July 1st Ride Reports

[hibiscus09]

Morning everyone! Happy Saturday! :)

I turned in 34.1 miles on the bike today at a 15.6mph pace. I took a cyclist's/friend's advice and had some wheat toast with peanutbutter before I headed out. It was yummy and I feel like it helped. During the ride, I had a bottle of Gatorade, but I would have preferred Accelerade. After the ride, I'm having a protein shake with glutamine & have taken some amino acids. I don't know what carb I'll have yet -- but I'll have something.

Anyhoo, according to bicycle magazine, I burned approximately 1,200 calories :eek: ! Good Lord. I know they're just estimates, but do you guys think the calculators are somewhat close to how many calories are actually burned cycling?

I have developed quite a golfer's/cyclist's tan while I've been on vacation and am planning on wearing halters and strapless dresses on a trip to Las Vegas on July 20th. Today, I'm going to the pool to try to even out the scary tan.

Ya'll have a wonderful day!

[DrBee]

I put in 31.5 miles this morning and felt great after mile 20. Kept pace of 16.5-18mph throughout most of ride. Doing good with clipless, but getting a nice chain tatoo. Never did that before clipless. Hmmmm.... I outlasted all the runners and walkers today. I have a 5 mile loop I do through town, part of which is in a park (lots of runners and walkers).

Have a great Saturday... now to watch the prologue.

[Trek420]

A day late. I rode to work yesterday. The weather was beautiful, traffic light, lots of people off for the long weekend and at work allllll of our managers were gone so the day at work was fairly relaxing (you see, we don't need them at all).

One of my co-workers is looking into cycling so we chatted about buying his first bike. I handed him my dog eared collection of Bicycling magazine articles I keep for that purpose, sent him the link to bikejournal...hopefully you'll see him there.

There was no idiot factor! None. I was not cut off, walked into by peds, no unleashed dogs, cars that saw me at intersections waved me through :eek: ...even the drunk on the bike-ped overpass was friendly. I kept waiting to wake up and the dream to end but start to finish a nice ride :)

[margo49]

Out at 06.30 to go "round the Lake" (Sea of Galilee to you-all) - 70 km
With my strawb'ry Clif Shot Blocks from my June Secret Sister I felt like a real professsional. (We ain't got nothin' like that here)
Beautiful day and lovely ride. Summer has dried everything off to dusty golds and olive green, but lots of purple-flowered thistles on all the road- and hill-sides. Most of the streambeds were dry but the lake was a glorious turqouise shade and calm.
Only used granny gear once and that for only 50 m so feel pretty cool.
Found *money* :D :D in my back-pack that I'd put there eons ago for emergencies and forgotten about so treated myself to juice and dark chocolate!
Back home to my June Secret Sister water bottle that I didnt want to take a chance it might get scratched on the cage or anything as it has a nice picture on it

[Lifesgreat]

Joined up with some women from a local cycling club and did 33 miles with them. The weather was perfect, the company was good and I rode trails I have never been on. Life is good.

[Lise]

Out at 06.30 to go "round the Lake" (Sea of Galilee to you-all)

Ahhh... I love Sea o' G! My sister lived in "the Big HL" (Holy Land) for ~ 15 years. We had a wonderful trip around the country when I was 25 and she 21. We took the bus up from Tel Aviv, got off at...oh, heck, can't remember the name...dropped our bags at a hostel, and took off walking along the lake/sea. Walked to a site of ruins of a former Roman spa with hot springs--across the road was the modern-day replacement. There's a great picture of my sister, dripping wet and slimed with algae. She'd gone to cool her feet in the lake, slipped on gunk covered steps, and whoops! Wet and laughing. When we got back to the hostel, our bags were tagged with a label that read, "Two young American blondes". I guess we forgot to tell them our names. That night another hostel guest insisted that we were German. Would only speak to us in German. We don't speak German. I'm thinking beer was involved on his part.

We called that trip the "100 Shekel Tour of Closed Holy Sites". It cost 100 shekels to take the bus at that time, and we were forever showing up right as a church/mosque/temple/historical place closed for the day or was boarded up for repairs! :rolleyes: We had a great time, nonetheless. One of my happiest vacations.

Thanks for the memories, Margo!

[Trek420]

Lise "Walked to a site of ruins of a former Roman spa with hot springs--"

spas, man those Romans knew how to live. Invade, build spa, repeat. JK. Conquering the known western world is hard work, sometimes you just need a day at the spa. :D

with apology for the thread drift; Duckless aka Duck on Wheels and my mutual Dad was raised in Israel. His parents came there in around 1921 invited by the Israel Opera co (probably then called the Palestine Opera Co). While popular the little company failed and the family moved to the States or I might have been out cycling with margo49.

