October 27 rides, Saturday

Raleighdon (DH) called a ride for today; around lake washington, about 50 miles. I reallly did not want to do it. I got up to fog. He left at 7am and rode to the start (Logboom park) and the plan was that i would meet him there. The closer I got, the worse the fog got. There was NO WAY I was riding a bike on roads in that fog.
So we met at honeybear bakery and there were only 2 other riders. no, make that one. One of the two just came for breakfast and socializing. so we were 3 and i didn't want to go. We agreed that i would drive to Logboom and if the fog didn't look any better, i would go home.
At logboom, the fog WAS better; so i decided to ride.
it was very cold (for me, very is below 40) and i was hot and cold at the same time, complete with foggy glasses.
it was a torment, if i pulled them away from my face my eyes teared up, when i pushed them back into place , they steamed up so either way i couldn't see.
The other two riders thought it would be amusing to ride through a snooty part of Bellevue, Beaux Arts neighborhood. (I thought we were going to an art gallery, little did i know!!!) I met my second 14% grade hill of the day there. as our friend put it, the hill that won't quit giving. I was mostly hot by then, with fogged up glasses. When we got out of there; they asked me; did you enjoy the view??? (sigh, WHAT view??!?)

we were in Bellevue when we saw Eden's team go by; of course, she was towards the front.
IN renton, we stopped at a coffeeshop and I drank wonderful hot chocolate. at mile 32 Raleighdon said; you can ride home (3 miles) or continue around the lake with me (20 miles) no brainer!!!
i turned left with my leaden legs and sauntered up our sweet little 4% grade one mile hill to home.

35 miles .. and SUNNY!

I think I know the hill of which you speak.

First time I did the Lake Washington ride, I decided to look around a little around Beaux Arts to see where the roads go. It's kind of a pretty area and you really can't swing a cat around here without going through a snooty neighborhood anyway.

We finally got to ride here. It's been raining for 3 days straight (don't get me wrong, we desperately needed it!) so eveyone has been feeling a bit cooped up.

Met up with about 4 other couples (there were 10 of us) and rode a nice 45 mile round trip ride from our town to a tiny town north of us. The route there was pretty direct, and quite hilly. We got there in about 17-18 miles and it was by far the worst 17 miles I've ever ridden. I had no explanation, but I was seriously dragging and doubting that I'd finish the ride. I was last up all the hills, and it was taking everything I had to keep up in the flatter areas. I didn't realize I was THAT out of shape! I even starting planning a winter training plan for myself because this was NO fun. By the time we got to the store were we all took a break, I'd figured that maybe my weight gain had finally done me in. I've been gaining for the past 2 years pretty steadily, but I've also managed to get progressively stronger to compensate. I just figured that I'd hit my strength limit and gone past it. :(

After using the restroom, I decided to check my brakes....yeah, the rear was rubbing. :o No wonder!!!

The last 25 or so miles were a breeze in comparison! I was not that out of shape, I did not have trouble keeping up, and my weight was not the problem!! What a relief!

From that point on, I made sure to appreciate my fitness, my strength and the gorgeous weather. :D

remember all the smoke from yesterday?
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...7/SUNP0001.jpg
I did the long version of the club ride, socialized, and did the short version backwards., plus a loop through Claremont, which I had to extend to avoid a street fair. Got rained on on the way back (hope it's raining on the fire, too :) )
63.94 Miles
More Pics:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...7/SUNP0003.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...7/SUNP0004.jpg

My ride was short by comparison, but long for me! I took my new trek out for 14 very hilly miles. I wanted to see how we did on hills, and although my legs are very tired, the bike did just fine.
Part of the problem is I walked my dogs for 2 miles first, and I didn't realize how out of shape I am for walking since I've just been riding the bike for exercise. I was tired before I started. I was by myself, trying out roads I'd never been on- mostly narrow two lane country roads, luckily not a lot of traffic. I saw one other cyclist, actually dressed for cycling (I was dressed like a homeless person, since I don't have any cycling clothes YET).
This bike is wonderful, I'm loving it more and more- but the verdict on the seat is still out- no pain, just not sure if it's real comfortable (it's the seat that the bike came with).
Weather was cool, but some sun- I just needed a light jacket.
vickie

We moved furniture back into our newly repainted dining room this morning.
It rained all morning, so I brought the rollers out, set the bike up on them, fully intending to do a Spinervals DVD. But..we decided to run errands for the rest of the afternoon instead. Gah!! Window treatments! Blech.
So...no ride, and the bike was there waiting for me when I got home - to start dinner.
Sigh. Mimitabby, dang it....you'll beat me to 2500 yet. I have GOT to get my butt on the bike!!! :mad:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mimitabby

we were in Bellevue when we saw Eden's team go by; of course, she was towards the front.

