8 July Rides

So those West Coast Wenches can't accuse us East Coasters of slacking off, I will start today's thread. Got in a 43miler, starting before sunrise, today. My legs were tired, but I was still pretty spunky on the hills. Must have been the magic from my pink Luna Eclipse--such a lovely bike. Anyway, saw three foxes. The heat and humidity that's descended on us must be making them antsy.

When I got home, I took my new Seven Alaris for a test ride around the 'hood. The bike is the perfect addition to the stable.

Got home in time to lift weights before watching Phil's favorite, Robbie, win today's stage of the TDF! What a finish!!! My new crush, Fabian, gets to keep the yellow, too.

No slacking off today for this East Coaster, either.
DH and I did the shop ride with our LBS. We had to detour, as Tiger Woods and some golf thing are in town. Our usual route goes by the golf course where they are at, and the road was clogged with tour buses.
DH had me ride with the "B" group today. He promised to hang with me if I fell off the back, but I think I did okay. We were doing 25+ on Clara Barton - :eek: - I think....I was too focused on the wheel in front of me to look at my Garmin! ;) I'll go by what others tell me.
Other than falling off the back on the hills (as usual), I think I did okay with the group. Ended up with a new p.r., too....32.75 miles at a 18.8 mph!
I told my friend, Art, and he commented...."Better living through chemistry!" Yeah, I was on the juice...my epidural seems to be working...no pain on the ride! Yayyy!!!

Well, it looks like those of us in the DC area are tearing up the roads today! I did 62 miles out at the Agricultural Research Center/Wildlife Refuge, my longest ride so far this year and my last road ride before Cycle Across Maryland next weekend. I'm hoping to do a century next Saturday, but if it's as hot as it is today, and if it's as windy as it got after about mile 45, I may have to stick with the metric.

I joined the club for a 60 mile ride from Louisville to Eminence - beautiful roads and scenery once we got out of the city. My legs felt great and I was able to hang with the "middle group" that quickly formed. It was a fast ride to Eminence and the whole time I'm thinking "this can't be real, I'm flying!" We stopped in Eminence at the "Chat-n-Nibble" for lunch and I enjoyed a wonderful country ham sandwich and the company of the group. Back on our bikes and off we went passing a large draft horse in a pasture, a beautiful field of sunflowers all in bloom and some great looking fields of corn, a hawk circling above us and a vulture enjoying a meal ahead of us. Up and down the hills we flew enjoying our bikes and the company of the cozy little group that had formed. The ride ended up being 56.5 miles and I had an average speed of 17.16 mph - I'll doing a happy dance!

For once, I didn't start the thread:)
since it's now "merely" 90 degrees and I had a meeting i wanted to attend this this PM, I got up early and got on the road at a 7AM. did one of my Favorite loops, out Bonita and back Baseline. I had some spare time, so I climbed up Benson in Upland and came down Campus to Baseline/16th where I pulled in to the parkling lot of Saint Mark's Episcopal.
We have a bulletin board with pics of all the members of our parish. The job of church photographer has changed, and the new guy is an avid cyclist. I keep trying to get him and his wife out on their tandem at the club ride. Hey, my own post went OT!:o Anyway, Don wanted to replace my Pic with one of moi in biking regalia. so I posed, The only thing was we did inside and I thought afterwards we should have done one by the church sign.
I had some extra time, so I took the long way home. Almost stopped by the Coffee shop that's our "HQ" to see if any of the biking "Heathens" we hanging out but I didn't. Came up with about 35 miles

Ahhhh, sprinklers! I rode by a vineyard today and they had their aerial rainbirds going. They were doing a great job of watering the road, so I took advantage of it and circled around several times until I was quite wet. Next was a 2 mile downhill stretch. What a great cool down! :p

It was just a typical solo training ride for me today. 21.6 miles, pretty uneventful. I passed three other cyclists on an uphill and I was kind of excited about that.

Since I spent all morning at the vet hospital getting my cat looked at, by the time we came home, read the paper, ate lunch, it was hot and humid, so i decided that the 16 mile loop would be fine. It was. We passed another couple who seemed to be going a bit faster than us, but I guess they weren't! I was able to stay in the big ring and keep my speed over 18 the whole way on the back side of the loop on Lowell Rd. My average was just over 16 until I began the climb up my street, so I ended up with 15.6, I think.
I just finished doing about another 1.5 tons of rocks for the landscaping. It started pouring, so I decided it was time to come in.

We did 54 miles combining two short loops we do. There is a lot of hills and we had a head wind on one of the hilly roads. I impressed myself by only needing my little ring for the toughest climb! It was pretty hot today but the wind made it feel cooler. The sweat was at least evaporating fast. :cool: I ended with an average speed of 15.2 which suited me fine since we did a climbing ride yesterday and had the hills and headwind today. I saw a roadrunner and tons of butterflies. Made me think of LBTC. :)

26 mile TE ride on the Waterford.
10 mile hilly ride on the Surly.