[Geonz]

Led a wonderful Saunter - a solid 7-10 folks of the 25-30 were happy to cruise at 11 mph (I think - no computer), so none of that three people in the very back feeling even mildly inadequate (something about warmer days slows people down around here and I like that :) ) BEcause we were at a calm pace we could do the extended 24 mile route (more interesting). No flats, no bad dogs, all good stuff :-) (and I've been cranky all week and it seems to be fading - I had less of an urge to CORRECT EVERYONE'S BEHAVIOUR ... maybe it's 'cause I *did* take the riding crop out of the saddle bags. But that's another story... OH, and I was wearing the piggy helmet cover. It *does* fit overthe visor.)

[mtkitchn]

Rode to Tempe and hooked up with the bike club....did the short route, had a nice bagel sandwich and conversation, then rode home for 34 miles total. This is the first ride I've done in a while and I can feel it:eek: ! It was 87 degrees when I left the house at 5:30am and 97 degrees when I rolled in at 9:30. I hopped right into the pool when I got home and that was AWESOME.:p

[SouthernBelle]

I had one of those days. My plan was to ride about 50 miles. I got a late start. As I was getting my bottles and camelbak ready, I reached into the freezer and there was only a handful if ice. Not good. So I made do, and set out. It's hot and humid. My legs weren't great, but I usually can ride myself out of that. So I'm riding along feeling really draggy. Hilly course. As I cross over into the next county, I'm passing roadkill every few feet. I cannot get away from the smell. Even when I think I can, skunk smell blends in. This starts having a deleterious effect on my tummy, breathing and head. I finally turn around and come home.

23 miles. :(

[hirakukibou]

Rode 50 miles with the club. One of the very strong women complimented me being surpised that I have only been riding for a year (actually serious riding for only 6 months or so) and telling me I have good handling skills. Nice to be encouraged! It was a glorious sunny day for a change and I had a good ride.

[winddance]

I'm in southern California visiting my parents for a few days, so this morning my father and I rode the bike path to the beach. It's hot down here! I think I have been very spoiled by Bay Area weather!

I managed to keep up with him. This is progress... :D

[Geonz]

23 miles is still 23 miles! If it's hot and humid, goals go out the window. (Or in the window, to curl up on a couch and come back another day.) Imagine how yummy you would have felt after a heat exhaustion induced wreck (and they happen every summer).

[bikerz]

Just back from 24 miles, 2400 feet of climbing! I'm getting a little bit better on this route, although that last bit of Pinehurst threatens to stop me dead every time. And today, as a bit of a reality check, 2 guys just BLEW past me on the steepest part, as if I were only going 3.3 mph or something.... :o

I still can't believe I think this sort of thing is fun (I blame you, SadieKate, and the rest of the NorCal TE Girls Hill Climbing Program!)

[Fredwina]

Led the club ride, despite 90 plus heat at 7 am, we still had 14 folks. we rode down to the airport at Chino and at at the airport cafe. We made a side stop by the aircraft museum to see the DC-3 and B-17 parked outside. Had a nice brunch and then saw a biplane take off. we had three flats on the way, and my group got co-mingled with a bunch of "racers" from a local shop, we wound up being chased bu a chihuahua. We (the two groups)split up, a my group by the airport in Ontario, we then went a winery before stopping, I did some extra miles, was going to make metric of the day, but decided not to.

[LL_Super_D]

Decided to ride the 3 Bears Loop today (about 20 miles)... ignorantly and foolishly in the heat of the day - so not the brightest idea! I first tried this ride when I started cycling this past winter and back then, Papa Bear hill had me turn around cause I couldn't make it up that 7% grade hill. Today... I finished the loop! To my surprise, Papa Bear hill wasn't as awful as I remembered.

[EvilTwin]

Rode a sweet, scenic 40 mile loop into the hills around here. Absolutely a gorgeous day, although a bit warm by the time we finished. Stopped at the top of the ride to look out over the valley, then screamed down the hills into a little town where we stopped for milkshakes. Nothing better than a strawberry shake loaded with fresh picked Oregon berries. Awesome!

[SouthernBelle]

23 miles is still 23 miles! If it's hot and humid, goals go out the window. (Or in the window, to curl up on a couch and come back another day.) Imagine how yummy you would have felt after a heat exhaustion induced wreck (and they happen every summer).

It was cooler at home. It smelled much better too. :cool:

[Lenusik]

Rode to Tempe and hooked up with the bike club.... It was 87 degrees when I left the house at 5:30am and 97 degrees when I rolled in at 9:30. I hopped right into the pool when I got home and that was AWESOME.:p

Yeah, I wish I had a pool. My hubby and I rode 50 miles today. We decided to take a moderate pace: 18 - 22 mph on average. We did a few laps along our usual rout on Pecos and added a few hills. The heat was creaping up. By the time we got back it was already over a 100F, plus it was nasty humid today. We got back tired. I just loved my nap afterwards.

