July 29th Weekend Rides

Since we don't seem to already have one going, I will start off :)

Friday morning had a nice 19 mile ride before heading to work - while the temps weren't bad it was more humid than I expected. The 22 mile ride Thursday evening was actually a bit more comfortable though it was close to 20 degrees warmer :eek:

This morning I had a sweet 35 mile ride - first rode 13 miles to a friends house to check out their new Labrador puppy & visited for about 20 minutes, then took a longer route home to do some sprints in the cornfields and play on some hills.

An interesting thing happened on the way home, I was riding up a hill past the entrance to a subdivision and saw a 3-4 year old little girl on her trike in the entrance, right at the edge of the actual street. I assumed her parents were somewhere, but sometimes small children do get away so I pulled over and asked her where her parents were.

The little girl didn't speak, but pointed to a couple walking a dog who were about 2.5 blocks away and had a dog with them. They waved to me, and I just kind of hung out for a few minutes until they were just about there before I took off again as I didn't want to get caught up in a conversation. It is hard to see how such a little girl had gotten so far away from her parents even on a little trike, she had been at that intersection for at least a few minutes before I arrived. I wonder if she took the initiative and started before her parents realized :) Anyway, everything was fine, and it likely would have been fine if I hadn't stopped, but people do fly down Kissel Rd.

Yesterday I went out for a great ride with a friend. All told it was about 39 miles, which is actually the longest ride I've done since the century earlier this month. I just can't seem to get myself to go for distance like I was doing while training for the century. But hey, at least I'm still riding! This morning I did another 30 mile route through farm country. As happy as I am to be moving away from here, I will say that it's been a great place to ride and I'll miss that.

Not today--I went out to put air in my tires, and sitting next to the step in the garage was a large rat snake! I spent much of the afternoon trying to gently persuade it to leave (and to make sure my mom didn't run over it). It left half an hour ago. Silly creature.:rolleyes: Just as well, as it was unbelievably sticky this morning.

I suppose we're lucky it didn't make itself comfortable in the recycling bin. It was nice enough to let me take pictures!

Had a very short ride yesterday - my youngest's birthday so couldn't be out long - but a lot of it was uphill, and has given me a plan for tackling the mega-hill near my house. Normally I stick the bike on the car and go to a trail but yesterday parked much closer, warmed up on a slight downhill and then had a slight uphill back. Then it turns into a much steeper hill all the way home. I think I am going to park where I parked yesterday and do the same route, then try each time to get a bit further up the steeper hill - and then I get to end on a downhill back to the car! It's too daunting to think of starting straight from my house still but I'd really like to be able to conquer the hill eventually.

This morning my DH and I were out for an hour or so, about 12 miles - he is only riding once a week so is even more of a beginner than I am, but nice for me to realize that 12 miles in an hour feels like an easy ride now.

Tomorrow I think I will tackle The Hill. Then I need to study - finals this coming week for my summer classes, aargh!

I feel like a 'whimp' only riding about 10 miles a day. I need to 'kick it' into gear and get serious about riding. I rode 10 miles yesterday and going for a ride in a bit, it poured a few mins ago, going to make sure the storms are out of the area.

Friday morning I got up really early and wanted to get out for a short ride while it was still dark, at about 4:45 AM or so. I thought i was being organized, but I had plugged in the wrong light charger the night before, as we have a few thrown in a pile near the place we charge all of them. DH got up, told me this and swore he wasn't going to ride with me, but he plugged in my charger and his and we got off around 5:15. By this time it was getting light, but the lights were still needed and they were charged. Only went ten miles, but at a brisk pace and it was super humid.
Today I rode 22 miles, in a combination of different loops. We changed our minds about where to go about 4 times, but it was good. Easy pace, saw a charity ride going in the other direction at one point, though I have no idea what it was. Next weekend is the PMC, and the number of people out there training is at a fevered pitch.
Tomorrow we are riding with friends to Kimball Fruit Farm in Hollis NH, from Boxborough (50 miles). We will be leading this ride 10/1, so it's a practice run. Beautiful and *very* hilly.

Sufferfest Part 3, The Punishment: new crankset, cassette and wheels put on the LeMond this morning and then we went out for 5200 feet of climbing over about four hours in the 90+ degree heat. Ugh. And after my awesome 36 mph sprint on the first flat, I ended up with an asthma attack (which almost NEVER happens to me anymore; I think I had an allergic reaction triggered). But I completed 46 miles, including going down one hill that was literally about a 30% grade and scared the crap out of me, and I am sure that my century ride next Saturday is going to be a breeze compared to this...

