Arizona Roll Call

oh yeh

http://www.bikegaba.org/El_Tour_Trai...edule_2007.htm

they're fairly well attended

we do the east side rides

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the site and fairly new to cycling. I live in Scottsdale where fall has arrived! I look forward to keeping track of you all via this forum, and would love to join you all on rides sometime soon!

welcome cactus flower!!
what part of scottsdale? i'm in south scottsdale by los arcos.
DH and i ride with the pmbc group that leaves kiwanis park at 7 every saturday.
i saw in anoher post you were doing a group ride, where is that?
inquiring minds want to know.
hope you have a great time!

Hey, PinkBike!

I'm in north Scottsdale. Yes, my first group ride is this morning. Leaves at 6:30 a.m. from Pinnacle Peak Bike Shop, which is on the corner of Pinnacle Peak and Pima. I'm SOOOO nervous! But excited,, too - keep your fingers crossed for me!

Hi Tracy, I hope you had a good ride last Sunday and it helped you decided to do the Tour de Scottsdale. My colleague has decided to ride in the Tour de Scottsdale. Have you decided? If you are, my colleague is still looking for someone to at least start the ride with. He's a nice guy and in good shape - he rides 30-40 miles in Colorado at 6500 feet. As we discussed, he will beat you down ANY hill. :>)

If you are riding, you can reach him at chuck.wain@siriuscom.com.

Good luck on the ride, if you decide to do it.

mpt - how did your ride go this weekend? I hope you had a great ride and lots of fun. I'm real interested in what you thought of it and whether you think it is worth travelling to, for next year.

Lastly, for everyone - Tracy and I were talking about which LBS we like - meaing who treats women well. If you are interested, please let us know you you think we should be patronizing - or not. I'll put in my 2 cents.

I bought my mountain bike from Bicycle Ranch in north Scottsdale and enjoyed the experience. I was helped by a guy named John. when I went back to get a road bike, John had left and it was a VERY different atmosphere. The guy wasn't too interested in me, just in selling me a bicycle. I had made my preference clear for a bike with a women's geometry requirements in mind and he really tried to sell me a man's bike - because he didn't have any thing in stock in my size. I won't go back there unless someone I trust tells me they've had a different experience.

I ended up at Bicycle Wheelers in Tempe because Dominec was open on the 4th of July and he had a 50 cm WSD Trek in stock that I could test ride. He was excellent to work with; he helped me with getting the bike fit properly, ensuring my pedals and shoes were properly positioned, my seat was at the right height and my brakes were in a position I liked. He invests in products designed for women, by carrying them in the shop. He also gave me some hints on keeping my arms flexed - he said I would probably have some pain in my neck and shoulders unless I bent my arms slightly. Dominec also owns Dominec's in Tempe. I would go back there in a flash. His wife also works at the shop and she was very good to work with as well.

FH,

i really like domenics, i got my first road bike there, i thought bicycle wheelers had closed? i also like landis at southern and 101, they have saleswomen there.

i'm doing the tour de scottsdale, it's my third year, i have a love-hate relationship with the TdS, it's a great course but the climbing is a killer for me! i did it in 3:40 last year but wouild love to be under 3:30 this year!!

tracy, you should do this ride, it is fun and challenging. if you've done the usery loop you can do the TdS!

cactus flower, let's hear a report of today's ride!! did the wind play havoc? we missed our ride this morning (DH was in charge of the alarm).

back to tucson next sunday for a 75 mile el tour training ride (would've loved to go this sunday but i got to do sunday school for the kindergartners at my church).

denise, more interbike please!

lisa, where are you, girl?

sue, how was the MS?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PinkBike

lisa, where are you, girl?

---

I was off of the bike for two weeks because Katelyn was in the hospital for about a week. Once she got home, I was trying to get caught up. I'm still trying to get caught back up. What little free time I did have, I spent trying to get ready for the race I had today. Although, the way the race went, I might have been better off spending some time on the forum instead. :D There were only four of us in the race (Buckeye Crit) and I got dropped right at the starting line. I could NOT get clipped in!:mad: Took me four times before I finally got clipped - haven't had a problem with this since March. By then the other three were around the first corner. I never did catch them. On a positive note, I got in a really good, hard 30 minute ride, and I think I've determined what my lactate threshold heartrate is. :p

Hi Guys!

