June 21st Ride Reports

[hibiscus09]

Woo-hoo! I always do better with partners to push me. We (hottie husband and I) went 10.72 miles today at a 15.3mph pace. I've just been doing a 14.1 pace previously. It's getting awfully toasty here -- even early in the a.m. I love the South, but it sure is muggy. :p

One more thing -- I don't know what's more frustrating -- people who won't pass me at all (even though I'm way over on the side of the road) or people who think they should get so close that I could reach out and touch the vehicle they're driving :eek: .

Next, a golf lesson at 10:00. :D

[Geonz]

Whoowee... today here it was so toasty, with dew point just a few degrees below temp (our "whining weatherman" has this thing against telling us the relative humidity, just that it is high) so I sort of wandered in even though I was running late. Riding the 7500FX 'cause it might go into a van later, tho' it means no blender for the solstice party tonight.

The ones who pass close: if you move out a foot, then you have that foot to move in. (Or Two feet.) It can make a big difference in your sanity.

Where in Columbia are you? I spent almost a school year in W Cola, and most of the roads were pretty horrible for riding, so they might be so busy that taking more of the lane would mean serious road rage... but it's worth trying. IT's a little counterintuitive but it is MUCH safer. You get treated like a vehicle instead of a pedestrian (tho' the culture factors might mean that then they just want to run you down.)

[hibiscus09]

Hi Geonz! Thanks for the tips! :) I'm riding at Kiawah Island right now. We'll be back to Columbia after July 4th holiday. When we ride there, we head to Ft. Jackson to do the loop -- a lot less traffic. :p

[Bad JuJu]

I was at USC (go gamecocks!) in the early 80s. I shared a house with two other women, out towards Fort Jackson (maybe halfway between there and the campus) and rode my bike to campus for about a year. Going wasn't too bad--early in the morning--but getting back home could be one harrowing adventure. And that was more than 20 years ago--can't imagine what it's like now. Be careful, Hibiscus!

[hirakukibou]

I rode an easy slow roll of 34.21 miles. It was warm but not as sweltering as it has been here. I wanted to go further but had an appointment. It's so frustrating when life interferes with cycling.:)

[dachshund]

I went a whole 12 miles today, my first real ride. I got up to 14mph off & on... I'm sticking to the multi-use trails for now while I get used to the clipless pedals. I can't "stop on a dime" yet, so I need to get my foot out 10-20 feet before I have to stop.

Amy

[tulip]

What a difference leaving home early makes! This morning I had a dentist appointment near my office, so I left my house at 6:30 am to be sure I had enough time to get to work and shower before walking over to the dentist. The traffic was light and I was able to take a direct route, which normally has too much fast traffic on it. I made it to work in 1 hour and 5 minutes! Normally I'm at 1:15 or so because of having to go a roundabout way.

What a great way to start the day! It will be hot on the way home, however.

[Fredwina]

I went a whole 12 miles today, my first real ride. I got up to 14mph off & on... I'm sticking to the multi-use trails for now while I get used to the clipless pedals. I can't "stop on a dime" yet, so I need to get my foot out 10-20 feet before I have to stop.

Amy
I always try to clip out before I know I have to stop, so don't feel bad if you cant stop on a dime.

[makbike]

I got up early and joined in the morning club ride in Louisville. It was a hilly 40mile loop. I felt great on my bike and I have to admit I was pretty darn happy when I out climbed the group going up our first long hill. Off I went on my own and I soon realized that when I'm chasing someone I ride a lot stronger than I do if I'm by myself. I'm in the midst of reading Seabiscuit and I quickly realized I ride must like the horse ran. If I have someone to chase or someone is closing in on me I pick up the pace, if I'm by myself I'll relax and go at a much slower clip. Eventually, today I was joined by two men who also dropped the pack and the three of us pushed each other in to our final destination, the ride captain's house. His wife and daughter had a wonderful meal prepared for the club. It was very tasty and I tried very hard not to pig out for I did not want to blow my attempt at dropping some added pounds.

[DrBee]

Hi Geonz! Thanks for the tips! :) I'm riding at Kiawah Island right now. We'll be back to Columbia after July 4th holiday. When we ride there, we head to Ft. Jackson to do the loop -- a lot less traffic. :p

I also spent some time in Columbia (about 8 months) in 2000/2001. I did my post-doc in the Biology (Marine Sciences) dept at USC.

[Nanci]

I ride like Seabiscuit runs, too! Great analogy!

