riding into the heat of july

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Yes, I do feel the need to keep up, and since the ride was listed to be a certain way, and it wasn't, I can get quite negative in an instant.

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This is me. I can usually keep up when I want to, but there are times I just want a nice bike ride. Sometimes I ride to lunch with work colleagues, and one of them has gotten to be a very fast rider. We're riding on a rail-trail with lots of runners/stop signs etc. and he just won't slow down. He'll try, but he just can't help but be pushing the pace. And I can't help but keep up and then at the end I've decided I didn't like the ride anyway. And why in the world would I want to get sweaty at lunch and take the time to shower, etc. if I'm not enjoying it? So I've been avoiding that ride... If I complain about the pace I'll hear "yes, but you were keeping up so I presumed it was ok." I just need to find a way to be more vocal that doesn't make me feel like I'm admitting failure or weakness.

Our first ride on our vacation was 28 miles of a ride we used to do in the opposite direction. Beautiful and quite hilly, despite only 1,479 ft of climbing. It was warm, but not terrible. Came back and had rum swizzle a by the pool and now off to dinner at a farm to table place for our friend's birthday.
Going to do a short flatter ride tomorrow. There's storms coming in the afternoon.

Yesterday was our last ride in Jackson County, MN, as we have moved farther north in the state now. The wind was blowing hard again, 20 mph sustained from the south, so we chose to do an east-west out and back route. Mostly flat to very lightly rolling along a lovely, smooth county road, so even with a cross wind the entire way, it made for a pretty fast and fun ride. Only negative were the aggressive Red-Winged Blackbirds dive-bombing and squawking at us in various places along the route. Kinda scary! We experienced this back in 2014 when we rode some trails in the upper midwest in June. They get very territorial during nesting season.

Tomorrow we'll be riding part of the Lake Wobegon Trail. We rode a bit of it in 2014 as well, and it was nice, so I am looking forward to it and hoping there aren't too many blackbirds along the way. High is supposed to be in the low 90s with oppressive humidity, so I am not thrilled with that, so at least it will be mostly flat, but sunny. Ugh.

NWG, that's interesting about many MTB manufacturers moving away from 26-ers. Like all other bicycle fads, there's a good chance that things will swing back to smaller wheels eventually, but in the meantime, this makes it harder to find a bike with that wheel size. Have you thought about looking for a used one on ebay? I was lucky enough to buy my wonderful Jamis from Catrin here a few years ago -- a fullie, which was what I wanted, 26" wheels, and fits me perfectly. I will not let it go, especially since 26-ers are getting harder to find!

Emily, yes, I will be looking for used if need be and I suspect you're right about about that size coming back. Probably some good deals out there, right now on 26s, what with all the marketing folks pushing people to buy the bigger wheels sizes

Went to the same technical single track trail that I rode with the 29er, yesterday, but this time with the 26 and I just can't deny the results. Third time I've done this test with both bikes, just to be sure, but results always the same. The 26 climbs better for me because I can accelerate, quickly and instantly, just enough to get me over some steep climbs that had me stalled out with the 29er. The 29er is a better bike for some trails and uses, but I need time to work up some momentum with it to get me over the steep humps. Just not a luxury I have on this single track with all its sharp twists and turns. Also, can make turns with the 26 that I just can't make with the 29.

On the other hand, in this same area, we have some loose gravel and deep sand trails and the 29er plus Trek is a MUCH better bike for that kind of trail and the fat bike even better. This stuff just swallows the 26.

I might see if I can try a 27.5 on this route for comparison.

Well, the forecast lied -- happily. We had pretty big showers around 3 a.m. and it was just plain pleasant, which was good 'cause I didn't get out the door 'til after 9:30. I'd figured I might just do 9 miles but ... ended up with 28, changing the route to avoid the crop spraying... going by people working on roofs and the likes made me really glad it was taking its time to warm up... i'ts 84 now at 12:18 so I suspect we won't get to 91 after all, which is adjusted down already.
Just like last Friday, but a different person -- somebody was out *undoing* my loop! We went by each other twice on the four mile grid :) Since it was abou ttwo miles apart, we were goin' about the same speed... I prefer clockwise 'cause it's right turns.
Love my Fridays off, tho' ... I'm going to do some work related stuff...

