August 8 Ride Reports

[DebW]

Just the usual commute to work except:

A flat 2 miles from home. I put on a new tire with a preglued rimstrip, and that tire just sucked itself onto the rim. I'm not worried about rolling that, but I am concerned about having no spare for the ride home.

As I turned onto the street approaching the office, a coworker appeared on his bike on the sidewalk next to me. So we rode side-by-side (sidewalk/street) for the last couple miles chatting about his new baby. That's never happened before. A pleasant way to start the morning.

[tulip]

A nice commute. Changed my route a little for fun. It did not rain.

[Tater]

Well, at least this morning's ride in was better than yesterday's ride home! A one and a half inch nail found it's way into my back tire. Armadillos or not, that baby was going to go flat! Thankfully I was only a half mile from the house, so I just walked the bike home and changed the flat in the relative coolness of my garage instead of the 99 degree heat we were baking in. What was neat, was having two people stop and ask if I needed a ride. One disturbing thing I did find though, the mini pump I had been carrying in my pack, doesn't work. :eek: Glad I hadn't needed it in a real emergency. Now that is just another excuse to visit the LBS! Kano, you ready to go? ;)

[Kano]

Now that is just another excuse to visit the LBS! Kano, you ready to go? ;)

Ten minutes to get dressed......

I can be at the front street location when they open! 'Course, you'd probably have to come down with something very serious, very fast!

Karen in Boise

[Geonz]

They're still doing construction for half a mile on Green Street so it's shrunk down to one *skinny* lane in each direction. This week we're back to 8:00 instead of 7:30 start so I was worried about more traffic, but it's just motivation to charge through. I'm on a good-morning-greeting basis with most of the crew now and I had the HRM up to 145 by the time I was through (which is more excitement than this body usually gets in the morning :cool: ) Looks like they were only letting traffic thru one direction at a time... but I ignored the "slow" sign :) :)
Oh, and there was a tailwind, nice after doing 50 fairly peppy miles yesterday. I will remember to go to the bank and get that jar of pennies out of the Xtracycle even if it is nice ballast :p

[Bicyclette]

I got a late start today - I did 30 km today down a beautiful country road - all hills - with a headwind all the way home - glad I didn't go further!! I hate headwinds

[Fredwina]

It must be flat tire day because I had one too! and it was cold enogh that I had to dig out some tights. I usually carry two spare, since I live in Goathead thorn country(which is what got me)
Did some research for a club ride i'm planning. Turned out to be a good thing, as I found a gated subdivision. Darn! Otherwise, a good ride.

[Bikingmomof3]

Finally after 4 days (2 unbelievably hot and humid, and two where I was very ill) I got back on my bike. DH and I only had time to do a fast almost 8 mile loop. We will go out again tonight. I missed being on my bike.

[AuntieK]

Did 26 miles of hill work today. Ran into lots of construction crews. One of the construction workers told me that if it were him, he'd turn around and go down the hill instead! :p
Had been hoping to see some of the Tour of Utah racers out and about, but no such luck. :(

[makbike]

Since today was the first official day of school in my district I decided riding my bike to work was probably not a good idea given the heavy volume of traffic that was guaranteed. However, once I got home from work I decided I needed some much deserved time on my bike. I got myself dressed, filled the water bottles, gathered my "stuff" and grabbed my inhalers - but this is were the problems really started. Last night I picked up a new prescription for my albuterol inhaler and this afternoon I could not find it. I searched high and low, dumped out the garbage, looked under things, in things, looked up and looked down but no new inhaler. Luckily I still had my old one but I knew it was very low but I decided to use it and see how my lungs reacted. On the way out of town I stopped at the pharmacy and asked them to call for a new inhaler and off I went. It was very evident early in the ride that I had not received a full dose from my inhaler for my lungs were very tight and I was really huffing and puffing. I cut my ride short, only rode 16 miles (avg. speed 14.6) and decided to search again for my new inhaler (I figured maybe my kittens Penelope and Twister had knocked it off the table and it was somewhere in my house). For some reason I decided to search my car and there it was on the front seat, I guess the inhaler had falled out of my purse sometime today. Everything ended up fine, I have my inhaler, I had a fairly good ride, my speed increased a tiny bit on my Giro and I survived the first day of school!

[withm]

I got a late start today - I did 30 km today down a beautiful country road - all hills - with a headwind all the way home - glad I didn't go further!! I hate headwinds


LOL - my commute in reverse. I rode to work this morning in 13 miles of 15-20MPH headwinds. Not a single break. Going over the bridge I was in the granny and the lowest of the low gears. UGH. But coming home tonight I sailed at 20MPH + for 90% of the trip, and get this, came over the bridge in my big ring, and hit 30MPH on the hill coming down. I was at the post office in 35 minutes. That's a record! The last 1-1/2 miles is through traffic, stops, peds, wrong way cyclists, and turns on every block, so there is no way to keep up the speed through there. What a ride though. If I could get to work in that time every day I'd commute every day.

I told my boss if I was on the bike tomorrow (car trouble) I would be skipping the 7am meeting cause with this wind I'd have to leave by 5:30am and it's just not happening.

:)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yesterday I rested my injured coccyx (tailbone)- it was really in pain so that I could barely get in or out of chairs. Slept 9 hours, must have needed it for healing.
Today I felt about 15% better (what a blessed relief, must not be "broken"), and I couldn't wait to go for a late afternoon ride with my wonderful encouraging husband. I rode a mile into town to the dentist and back this morning as a "test". Biking doesn't really press on the tailbone (unless you hop off the saddle right ONTO your tailbone like I stupidly did! YEOOWWW!!!)