Well, I survived my first group ride yesterday! We did 25 miles, weaving our way up to Carefree and back. I was so nervous the night before that I had to do some Zen breathing just to calm myself down. :) It turned out to be the perfect group for a first ride. Very casual, and on the way north we stayed off most of the busy roads. Everyone was super friendly and encouraging, and I found myself in the middle of the pack where speed is concerned. It was also my first ride with clipless pedals, and even though i had a couple close calls, I didn't fall! I know that's inevitable, however. :-) Coming back from Carefree, we rode Pima all the way down which terrified me at first (with all the traffic!), but once I got the rhythm, we were sailing!! It's good it was downhill, because by then, the wind had picked up and it was a killer. I was so elated when it finished that I bought a computer for my bike and am now counting the days till the next ride.

By the way - I bought my bike at Bikes Direct, at Desert Ridge in North Scottsdale. Fantastic prices, and the guys there are pretty nice. Not a big sales push, and they work to find the bike that's right for you. For accessories, I find Performance Bike on Raintree to be pretty good.

Thanks for the support, guys! I think I'm in LOVE with cycling!

Hello all!

FH-I missed you Sat. I did the FH/RV ride but didn't start till about 7:15. I thought I might see you but no luck. I am doing the Scottsdale ride and will contact your friend. He will be able to ride with my Sunday riding partner, he is much stronger than I. I did the Usery Pass loop last Sunday and today. There is 1 really really steep hill but I made up w/o stopping.

Anybody else doing the TdS?

I am going to give the Palo Verde Centry ride a try as well. It is on Oct. 28th.
It is pretty flat so I thought I should take the opportunity to do it, as I have never done a century before. FH are you going to do the 50mi loop? Anybody else doing this ride?


LBS: I bought a Giant OCR3 large frame at Mike's Bike Chalet in Mesa. Was not pleased with the fit I got from them. They seem more interested in just getting me out the door. Anyway I went to DNA Cycles on Power Rd in Mesa and Don(owner) did a bike fit. He laughed at the width of the bars, he is a bigger guy, he said, "My handle bars aren't even that wide!" I am almost 6' tall, long legs, but apparently I don't need bars wide enough for a half-back! Narrow bars, raised up a bit and my seat height corrected. All my aches and pains from the bad fit went away. I have not looked back since! Don had made the statement that a lot of women get started riding but because women often don't get fit correctly they don't stick with it. It was important to him to make my bike comfortable for me so I keep riding. I did NOT buy my bike from him, but I will the next time! I have been buying most of my accessories from him too. My next bike will come from his shop. I believe he is opening a shop in Scottsdale too.

I hope we can all get together and ride sometime, I think you more experienced riders will have some good tips and technique to share with us newer riders!

Looking forward to hearing from all of you!

tracy,

i'll be doing
the tour de scottsdale,
the tumacacori century,
the palo verde nuclear century,
the silverbell century,
the mcdowell mountain century
and then
TA DA
el Tour de Tucson.

if i remember right the palo verde is neat because it takes you thru these little farming towns you didnt even know existed. i enjoyed it last year.

also, all these rides were well supported and had a very diverse group of participants.

look me up, i'm easy to spot! (hint: i'll be in pink)

Laurie,

My quads ache just reading your list of rides!
I will look you up!

Tracy

Laurie, you're my inspiration! While I'm just getting started, I have my eye on doing those century rides someday soon!

Is there a website that lists all the cycling events in Arizona?

Having survived my first group ride last weekend, I already have two more riding dates scheduled with people I met in my group. I think this could be addictive...

these are good:

http://www.bikegaba.org/2007_Calendar.htm

http://www.sportsfun.com/gaba/rideschedule.html

http://www.azbikeclub.com/

hope to see you at some of the rides!

and oh yes, it IS addictive!

Thanks so much, Laurie - shall I call you my "enabler?" :D

TinM, I did do the ride but didn't get started until about 9:30 so that's why we missed. I am really excited about the progress made on the bike path. I'm hoping they will be done in about 6 weeks.

I'm thinking about doing the Palo verde 50 but I will have been off my bicycle for over 3 weeks. So I'll see how much aerobic work of any type I get in while on vacation. Then make a decision.

Everyone - have fun on the TdS. TinM, my friend is delivering his bicycle to my garage tonight so I know he is exicited to be doing the ride. Thanks for keeping a look out for him.

BTW, I forgot to mention that I really like REI for clothing and accessories. The folks are great and they aren't on commission so they do spend lots of time with you. I got my bike rack from them, during Labor day sale. They also have LOTS of women's clothing - much more than many LBS.

Now, the only outstanding question is for Mpty - how did the MS ride go?

I won't be signing on for a while - I'll look for your impressions on TdS when I get back.