I'm utterly pooped. Having a post-ride snack (crackers, cheese, pickled herring, beer). Then I'm taking a nap.

Everyone's rides sound so lovely today!! :p :p

DH and I had a nice pleasant 20 mile ride this morning too. It was 90 degrees but there was a breeze and shade here and there under the trees.

I set a new speed record for myself (previous was 39mph)- I finally hit 40.1 mph on a descent. :p :p :p
Woo-HOOOOOOO! The best part was that I felt in control and wasn't scared at all this time. Big difference from past times at 35mph when I was usually pretty nervous. ;) This particular hill is long and smooth with very good visibility, so it's a good one for speed.
First we have to "earn" it by slowly climbing a couple miles of rough gravel hill through beautiful farmland in the blasting sun. Then we get to the top and the dirt road ends in a T and we can ZOOM down the smooth asphalt road towards another village.

18 miles on road bike today. It was around 85°F for my ride. I rode from home towards downtown. Overall I was pleased with my efforts, especially since I was riding a new saddle! A Selle San Marco Aspide. I like it!

Also rode 12 miles on mountain bike yesterday. I'm ready for a nap now. :D

Took another venture into southern New Hampshire but decided to turn around as storm clouds swirled above me and the wind kicked in a bit. This time I at least brought a jacket. Started to pedal back home as far as I could until the rains and some lightening started. Darn, I got stranded at the roadside ice cream joint for about a half hour while I waited to see how violent the rains would get. :D Logged 38 miles.

Another east coast non-slacker here ;) I had an awesome late-day ride on the C&O Canal today. Drove out to Shepherdstown, WV, for lunch of fritatta and English muffins at Sharazade's Tea Room, then crossed back over the river to get on the C&O at about 4:00pm.

I had planned to duplicate the 65rpm/13mph pace of last week's ride since I felt so comfortable at that combo, but I quickly settled into a faster rythm of 75-85rpm/15-17mph over the dirt, gravel and tree roots of the towpath.

Headed upstream all the way to the Big Slackwater area, at which the canal used to let out into a smooth section of the Potomac River to bypass some cliffs along the Md shore. As a result, there's a detour onto nearby roads to get back onto the towpath farther upstream. Well, I rode as far as the stop sign warning of the detour, and noticed that fishermen/hikers/etc had worn a nice little singletrack trail along the river's edge beyond the detour. And of course I had to ride it :D After about .5 lumpy, bumpy miles of parched dirt and one spot where I had to shoulder the bike to climb over a fallen tree, I got to the fence blocking the other end of the detour and had to turn around.

The 15 miles back towards Shepherdstown were blissful. It was late enough in the day that most folks were heading home, so I saw very few people. This is the kind of ride I love the most: just me and the bike, the river and the trees, with mental processes reduced to nothing but the perceptions of my five senses as I push myself just hard enough.

I got back to the car with just over 30 miles on my computer and cranked the stereo for the drive home through the Frederick County countryside. After a shower to wash away the sweat and grit, in the words of Lillie Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles, "I feel wefweshed!" :p

First time on the bike in a month, again.

A beautiful PNW day here. Saw bald eagles, herons, river otters, AND KnottedYet---what a deal! Did just a 28 mile, pretty flat tandem ride with spouse, with short steep hill thrown in. Am totally fried and have been ever since. But had a great ride.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by salsabike

First time on the bike in a month, again.

A beautiful PNW day here. Saw bald eagles, herons, river otters, AND KnottedYet---what a deal! Did just a 28 mile, pretty flat tandem ride with spouse, with short steep hill thrown in. Am totally fried and have been ever since. But had a great ride.

---

There was a beautiful day here in the PNW somewhere?!? *Sigh* I'm glad you had a great day! Nothing but gray, cold wind, and spitting rain over here. :mad:

No ride for me today...still recovering from Friday...had an extra nap! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mudmucker

Took another venture into southern New Hampshire but decided to turn around as storm clouds swirled above me and the wind kicked in a bit. This time I at least brought a jacket. Started to pedal back home as far as I could until the rains and some lightening started. Darn, I got stranded at the roadside ice cream joint for about a half hour while I waited to see how violent the rains would get. :D Logged 38 miles.

---

Hey! Do you ride a specialized and were you chatting to a guy with a motorcycle at the ice cream stand? We were riding in that area today, and saw a woman with a yellow jacket leaving after the rain had stopped. We stopped at the ice cream place *after* our ride leaving from Lake Dennison. We had already ridden by the ice cream place during the downpour to get back to the car, but we decided we wanted to go for some quick food after our ride!

How ironic, if it is you! We were the two grubby cyclists sitting on the back of a Honda Element hatch.

And oh yeah our ride, hmm from Lake D to Cathedral of the Pines, back along Mononomoc lake etc. Was a blast, even in the rain. Thankfully the rain came at the end!

Today was a big ride for me. It was my first club ride at the "M" level (one level up from what I've been riding in the past). There were going to be some significant climbs so I was kind of nervous beforehand.