He very considerately mapped out an all paved (no gravel=no painful bumping for now) rolling farm country route that was just beautiful in the golden setting sun. It's my very fave route now!
11 miles of moderate hills and winding roads- just the perfect medium workout to gradually build my muscles with while gaining biking skills. Seems to be a popular biking road- saw lots of bikers- which is doubly good because that means the cars that frequent that road are used to seeing bikes just around the next bend, etc. A great route for me, the 2 month old rider.

I felt pretty good afterwards, felt my muscles all over tingling, and my derriere wasn't suffering TOO much. Can't wait to feel even better tomorrow!

[DDH]

Dh and I went for a 9.2 mile ride this evening after dinner. I don't think I can ride with him in the evenings after eating dinner. I mean I can do it, but it makes me feel kind of miserable.
He took us off the pavement onto a trail that he thought went all the way through to a main road, but guess what, fence, go figure. LOL I mean I ride a mountain bike but I don't have any suspension on my bike and we have changed the tires and got them as close to street tires as we could but still be able to ride some off road because we live on a dirt rocky road.
It was ruff and bumpy and I almost lost it once. Then he says, "what happened to cause that". I'm like "uh I don't know a rock or something" DUH, I mean that was kind of a dumb question. LOL

Uh, I just thought I would make my tire go out from under me for a minute to look stupid. Dork!!

Anywa, we turned around and came back to the pavement and went the rest of the way with a little smoother ride. It was fun, he hasn't ridden in a long time either so he would pass me, then I would pass him. He ended up beating me home though. He is not overweight like I am though and has clipless peddles which I think helps a lot. Oh, I guess I am making excuses. LOL

[pipergirl]

Did a HOT 50 miler today here in Atlanta area. Trying to get in all the mileage I can for the Cartersville Century next month. I love to run in the heat but biking in it is really the pits! Don't understand why I feel so wiped after one of these rides. I know I am hydrating and eating enough....maybe I need to get out much earlier.....lately I haven't started till 9 or so. Luckily, since my work hours are so flexible,I guess I should hit it early,early morn.

[Pascale]

Rode 20 miles round trip into town for a TNT informational meeting. I got started late, lost track of time, so when I left the house, after a block I nearly turned back and wimped out to get the car, as I've never done this route before, wasn't quite sure how long it would take me, and it was during rush hour. But I decided that since I hadn't ridden today, I'd better give it my best shot.

I've increased the pace at which I'm pushing my comfortbeast, and I was thrilled to arrive at the venue 5 minutes early. I wimped out and mostly took bike paths, where available, and even had to ride on the dreaded sidewalk in town, but honestly, on that road there is NO room for a bike, and especially since I'm still new and nervous about road riding. Luckily, nobody else was on the sidewalks.

On the way home, I did brave it and ride some of the on-road lanes, which aren't marked as designated, but they are wide enough and I see bikers on them all the time. My husband would have FREAKED if he'd seen me on them, he's totally paranoid about me riding on the high-speed, heavily traveled roads.

I'm so pleased that I seem to be getting stronger every day, and the hills are not such torture (they are still slow going, but I don't dread them - and they are just hills, not mountains like some of you ride!). I did 40 yesterday on a rail trail, so I thought I would be tired today, but it was a piece of cake!

[Kano]

Dh and I went for a 9.2 mile ride this evening after dinner. I don't think I can ride with him in the evenings after eating dinner. I mean I can do it, but it makes me feel kind of miserable.

Good for you DDH! It can be hard to go out after dinner -- when we go out for a ride, DH and I will have a light snack when he gets home, ride, and then come home and do dinner, but he gets home from work at like 3:30 in the afternoon, so it's a little early for dinner anyway. We'll wait until a little later if we have dinner first -- let things "settle" a while, y'know!



Anyway, we turned around and came back to the pavement and went the rest of the way with a little smoother ride. It was fun, he hasn't ridden in a long time either so he would pass me, then I would pass him. He ended up beating me home though. He is not overweight like I am though and has clipless peddles which I think helps a lot. Oh, I guess I am making excuses. LOL

His lack of weight, his pedals, yup, both those things will help him a lot, and I think just being a guy is an advantage sometimes. Mine's overweight too, and he's still got a huge speed advantage over me. I load him up with things: grandson and trailer, air pump, whatever else I can find to pile on his bike! Then I strip mine down to make it faster, and pedal my guts out! I'm pretty sure I have to work harder at just about everything to keep up with mine -- he's got longer legs, so walks faster just cuz his stride can be longer, so I just get glitzy track shoes for when we go out, rather than pumps or something!

It's probably nuts to try to keep up, but it challenges me to work harder, and I need that -- without a good challenge, I can be one heckuva slacker!

Karen in Boise, who didn't ride today, but the head-cold is getting better, and the weather is cooler, so tomorrow should be a lovely morning to get out and about!

[DDH]

Yeah Kano, I should've loaded him down. ;)
I'm like you, without the motivation, I will become a slacker too. I think I have worked harder my last couple of rides with him, than I do when I go out by myself. Not that I don't feel it then too, just that I had to slow down a few times yesterday to catch my breath, instead of pacing myself better.

Hope your cold is better today, and you get to ride.

[Kalidurga]

Did about 16 miles on the C&O Canal towpath yesterday. I had intended to do about 30 miles, but had bad legs and even the 16 miles was an effort. Of course, I kept checking the bike to find some reason that it was the problem and not me :rolleyes: But, no flat tire, no rubbing brake pads, just a pooped pedaler. I finally realized that I was more tired than I thought when I fell asleep on the side of the towpath on one of my breaks. Gorgeous weather, though, so I just stared at the beautiful views of the Potomac River as I pushed myself to pedal in circles instead of squares. Today's definitely gonna be a rest day.