July 27th Rides

I can't believe that I'm starting one of these threads! This is only my second commute and I am so excited to post about it!!

I rode home from work last night and today I rode back in (I left my car here). 14 miles of hilly but varied terrain. I had to leave at 5:50 to get in to work and showered in time for a 7:30am meeting, but it was totally worth it! The first half was so relaxing and peaceful...a great way to start the day. By 6:30, the traffic was getting a little hairy, but it was still manageable.

I feel great and I am now totally hooked on commuting!! :D

HA! GLC, we posted daily ride threads at the same time! :p Congrats on your commuting! It is addicting, isn't it?

My commute in was rather eneventful. No heifers to moo at. I think I spooked them yesterday! Yes, Kano, the rides home have been a bit nicer since we aren't as blasted hot as we have been. It is amazing what a difference just a few degrees makes.

I work in an "iffy" neighborhood, so I don't commute.
But, if you cant commute, climbing 1000 feet in 5 miles will wake you without caffine! Saw some rabbits,and had a general good time.

I slept in today. Didn't ride at all. I took kids swimming yesterday afternoon and spend 3 hours at the pool swimming and playing and ended up pulling that tendon or whatever it is behind your knee while trying to swim some laps. Guess I over did it. Anyway, decided even though it doesn't hurt unless I move it a certain way, that I would take a break today and let my leg rest. I would rather miss 1 day than miss several from injury.
I will get back with it tomorrow. I need to clean house and get laundry done today anyway.

Just for a change I decided to ride the east bank of the Jordan. So I crossed the bridge and then up the big hill. Round past a beautiful avocado grove to see the avo's about half size already. Then a surprise as there were about 30 pomegranate trees simply laden with fruit. Followed the track down to the actual riverside trail through several tiny olive groves (30 - 40 trees) planted on favourably-aspected terraces. After a bit of a portage cruised along the riverbank to The Dead End. Coming back along the same track saw a Dwarf Kingfisher. Amazing birds, they fly at top speed less than 6 inches above the surface and they have a perfect rhomboid shape when you see them from above. Must be something aerodynamic. Then back up past the fish pools and through mature date groves to the main road.
Along the promenade/bikeway for 1/2 a k or so . Deciding to cross the road to get into the fields towards the Jordan Border I looked for a gap in the landscape gardening on the roadside. Finding a likely looking spot I portaged and was getting tangled up. Looking down I saw some white, 5-petalled, star-shaped flowers. No! I thought but on looking at the round light green leaves I knew it was jasmine. The smell wafted up as I trampled and dragged the bike through to the roadside.
Then another hour among banana plantations and avocado groves divided by windbreaks of tall skinny cypress before a baguette brunch and 4 km home .

A missile fell just up the hill from us this evening. "Town" bombarded all day again, but no deaths. Lots of fires - all the poor little animals . Endless Air Force overhead - God help whoever was underneath *that*.

shalom salaam peace pax

I rode 32 miles this morning. It was very nice. Temperature in the 70's.

I went to Epping Forest and found as many nettles and thistles and brambles and holly bushes as I could. Didn't land in any of 'em, fortunately, just had a lot of occasions where it was impossible to dodge the ones on your left and the ones on your right at the same time. All good fun. :)

I did not ride yesterday or today given I elected to travel south (Tennessee) to spend a few days with my parents. I am looking forward to tomorrow when I can climb on my bike again and get some miles in. I'm hosting a club ride tomorrow (49 miles) and I'm so looking forward to it even if I do have to climb a nasty hill or two along the way. I hoping my legs enjoyed their two days of relaxation for tomorrow they go back to work.

Well maybe swore at, or sweated on, would be a better description! I did my normal 20 mile hill repeat ride twice and didn’t even have to go down into my very easiest gear to get up them. I guess I must be getting a little better. I still felt pretty good after the hill ride so I decided to keep going. I ended up riding my first metric century 64.5 miles with an average of 15.1mph, my furthest ride ever. I have a four day ride coming up Labor Day weekend . The short days are 69 miles, the long one is 100, and the hills are monsters compared to my training hills around here. I don’t know how to get better except to just keep on riding.

I finally managed to get a short ride in between thunderstorms. The humidity and bugs were amazing. But it was worth it to get out. :)

Just a wee bitty five mile ride today, hungry for lunch, sinus headache pounding, and sun beating down on me at noon, but I HAD to try out the new tires!

Had my LBS change my tires over to slicks on the Comfort-beast, and while I didn't really notice much difference on the flat, the up-hill bits (which were wee-bitty) were better, and my average speed was up considerably. Still, it was just five miles...

Got a lesson in tire changing while bike guy did the change, too, that was a good thing! Then, I talked with the other bike guy about some comfort issues, and he adjusted my handlebars some. That put my brake levers a bit out of reach, so I tinkered with them some tonight to fix that. He also took one look at my seat post and said I needed a longer one -- but had to order that in, since Comfort-beast has a suspension post and they didn't have any long ones of those. I'd give that up if I really had to, but it is making it easier to get used to distances, so I'll wait for that to come in.

DH says that I have to keep up with him now that I've got the "fast tires" -- but he's always telling me to slow down, except on the up-hills!

Karen in Boise