How was your 5/7 ride?

Did the Metric Century of the Skagit Spring Classic, and boy was it miserable. It was 46 degrees, the rain was unrelenting, the dan henries melted away, my map melted away, the other riders melted away, the winds on the flats were even more ferocious than I remember, and to top it off, I got a flat around mile 55. Luckily, the SAG driver happened by just then and i was more than happy to let him change it for me (in spite of the fact that I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. Don't judge me, I was frickin' tired and frazzled). The only thing that kept me going was the realization that it wasn't nearly as bad as STP '08

Did one of my favorite routes out West of the metro area - you very quickly get into the countryside and horse country and a beautiful county park. Shortly into the ride, I got a nasty nose bleed and ended up using one of my wet wipes after running out of kleenex. :eek: Made it home about 34 miles later just has it had started to rain. Nosebleed aside, still a good ride. :)

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Originally Posted by tulip

55 miles, gorgeous weather. Cap2Cap ride, 1500 riders. It was a great ride.

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Glad to see the Cap2Cap is still going strong! Was the halfway point in that Williamsburg park again? I loved zooming down that hill looking like I rode it like a champ 2 years ago :D

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Originally Posted by ASammy1

Glad to see the Cap2Cap is still going strong! Was the halfway point in that Williamsburg park again? I loved zooming down that hill looking like I rode it like a champ 2 years ago :D

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I did the 50-mile route, but since I live right near the Richmond start and know all those roads so well, I detoured for a little peace and quiet. Nothing like riding with 1500 riders to make me want to escape the madness. So that's why I ended up with five more miles.

The route has changed slightly from two years ago when you did it (I'm sure we passed each other then!) The 50-mile route was not at all an out-and-back so I'm not sure where the century halfway point was.

It was alot of fun, though!

Saturday was a not-half-bad-day in the Northwest and as I started up the Interurban I noticed a "knocking" sound coming from the back wheel... Since the LBS was just off the trail I stopped by. Loose spokes. Easy fix! Hooray.

But on the way back, after just fourteen miles, I rode through what looked like a small dried patch of grass on the trail... I heard this horrible loud hissing sound, and my first thought was that I had run over a snake and it was caught in my spokes!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I should have been so lucky. :rolleyes: I had run over a big chunk of glass and it embedded in my rear tire. Too far away from the bike shop to walk back. I had a brief inspiration that maybe I could figure out how to fix my flat...I had all the tools and a tube. What a joke. I couldn't even get the wheel off myself. Thank goodness for cell phones.

So my husband gave me a lesson in rear wheel assembly/changing. It would be a challenge though, I don't have much hand strength for getting tires off and back on.

Bike-rideus-interruptus... rats.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Ooooh, looking forward to reading the ride report! I would love to do this ride but it is so early in the year...

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Not much to report - the only really unusual thing was the near-perfect weather which NEVER happens on TOSRV - but I'll post some piccies in a day or two.

The thing about it is, it's early in the year for everyone, southerners and snowbirds like me excepted. ;) I had lunch on Sunday with a kid who claimed his entire training for the year was "I rode 30 miles on Wednesday." :eek: Trainer miles? Nope, just that. 160 miles down and he was looking fresh as a daisy. I'm thinking to myself, Kid, I've got chainring holes in my tights older than you. :p

I'm not sure his strategy would've worked if the wind had been bad, though.

I skipped the scheduled ride Sat with hubby--http://stooges.rogerkramercycling.org/ because the radar looked bad. He braved it and got lucky--all the weather moved to the south.

SO I drug him out Sunday morning for my first hilly route of the season. I intended to take it easy and "make it a positive experience." Secondly, I'm hoping to graduate to a new bike this year and the real challenge was: could I ride the bigger hills without using my granny gear at the beginning of the season? :confused: (have a triple and hoping to switch to compact double).

There are three "bigger" hills--the first I made in my big chain ring (woo hoo), the second, I got cocky and tried to do it in the big chain ring and had to suddenly shift to the middle (almost a crash) but the THIRD--I got up in my big chain ring (granted there is a large downhill to give me momentum, but I've not made it up this one before). As I was yelling "woo hoo", my husband reminded me I could go down one more in the back and still be in my middle chain ring. I KNOW :D

There is a Denny's at the top of the hill and it was Mother's Day with a line out the door. They were curious what all the hollering was about and I had an audience and a big smile on my face!

I caught my husband looking at the WSD Trek and Specialized websites later that day :)

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Originally Posted by TrekTheKaty

Secondly, I'm hoping to graduate to a new bike this year and the real challenge was: could I ride the bigger hills without using my granny gear at the beginning of the season? :confused: (have a triple and hoping to switch to compact double).

There are three "bigger" hills--the first I made in my big chain ring (woo hoo), the second, I got cocky and tried to do it in the big chain ring and had to suddenly shift to the middle (almost a crash) but the THIRD--I got up in my big chain ring (granted there is a large downhill to give me momentum, but I've not made it up this one before). As I was yelling "woo hoo", my husband reminded me I could go down one more in the back and still be in my middle chain ring. I KNOW :D

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A compact double will give you plenty of low gears, so it's not really like riding in the middle ring on a triple. You can even get a MTB cassette, and gear it really low. Keep using your granny for now! Spin, spin, spin!