I just sent in my money for the Tucumcori century (I'm only doing the 64 miles, though). I think I'll miss you, Laurie, since you guys (100 miles) leave an hour earlier. Unless you sleep in and leave late!

sue, i havent registered for the tumacacori because i'm still deciding. DH is going to go out to visit my parents that weekend (i want to go but i cant get saturday off and it's just too much of a drive to go for just 2 days) so i wasnt sure if i wanted to ride it without him. if i do i'll probably want to do the 64 miles, so lemme do some research and check it out. i'll let you know.

Hi - I just spotted this thread! I'm on the west side - Greenway Road and 51st Avenue. I usually ride by myself on the canal during the week. Our weekends are full of kid activities and I catch grief from my husband if I go out for a ride on the weekends. I would love to find someone who rides during the week! I tried a ride with a guy from the gym - but DH wasn't too keen on that either!

I bought my bike from Landis at Indian School - a Trek WSD 5000 - they had the best prices for what I wanted. I was happy with the service there. I also like my LBS - Swiss American on Bell & 43rd- but I've been in several times, so they know me for the old woman rider wannabe and are considerate of my feelings. Swiss American has a night ride on Tuesday nights at Bell & 43rd - but it is really fast.

I have a brother in law and a nephew that are heavily into road racing & cyclcross in the Midwest, so I can email them with all my questions.

Is there another get together ride for us TE?

also, anybody know about a Critical Mass ride in Phoenix?
Nancy

Hi FelesRidet!
I often work weekends, so I like to ride during the week. I live way out in Ahwatukee, though.
Will you be doing the Palo Verde Century? I'm undecided because I get done with work so late the night before. If I get up early enough that morning, I might register the day of the ride.

Laurie, I hope to see you at Tucumcori!

Hi All!

I did the Tour de Scottsdale last Sunday and its taken me until today to entertain the thought of doing it again next year. It was really tough for me. That last long hill into DC Ranch just about pushed me over the edge! I had to stop 3 times on that last hill, but I did finish, thank God! This was my first official group ride and the furthest I have ridden.

I plan on riding the PV century. Based upon my ride in TdS on Sunday, I don't know if I will be able to make it 100miles but I will try.

I hope I will get to meet those of you doing the PV ride. Fountain Hills mentioned doing the 50mi loop. I may opt for the 50mi too depending on the wind.

I hope to see you some of you there.

I have started back riding (after broken arm). I plan to do the Palo Verde ride...would be fun to meet some westside riders. I'll be wearing the pink cheetah print helmet, which clashes with whatever else I wear.
amy

Hi folks, I'm back from vacation and wanted to let you know that I haven't done much in about 3 weeks. I went out for a ride on Sunday and really got blown around. So I don't think I will do the 50 mile loop - I need to get some miles under my belt. I'll make my final decision later in the week and if I do decide to go, I'll post it at this site.

Tracy, I talked with Chuck and he appreciated getting together with you do do a ride. He said he got a late start for the TdS but was also able to finish. He said he enjoyed it but struggled on the last hill as well. Thanks for contacting him.

Hello! This is my first time on the forum. I live in the Troon area and have been riding for years but lack the fitness to prove it! Family, work, and my own weakness has allowed too many interruptions. BUT as I can now see age 60 on the horizon I'm determined to ride into the golden years more faithfully. Road biking only. I know some nice rides in this part of the world and hills that are good for building strength without killing you. If anyone would like to connect for a Saturday morning ride some time let me know. I did my first group ride in the Teton Valley in August. Managed to average about 15 mph and 1 hill of about 6% grade. After that one ... a knee refused to tackle any more so I'm working on strengthening. I've been off the bike since then, just now getting on again so think probably 30-40 miles is my current goal.

BTW, on your discussion of bike shops. I bought my Trek at Bicycle Ranch and understand the negatives. The younger guys there are really not girl-friendly. It's important to work with the right person. Parek is the co-owner/manager and he's great. Rides with Lance Armstrong...his knowledge is very valuable. I've gone back to Chris for some fine tuning on the fit and the guys in the repair dept. treat me great.

Thanks for sharing your experiences here. It's very encouraging!:)

if i get over this cold-thing i got i'll definitely be doing the palo verde century.

tour de scottsdale was a big disappointment - i made a bad decision. after the starting process worked itself out i was ready to start my attack. i normally bridge to a group, ride on for a while then decide to stay or go up to the next group. DH was behind me and for no apparent reason i decided to stay with him for this ride. we have an understanding, that when we're training we stay together but when it's a "race" we do the best we can individually. i thought he'd appreciate me staying with, but actually it just frustrated him. the bummer? i had never felt so strong on climbs! i could've finished in 3 and a half hours easily (or better), but we finished in 4. oh well, my goal is el tour de tucson in under 6.

so i'll look for y'all at the pvnc next sunday! hope the winds cooperate.

sue, did you do the tucson ride? i ended up going to california to help paint my parents' house. DH and i both came home with this cold/flu thing. the wind was amazing in Kern County, it's no wonder the fires can't be stopped.

