May 13th ride MOTHER's DAY

Rode 26 miles today on sore tired legs! Rode to Portage Bay Cafe and back in
50 degree cloudy weather with a headwind one way.

Man that was hard. What was fun was complete strangers wishing me happy mother's day :o

Regina, Kalidurga, Kitty (a friend from work), and I did an almost-10 mile mountain bike ride at Rosaryville State Park in Maryland. It was kind of iffy whether we'd be able to ride since we had wild thunderstorms last night, but the park didn't get too much rain and the trail was very rideable.

This was Kalidurga's first time to try her cyclocross bike on singletrack, and it was a success! Lots of swooping ups and downs (mostly in the woods), a couple of stream crossings, great fun.

Top to bottom: Regina, Kalidurga, and Kitty heading across the meadow

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Regina

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Kalidurga

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30 miler today with the hubby. My legs were fried from racing yesterday, so he dusted me...:cool:
But it was a wonderful day to be out. He commented later that we should have ridden longer! I wish I would have known that THEN because I had more fuel in the tank.
Oh well....

Actually, I count the ride described above as my first "real" time on singletrack at all! About 12 years ago, a totally inexperienced ex-boyfriend dragged me out to a local trail that we attempted to ride. After running into a tree while admiring the scenery, I pretty much decided that mtb wasn't for me. I have to thank divingbiker and Regina for changing my mind all these years later!

Today was a great ride. We had gorgeous weather (as you can see from divingbiker's photos) after the previous night's rain, the trail was non-technical, and I was very surprised at how easy the whole thing was. Regina was a great ride leader, stopping just often enough to let the rest of us catch our breath. My 'cross bike handled like a champ over tree roots and the one stream crossing I did. The trail was just damp enough to make me leery of downhills and curves, so I rode the brakes way more than I probably should have, but after a few more rides I should be much more comfortable. I'm definitely looking forward to getting out there again :D

Great ride with KaliDurga, DivingBiker, and her co-worker Kitty.
Happy to be ride "leader" - at least this time I didn't leave my DNA on the trail after a wipeout!
Nice pix, DB.
I'm quite liking this off-road thing. :eek: :cool:
But DH was telling me a bunch of folks were asking about me on the shop ride this a.m. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.. Awww, they missed me! :D

Hubby and I sorta joined the local Sunday Ride today. Our house isalong the route so we decided to do the route and leave directly from our place and figured we see the riders at some point along the way. Sure enough, they caught us about 30 minutes into our ride. Turns out they were stopping and regrouping every once in a while so we just kept on going past the stopping point, and then they'd fly pass us later on, and we'd pass them again at the next stop. We managed to stay with them throughout the whole route so I imagine we would have been able to ride with them if we'd wanted to. It was certainly a challenge for me to do the climbing and those guys just glide up the hills so easily. I only saw two women in that front group (we never did see the slower ones at the end of the pack) and both of them were young and strong so I felt good about being able to stay with them on the flats at least. All in all a good ride - 70km, under 3 hours, 25kmh avg speed, 2500' of climbing. I am bagged, in a good way. :D

40 miles, nice relatively flat bike trail, average 15.9. I'm wiped out...my hilly ride yesterday kind of did me in! I feel a nap coming on.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mothers! I am not a mother, although a friend of mine who is also not a mother thinks that maybe we're another kind of mother. But if I typed what kind of mothers we think we might be, I'm sure my post would get removed! :rolleyes:

I rode the 23.4 mile loop into Framingham, Marlboro, and Sudbury. Temp about 65 with a breeze and clear skies. Averaged 15.6 mph. My eyes are irritated from dust in the air.

