Labor Day Weekend Rides

I got in a 44 mile ride yesterday, first longer ride for a few weeks. I arranged to meet a friend on the Nashua River Rail Trail at 9:30 am, so I left at 7:40 and rode the 20 miles to Groton. Very little traffic, so a great ride and a good average speed. Got there early enough to ride 3 miles south down the path and back before my friend arrived. Then we rode north to the end of the rail trail in NH, took a break by a pond, and rode back. I got a ride car home with lunch on the way. Then spent some time making her hybrid bike fit better, including cutting down the bars that were much too wide. When she was happy with the fit, we rode to a local ice cream place and she was delighted with the improvements.

We went camping this weekend and did a lot of mountain biking. Every day was pretty much the same:
1) sleep in (as much as little children will let you)
2) make giant pot of coffee and eat saucer-size blueberry pancakes slathered with Peanut Butter
3) get the children kitted-up and do some family trail-riding
4) 20+ miles of single-track while the men watched the kids
5) afternoon family time
6) dinner around the fire and s'mores with the kids while the men did some night riding

My new Trek Superfly Elite is AWESOME! I LOVE IT!

SO. MUCH. FUN. And below is a picture of my little hero. So incredibly proud of her. I did some of my best riding ever this weekend because I was so inspired by my 5 year old attacking log piles half her size and whoop-de-doos without hesitation.

I know a 5 year old who drops me on a beginners trail ;) It is awesome she got over that log, I would walk that!

It looks like you had loads of fun!

Leaving from home, as is usual, I did an easy 28 mile ride yesterday mostly on trails - Cedar Lake trail to the river, south along the river road, back west on the Midtown Greenway then to the Kenilworth and back on Cedar. A beautiful day. The day before I took Katy dog for a short one-hour hike along Minnehaha Creek. She's 10 now, and slower, but she still loves her hikes and loves getting in the water - she jumped in 6 times Sunday and looked like she was smiling every time. (This photo clearly is not from Sunday) :)

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Dang GreaseMonkey.You da bomb.

TVZIA - tiss still a good shot. I can see the deer:)

LIMEWAVE - Sweet. Great shot of her doing it. So you can tell her she has been doing it since age 5

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kathi

Yesterday we did our annual ride up Boreas Pass outside of Breckenridge, Co. The road is an old RR bed, with a hard packed, dirt surface. Cars are allowed on the road but the tourists had not yet arrived so we had the road pretty much to ourselves. Temps were in the mid 60's. We started at approximately 10,000 ft and rode to the top, 11,481 ft. The climb was 3-4% for 6 miles. It took about an hour to reach the top. On the ride down we had beautiful views of Aspen forests and the Breckenridge Ski area. There is still snow at the top of the mountain!

At the top there is an old RR car and several buildings left over from the RR days. The buildings have been restored and are part of the Summit Hut system. Several years ago our ski club rented the hut and we snowshoed the 6 miles to it and spent 3 days there. It was quite an experience.

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I forgot to add, we had to ride this trail this past weekend because there soon will be SNOW up there. Predictions for light accumulation this week in the mountains!

I feel guilty that I'm posting my story without having read the 4 pages of everyone else's stories! :o

We went to my parents' in Kansas this weekend. My dad said "We'll bike the Flint Hills Nature Trail, south of Topeka. We've got plenty of bikes around here, you don't even need to bring a bike." Ha ha. I brought my bike anyway. But my daughter Nell decided to leave hers at home, and I unwisely went with that. Here's the thing. My dad is 6 feet tall. My mom is 5 feet tall. They each have two bikes. My brother and his girlfriend also have at least 2 bikes each-- they are both super tall too. Nell and I are lots taller than Mom, lots shorter than everyone else, and pretty close to the same height.

The day before our ride, I looked at the options for Nell and realized we might have trouble. I've ridden Dad's commuter bike before, and it's not lovely but it's not horrible. I was able to lower the seat enough that it seemed to fit, at least in the basement not actually going anywhere. I said "We should take it for a test ride before tomorrow" but we didn't end up having time to do that.

So off we went to Vassar, Kansas. The trail conditions were not good, at least, not as good as the Katy Trail that we are used to. There was some almost sandy stuff that grabbed at our tires, and it was dumped in the middle and sloped out toward the sides. After a couple miles, Nell was walking her bike more than anything else. She said her arms hurt. I looked at her on the bike and saw how much she had to stretch to reach the handlebar. It looked horribly uncomfortable.

Then Dad started this game of musical bikes, trying her out on every single bike. The logical thing would be for me to switch bikes with her, because I know my bike would fit her--if we could lower the seat. Neither Dad nor I had brought a multitool. That's probably the first time in ages I've been caught without a multitool. I always have one! I don't know why I left it at home this time. We got the seat on Mom's bike high enough for Nell, but she had to stoop so much to reach the handlebar on Mom's little 13" bike! Nell and I were ready to give up, when a couple rode past. "Do you have a multitool?" we asked. They did, and we adjusted my bike for her.

After that we had a good ride-- though it wasn't long before I was remembering why I don't like to ride Dad's commuter. It's just so uncomfortable. But the wind was neither a headwind nor a tailwind, just a reasonable crosswind, and the temperature was PERFECT, and the sun shone but didn't burn me.

Here are the lessons from this ride. Some of them I already knew, but they were reinforced.
1) Bike fit is the most important factor to an enjoyable ride. Well, bike fit, and appropriate clothes. Well, bike fit, appropriate clothes, and a bike in good repair...
2) Bike fit is about so much more than seat height.
3) Always carry a multitool (in addition to a flat kit). And know how to use it.
4) When planning to use a bike you haven't ridden lately, try it out before the ride.
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Dad on his big bike

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Mom on her little bike

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Resting in the shade