I should have mentioned I can also ride on some week-days and possibly Sunday. The traffic tends to be worse during the week so I try to start by 6:30 now that it's staying dark later. Would love to connect for some riding in this part of North Scottsdale.

Hi everyone,

I live in Sedona and have been riding a road bike for a little over a year now. Yesterday I felt brave enough to post my first comment on Team Estrogen!

It looks like there are a lot of group rides in the Phoenix area... which unfortunately is a little far for me. Are there still any rides in Flagstaff, or has it gotten too cold? Anyway, I just thought I would speak up and add my name to the list of Northern Arizona girls who like to ride bikes!

- Meredith

Hi Monarch,

Nice to meet you! I, too, live in the Troon area and wanted to make you aware of a group ride that happens early Saturday mornings. It's a breakfast ride up to Carefree and back. We start from Pinnacle Peak Cyclery (in AJ's parking lot) at 6:30 on the dot. Ride is about 15 mph, and Jack, the owner of the bike shop, stays at the back of the group with the slowest riders. Terrific group of people and it's very casual. You might want to call the shop and make sure they're leaving at 6:30 tomorrow. I'll probably be there.

I also ride the Indian Bend Wash trail, which starts at Mustang Library and goes down to Tempe Town Lake. Since most of it is paved bike trail, it's terrific and safe! I'll be out of town for the next couple of weeks but always welcome another rider -perhaps we can connect and set something up.

Cheers!
Michele

Hi Pink Bike: You know, I really appreciate your honest portrayal of tackling things like tour dscottsdale. I'm still at the stage that I find a big race like that intimidating (just for endurance), and your story reminds me that everyone has their own "personal best" they always strive for. Sorry to hear that it didn't go so well - good luck with the next one!

Meredith: Welcome to the site! I'll keep my eyes peeled for any Flagstaff/Sedona info I can find. If I head up that way, I'll contact you for a ride!

Hi ladies!

I just wanted to check in. I signed up for the PV ride. It looks like the weather is going to be nice, not much wind.

Pink Bike will you be there? I saw you go by at the start of the TdS but did not ever get to say hello. That would be because I finished about an hour after you. (4:53).

I will be with my riding buddy, Mike on Sunday. I ride a silver and black Giant OCR3. I am almost 6' tall with reddish hair.

Idak/Amy I will look for the pink cheetah print helmet.
Pink Bike is hard to miss, hope you are there Laurie.

F/H sorry you won't be riding on Sunday. Lets plan on riding next week end. Give me a call.

Tracy

michele, i was scared to death on my first "real" ride, the tour de phoenix a couple years ago. i didnt know if i could even finish. i went by myself. i did the shorter version, rode within my capabilities, finished it, and it was just awesome! you should just decide which one you want to try for your first and go for it! el tour de tucson is in november and has lots of different distances to ride.

tracy, already got the registration and check filled out for palo verde, we'll try to go off right at 8, but we both still have a little tickle in our throats and are hoping another day will be enough to recuperate from this bug.

Hi Laurie,

I did the metric option at Tumacacori and it was a great ride. Fabulous support and great weather.

I just returned from a terribly long four day trip. We were in Santa Ana on the 24th, and I took a camera to get pics of the fires, but the smoke was so thick you couldn't see anything. Everyone on the ramp had smoke masks on. What a disaster.

Hope you all have a great Palo Verde ride!

CactusFlower, if I get a Saturday off, I'd love to come up to do that Carefree ride!

Sue

PinkBike: Thanks so much for the encouragement! I'm on the road with biz travel WAY too much these days, but I'm making a century ride a goal for early 2008. I know I can do it, and may even cross paths with you as you whiz by me. :-)

By the way - had my very first flat yesterday on the group ride - the REAR wheel!! But I fixed it - not in record time, but just felt proud of the accomplishment. I was amazed at the number of female riders who rode by and asked if I needed help.

Monarch - We'd love to have you on the breakfast ride to Carefree. Absolutely no need to feel intimidated. There are NO drops in this ride - as Jack, our leaders says, "I just wanna ride, not race." The ride now starts at 7am on Saturdays.

Sue - we'd love to have you, too!! Yesterday, we did a few extra miles around Legend Trail which is beautiful.

I hear that McDowell Mountain Park (out by Rio Verde) is just completing a bike path - it's paved (rough asphalt) but I guess it will be really nice. I think I'm going to have to buy a mountain bike!!

