September 13th rides

Okay, my ride is finished. :D No pictures this time, sorry. It was a tough ride. The toughest one yet. The calories I burned last week are 75% of what I burn this week. DD's Boyfriend hung in there and did really well, but we're both pretty sure that walking will be difficult tomorrow! :eek: There was a section where we had a 4 mile steady climb. It wasn't steep, but it was steady and every time we turned a corner and saw that it continued, I think we about cried. Both of us. :p Keep in mind that this was at mile 28, right towards the end of the climb (and to that point we had a lot more uphill than downhill - I'd say out of the 45 miles, a good 30 were up). I was never so happy to see a highway sign in my life. Highway 9 came and we knew we had 11 miles of downhill! That was fun! We did stop at the intersection because one of the local bike shops had a bunch of Trek bikes up there to test (oh heck no, I did not test them, but I did drool a bit). They also had snacks, so I had a few potato chips, but couldn't eat too many - they kind of made me feel sick. So it was a total of 45 miles with an elevation gain of 3200 feet. Next week is 10 miles and 1000 feet of climbing more. :eek::eek::eek::eek: Ya know that feeling when you're wondering just what the heck you go yourself into? Yeah, that's me now. :p But, we'll get through that too.

I was going to be lazy today, and ride my bike 6 miles and ride the bus the other 10. Then the bus passed without stopping leaving me with no choice. I rode all the way to my lesson in Northgate and then back home. I couldn't ask for better weather. In September, Seattle is the best place in the whole world
31 miles of urban hills.

Recovery ride for me today. Mostly flat 15 miles to the oceanfront and back. It was hot today, 94 F. Sorry no pics, I forgot my camera :(

I joined the club for a century through southern Indiana today. This is a nice ride with lots and lots of flat sections (I love flat). There were a few tough climbs toward the end of the ride but nothing like some of the hills we have faced this season.

It was a hot, humid day but the skies were oh so blue. The wind picked up about mid morning and became a factor. At times we had a nice tailwind but it never lasted long. It seemed most turns took us right into the wind and speeds would drop by 1 - 2 mph. Pace lines formed and fall apart throughout the day so it became every rider for themselves. In the end I logged 97.5 miles and had what I consider a very respectable average speed of 16.7 mph.

Well, rain was predicted but it ended up to be a beautiful partly to mostly sunny day here. Yay. It also was pretty humid, which I enjoyed immensely. The humidity just gave one last inkling of summer-ness before the crisp weather really sets in. I ended up doing a really fun ride out to the Quabbin Reservoir in New Salem. I didn't do a long ride but I did reach one destination, which is a lookout along route 202.



First, I passed a farm with a neat silo.

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Then, I peeked in at Quabbin Gate 29 because there's bike trails that bring you down to the northernmost edge of the reservoir. I just ordered some Vittoria Randonneurs, 28c with a nice tread. I'm taking a chance - my 25s fit fine with room to spare on my red steel bike. I measured with calipers but you never know so I'm hoping the 28s will fit and then I'll feel better about taking the bike off-pavement or at least on smooth dirt. I can't wait to have that option, it'll be fun. Here's the entrance to the gate; that second to the left blue sign on the tree is a picture of a bicycle. How nice that bikes are welcome.

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Destination #1. A Quabbin lookout, near Gate 28. It is very pretty but of course the photo doesn't show that in its fullest because it's reduced and dark as I lost my sun at that time. Must return when the leaves turn with a better camera though. This is only 16 miles from the house, how fun. You can't see the reservoir from here - the northernmost fingers are below me, and then the main body is more towards the right out of view blocked by the trees. You have to go further to get good views of the water.

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However, just to the left of that knoll you see in the previous picture is this (zoomed) - it is Mt. Monadnock in the last distance layer, a common theme in a lot of my rides it seems. This lookout is nice in that you can't see any development or roads.

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Now I was going to go a different route home and stop at the Women's Federated Forest, also a part of the Quabbin Reservoir, except that it would take me off my course from Destination #2, and nothing was going to take me away from that!

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This caught my eye on the way home, it was just so pastoral and restful to the eye.

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After riding the roads exclusively for the last two months, DH and I took out the MTBs today. It was great just riding and not training. I felt spectacular and took off like a shot, leaving DH in the dust and passing lots of guys on the way up. Well, at some point, I realized I was pushing it just a bit too hard because I had to stop and it was all I could do not to throw up. Now, I'm not a ride till you puke kinda person, but I was so happy to be out after working around the clock all week that I guess I went a little crazy! :o

DH caught up with me and we did the rest of the ride together. At one point, I said to him, "Where did all these rocks come from?" ;)

Riding the trails is a lot less peaceful for me than riding the road. All those switchbacks and rocks and waterbars. I'm still working on my technical skills, so I'm always thinking about what they told us at mountain bike camp, like "enter wide" when I come to a switchback and "cowgirl knees" when I'm on the downhill, etc. It was great, though! The leaves are turning. The sky was bright, bright blue.

