Weekend of Oct 23-24 rides

Today’s ride involved stiff headwinds, uphills and clouds. There were tailwinds too, and downhills, but those go by so fast. A couple weeks ago our ride had hills, sunshine and birds singing. I wished we’d taken that road instead!

The clouds threatened rain, but the forecast almost promised no rain. Going west was fast. Either we were all really strong riders suddenly, or that south wind was also a bit east! I called our "support vehicle" (DH) to hurry up, we were going to make Brashear faster than anticipated. Our support vehicle got moving and we hardly had to wait for lunch at all. I thought lunch would be fresher and less crunched and a lot more if it came by car instead of being packed into the trunk on my bike. Also I would move faster without a big lunch packed into the trunk on my bike.

Our support vehicle is a really nice guy. :D

Then we turned south straight into the wind and onto the hills. I had promised them a flat 40 mile ride. It turned out that I lied. I was sure from the google terrain map that this would be much flatter than the roads to the west. Perhaps terrain maps are misleading. One stretch through the woods was beautiful, with green rolling pastures.

A little beagle chased us briefly. We were in front and I told it, “Wait for the next two cyclists. They are bigger than we are.” Like the 3 Billy Goats Gruff, of course. Later a couple bigger dogs chased us. One kept it up for a couple miles! I have never seen a dog keep it up so long. He wasn't really chasing us, just running alongside us, like a friend giving moral support. The road had nearly no traffic, so I wasn’t worried about it getting hit, but I was concerned it might get lost. I decided to stop at the next house and see if someone could keep it from following us any further, and maybe get it back to its home (it did have a collar). Yes, someone could. The two big dogs who lived there volunteered at once before I even asked!

We were so relieved when we got to Hwy 63. It was all downhill with a tailwind. The sort of thing you only find in myth & fantasy, like Santa Claus. That 7 miles went by SO fast. I was getting super hungry right then. The last little bit through town was awful, more wind and more hills. I kind of wanted to call our support vehicle to get a ride for the last 2 miles. I actually got kind of dizzy but I knew I was almost home.

I'm not sure I've stopped eating since I got home. A 40 mile ride doesn't usually work up that much of an appetite, but it was a heck of a wind, and I've been training a lot lately (such as my first 5 mile run yesterday--52 minutes--wonder how much I can improve that in 10 1/2 months!)

Sounds like a lot of fun, though the route was different than you anticipated!

Yesterday my leg was generous and allowed me a very easy 13 mile ride before it started complaining - far from my norm but I will take that I can get - it is all good! Am avoiding hills as much as I can, for now. Amazing to me how hard it is to avoid hills - I find I want to go looking for them :)

Met two dogs who were in the middle of the road, and there was nothing for them to do but to chase me. I thought that I would crash at one point because they kept wanting to get in front of my wheel - but thankfully I did get past them without falling over. I do not think they really wanted to attack the bike, they just had to chase me. People were standing and watching (and yelling at them) but of course that did not help.

That was my first ride in a week, and it felt better than last Sunday. I only went because I've a pretty good idea what the physical therapist is going to advise me to do when I see him tomorrow for my evaluation...

It was windy out here... I learned of a hazard of riding on a windy day in the fall: small tree branches can fall and bounce on your helmet and shoulders. No harm done, but it startled me.

We did an organized ride in southern Arizona called the Tumacacori Century (try to guess how this is pronounced!) but only did the 64 miler. Straight out and back. It was a beautiful day, head winds all the way out so tail winds all the way back. Yay! Best sag stops ever!!

A maintenance ride for me today, 15 miles on my favorite trail, and a pretty slow 15 miles at that. It was beautiful out, sunny, 75°F, some high cirrus clouds; the trees are coloring up nicely. Turtles were sunning themselves, mockingbirds, cardinals, and white-throated sparrows were calling, and I passed a doe just feet from the trail. It was lovely!

Our ride Saturday was interrupted by a phone call from the guy buying DH's mountain bike, so we had to turn around and head home, as he was coming to pick it up.
So, it ended up being 15 miles, in cool, windy, but sunny conditions.
Yesterday, I had a lot of school work, so by the time I was ready to ride, it was drizzling, raw, and not entirely nice for riding. I did my 10 minute cardio blast, core work, and then went for a 2 mile walk around town, where I was not dressed warm enough.
Rode 10 miles at 5:30 AM this morning, though. It was about 10 degrees warmer than it has been, but it was "wet" out; not really raining, but sort of fog coming down. I had to take my glasses off on the way back, because I couldn't see at all.

I had a great weekend of riding.

I did the 56 mile rout of the Santa Fe Century on Saturday with a friend. I did a lot of pulling because she seemed tired. She also flatted with 10 miles to go but luckily there was a nice fella to change the tube.

Sunday I did the Rush 55 of the Horsefarm Hundred with my same gal friend and another guy friend. There is a long bumpy road that seems to go on forever at about mile 40 and by the end I was pretty tired and a little sore.

Great riding though, with friends and fantastic weather. :)

Windy Sat, I did my shorter commute route, 28 miles rt. Yesterday was perfect for riding, overcast and still. I love that. 21 easy miles. My mantra this weekend was "don't do anything stupid". :)