Our ride today was only 21.5 miles and was hot and humid. Beautiful, with a 5 mile hill in the middle. It was shady, though.
Went out to lunch and to the Norman Rockwell Museum. It was 95 in downtown Great Barrington today ...

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Our ride today was only 21.5 miles and was hot and humid. Beautiful, with a 5 mile hill in the middle. It was shady, though.
Went out to lunch and to the Norman Rockwell Museum. It was 95 in downtown Great Barrington today ...

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Sounds like a nice ride Crankin, and the shade certainly helped a lot. I remember enjoying riding in very high temps for some odd reason, your post reminded me of that. How did you like the museum visit?

I remember the Norman Rockwell museum from a visit many years ago.

I did my weekly hill ride on Wednesday after work. It was hot but the least hot day in a string of 90+ days with hotter more humid days about to hit. And starting around 7 pm means I don't have to deal with the sun, so overall it wasn't bad. The ride was uneventful except I was trying to listen to a baseball game on my phone (the summer college league where my nephew is an intern) and they were having technical problems so I had to keep stopping to refresh the page.

Planning now for a ride on Sunday with very hot weather expected and not many shady trees along the route. Starting early, bringing extra water and will plan to be proactive and stop a few times when we do encounter some shade rather than waiting until the heat gets to me but there's no shade in sight.

Hottest day of the year, so far, at 90 degrees. This is typically a once or twice temp for us during the summer and some summers we don't make it to 90, at all. Still, with the humidity, I decided to play it safe and go back into the deep, dark woods for some mountain biking, rather than be out in the hot sun on the pavement. Not the greatest strategy, though, given the way it's all uphill and downhill in my MTB area. Even after drinking plenty fluids, I was getting a bit light headed, so called it quits, early, and rode back home. Might have been better to ride one of my more level road bike loops. Oh, well.

The museum was excellent. This was the third time I've been there, once to this site and once when it was in downtown Stockbridge. The grounds are exquisite.

Ok, I completed the entire 41 mile ride today, despite including a 2 mile climb up Lenox Mountain (it's not that bad if you are goi g between 5 and 9 mph). And despite waking up with what may be a UTI or just a yeast infection, plus a stomach that is not quite right, either (too much of a black bean burger). Anyway, this ride is hilly the whole way, with about 2,500 ft of climbing. The first half, including the climb is shady and it was't too hot. It's less humid today. Had a nice lunch in Stockbridge, but with 15 miles to go, it was about 90 out and very little shade. DH was tired, too, so we rode as fast as we could back to the inn. More climbing that I always forget!
Sat by the pool to recover and now heading out to CVS to see if I can make myself feel better. Then later off to Lenox for good food.
We may not ride tomorrow. Will see in the AM.

41 miles in this heat? I think you did great! Hope your stomach improves quickly!

Thanks, Catrin. The lack of humidity helped. I drank 2 bottles of Skratch, a little water, plus some lemon carbonated water at lunch.
I could not have done this yesterday, it was hotter, with high humidity.

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Thanks, Catrin. The lack of humidity helped. I drank 2 bottles of Skratch, a little water, plus some lemon carbonated water at lunch.
I could not have done this yesterday, it was hotter, with high humidity.

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I hope our humidity isn't headed your way - it's been horrible here. Good you got the long ride in today in case it comes tomorrow.

Yes, 41 miles in this heat is excellent, Crankin! Hope you are feeling much better.

We did 35 on the Lake Wobegon Trail yesterday in the 90-degree heat. We needed to do laundry in the morning so didn't get out until after lunch -- ouch. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves, just a couple single riders and one poor guy hiking in the blazing sun and heat. Ouch!

It's a very pretty trail we'd done a little of, before we had to turn back due to rain, in 2014 when we visited Minnesota. Now we'll hopefully get to do the entire thing before leaving this spot. I must say it's nice to ride in flatter country again after Missouri and Iowa hills!

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