[Crankin]

Today, I rode our annual "Chicken Ride," so named because it goes by a chicken farm with a very large plastic chicken outside on a post. We cluck as we go by.
This has to be the most challenging ride I do that's close to home. 45.8 miles in central Massachusetts, starting in Westminister, going through Sterling, Rutland, Barre, Hubbardston and back. There are 2 long climbs, not too steep, maybe 5 percent in the first half. There's good downhills, but the roads are in terrible shape. I have never seen so many potholes. It was getting hot and I didn't feel really zippy until I ate a Cliff bar after 19 miles and ate a Cliff Shot block. Lunch is at 28 miles and then the fun begins... you go downhill for about half a mile and then there is a nice 10-13% percent climb. I remembered that and felt prepared. I even dropped my husband, who had a momentary lapse of power. What I didn't remember was the next climb. My husband said, "Oh yea, that's where you were crying last year!." Well, I didn't cry, but I think it's the only time I have felt like stopping. I thought I was going to fall over. I could barely push the pedals at 4.5 mph! I haven't looked at my Topo program yet, but I am pretty sure this climb was 15-17%, based on what i did in Europe last summer. Then, another downhill, and another climb. Not as steep, maybe 12% but longer. We stopped to eat again (another Cliff bar) at 36 miles and then headed back to where we had parked the car. It's a slight uphill almost the whole way back, for 9 miles. Not terrible under normal circumstances, but my legs were shot. Total average for the day, a whopping 13.01 mph.

[Quillfred]

Finally the arm-twisting paid off and I convinced DPITA to ride a 30 mile jaunt, capped mid-way to patio dinning at Ray's Boat House (on the waterfront overlooking the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains).

It was her first ride of the year. Well, I did clean her chain so she "owed me". ;) Got to have one of my favorite beers, Hale Cream Ale. :D I referred to it as my "handicap".

We went slow, especially coming home but had to stop several times on the way home as she clearly was overspent. I rode in higher gears to comensate. I even shared my Shot Blocks. It was a lovely 82F. :)

Quillfred

Floyd, oh yooo hooo........

[Kitsune06]

Left the house at 9:30 in an attempt to miss the heat of the day. Got to the trailhead at 10:00 and started to explore. I guess there's much more singletrack to 'my' little park than I thought... I biked 3 hours and didn't even see it all before I had to head home to get showered and ready for work.

Despite an 'incident' involving a half-endo and the top tube, all went well. :rolleyes:

[DebW]

I did a 48 mile ride to attend my nephew's 3rd birthday party. The party was at 3:00 pm, and I left at 11:15, intending to arrive early enough to shower and be presentable for the party. The ride was delightful for the first 35 miles, then I had trouble following the route - having to check the map frequently and occassionally backtrack. Arrived at the party at 2:50 and never got to shower, but did change into normal shorts. After a 30 minutes rest, I was playing tag wth the kids, having water fights, playing soccer. By 6:00 pm I was ready for a nap. I put the bike in the car to come home (my SO drove up), so none of it counted for green miles. I'll have to work on perfecting this biking route - it should be under 40 miles without the intentional and unintentional deviations, and then maybe I can ride the round trip.

[bcipam]

Yesterday was another So Cal TE ride and this time I was joined by Tracey, Audrey, Nina and Nina's husband Alex. My friend Mike also joined us for the ride.

This is part of our training for the Cool Breeze Century. The day promised to get hot and it was warm by the time we started at 8:30a. After a too short warm up we started climbing into the hills of Lemon Heights. Thankfully most of the roads were in shadow so stayed fairly cool. After a quick descent we started climbing again up Newport Blvd. This is a long hot and tough hill. Yes the day was going to be warm.

After finishing the morning climbs we headed down towards the ocean to catch some breezes but unfortunately it didn't get much cooler. Mike took Tracey and Audrey up Newport Coast, a long but doable climb and I took Nina and Alex the long way and we all met up at the coffee stop for a quick break. After a refreshing iced coffee, we were off again for the last 10 miles, thankfully flat, back to our start.

By this time the sun was high. Taking the Peter's Canyon Bike trail we had a slight tailwind which means the air got stale and it got very hot. In the
90's it was tough to finish the last couple of miles (which was as light grade up). Several of us got alittle dehydrated. We did all finish the ride and were thankful to be done. Final tally was 44.6 miles and just under 2000' of climbing.

Today, I hanging in watching The Tour and will think about riding tonight when it's cooler.