October 13 Rides

Yesterday being Columbus Day, I did not have classes. I made plans to ride with my friend, who is a new rider. I have gone out with her once before and we rode about 18 miles that time. So, I used a cue sheet from a ride we did with a guest of of our friends, who was not in shape. It said 22 miles on the sheet...
Usually I would ride my Jamis when I ride with her, since it is heavy and I don't go very fast on that bike. However, I had already ridden the previous 3 days, which is unusual for me and I was afraid the spd pedals on that bike would just kill my right knee, which has been a bit twitchy. So, I took my road bike. So, we set out around 11 AM, with the plan to stop at a wonderful cafe at the Minuteman Airfield in Stow. I had to adjust the route a little, otherwise, this would have put us there at the very beginning of the ride. The weather was perfect; 60 degrees and partly cloudy. At about 16 miles, we stopped to view the wildlife at the Delaney Reservation when she said, "I feel a little nauseous. What does that mean?" :eek:. As I suspected, she hadn't eaten since breakfast, because she figure her "extra reserves" would keep her going. I pulled out my Luna Bar and gave her a Nuun tablet to put in her bottle. She recovered quickly, but we had to stay there for about 15 minutes. Then, lunch was about 5 miles from there.
We had a nice lunch, but it was crowded and we didn't leave there until 2 PM. I suspected she might be really tired, so I asked if she wanted to go back to her house a slightly shorter way, but she said no. Well, I got really nervous, as she got slower and slower as we continued. I didn't mind waiting at all, since my legs were really tired from my ride on Sunday. When we got back to her house, my computer said 24.75 miles. I knew she was exhausted, but I was really proud of her. It was a fun day and it made me remember why I started riding.

Yesterday was another beautiful day in New England. I had a fantastic day. The best part was I finally found a trailer bike and had my six year old riding along with me. I attached it to my old mountain bike and we went to the Cape Cod Canal. He was a little nervous at first (this is the little guy who was petrified of his own bike and had given up ever wanting to ride again after he fell over). After about ten minutes he was whooping and yelling and telling me he wanted to go faster and faster. He had an ear to ear grin on his face and asked when we could do it again. "wow Mom I was really adding some power out there" Hopefully he caught the cycling bug!

Incredibly windy day with 20+mph gusts. Grrr. Almost wimped out of group ride but as always I was glad I went. Not my best ride and 2 of the guys asked me what happened- they expected me to be up there pushing them I guess. Three times it felt like someone grabbing my bike from behind and it literally took the wind from my sails. I did lead a rally for several miles which resulted in me being called a pit-bull (I was chasing the leaders) and by the end I felt much stronger and made a break away to the finish. I had lots of energy and even went to the barn and did some chores. So, yeah, I am glad I went!

I did a birthday bike ride out in the fall sunshine with a few good friends. The sun came out just for us ,and we found a new section of trail that we hadn't been on before.

Happy Birthday fellow Libra!

15 miles at Fair Hill NRMA. We didn't see anyone the entire time that we were out there. We rode some singletrack that we knew, and a whole bunch that we didn't. Even managed to get lost at one point. It's rides like this that have me wanting a Garmin Edge....anyone know how they do with heavy tree cover?

My new bike and I did the 90-mile Tour de Landry's -- full ride report here -- on possibly the most gorgeous day of autumn so far. I love supported rides. Yay for free food, bathrooms, lots of other cyclists, and arrows painted on the road! This was among my favorite supported rides I've done so far. It was a blast.

Also I just tried the Course feature on my Garmin 605 and it was so neat. It had an arrow pointing the direction I was supposed to go, which made me feel much more confident about not being lost those non-marked sections.

Yesterday some Bike Journal fellows were organizing a ride thru some territory that I was familiar with. I decided to join them, I contacted one and worked on a meeting location as I would have to drive at least an hour to meet them. 3 men and myself set off on a meandering journey to and thru Letchworth State Park, lunch, and views of spectacular fall foliage. The day was beautiful, mid 70's, mild breeze, terrain was mostly gentle rolling hills. Not only did I have a nice ride, nice scenery, I also met 3 very nice men that were perfect gentlemen. (I'm used to doing some charity events and getting hit on at least twice a ride). I was very leary about meeting people that I didn't know much about, but it worked out well.