---

Silly - I wasn't at the front - I was somewhere in the middle - but it wasn't that kind of ride anyway. It was our "meet the team" ride, so we were keeping it social and we split up into groups to make it more managable. We had a pretty good turn out of 20 or so and we had a nice day for it. Just the south loop + Mercer the long way. The fog was lifting, by the time we left, but I forgot to turn off my blinky light (I did not want to be rear-ended on my way down - it was that thick! up here at least)..... sorry to anyone who was feeling a seizure coming on!

Had a great ride, a nice fast 42 miles. Road with the middle aged men, and given that I'm a middle aged women I was pretty pleased with that! I have gotten a LOT faster after dropping 33 lbs, but now I find that I get much more tired after a ride cuz I ride at a much higher level of intensity, riding mostly with men in our club. I napped all afternoon! Today was my first club ride in my PI vagabound II jacket and it was just perfect for our variable weather in south texas. It was 46 degrees at the ride start, so I had tights, arm wamers and the jacket on. At the rest stop I took off the tights and arm warmers, and probably should have unzipped the jacket sleeves, but I was still comfy. It was in the 70s by the ride end! The jacket is also great for my commutes, same problem, cold in am and warm in pm, and the screaming yellow lets me feel really visible in traffic.

I'm finally feeling like I'm getting back into things. August was really, really cold, and September was overloaded with work. That's two months off, I'm afraid. Saturday I did about 30 miles (just under 50k), with a very nice 7 k climb. My mantra for the day: The only way to get into shape for something is to do it! Despite the painful climb, my average speed was still 21.6 k/hr--not far off my average in July.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eden

Silly - I wasn't at the front - I was somewhere in the middle - but it wasn't that kind of ride anyway. It was our "meet the team" ride, so we were keeping it social and we split up into groups to make it more managable. We had a pretty good turn out of 20 or so and we had a nice day for it. Just the south loop + Mercer the long way. The fog was lifting, by the time we left, but I forgot to turn off my blinky light (I did not want to be rear-ended on my way down - it was that thick! up here at least)..... sorry to anyone who was feeling a seizure coming on!

---

Eden, what about the gals we saw 10 minutes later on the road, they were way way far behind!! you were definitely in the second group, but there were a lot more BEHIND you than in front of you (I'm only saying) So did you see us?

That is the amazing thing about living in the Seattle area . . . the fog! One place it can be sunny as all heck and you drive 5 miles (or down a hill) and you are suddenly in whiteoutville! Same here yesterday. We woke up to sunshine and clear blue skies! I yelled to Joe, "Hey it is beautiful outside let's go for a ride!" So we decided to do a mountain bike ride. We packed up the bikes and our stuff into the truck left our house and went down the hill from Bonney Lake into Sumner and we were hit by a solid wall of fog. Keeping our hopes up we continued into Puyallup. Still fog, then we hopped onto I5 and it started clearing. We reached the Tacoma Dome a bit foggy but thinning. Crossed over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and BLUE skies again. We reached Port Orchard and Banner Forest and had the best ride! It was so warm and sunny. We said we should have gone for a road ride. And looking outside my window today it looks like it's going to be another nice day. So today it's a road ride day!

:cool:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mimitabby

Eden, what about the gals we saw 10 minutes later on the road, they were way way far behind!! you were definitely in the second group, but there were a lot more BEHIND you than in front of you (I'm only saying) So did you see us?

---

I did - I didn't recognize Raleighdon, but you are unmistakable on the orange bike - I even yelled Hi Mimi, but you were probably gone by then -
Our 16 y/o team member asked me if I knew you and then asked why you weren't riding with us :D

BarbaraAlys here, new to the site, but thought I'd tell you all about my ride on Saturday.

There was an organized ride, Fort Worth Fresh Air ride, to increase cycling awareness in Fort Worth. It was a free ride, planned as an approx 11 mile ride that was for community, not racing. The ride organizers apparently thought that the year before the riders had become too spread out along the route, so this year there was a pace car at the front and a sweep car at the back. When ever the back car felt the riders were too spread they could call ahead to the pace car and have them slow down. This resulted in 300 people averaging around 8mph along the city streets, almost always bunched up as thickly as the start of a ride!...lol. It was fun, but about halfway through I thought "man, after this I need to go for a bike ride!".

It was a beautiful day, cool weather and lots of sun. The ride I took after the rally added an additional 13 miles to day day, most of that with a head wind, so I did get a good work out after all.

The best thing about the day was I got a friend to do her first organized ride, and now she is hooked. First thing she said at the end was 'that was great! We need to do more of these!"... :) She rides my butt off, so will leave me in the dust on these rides, but it's great to see her have so much fun.

BarbaraAlys

welcome barbara, very cool about your friend getting hooked on the organized ride. and 300 people is quite a turnout!