14.5 miles this am to the farmer's market and food co-op for fresh veggies. After we got home and unloaded, I thought it was too hot/humid to head back out, but DH went out for more punishment. Today's high was 102, and it was already 90+ by the time I finished up my ride.

It's supposed to be a smidge cooler tomorrow, so I am hoping for a longer ride!

22 miles. My blinky has been gravely injured after it flew off going over railroad tracks, and will need surgery, but I expect it to survive. I didn't eat enough yesterday, it seems, and it caught up with me. I woke up hungry (bad sign, as it usually takes half an hour of wandering around for me to be able to eat), ate my usual breakfast, pushed it (yay speed!) and nearly bonked. I was seriously considering calling for a ride home around mile 8 or 9. Luckily I got a second wind when the shot blocks (all three of them) kicked in, and I managed to do another 13-14 miles. My hip and knee are not happy now, for whatever reason. Grump.

Ooh, I forgot to mention:
I got passed by a fairly young guy (compared to what I usually see on the trail) on a nice Trek, going at a decent clip. I decided to see if I could catch and pass him. Mischief managed! And with not too much effort.

Took the Jamis across the street to Eagle Creek Park and worked on skills for about 90 minutes. Bikes aren't allowed in the trail there, but there are large mowed areas where I do play - lots of trees to weave around, some roots to go over, different surfaces to ride over, picnic tables to ride around, etc. I try to avoid riding her on paved surfaces as much as possible - I hate how she feels on the road but that isn't what she is meant for :) Amazing how different she feels off-road!

Going hiking later today to look at a brand new mountain bike trail in the city to see if it is too advanced for me - probably is at my current level, but my legs need something different to do that doesn't involve two wheels. Am having FAR too much fun to risk more over-use injuries this year :cool:

Did the 30 mile shop ride. I actually slept well the night before for once. I went to bed at 9:30, so when I woke up to check the time at 3:30, I knew I was good, with 6 hours already in the bag. The rest was gravy. I felt really good.

It was a beautiful day. Hot, but most of the ride is shady, so it was nice. I think 13 people showed up. We stopped and looked at the flowers. We talked. It's so fun.

There was a couple on a tandem with us. They flew up every hill, and whenever they'd go fast, the girl would laugh so hard. They were so cute. They accidentally went off road for a bit, and it was very impressive to see how well they handled it, riding across a field over grass and ending up right back with us. Very reminiscent of Lance going around Beloki.

I love riding my bike more every day.

24 miles, a little shorter than planned. There was an organized run on the loop at Saguaro N.Park so we skipped it. Some of the group I ride with opted for 50 miles, but I didn't want to be out that long in the heat because I had to come home and get ready to celebrate my birthday.

Happy birthday, Sharon! How was your event last night (or is it tonight).

@Catrin, where's the new MTB trail?

DH volunteered as a SAG wagon at a club ride yesterday. Today, we did 45 really hot miles. We (meaning DH) isn't very good at motivating early in the morning, so we didn't start until 10. We did okay until the last 10 miles. We used our Camelbaks, which we don't typically use on our road bikes, and our backs weren't too happy near the end. They're much more comfortable on our MTBs given our more upright position. All in all, it was still a good ride.

Met a friend who I haven't seen for a while and did about 28 miles around the regular loop. It was really nice to get out, and fun to ride with a friend - I love the way it challenges me to go faster than I would on my own.

Let me start by saying how much I enjoy reading about all of your weekend rides. Had a good riding weekend this week. Started on Friday morning early with a 35 mile ride. Most of the people in the group I ride with hadn't ridden since Tuesday morning due to rain, so we were kind of itching to get out. Everyone decided it would be okay if they were "just a little late for work today." One of the members of our group is training for a two-day MS ride, so we did a 56 mile loop on Saturday, a nice route with hills, but no monster hills. Today we did another 50 miles with no real plan and a more relaxed pace. We ride early-ish, starting around 5:30 a.m. The starting temps the last 3 days were in the upper 60s (nice) but finishing in the mid-80s with high humidity. Sadly, it won't be long before we have to start a little later if we want to ride in mostly daylight.