I finally did a longer ride with climbing. As Deb said, it was gorgeous here today, but one of those days when it's hard to tell what to wear. Set out with the cycling friends from their house in Acton and rode to Littleton, up Oak Hill (3 miles of climbing), into Harvard Center. Then we rode into Bolton and did the most difficult part of the ride (Vaughn Hill Rd. and Old Bay Rd.). We stopped for lunch at the top of the most difficult climb and ate our sandwiches sitting by an old barn. This road is so beautiful, you actually feel high up; there's only one or two houses and farms on it and you really feel like you are in Vermont. Then it's down and down for about 5-6 miles until we do another more minor climb. I started feeling a little toasted here. My left hamstring was aching at the start, but I kept it under control by really conserving my energy on the Oak Hill climb, not going more than 8-9 and really spinning easy. I felt good on the big climbs, but after 25 miles or so, the last one got me. Steve and I went ahead of our friends, back into Stow, Boxborough, and Acton. We cheated on the route a little to avoid one last small hill by going out on Rt. 111, which is flat.

38.7 miles, 3500 feet of climbing, a couple of spots at 15%
average 14.01. I was going to commute tomorrow, but it's supposed to be near freezing in the morning, so it will be a leisurely afternoon ride after work.

This morning, DH and one of my LRRH training partners and I rode 62 miles. There was a stiff, gusty breeze at various points during the ride. My friend turned this into quite the hammerfest. I just sat on her back wheel and flew! Here are some pics of the ride, which was along the Great Salt Lake. :)

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We're hoping that we'll be ready for the century in 3 weeks!

Alex

What a great Mother's Day ride today. 27 miles with my oldest son and his friend. It was warm, in the 60's, sunny but windy again. I washed the bikes after, cleaned and greased the chains. Looking forward to the next ride.

I don't get it sometimes. I try to get my sleep and nutrition just right before each ride; sometimes the ride is great, others it's a fight all the way. Today and yesterday -for whatever reason- were absolutely wonderful. Rode from downtown Victoria up the Saanich Penninsula to the beautiful town of Sidney, around CYYJ (Victoria International), back down the Penninsula, along the Victoria waterfront, and back to the truck. It was quite windy, but strangely the wind didn't seem to be a factor. The bike was flawless all day. The weather was neither too warm nor too cool. Everyone was actually obeying trail rules. :eek: Vehicles on the highway kept a respectful distance (yet I could still catch a great draft).
Seventy-three enjoyable kilometers on "Geri".

I too had a great biking Mother's Day. :) DH and I did our first all-day-interstate ride. The first time I've ever ridden from home in New York State into another state (Mass.) and back.
Lots of hills going into MA, and it was almost all highway riding. Some parts a bit hairy when the shoulders disappeared and semis blasted past us. But somehow I managed to stay unruffled during it all. I must have dodged about 40 million stones, glass shards, pieces of metal and wood, rusty nails, road kill, branches, you name it, on the shoulders. Really honed my dodging skills. :cool:
I also set a new distance record for myself. My most miles up til now was 42 miles in one ride. Today was 52 miles! :D Funny thing is, I felt better after today's ride than I have after several 40 milers in the past, and actually felt even better than after yesterday's 30 mile ride! Weird. It's pretty good proof to myself that I am getting stronger.
Today's ride was the first of this year's goals for me. :p I am so happy and tired (in a good way), and i look forward to a day off the bike and at my desk working tomorrow. ;)
The weather was absolutely PERFECT. We stopped on the way home to rest for a minute outside a little country store, and some people walked out eating ice cream cones and said "Hey, if you are a mother you can get a free ice cream cone in there!".....so I DID! :p :p

DH got back on the bike after 55 days off due to rotator cuff surgery. yoohoo!!

we did the 35 mile church commute today in 103 degree heat with some winds.

yesterday i did the south mountain time time trial, 5.5 miles up the mountain to the towers. it was killer, i've only been up there once but not all the way. the last 1/2 K was steeeeeeeep. DH rode with me out there and did some warm up riding with me so he's jumping right back into it.

i've missed him riding, the ride today was one of those relaxed side-by-side-just-talking kinda rides, we rarely do that, seems like we're always pushing it. this was nice.

I am so happy to be able to read everyone's posts about their rides!

We are getting all the smoke from north florida all the way down here in south florida, and I have asthma- so no cycling for me this week:-( So i then decided to ship my bike out to albuquerque(since I am moving tuesday) then instead of right before I leave on monday. So I haven't had access to my bike all week- keep posting girls! I like reading about your rides, helps me pretend I was out there.

