Friday, July 17th rides

I played hookey from work today to go for a ride out of Potomac MD to Sugarloaf Mtn with three other friends. Weather cooperated for the most part - a few drops of rain, passed through a few cool spots. Wow.
I climbed Sugarloaf - and thought of Pfunk12 chasing Karim up that mtn the other week. Not one to take such a remote and un-issued challege lying down, I tried to keep up a good pace of my own up the mtn, but thought I was going to .... well, be sick... by the top. I could hear Phill Liggett in my head noting that I had just "popped!"
One amazing thing I realized... I ride this one road north to south almost ever Saturday with my group ride. Today, I rode that same road from south to north. It was like riding a completely different road! I saw houses and things along the road that I NEVER saw before! :eek: It was amazing. Do you ever experience that - ride a familar road in a new direction and have it look completely different?
A bit over 59 miles. Oh, and the skies opened up (briefly) right as we were driving away from the parking lot where we started! Perfect.

Since you did a long one today, will you do the N2 tomorrow? I would assume that you will NOT be doing Sugarloaf again tomorrow? ;) Glad you had a great ride except for "popping" on one occasion!:D

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Originally Posted by 7rider

I played hookey from work today to go for a ride out of Potomac MD to Sugarloaf Mtn with three other friends. Weather cooperated for the most part - a few drops of rain, passed through a few cool spots. Wow.
I climbed Sugarloaf - and thought of Pfunk12 chasing Karim up that mtn the other week. Not one to take such a remote and un-issued challege lying down, I tried to keep up a good pace of my own up the mtn, but thought I was going to .... well, be sick... by the top. I could hear Phill Liggett in my head noting that I had just "popped!"
One amazing this I realized... I ride this one road north to south almost ever Saturday with my group ride. Today, I rode that same road from south to north. It was like riding a completely different road! I saw houses and things along the road that I NEVER saw before! :eek: It was amazing. Do you ever experience that - ride a familar road in a new direction and have it look completely different?
A bit over 59 miles. Oh, and the skies opened up (briefly) right as we were driving away from the parking lot where we started! Perfect.

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Originally Posted by pfunk12

Since you did a long one today, will you do the N2 tomorrow? I would assume that you will NOT be doing Sugarloaf again tomorrow? ;) Glad you had a great ride except for "popping" on one occasion!:D

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Not tomorrow.
See you sunday??

Yes! I agreed to help Phil as a bike escort at the Twilight 8k race tomorrow night. Will have stories on Sunday. Hopefully, I won't run over any runners. :D

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Originally Posted by 7rider

Not tomorrow.
See you sunday??

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I rode my bike to the dentist . Go the "space alien from planet ZZYZX" look, but hey , my car was in the shop
Went to the bank, was going to do more, but I looked at my bike computer - it was reading 115:eek:
Did take a photo of this near faux Ferris wheel , would have take more photos, but my cell phone needed charging:
http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/q...0717091214.jpg

Pretty ferris wheel pic, Fredwina.

Today I did an easy 22 miles with a friend on a GLORIOUS 70 degree morning (it's been 100+ for over a month- so it was almost cold). :cool:

The pictures are of sailboats in the slips, and the lighthouse at the lake where I most often ride. The lighthouse is only about 30 feet tall, but it really works (not to keep ships away, but sailboats). The sailboats are beautiful both in the slips and out on the water. The last picture is of the trails around the lake (obviously NOT the part near the water. :)

Taking pictures and posting them makes me appreciate the beauty in which I am lucky enough to ride. I post them as much for you as I do to see where I ride through different eyes (and thus enjoy my riding places even more). Sometimes I forget how beautiful my surroundings are, and take them for granted. I enjoy them all over again when I share them.

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Originally Posted by 7rider

I played hookey from work today to go for a ride

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Hey I did that too! :cool:

I went out on my first "real" road ride since my crash at the end of March. I've been out on my bike a few times in the last week & a half (yay) but those rides were just out to the bay & back along the Alameda Creek trail, a multi-use trail near my home, and were about 10 miles each and maybe 50 feet of climbing.

So today I hit the road! (er, not literally :D) and took a route that's one of my old faves.

Lee and I rode out along the Alameda Creek trail (again - hey it's a nice shortcut) but this time in the direction away from the bay, out towards the Niles District in Fremont.

Then we headed on Mission Blvd, a nice wide road with good shoulders, up to Mission Coffee, where we had lunch out on their patio. And then we headed back.

I had no problem at all with riding out on the moderately busy roads, but I didn't think I would.

Mission Blvd kicks up a little bit before we reach the coffee shop, about a 3% grade for a mile or two, which was a nice re-introduction to climbing. I'm happy to say it wasn't difficult. I kept my pace really easy but we went at a halfway decent clip.

Since we headed back the way we came, I also got a taste of descending again. Since my crash occurred on a descent, I kind of wondered how I would react once I actually tried descending. It was only about a 3% grade and I pretty much only coasted down it, so I didn't go all that fast, but that said I had no problem at all with it. No flashbacks were had. ;)

All told it was 25 miles and about 500 ft of climbing.

I think I'm baaaack. :D

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Originally Posted by jobob

I think I'm baaaack. :D

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YAY!!!!!

