June 8th Rides

It's Sunday, June 8th 2008, and this is "Rides" on Team Estrogen. Hmmm, that was funnier when I said it myself in my dramatic news reporter voice.

So today is turning out to be gorgeous and it was my first chance to really spin the beasty out. I changed jerseys about three times because the simple fact is I have gained some weight, but don't see that being an issue with my newfound bike love. Maybe I am too chubby to wear this stuff, but I see it as motivation.

I decided to try out the bike path system since my biggest worry there was getting run over by other bikes or pedestrians, not cars. I must say for all the things that annoy me about Boulder, the bike path system is sweet.

I had a blast just tooling around and believe it or not, passed folks, and folks wearing spandex at that! It was a good thing I was too stubborn to come out of my big ring because my front derailleur was being wonky and rubbing my chain. No clue how that happened over night, but I seem to attract bikes with nasty front derailleurs.

For a while I was head first into one burly wind that had me finally fumbling for a lower chain ring. Forget that, falling over isn't cute. Oh, and in case you're noticing a theme here I am doing better with the down tub shifters, but they're still not my thing.

On the way home I had to remind myself that I am not riding a mountain bike and trying to rally through and bunny hop over things might be possible on a road bike, but ill advised. I did make up a new song that is more self affirming then deprecating, it goes like this "You're out side on a steel road bike, put on a happy face, you're not riding a mountain bike, so I wouldn't go that way!"

In other news my nephew is two today, and I loves my little man.

Boulder?? Hmmph. I was there last week...and on my one free day (Thursday), all it did was rain. Rain, rain, rain..... So I read a book and went to see a movie. Hmph. :( My bike clothes...packed with such care and hopes for renting a bike for a ride, came home in the "clean clothes" pocket of my suitcase. :(

Did the shop ride today. My legs were feeling iffy from yesterday's metric in the heat, but they actually warmed up and worked quite nicely over the course of the ride. Some smack talk from one of the guys as we egged each other on probably helped, too. :rolleyes: Hills were still a problem, however. Oh well. 33.8 miles at 17.5 mph pace.

I joined a small group (10 riders) for a club century this morning. As we started I questioned my sanity - I had already logged 300 miles for the week and my legs felt dead and heavy. I decided to press on to the first store stop and reevaluate myself at that point. A big portion (all but me and the ride captain) took off like bats out of h*ll and I knew I would be riding most of the day solo or in the company of the RC (not a problem for he is a really nice guy). At the first store stop two riders bailed but I decided to hang in there and press on for my legs left a bit better. The next 25 miles were not too bad but I was struggling to find my rhythm. Our lunch stop seemed to help and as we pressed on to cover the next 25 miles my legs came to life and I felt strong. The timing was great for we had several tough climbs and by the time I tackled the last big climb my legs promptly told me they were done, checked out, not interested in climbing another hill! The last store stop was a welcomed sight - both water bottles were empty and the hot sun and humid air had zapped all the riders. We sat for over 30 minutes drinking, eating and I thinking trying to convince ourselves to get back on our bikes. We were one tired group and still had 25 miles to go. Onward we pressed. A group of five quickly formed a pace line to battle the nasty headwind we were riding into and it was an awesome sight. It was a lot of fun to be in this group for everyone took their turn pulling and a fast pace was established. The pace line held together for about 20 miles before one by one the needle went to "E" and a tired rider fell off the pace. The last small climb to our cars should not have been a big deal but it was very evident all sets of legs were drained and one by one we struggled up that tiny hill (I'm sure the cars behind us were not impressed). We pulled into the parking lot a little after four, all were tired, covered in salt but glad to have spend the day in good company and in some beautiful country. In the end we covered 101.61 miles. I posted my fastest century for the season - an average speed of 16.18 mph. I'm tired!

I did my first metric century as part of the American Diabetes Tour de Cure. 63 miles is a really long way and takes a lot of pedaling! I don't know how people do centuries and longer rides. My hat is off to you ladies! My saddle/shorts issues resurfaced and I was really hurting towards the end and getting numb toes from the pressure. It was hot and there was lots of climbing. It was not my favorite day of riding but I'm really glad I finished. I've raised $1710 so far this year and somewhere around $5500 over the three Tours I've done. Thank you to those who have contributed. For the rest, I can still accept donations through the end of the month. Thanks again!

Congratulations on the metric, Nicole!

I got up early and did a 50 mile ride before the stinkin' heat moved in. Since I'm on strike against driving to ride these days, I did a couple of up-and-back trips on the road by the creek, then into downtown Silver Spring, over to Takoma Park, along the creek trail to College Park, then up to Greenbelt and back home.

Now I've got to clean my muddy bike and pack it up for my 5-day tour; I leave on Friday, the ride starts the following Wednesday.

Just went for a cool 45 km. ride.
He needed to readjust on riding his touring bike again since he's taking off on solo ride for 400 kms. this wk.

Then did some grocery shopping.

We got out on the road at about 7:30 AM, with no expectations, since it was already 72 degrees and 85% humidity. We headed south for once and rode through Concord Center, into Lincoln; one of the richest towns in MA, but somehow they don't believe in keeping their roads maintained. The pot holes are severe and dangerous! My husband has to ride some of these roads to commute to work and he constantly complains about it. They don't plow their roads much in the winter, either. We rode part of a route that we've done on club rides and then headed back to Concord Center. Again, there were millions (it seemed) of cyclists out. At 16 miles, we stopped and had breakfast... waffles, blueberries, and iced coffee. We sat on a bench and finished our coffees and talked to some other cyclists while we decided if we would go home (4 miles) or ride some more. I wanted to ride more, since I felt pretty good... two days in a row! So, we then went and did our usual after work loop. I ended up doing 29 miles, 15.1 average. When we got back, it had clouded over, but it's really oppressive out there. The air quality is supposed to be dangerous for the next two days. I'm taking tomorrow off, but will probably go out and ride at 5 AM on Tuesday.
It's supposed to be 95 for the next two days and I am not looking forward to being in my non-air conditioned classroom. I guess I spent too many years in a climate controlled environment in AZ.