Cheers,
Michele

The Carefree ride sounds great Cactus Flower. I like to ride from my house up to and around Legend Trail. I just discovered the knee that balked at the hills in the Teton Valley in August is definitely not happy. It feels like a torn meniscus ... I sure hope not! Anyway, I'm going to stick to level routes for about a month and just see if movement without straining it will clear things up. I'll be riding the city bike trail 2-3 times a week if you want to connect there.

Hi guys, I just took a look at the site and it's great to see so many folks. Just a heads up to everyone. I went out to ride the McDowell Mountain Road route this past Sunday- which was just referenced by Catus Flower - and the road is currently closed to non-motorized traffic. That surprised me but also made sense. With the cuts in the shoulder and a drop of about 4 inches, riders are almost in the middle of the road and I guess the County decided to close it for a while.

I wanted to let you all know so you don't plan a ride out here only to be disappointed. Obviously McDowell Mountain Park is still open for the mountain bikers.

Just an FYI for those of you who do ride out in this neck of the woods. Since I couldn't ride between Fountain Hills and Rio Verde, I went through the Fort McDowell Indian Community. The roads are nice and there's very little traffic so if you want to extend a ride, that's a nice way to do it.

Tracy, I'd love to ride this weekend but it needs to be Sunday. Now that the cooler weather is here, The Fountain Hills McDowell Mountain Conservancy is back building hiking trails in our part of the McDowell Mountains (we don't have the money Scottsdale does - we build our own trails with volunteers - Scottsdale hires the trail builders). I try to go every other Saturday and this Saturday is it. This Saturday we are widening one of the trails for future mountain bikers (mountain bikers are not currently allowed on our trails).

If you can go on Sunday, let me know. Since the McDowell Mountain Road is closed, maybe I can come to you. Let me know if Sunday will work for you. If it works for others, just let us know.

How did things go in the PV? I'm really interested in hearing - I'm guessing it was windy. I hope you had a good ride.

palo verde was good, well, until we turned around to come back. into the wind!! 1st 50 miles < 3 hours, last 50 miles close to 4 hours!

didnt do my sore throat any good either, but since we're registered for the silverbell century in tucson this coming weekend i'm talking it easy til then.

bed rest these last 2 days and i'm hoping for the best! anybody else doing the silverbell? it's a great warmup for el tour de tucson two weeks later. el tour's the granddaddy - more than 10,000 riders expected - cant wait!

FH: Thanks for the update on the McDowell bike path. I had heard about it but not been out there myself. If I hear of an update, I'll let everyone know.

Monarch: I'm heading out of town on business this week, but when I return, will catch up with you about riding on level terrain/city bike paths. Would be fun!

Have a great week, everyone!

Michele

McDowell Moutain Road Update: the bike path is open!!!! and they have taken down the sign that says No non-motorized vehicles. I rode on it earlier this week and it is very nice. All of the rumbles are gone. I'm not sure it is wide enough to ride side by side but a big improvement safety wise. Also the striping is not yet done.

I hope some of you take the time to enjoy it. If you do try it this weekend of the 9th, 10th and 11th, please be aware that the Ftn Hills Arts and Crafts Fair is this weekend. Don't go near Saguaro Blvd. You'll lose too much riding time.

That is good news about the bike lane. I think it is a great ride. I hope to get out to try it with you next weekend. I will give you a call next week.

I did the Palo Verde ride a few weeks ago. Only 50mile loop, it just to windy for anything more! It was a nice ride.

Hi folks, I wanted to let you know of another place to ride that I hadn't tried before. Yesterday I went on the multi-use path in Scottsdale. I started out near the hospital on Shea and the 101 and went 10 miles south to below McDowell. It was nice ride and the best part about it is the few road crossings that you do. In the 10 miles, I remember just 3 red light and 3 road crossings.

It isn't challenging, from a hill perspective, but just right if you want to get in an easy ride and don't want to have to stop for a lot of red lights.

On the way back, at one of the red lights, I met a Bicycle owner who regularly rides from his shop on Scottsdale and Curry to his home in Scottsdale ranch. He said the path goes all the way down to ASU.

I decided to try it after a work colleague of mine, who has won a gold medal in the team trial, in the Senior Olympics, told me I might need to keep my heart rate a lot lower than I have been to really improve.

So if you are interested here is a link that might be of interest. One is showing the Scottsdale multi-path route and the other is to the article that was sent to me by my colleague.

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/traffic/.../PrintMaps.asp

Have a great Thanksgiving - hope each of you gets lots of riding in this weekend.