Alex

I did 41 miles, almost all of the "Cycle for Sight" charity ride route that I've done a couple of times. This route does not take me very far from my house at any point, but except for the last 10 miles, most of it is on roads i don't ride that often. I rode 8.5 miles to meet my friends in Acton and we continued through Sudbury, riding through Great Meadows wildlife refuge. There were lots of cyclists out at this point. The day felt summery, as Mudmucker said, and I was glad the sun was not fully out, because I dislike humidity. We traveled into Weston, up a long, mild grade hill and into Weston center, where we stopped to refill our bottles at the grocery store. At this point, we turn north, to head back west. There is one road that is a small downhill that is in terrible condition. I keep thinking it will get fixed every year and it's still full of potholes and big gullies. Why do the richest towns always have the worst roads? We head into Waltham for a short while, by a reservoir, and into Lincoln, another rich town with horrible roads. There seemed to be a lot of traffic out today, up until this point. Finally, we reached Lincoln center and did the only bigger climb of the ride; this quickly turns into another downhill on a crappy surface. Once this is done, we head over to Hanscom AFB, except I am riding the in the opposite direction that I did yesterday, so I get to go down a small hill, which I was able to do in my drops and not lose control. Score one for the new bars.
Once we get through here, we head into Concord center, where we promptly plopped down on the grass by the visitor's center until we realized our legs were getting stiff. With 3.8 miles to go, I tried to push it, but I was struggling up my driveway.
It was a good ride, but my speed was much slower than yesterday.

I did a Brevet and lost my camera.:( more to come

it has been raining non-stop for the last 24 hours. too dangereous to ride... but not to run... soooooooo I ran 6.5 miles in the rain:D

Great pics, thanks mudmucker (spesh the icecream... mmmm, so long since I have had a snow-freeze...)

And like Mak, I did a club ride. We race every Saturday, and it was a flat race and I did lots of work and rode strongly but need to work very much on tactics... I am so stupid when it comes to tactics... now I am strong enough to stay with the lead bunch, and to even be one of the pace-setters, I need to get some tactical nouse...

On the last roller I was slightly dropped and had a drink as I crested the rise instead of going hard out and chasing the leaders who were only 20metres in front of me...

So I rode the last 7km in time-trial mode and came in 50seconds behind them.
I should have been with them.

But nevertheless a good ride, and I have learned a little more about riding smartly...
:)

I did the Heart of Virginia metric century ride north of Richmond. It was very, very hot and humid. The roads are beautiful and there was very little traffic. I heard there were close to 500 riders, but on some roads, I was alone with my partner.

I was fine until the last 10 miles. I just couldn't go over 10 mph. I made it without completely bonking only because I stopped at a store in the last half mile and had my favorite recovery drink-chocolate milk- and some potato chips.

Usually a metric is not too much for me, but the heat and humidity really got to me yesterday. I kept thinking of Gabriellesca's story of her century, and that kept me smiling all the way.

I rode in a local bike ride to remind drivers to share the road with bicyclists. This ride was in memory of a man, Frank Cabral, who was killed last year while riding on this route. There were probably 100-150 riders, a 25.5 mi ride. The group I rode with took a wrong turn and so we added some mileage on to our ride. I rode from home to the start and back home after, an extra 10 miles. All in all, it was my fastest ride ever. 41 miles (mostly double lane highway) 17.7 mph average. Riding on this major route is not my favorite. I prefer side roads but I could definitely keep my speed up on these long stretches.

OMG. LOVE THAT AVATAR. Classic.

Yesterday was the 9th annual Highlander tour. The Highlander has over 11,000 feet elevation of climbing, the Lowlander has a tad over 6,000. I chose, as usual, the Lowlander. The hills go on for 2-4 mile intervals, and some steep but really short swoops too. The rest stops were plentiful and well stocked with goodies, esp homemade brownies and cookies. The after ride meal consisted of pulled pork, rolls, ziti, 2 homemade soups to choose from, a tossed salad with all the fixings, and the best part, grape pies. After all, we pass a lot of vineyards and wineries along the route. The scenery is breathtaking. 2 lakes, the vineyards, wineries, nature centers, lots of critters, the smell of grapes, small stands selling flowers, pies, jellies, etc. Makes for a pleasant 100 mile ride.