Sept. 7th rides

Today's ride was...eerie. We have several large brush/forest fires burning in the area and the smoke has settled into the valley. The not-quite-set-yet moon was a deep red-orange and the sunrise a few minutes ago was just about the same. I didn't know until after I got into work, that because of the smoke and the resulting air quality (code red, I think), that outdoor exercise is strongly discouraged. I didn't notice much difference, just a few more snot rockets than usual. What's bad is that I had my fastest morning commute to date! I saw a commuter about a quarter mile ahead of me and my mind thought "Bait!" It took me two and a half miles to catch him, but I did! Got a friendly nod when I pulled up next to him, then we both went on our way.

Creepy :(
Might be time to invest in those face mask thingies...
It's clear and 55 here, just about perfect :-) (45's my favorite.) Definitely more stupid drivers ... maybe 'cause there are just more drivers... but mostly they're stll nice midwestern folks :)

I finally got back on my bike! DH is better and wanted to ride. The temperature is down right cool for early September (just barely hit 90 today). I rode 15 miles at a 17.1 mph average. It was good to be back on the bike. Now I need to drop the 6 lbs I gained in the last 3 weeks. :eek:

Just shy of 31 miles on the Western Maryland Rail-Trail out around Hancock, MD. I needed a smooth surface ride with no grade after my last couple of rides, so I was looking forward to today. Also tested out my new gearing chart and spent some time fiddling with the cleats on one of my shoes (I get annoying numb toes sometimes on that foot) and my handlebars. Some rides are like that-- I just have to fiddle around and adjust stuff for the heck of it.

The weather was beautiful and I was able to maintain a good 90rpm/15mph for most of the ride, which felt good. Oh, and "Bicycle behind you!" worked every time :D

This morning I had to go down into town to the bank and the drugstore, so I went on my bike. Remember, I've only been doing this for a couple of months or so, so it's still kind of new experience, from years of driving into town.
Anyway, I decided to be brave and bring my bike in instead of locking it up outside. No bike racks anywhere, and last week somebody stole my glove from my helmet outside a store even though I had locked up my bike to a pole. :mad:
So...I tried to look natural as I walked my bike into the drugstore and quietly up the aisle to the prescription counter. I leaned it against the wall and got my pills, then quietly left- nobody seemed to notice, but there weren't many people there.
Next, the bank. Tricky double glass doors. Another customer held the door for me and I went into the bank with my bike (feeling really weird), and I quickly leaned it against the wall immediately to one side of the inside door- out of the way. Did my banking, none of the tellers said anything. Went out and another customer kindly held the door again as I walked my bike out the double doors.

This afternoon at 5:30, I lightly twisted DH's arm and we went for an hour's ride in the late golden glow of the sun with the crickets singing everywhere in the fields- so beautiful! We just love to ride together. :p
We went only as far as a house where we had seen a sad old blue English Dunelt bike propped by the trash last week. It was tempting, but so rusty and beat up that we didn't want to get involved with that huge project, so we left it. This week it was gone, of course. In homage to that old bike, I christened that route "The Dunelt Ride" so we always know which routes we are talking about when we decide on a ride to do.
I am still rather sore all over from that 40 mile ride monday, so the short rides are all I can manage right now- but even the short rides have at least two big steep hills. I must be building MAJOR thigh muscles right now, I can feel it!

Only 3 people showed up for the "A" group and six for the "B" (more like B+ group) last night. They decided to combine the two and then have a "C" group as well.

My first mistake was second-guessing myself and sidling up with the "C"s. That's when the ride organizer came over and moved me to the newly formed "A-" group--He was adament that I would be able to ride with them and that I had been doing great all season. It was nice to hear . . . but there was a scary, sinewy Italian-looking guy that kept sizing me up and making me quiver in my sidis.

So, off we went. The first 12-15 miles out are filled with rollers. That's what got me. I did okay in the flats at 25 mph and all of sudden we'd hit a climb. I'd fall back and then blow my legs up sprinting to catch them. It was the last big hill at 15 miles. I saw myself getting further and further behind. Three other guys had already been dropped. I kept looking behind me to see if they were close and could help push to catch up--but they were no where to be seen.

I gave up. I was defeated. There was a chance I could do one more push, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I turned around and headed back until I came across the rest of the crew that had been dropped earlier. The four of us did a shortened route and stayed steady at 22 mph. It was a nice ride--I was just bummed I couldn't hang with the big guys.

Maybe you didn't hang with the Big guys, but you wound up hanging with the Good guys! ;)