I set out this afternoon to ride the route I plan to use for Friday's club ride. I also took the opportunity to stop and mark the various turns along the way. However, I found myself fighting a head wind and my legs started talking to me very early in the ride. I rode 243 miles this week and I guess they, my legs, were simply trying to tell me they need a break. At the 15 mile mark I decided to turn back for home with the hopes that I would get to enjoy a nice tail wind. I did get most of the route marked and will drive the unmarked portion tomorrow after school. I think I'll stay off the bike for the next couple of days so that my legs can recover for I hope to ride a century on Sunday. In the end today I managed to complete 31 miles.

Today Lee & I went from home across the Dumbarton bridge, through Menlo Park & Atherton up to Woodside. We then took Whiskey Hill to Sand Hill & Portola Rd., then I turned right and went up Alpine Road & headed back. Lee opted out of the climb & headed down Alpine directly.

We met up at the Chain Reaction on Foothill in Los Altos a bit after 1, just in time to see Tracy walking into the Carvell Ice Cream shop with her boys. Mmmm, soft serve. :) We chatted for a bit while enjoying our ice cream, and soon a friend from bikeforums showed up whom we had yet to meet in person, so that was fun to finally meet him. We chatted some more, during which time five-one, and PABadger and her roomate, all showed up. Tracy was going to see her sister, the others were going to head out on their rides, and Lee and I were going to head for home, so we bid our goodbyes to everyone and set out.

Lee and I headed for home along Casto St. in Mtn View and thru Shorline Park. By then the bay wind had really whipped up! I was still feeling really good, but Lee's allergies were starting to wear him down, so I was able to pull him most of the way home. Since he used to have to pull me all the time, I'm glad to be able to return the favor once in a while ! It was about 68 miles.

I'm really happy with how good I felt today, & how I had no problem attacking the hills - OK, they weren't that steep, but still ;) or riding into the wind. This is the best I've felt since before the headcold from hell.

Kind of makes my crazy Solvang Autumn Double idea on the weekend of my, um, 38th birthday :rolleyes: yeah that's it seem a leetle less crazy.

We ended up cutting our ride short at just under 20 miles. DH had ridden a hard one yesterday with lots of climbing. I had stayed in yesterday with allergies. The wind in our area was terrible Saturday.

We decided Tracy's route would have been too much for DH after yesterday's tough ride, so after briefly saying hello to her, Jobob, Leebob, PABadger and her friends, we took off north figuring to ride Foothill Blvd. to Alpine and do the Portola Loop. I got a flat about three miles out (stem came loose - a first for me), but I changed out the tube in record time. Crank Bros. Speed Lever rocks!! Even when DH is with me, I change my own flats. By the time we got close to Alpine, DH knew Portola Loop wasn't in the stars, so we just turned around and came back. Not the best ride, not the worst. We sometimes do this same out and back on Friday evenings after work through the summer. There's often a great tailwind on the return trip and it's fun to fly down the road. And with any luck, you don't hit too many red lights along the way.

Tracy, it's a shame things didn't turn out quite as planned, but thanks for organizing the ride. Maybe next time you're in the area we can all try again.

Well, after biking over to Chain Reaction from home (with a minor detour as we almost went to the wrong bike shop), my roommate Amie and I chatted with Jo, Lee, Tracy and Five one for a bit, then as everyone went their seperate ways Amie, Lindsey (another friend of ours) and I decided to do the loop that Tracy suggested. All was going well, and we really enjoyed Stevens Canyon and Mt. Eden road....then we missed a couple of turns and got a little lost, finding some additional hills and dead ends before finally finding McClellen Rd, and getting back home. All said and done it was 42 miles for Amie and I, a bit less for Lindsey since she drove from home, with ~2500ft. of climbing. A fun ride though, and I felt really good for the whole thing, so that was good!

Here is the link to the route info from my GPS, you can see our wrong turns :rolleyes: We got a nice, unexpected downhill out of it, but of course we had to climb it first....
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2723036

Thanks for organizing Tracy, even if it didn't work out as expected... I probably never would have found this route otherwise, and there were some nice roads.