I went out with the ducklings....the new bike officers that were attending school with our department's instructor. Today was "off road" day. Most these guys have little biking experience, all but two had never been actual mountain biking on a real trail before. I agreed to take up rear guard to pick up any bodies. We were on a beginner to intermediate level trail. It was fun to watch those who had never done it before go "WOW! This is fun!" and I was also amused to see that they were working way harder than me (even though I am a) older and b) a woman) and were having to stop to rest. I took great glee in leaning on my handlebars and regarding them with amusement. During EVERYTHING else we do I am always struggling to keep up, not this.
One guy, bless his heart, not from our department, showed up in the 100+ heat wearing the strangest outfit of (from the ground up) Adidas shoes, knee high black tube socks, long black basketball shorts, a black Adidas track jacket, a scarf, and a purple dew rag. I finally said, "Dude, what is up with the getup?" He told me that he had chased a guy into some underbrush and came down with poison ivy so badly that he vowed never to go into the woods again without being covered from head to toe. I pointed out that his knees were exposed from the top of his tube socks to the bottom of his shorts. He shrugged and said, "Who cares about knees?"
Ok, point taken.
I think we, as a group, took two hours to go something like 4 miles. Craziness. I practiced my track stand.

I had an unexpected and lovely 30 mile riding with my riding buddy. She and her husband had just returned from a 2 week cycling/relaxing trip to Quebec the day before. We had planned to drive up to Newburyport and hike on Plum Island, but she didn't want to be in the car again, after driving home from Canada. But, I had gone out and run at 6 AM, and I had already showered, changed, etc. None the less, she came here and we headed out to just do our local ride around Concord and Carlisle. Since she is a slower rider, i could get behind her and force myself to take it easy or go ahead for a bit.
It was my first really hot and humid ride of the year and I was glad for the chance to do it slowly. I don't know how I lived in Florida and Arizona for 23 years, since I really don't like hot weather. Well, i guess I wasn't out there riding.
We saw a teen group who was loaded down with touring gear stop at Great Brook Farm for ice cream. It reminded me that this was how my son got into cycling. So, after stopping for awhile to chat and eat a snack, I decided to show my friend an alternative route back. Except that the street I needed to take to get back to where I wanted to be was closed! We stayed on the street we were on, which eventually took us out to Rt. 27, and headed west. The road wasn't busy and it was nice to see places I don't see often. This stretch of road parallels a new bike path that opened a couple of months ago. It was nice to see a few people using it; it is eventually going to come through Concord, but of course, people are arguing, how those nasty cyclists will ruin their neighborhood. Anyway, we rode back through Carlisle and headed to Concord center for lunch. Along the way, i went ahead and drafted someone for a couple of miles (see the on your left thread) and then we got lunch at the cheese shop and had a picnic on the lawn by the visitor's center. I gave directions to at least 3 tourists...
We headed back to my house and went and sat by the pond for 3 hours. I even ventured into the water, even though I hate water that is less than 75 degrees.
A relaxing day!

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Originally Posted by kenyonchris

One guy, bless his heart, not from our department, showed up in the 100+ heat wearing the strangest outfit of (from the ground up) Adidas shoes, knee high black tube socks, long black basketball shorts, a black Adidas track jacket, a scarf, and a purple dew rag. I finally said, "Dude, what is up with the getup?" He told me that he had chased a guy into some underbrush and came down with poison ivy so badly that he vowed never to go into the woods again without being covered from head to toe. I pointed out that his knees were exposed from the top of his tube socks to the bottom of his shorts. He shrugged and said, "Who cares about knees?"
Ok, point taken.
.

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Drift alert----

The purple do rag was the perfect accessory for that Johnny Cash biking outfit!! He should invest in a good bottle of Ivy Block! Even a scarf?!! I'm very allergic to poison ivy, too, so when my husband does lawn work, he has to coat himself in Ivy block and dress in a "hazmat" suit (gloves included). One time, he didn't take precautions and didn't use Technu in the shower to clean up. I ended up with my entire back covered in a PI rash and my immune system when nuts, spreading the rash to my legs, arms, etc. Ended up taking oral steroids...

Had every intention of a good ride. Made up water bottles the night before, got dressed and out the door. Traffic was heavy but finally got to Key Biscayne. There's a tri this weekend so they were already setting up cones. Construction made everybody ride on the sidewalk of the bridge. Three miles out, BOOM. Flat rear tire. Changed it in the 90 degree heat. Hole in my tire, nursed the bike back to the car, $60 later a new tire and tube. I should have stayed home.

I did my half commute and back for a total of 32 miles, but shouldn't have so soon after periodontal surgery and am paying for it today.

I had to work this morning, so I scrambled home to eat, change and head out for a back ride before it gets TOO hot. I realize DH is lounging in his recliner--watching the tour! "Um, are you ready?" I step out into the garage to air up my tires and realize how NICE it is outside. 70 degrees, low humidity with a breeze. I consider going back for my jacket :eek:

Of course the problem with riding later in the day is traffic. After almost being clipped by the fourth minivan, a guy in a monster b@@b truck hollered at me. My first curse word hollered at a motorist slipped out. I was slowing for a red light, and he had to slow down behind me to get in the right turn lane. WAAHHH! I was smart enough to pick a busy intersection (with witnesses) and he couldn't double back to follow me. I know--bad idea.

We did our new, longer, hillier route for the second time. I think I improved my moving time (however, garmin connect doesn't show moving time AND total time like motionbased used to do, SO I'M NOT SURE :mad: ) No yelling at DH for torturing me and he felt confident enough in me that he stretched out his "wait for me" stops. Thanks to our late start, the Dog Prairie Tavern was open and we joined the "other" (motorcycle) bikers for some soda and grease--I mean fries and cheeseburgers :)

St. Paul church is an oasis as you crest the hill. There was a wedding today. It also means there a tavern close by :D