August 20 Ride Reports

Not the Ride I had Planned!

I set out this morning with my route slip for a 27 mile ride but it's not what I ended up doing...

0 miles: can't get into a comfortable rhythm, maybe it's because I'm starting off into a head wind
5 miles: still no comfortable rhythm, just grinding away
9 miles: made a wrong turn but didn't know it yet
10.4 miles: this intersection isn't supposed to be on this route! I must be off route! What do I do now, try to continue on to something I know or turn around...OK, let's keep going...no, that's stupid, turn around...where'd that big hill come from?!?...panic downshift...dropped the chain...fall! No pain or injury except to my pride. After a rest to regroup I headed back towards what I knew.
12.6 miles: Oh, I was supposed to continue straight where I turned! Now, back to my intended route or back track towards home? OK, continue on...
13.5 miles: this is stupid, turn back, you'll never do the intended route plus an additional 2.5 miles in your addled state!
14.0 miles: I know this road, it'll cut through to my intended leg back in...let's take that!
14-19 miles: just grinding away, no rhythm, I can't wait until to get back in...
20 miles: damn, they repaved this road since last week with a new layer of gravel, this is hell!
22 miles: glad to be back on smooth road
22-25 miles just grinding away
26 miles: destination in site!

All in all it was a lousy ride, but I still managed to grind out 16 miles at a 13.3mph average. Not too shabby.

34 miles at a 16.2 mph average - essentially the exact same ride as yesterday but it was much windier, and we were riding with our friend Crazy Harold (it's okay, he knows I call him that!). He's this amazing athlete (you know, great at everything, negative body fat, the whole thing), and rides with us when he's doing his recovery rides (he has been known to check his email on his Blackberry while riding with us...). As always, it was a ball riding with him. Sports are his passion, and he's always got the best of everything. (And 5 of them - he's got a high end bike for every possible riding possibility.) Today he was testing out his Waterford touring bike. Oh so nice!

But the best part?!? Crazy Harold is basically my size, and so he offered that if I get some Speed Play cleats, he'll let me test his bikes. Hah! We are talking like $7000 road bikes. (Of course, I'll have to make sure I can get in and out of the pedals before I try his bikes!) So I'm going on eBay to see if I can find a new pair of cleats. Oh yeah - expensive bike testing, here I come!!!:D :D :D

Of course, I'll probably be spoiled, once I've tried out his bikes, but it'll give me something to save my pennies for! ;)

I took the Giro out for a spin today and boy did I shock myself. Up to this point my average speed on this bike has been hanging around 14.5 mph or so. Last night I took it out on a club ride and only average 13.7 but then again this was a ride filled with unusual circumstances and events so I was not upset with what I ended up with when I parked my bike.

Today's ride was 22 miles long a mix of flat and gently rolling hills. I quickly settled into a nice spin and what a difference it made. I found myself zipping along and actually climbing some of the hills as if I was atop my little blue bike. In the end I ended up with an average speed of 15.8 and I'm thinking maybe I'm no longer a "slug" on my new recumbent. Just maybe I'm getting the hang of this bike, I sure hope so for I do enjoy riding it just have not enjoyed the slow pace I've stuck since I acquired this bike. I guess there is hope!

I did an easy 16mi recovery ride, just went out and relaxed while I was out there. Nothing exciting happened, just me and my bike, which is sometimes the best thing going.

Tomorrow is DGF's b-day, and it's impossible to hide anything in this house, so I had to go out *today* to pick everything up. I hop on my bike w/ backpack and waterbottle, noting that I'm pretty sure my butt's going to dimple before that Brooks saddle ever does :eek: but perservere. I make it to the store, pick out a rather expensive '02 champagne and oj (mimosas!) and a dozen roses. Because I left in a flurry, I really hadn't thought about how I was going to get them home, but the wine and juice fit well in the bag, the roses' stems fit in fine, but the flowers themselves protruded 2-3" from the top. It looked pretty, though, and was secure, so I took off. Lots of comments on a bicyclist with roses sticking out the back of her bag!
Had a gent on a green Bianchi coast up behind me and say "Nice flowers!" before I saw him. I said "Wow! Nice bike!" (it WAS pretty nice...) he smiled and coasted on w/o any effort. (hills!) Got home, put more dressing on the saddle and arnica on my bum (any hints on arnica on sitbones) and put everything away. Long story short, 7 miles, all hills, with 4 of them being gravel.