Silver and I did the Owensboro Tri course a couple times (30 miles), the came back and did the Evansville Tri Course 1.5 times. Total 60.78 miles.

The wind from the south was 17.8 mph according to weather.com. Ugh!

Near the end, Silver says: "we're too close to not make it a metric".

I said: "I'm not going to do it"

Once I saw the car/finish line, I was ready to go home!

I didn't feel well today headache, congestion; allergies?
didn't feel like doing anything but had a meeting this afternoon on capital hill. yes i said hill.
Rode there and back 14 miles up and down two good hills, capital hill and of course beacon hill.

Still feel crummy but had a great ride

It started out as a ride down to the nail salon and a coffee shop -- then home. Would have been 15-18 miles.

DH rode down with me. He was going to meet a buddy at the coffee shop and hang out waiting for me to join them for the ride back home.

Confusion about the "appointment" had me detouring to the coffee shop first, while younger daughter got her nails done, then back to the salon, where my older daughter did my nails -- they're VERY pretty! (salon owner prefers she does family on her off days)

While I was at the salon, DH stopped by with Mark, to see how long I would be yet (another half hour minimum, daughter told him, but she practices new techniques on me, so I knew it would be more like another hour) He and Mark left, heading home. Mark took DH on his "new" route, which stretched the ride for DH a bit.

Daughter and I talked about what other route could I take home than the reverse of my ride down into town. Picked out a fun one, that I was considering -- it was chilly this morning, and I kinda wanted to just get home, in out of the cold! (a little of the heat some of you are struggling with would be kinda welcome here!) DH called to see if I was headed home yet. He wasn't home himself, but he was concerned that I was going to be riding alone. For some reason, he's convinced I can't ride safely on my own in traffic. I'm going to crash, he says. You would think I was prone to tipping over or something! Or maybe idiotic maneuvers in traffic?

Daughter told him I was considering an alternate route -- and told him what we had talked about. (I was in a "can't touch anything state) He said oh no she CAN'T DO THAT! Which was, of course, a challenge to do it!

So, my ride was an extra twelve miles today, for a total of 32.6. From downtown, I rode out to the edge of town, and then under the freeway to the desert road that runs behind the airport. Less traffic than DH thought I'd have to deal with (the only scary part was passing by the freeway on-ramp area and under the bridge where the road was narrow) He was also pretty sure that I wasn't going to have any road shoulders, but they were close to an entire lane wide, making for PLENTY of room to ride! I think it's actually a pretty popular route.

It was pretty today, since it's still cool and wet here, so the desert plants are all still green. Not much wildlife -- a few birds, and a few chipmunks or chipmunk like critters. One of the chipmunks was standing on top of his little hillock looking like a meerkat. One dead jackrabbit. Poor guy got decapitated! Some cows and horses too --

DH said to call him if I wanted a ride. I did call at one point, to let him know where I was -- He answered the phone with "are you ready for me to come get you?" (Silly DH!)

Karen in Boise

Joe and I did a 63.5 mile ride on Sunday! It was cloudy and cool, about 51 degrees when we started. But when we finished around 3:30 the sun was shining through and the clouds were breaking up! It was 61 when we finished. Actually it was a great ride! And to think we almost didn't go because we thought it would rain! The clouds yesterday were all talk and no action! Thank goodness! :D

I took Sunday off of work to do the Tour de Cure ride. The weather here has been horribly hot, mid 90's and the wind has been awful, not a breeze, wind! Once we got registered the staff encouraged everyone who was doing the 100 miler to get out before the official starting time. So we left at 715am. Rest stops were great, like every 10 miles or so. After mile 70 I started dragging hard, and I mean hard. I contemplated stopping and quitting at every rest stop and taking the air conditioned sweeper vehicle back. At the last stop, with only 7 more miles to go, I had had enough. I called it quits..I know..I just couldn't do it anymore. I fought wind all day, I had goosebumps and nausea from like mile 55. ( Kathy's temp on her bike read 98 all day long) I went to load my bike, and my bike rolled hard. Somewheres along the line, at one of the stops, I must have hit my brake calipers when I laid my bike down and I was riding with my front brake on. It was either at the 50 or 70 milestone that had to have happened. I got it fixed and the guys at the stop are like don't you want to finish now on your own?...uh...no!. So my 92 mile ride felt like 150 for me by the time I was done. And my riding partner finished at 4, and I came in on the sweeper vehicle at 4. They had closed down the meal tent and they were leaving as we went to go get our meal..no steak for us. In fact, all we got to eat, after eating candybars, bananas, apples, oranges all day were chocolate chip cookies. We were so dissappointed in not getting a meal. There was at least 10 other riders that finished the 100 at the same time. so they got cookies too.. I was looking forward to a real meal. Maybe next year I can finish in time for a real meal.

Shelly,

I'm sorry that you were not able to finish your ride. Which TdC did you do? I did the one out of Stillwater, NY. We had similar weather but I managed to finish their metric century.

Thank you for riding for the ADA!

Nicole

Nicole, I did the ride out of Rochester. I think last year you and I did the tour at the same time but different locations if I remember right. I think we corresponded back and forth about it. It was brutal. The rest stops were great and it was so well run and organized. With the exception of not getting a meal when we finished. All the staff/volunteers were great..I can't say enough about how well it is run. Of course, it is for a good cause regardless. Good job on your metric century.