 18112

north woods gal

07-31-2016, 10:31 AM

Nice pics, Emily. Those forest roads look similar to ours, as much sand as gravel. I do like riding them, however. Something about being back in the more remote areas on a bike that I like.

Downed trees are so common in our area that our power company finally went to underground power lines. We were averaging 4 to 6 outages a year, a lot of them in winter months, so hopefully not as many, now.

ny biker

07-31-2016, 12:15 PM

I like remote areas but only as part of a group, for safety.

I got my bike back from the LBS yesterday and was all set to join a club ride today. As I went to bed last night I discovered a rash on my stomach. I'd had something similar on my arms a few weeks ago (clusters of pinpoint red spots ) and it had cleared up overnight. But when I woke up this morning it was still there, so I decided to stay home, get more sleep and not increase the itch by exercising in the heat and humidity. But I am not happy! I think it might be time to see the allergist, though I don't think there's much he can do. <sigh>

Crankin

07-31-2016, 01:27 PM

Hope you feel better, NY.
We had the first good rain in probably a month or more today, so I didn't ride. Since I neglected to stretch after my long ride yesterday, I did some of that this morning and then took a 3 mile mile walk around 4 PM. My SI joint is hurting, but it started after work Tuesday, a long day of sitting for me. So, more stretching tonight and hope that it resolves by tomorrow's power class.

north woods gal

08-02-2016, 05:36 PM

Finished July way down on my miles tally from June, but that was by design, so a good thing. Still managed 622 miles for the month, but that's a bit hard to interpret because nearly 200 of those miles were off pavement and a good portion of those miles were some really technical and nasty single track and primitive roads. One thing for sure, when doing the hard stuff on the MTB, I end up panting and stopping to catch my breath, at times, something I very rarely have to do when on pavement and then there are all the bumps and bruises with the heavy duty MTB work. Whew! Physically, the mountain biking is such a very different kind of biking than road biking. Love them both, though.

ny biker

08-03-2016, 11:24 AM

It's been years since I've ridden real single track, but a couple of years ago I did some cold-weather riding with my mountain bike on the bridle path that runs next to a long rail-trail in this area. It was definitely more work than riding the paved path, and not just because the paved path is flatter. I would do more of it, but that bike needs some work and I don't want to spend that money right now. But it is a good workout for a relatively short ride. (Also more work afterwards -- the bike gets so dirty!)

Have I mentioned that I know someone who has already logged more than 10,000 miles in 2016? He's currently leading his home state in the National Bike Challenge. I also know the #3 person in the same state. They do spend a lot of time in the saddle.

north woods gal

08-03-2016, 06:05 PM

Yes, that translates to a LOT of time in the saddle. I did 10,0052 miles in 2008, but it took me all year, riding in the cold and snow and after dark on many nights. I did it just to prove to myself that I could do it, but it meant putting a lot of my other activities on hold to get it done. Fortunately, it did not burn me out on biking, but really not interested in doing it, again, not with so many other activities I do. Also, I was single, at the time. Be pretty hard on a relationship unless your SO was with you.

emily_in_nc

08-03-2016, 06:17 PM

10K already is a LOT. My DH did over 13K in 2014, and I thought that was amazing. I did 7500 that same year, my highest ever. I will be happy with 3K this year!

I have done 153 miles in the past three days riding the Heartland and Paul Bunyan Trails up here in Minnesota. What gorgeous trails! I am ready for a couple of travel days and to let my raw sit bones heal up and my quads settle down. I hadn't been doing that long rides, or that many days in a row, so I am exhausted. I will enjoy the two days off thoroughly!

ny biker

08-04-2016, 10:29 AM

That's actually a good way to approach travel days when you know you'll just be sitting in a vehicle and not doing much else -- wear yourself out with some good long bike rides.

The guy who's logged over 10K already commutes by bike, all year long, in all kinds of weather, and is pretty fearless when it comes to riding in traffic on bike-unfriendly roads. Then every weekend he does at least one century, sometimes a century and a half. The guy who's currently third in the state retired last year and is happy to spend it doing bike rides almost every day.

I know another retiree who averaged more than 10K every year for a long time. I think maybe last year he only had about 7K miles, because he had partial knee replacement at the start of the year. He's another one who rides almost every day, just because he loves it. Then there's the friend who surpassed 5000 miles last year even though she broke her femur in March.

Meanwhile I fell short of 2000 last year, though if two metrics had not been rained out in Sept and Oct I would have made it. And that's more than enough for me. Maybe if I wasn't working five days a week I would want to ride more often, but for now if I tried to do more I would get tired of it.