June 27 rides

Decided to try and get a ride in before it got too hot. I'm back on the club schedule as a ride captain for July so I mapped out a potential route last night and decided to ride it today to see if the mileage was in line. It turned out to be a great ride, lots of great, quiet roads, little traffic and plenty of farm country to take in as one pedals along. This is not a terribly hilly ride but it is not flat either. I had a great day on my bike, logged just over 36 miles and averaged 15.8. I'm going to use this route for my 35 mile club ride which is scheduled for the end of July.

I needed to take the morning off to transport my mom to and from a dr's appt, so I decided to take the whole day off and get in a rare midweek, midday ride. I headed out about 11:30 with the temperature at about 91 F :eek: It actually didn't feel bad except when I had to stop at traffic lights. Then, the combination of the heat coming off the pavement and the lack of wind was pretty fierce. I stayed well hydrated and the heat wasn't really a problem.

20.25 miles at a 15.6mph pace.

Meg & I headed out for a quick ride this evening on our llama farm route. There are new little llamas! We cranked pretty well the first half of the ride but stopped to talk to the llamas and a lady walking her dachsund.

Got very dirty as it rained on the north side while we were on the south.

Lightening now, gotta go!

Just a nice slow 15 mile ride after work. Three noteworthy details...

:D Conquered my nemesis hill! I guess I waited until I was good and ready to try it again, because it wasn't really that hard! Thank goodness...now I have another option to get home from my rides. I hate the way I've been getting home...this will be much faster and more convenient!

:eek: Rode with two ladies I've never ridden with before and I was the fastest one. Now that's just amazing! It was fun to ride with someone for a change. I enjoy riding alone but the company was really nice.

:mad: Almost got hit by a car. I heard myself screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" as a woman in an SUV started to turn left in front of me while I was going over 30 mph. I wonder if the look of sheer terror on my face is what finally got her to stop. I missed her front fender by about 18".

All in all, a good ride. Could've done without the nearly getting killed part though.

Whoa, Sara, glad you're OK!!

I had a much needed great ride today. Been a super stressful time, and was off the bike (and no exercise) for 2 weeks. Went out and did a little hammerfest by myself, albeit there were a few stop signs, and I did stop for 2 minutes to suck down a Gu.

But, we had an actual warm day today...no tights...and it sure felt good. I got in 15 miles in under an hour (flat), for a 16.4 mph avg ride. For me, that's good! It felt good, and I was extremely grateful. I needed that.

B- A- D

4.2 miles, no round trip.

Nice 10 mile mountain bike ride on fire road/doubletrack trail (packed sand but a bit deep in places). Lovely fun! :)

I woke up rather late at 8:30am, the cat forced me to stay in bed as his hostage. Finally got up, got bike and myself ready, when DH showed up early from work. So , we loaded up both bikes, went downtown (where its much flatter) and rode. We went by this church on the way down thru a town, and I noticed an old single speed bike with the metal baskets on the back, there was something hanging off the front but it was on the opposite side. Way back up, I just had to stop..sign stated "FREE"..no one was at the church so there was a business that i lugged it to who agreed to let me put it by the garage until I could come back with a vehicle. I was so estatic..I 've wanted one of these bikes to put flowers in the baskets and put on my porch. So not only did I get a leisurly ride with DH, but got a prize bicycle too.

SO and I did a century on the Skyline Drive. 100.41 miles, to be exact. It was HOT (about 90F) and HUMID. We parked at Swift Run Gap, rode south to just past the Loft Mountain rest area, then back through Swift Run Gap to Thornton Gap. Stopped at Big Meadows and Skyland - ate lunch at Skyland. On the return trip we again stopped at Skyland to refill water bottles and got caught by a thunderstorm. Had to wait an hour and a half! Once the storm passed we headed out for the last 25 miles of the trip. I mapped the route last night & we had an elevation gain of 9787 ft.!

Oh yeah - and I almost forgot! The bears in the Shenandoah National Park are waaaaay too tame. We rode past TWO different bears - in two different spots - RIGHT BESIDE THE ROAD! One was so close to me when I came around a turn that I could have touched him! I love seeing them, and they are generally docile, but this is a little too up close and personal. It's clear people have been feeding them. Stupid tourists!