Sunday August 16 Rides

No thread started yet for today's rides, so I guess I'll be the first! :)

Rode the incredibly beautiful Mission Trail. This trail is another reminder for me of how much I love San Antonio. The scenery is stunning, and the people are so friendly. If any of you ever visit San Antonio and happen to have your bike with you, you gotta ride this trail! I thought I'd share a few pics:

Mission Concepcion
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...37_2234879.jpg

Mission San Jose
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...37_2234865.jpg

The Rose Window at Mission San Jose
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...63_4596325.jpg

The San Antonio River just above Espada Dam
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...37_2234855.jpg

An artist has created these "Haystack Men" in a field near Mission San Juan
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...37_2234844.jpg

Mission Espada
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...13_6356194.jpg

Hope that's not too many pictures to put in a post. :o
But I really wanted to share with you the glorious ride I had on this glorious day! All told, I rode just over 33 miles (with lots of photo-taking pit stops).

Put in a 28 mile ride out in my area, between the many home maintenance projects I have going right now. I've been doing many group pacelining rides in other areas further east of me this summer. So today out in my neck of the woods I was ecstatic to discover that thanks to Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, I encountered about 14 miles of newly paved state highway road along a part of my route. This was in an area where previously the pavement was so bad that bike and body parts would fly off routinely. Ok, a slight exaggeration. I knew they were working on a section of road but the last time I went through it was that grooved pavement. Well, now it's fresh virgin pavement. So fresh the orange barrels are still out, lines aren't painted yet and no road debris or sand can be seen. No heaves, no broken pavement. Uninterrupted, smooth consistent cadence. It is like, slopeside - first one down, fresh corduroy in the morning. It was just pure bliss !

We did a beautiful 28 mile local ride -- I thought I might have to go to work tonight, so we started out early 7am - and it was a wonderful 70 degrees. How I love riding when it's not stinkin' hot :D:D:D

We hit a couple of big hills, but I've been training and I didn't suck too bad on them and really held on to a moderate heart rate. The last few miles, we picked up a lone female rider and let her ride on my wheel -- WOW! someone actually riding on *my* wheel! Believe me when I say, that never happens! Felt good to help her out -- she was pooped out from riding solo.

My ride was yesterday, but since there was no thread, I'll describe it here. We drove down to Tiverton, RI and did our annual tour of the south coast area: Tiverton, Little Compton, and Westport, MA. It was predicted to be 90 at home, but only 84 down there, so I wasn't concerned. When we got there, it felt really hot and humid, but much of this ride hugs the coast, so I figured there would be some respite.
This is a beautiful ride, with coastal and marsh views, past private beach clubs, and inland farms and roadside stands. At one point before the lunch stop at 12 miles, it did get misty and a bit cooler, but I was feeling the heat on the little rollers, so I really slowed. After lunch, there was a long stretch or 2 of unshaded riding and I really felt heat exhaustion starting. Eating shot blocks and pouring water down my jersey helped get me through, but this felt like the hardest 40 miles I've ever done. I actually had a cramp in my calf that I think might have been heat related, although I was drinking Gatorade, Acclerade, and water, along with having a turkey sandwich. I still enjoyed the scenery and I'd really like to spend more time in this part of MA and RI. when it's cooler!
When we got back to the car, it was 91 and I was toast. Ate a Luna bar and changed my shorts and cranked up the AC. After stopping to get an iced tea at Dunkin's I revived myself a bit. Later that night, our cycling friends came back to our house, where we had mojitos and flank steak... mmmm.
No riding today. I did a 3 mile walk and that was enough, along with a very short swim.

Today I was able to ride through Prince William Forest Park - early so the weather was nice. There's a lovely 7.5 mile circuit through the park with a set of really good hills. We managed to go 21 miles or so this morning.

My real ride was yesterday, just under 58 miles on the C&O Canal towpath. This is the longest ride I've done, and my muscles don't hurt (which is typical) but my knees were killing me (as is typical) until I got some aspirin into me this morning.

My ride today was just once around the block, and riding around the block is always a humbling experience. I ride all flat trails all the time; I live in a very hilly neighborhood, and riding around the block winds me like nothing else!

Today was Portland's final Sunday Parkways of the summer, a 9 mile loop in the southeast area. I rode with my 12 yr old son and his friend. Lot's of people, activities and great weather.

The final section was actually part of our regular rides, riding up Mt. Tabor. I actually rode up at the same speed as my son this time, usually he beats me. :D He said, "You're getting stronger." Awww, use to be me encouraging him. Times how they change.

Got off to a late start because it was raining although the forecast kept saying it was sunny. By the time I headed out the rain had stopped and the sun was almost breaking through the clouds. Did my flat'ish route along the coast, and made good time with a great tailwind the first 15 miles. Then headwinds the next 10 but didn't mind. What I did mind was the loud cracking noices coming from the bike. So I called BF and had him come pick me up. The bike is now in the shop being inspected. I have a feeling the wheel hubs have finally given in.

I got in a short 8-ish mile ride in the morning. The highs predicted were 90 so it was warming up by the time I got onto the road at 8:45am :p

I still love summer rides :) The wind helps me keep cool, even if it is hot and humid :D

It was a spur of the moment thing, let's go to Kent and have dinner with my mother and stepfather. So we hopped on our bikes and headed south via Renton and I discovered it was shorter than our normal route by quite a bit.
The weather was as splendid as it is possible on an August afternoon, it was about 80 degrees with a slight tailwind.
We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant with them and then headed back home, on the deserted interurban trail; well, not deserted if you count rabbits. We saw lots of rabbits to my delight!
35 miles round trip