Nanci

[betagirl]

Rode 8 miles and got my 2nd flat in as many bike rides. In the same spot to boot. So I got to the train and took that to class. Bah. Stupid tire. :mad:

[hibiscus09]

Hi Juju and fishdr! I've lived in Columbia all my life, am a USC graduate in psychology, have had season tickets to Gamecock football every year since I was 15 (long, long ago :p ) and am now attending graduate school in Mass Communications at USC. GOOO GAMECOCKS!! :cool:

Nice rides everyone! :)

[Lise]

Rode 8 miles and got my 2nd flat in as many bike rides. In the same spot to boot. So I got to the train and took that to class. Bah. Stupid tire. :mad:
beta, that sux. bah on the stupid tire. Again, I say, bah! As you may have heard, I had some tire changing learning experiences myself last week...I hope that's it for awhile. Good luck. How was camp? Welcome home. L.

[salsabike]

Nice partly sunny, 70-ish day in the PNW, fine 27 mile trail ride with close-up view of bald eagle at the end and a discovery that their nest is nearby. AND it's gnat season on the BG/Sammamish River Trail, so ate some gnats too.

[KnottedYet]

I also met up with the gnats. Mmmmm. Decided to take an easy ride since it's the first ride since I got this flu bug or whatever it is. Discovered exactly how long it takes me to get from bookstore to "Margaritaville" (1 hour on the dot) which is down the block from my LBS. Took the bike in and made boo-boo faces about the derailleur, they fixed it. Made more boo-boo faces about a sqeak in my rear wheel, they lubed it. I loooooove Recycled Cycles.

Rode home with a happier bike, enjoyed the gorgeous weather and the beautiful views of Lake Washington. All told 2 hrs, and 22 miles.

[uk elephant]

Did another group ride, this time with the local group of Cyclist Touring Club. Basically they meet every Wednesday evening for a leisurely ride around the countryside, ending at a pub near town. Was a nice, slow social ride. But I was surprised to see that nobody wears a helmet! Not in this group and not in the group I went with the day before. What's up with that?! I might join them again in the future anyway though. It was nice to have a bit of social interaction while cycling. Can get a bit lonely when I'm always out on my own. We ended up doing about 15 miles, at 10mph average. And stopped at a very nice pub at the end.

[Geonz]

In the 8 months I was in W. Columbia I had my legs and feet completely devoured by the fleas in my apartment when I moved in, my car stolen a couple weeks later, a gunshot through my bedroom ceiling (the neighbor was cleaning his gun), a strange man in my bedroom at 3 a.m. (I convinced him to leave), and a woman who had found *my* outgoing credit card payment in her mailbox - some four or five miles away from me - with her husband's (and hers) return address on it (I didn't know her *or* her husband, she just appeared at my door with her mother, thinking her hubby might be having an affair with me). Let's not even talk about the too-hot weather or the palmetto bugs :-)
(Ah, but there was George, the angel, who appeared when I arrived with my car in tow behind the rental van, my buddy-with-a-bad-back, and my cars brakes *gone* because somehow I'd left the emergency brake on. George just appeared and hauled box after box after box ("more books?!") , and told me a guy who could fix my brakes... and I was a grad student and hadn't even switched bank accounts yet ... )
Ride-wise, yes, we charged into the headwind and rode to Monticello and the solstice bonfire. Fortunately the winds died down a tad halfway there - it was about 25 miles and it was getting tedious :-) (we also had to walk a mile where the road was totally torn up, which was a nice break). Brings the month to 771... 9 days to do 229 miles...

[hibiscus09]

:) Thank goodness for George! ;)

I've had good experiences here, but my sister -- the police officer -- tells me some crazy stories. :eek:

[Duck on Wheels]

No ride for me, but RubySlipperz got one. I picked her up, all neatly boxed, at the LBS. Balanced the box vertically on the rack of a little wheeled luggage cart (the kind we used to have before all suitcases had their own wheels ..? well, I still have mine), strapped her in and towed her about 2 miles to the bus stop. First one mile, but because of roadwork the bus route had been moved. Found a young woman sitting in the bus shelter who hadn't studied the sign saying that no buses stopped there. She was glad I pointed it out. It explained why her bus was so "late". ;)
Anyway ... found the moved bus stop, and the driver put down the handicap ramp so I could wheel Ruby on for the ride, and off again at my corner. Finished the rest of my packing around midnight, slept pretty well in spite of moving nerves and aching arm from vaccinations. Now we're just waiting for the moving van to arrive.
There's no place like home. There's no place like home. ... Unless maybe it's the Alameda trail. Trek420 mentioned a ride there July 8 ...?

[SouthernBelle]

I got a decent ride in yesterday, about 12 miles. Temps were mid-90's, lots of humidity.

But today I got in my new polar bottles and will give one a trial run tonight!