After some back and forth moments (rain? no rain? darnit, let's ride!), I had a lovely 31 mile ride. Rode some of the bike paths, along the rio grande, through the university and finally back home.

Best of all I got to ride with one of neat folks from this board, Ms. Corsairmac herself :D

Rode 12 miles in the Danskin triathlon. It was a huge amount of fun. I was singing and hollering and cheering. Made a song out of "Passing on your left". Sang it a lot. Hollered "Thank you" to most of the volunteers on the course. Huge fun! Averaged 15.2 mph, which is very high for me.

Did the Sunday shop ride today.
Not many of us in the "B" group, but that's okay.
28 miles...haven't downloaded the Garmin, so I'm not sure what the average was. Lately they've been in the 17 mph range.
Were cruising along MacCarthur Blvd with about eight of us....
Got to the bottom of the hill at Old Angler's Inn, and DH breaks away, followed by this great big guy with dreds on a screaming yellow Giant. I give chase. I had to. The hill is a couple miles long at about 8% avg. grade. It took me 2/3rds of it to drop the folks behind me, and nearly the rest of the way to catch the guy on the Giant, but I did it! Came in at the #2 position to the top of the hill - right behind a very proud dh.
Took a while for the heartrate to get back down tho', but boy, that was kewl!
:D

he he he

Picked up a pocket neighbouthood guide from my local library a week ago. It marks out all the on road bike lanes and "off road" bike trails within a 10km radius almost of my house.

So I set out on my own this morning and went through the hilly terrain of whites hill reserve, then along the busy main road (in the bike lane of course) and ended up back on the main trail I take to get to work... cept I kept going, all the way into brisbane city along the riverloop track then all the way out to Tenneriffe.

Best part was "running into" BF as he came with his riding group in the opposite direction. HA HA HA. He'd done 90km already and stuck with me as I did my last ten.

So I rode 35.42km with an average speed of 15km... most of it by myself. Was great fun!

yes. but you also swam first and ran after. What's the total mileage on these things, tell us more! :D

Hurray, I finally got to ride today. Been on the east coast with ill mom for two weeks, just back for the weekend, and going back east to mom again tomorrow. But today! Gorgeous clear day, little wind, 49-mile tandem ride with Mr. Salsa, felt great and strong, including on hills. Hurray for small favors like this ride.

Took the Trek out for a show and go... and when I got there it was all "fast people." Fortunately the Trek is, albeit a hybrid, a whole lot easier to get rolling than the Xtracycle, and riding that around has me in pretty good shape. The perfect ride just peppy enough to be fun with pauses for Dairy Queen and to visit the womannequin in the window at the grain elevator house who's now turned so we can see her much better. I'll bring the camera sometime soon.
Wanted to do some harder, faster miles 'cause next weekend I"m going to do some real green miles and ride to Bloomingon - about 50 miles - for the League of ILlinois Bicyclist's meeting (go the day before, spend the night, ride back the next day). It still will involve the car, probably, 'cause Saturday is our club's invitational ride, C-U Across the Prairie, and I"ll probably be hauling even more than the xtracycle can handle (like 5 5-gallon jugs full of water and gatorade, *and* the blender setup adn ingredients and whatever else...)

I did a real wimpy ride for me today. I did 10.6 miles at at 14.2 pace. I did it because #1 I hadn't ridden since wednesday and #2 because I was stiff from sitting in a car forever and needed to stretch muscles. DH and I drove from straight from Mass to North Carolina, were my son has moved. We left 11:45 pm Friday, got NC around noon time, we unloaded truck, I helped unpack boxes, ran to store with son, DH took a nap and 7 hours later we were on the road again back to Mass! We made it home a 8am and we are exhausted. I am glad I did my ride, I feel better

We did a 66 mile well supported ride sponsored by a local bike shop, The Assenmacher 100. It was my longest ride to date. I had hoped to be up to doing the 100 mile ride, but I was pretty tired as was my 14 year old grandson. This was his first long distance ride ever and he did great! The ride had great food stops, nice people and beautiful weather. Who could ask for anything more? We are in training for a four day ride that goes from E. Lansing to the Mackinaw bridge, a distance of 290 miles in the four days over Labor Day weekend. Except for the hills that I will have to conquer as I get farther north I think I might actually be able to finish the tour

Dalmac!!!!!