But bottom line, I kept up!! It was a huge confidence boost for me. :cool:

We started near Natural Bridges park near the north end of Santa Cruz, headed up to Empire Grade, up EG to Ice Cream Grade (no ice cream, alas), turned around and back down some of EG to Smith Grade, SG to Bonny Doon, down Bonny Doon (40+ mph descent, whee!) to Highway 1, North on Highway 1 to a bakery in Davenport. (These people have their priorities intact.)

After Davenport, the group decided to skip the "junk miles" :rolleyes: up Hiway 1 to the Pigeon Pt Lighthouse and instead go directly up Swanton Rd. Swanton was a big U so we wound up back on Hiway 1, headed south past Davenport, then UP Bonny Doon (of the aforementioned 40+ mph descent, lots of 10% to 12%+ gradient). From Bonny Doon, we took Pine Flat to Martin to Ice Cream Grade (crappy descent on that, I'm suprised I didn't lose a filling or two), and a very fun descent back down Empire Grade back to the start.

It ended up being about 56 miles and nearly 6000 feet of climbing, with plenty of steep gradients. My overall speed was about 11.6 mph (with some parts close to 40 mph, and lots more at 4 mph or less :D ) and I'm pleased as punch with that.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...f/080707-1.jpg

It was a great ride, with a very nice bunch of people. They made me feel very welcome. And I felt great at the end. I'm so happy I went on this ride !

My dh and I rode 50 miles today. We enjoyed seeing big fields of corn, wheat, oats and sunflowers. It's always a treat to watch the buffalo run along sides us in their pasture. We started after church with temps in the low 90's and had a nice crosswind (not windy enough to push your around but a challenge) until our turn around point where we hit the truck stop for soup and malts. Nice to have company for a ride.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tygab

Hey! Do you ride a specialized and were you chatting to a guy with a motorcycle at the ice cream stand? We were riding in that area today, and saw a woman with a yellow jacket leaving after the rain had stopped. We stopped at the ice cream place *after* our ride leaving from Lake Dennison. We had already ridden by the ice cream place during the downpour to get back to the car, but we decided we wanted to go for some quick food after our ride!

How ironic, if it is you! We were the two grubby cyclists sitting on the back of a Honda Element hatch.

And oh yeah our ride, hmm from Lake D to Cathedral of the Pines, back along Mononomoc lake etc. Was a blast, even in the rain. Thankfully the rain came at the end!

---

Yes that was me ! That was my SO I was talking to on the ahem, Harley. (He would want this distinguished you see). Wow. Nobody is ever out my way. I stopped at the ice cream place before the rain and I was eating a root beer float at a table outside. Interestingly, because I rarely see any other cyclists where I am noted that there were 2 cyclists (the 5th and 6th cyclist I've seen this season) heading south towards Dennison. The bikes looked like they were like a silver color, couldn't get the make. The riders I think had white/light shirts. I particularly noted that there was a female cyclist - something I never see around here. About 5 minutes before you I actually saw a guy go by on a time trial bike, all yellow (4th cyclist). He was decked out in what looked to be LiquiGas colors. That's 3 other cyclists in one day.

I have taken some time off and have been riding every day. I got caught in rain 3 times, some with more violent winds and lightening. I was getting tired of getting caught in the rain and having my prescription glasses fog up so I waited. At least this rain was more gentle and it was warmer because of the lack of a severe draft. When you passed the ice cream place it hadn't started raining but started seconds/minutes afterwards I think.

The SO was out and about and he met me at the ice cream place. We went inside because he also didn't want to ride in the rain. Already having had the root beer float, I ordered again and (with trepidation) ordered a cheeseburger. Biking and food like that don't really get along with me. When you saw us talking I was probably remarking on the fact that if he passes me and doesn't see me, I'm probably off in the woods heaving because we left about 5 minutes after we finished the food. All was fine and I just rode a little slower. At that point, I am only about 8 miles from the house.

I do recall seeing two people eating ice cream on the tailgate of a whitish vehicle in the front with the whitish/light shirts but didn't make a connection because I don't recall seeing the bikes. However, I did not note that they/you were grubby by any means. How about those bleeping portions? A small is huge! I can't eat a small myself, which is why I get the root beer float. They make the ice cream there.

I am interested in what route you took to go to Cathedral of the Pines.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Starfish

There was a beautiful day here in the PNW somewhere?!? *Sigh* I'm glad you had a great day! Nothing but gray, cold wind, and spitting rain over here. :mad:

No ride for me today...still recovering from Friday...had an extra nap! :)

---

Oh, we had a great day in Redmond/Bothell/Kenmore!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...l/IMG_0751.jpg

KnottedYet explains why Frogs are so much better than Looks. That's teigyr and Mr. teigyr with her.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...l/IMG_0752.jpg

Dex joins us for the ride too.

KnottedYet had an appointment, and had to leave before we got to the Velodrome:

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...l/IMG_0771.jpg

Mr. East Hill went for a spin. So did Mr. teigyr, although Mr. EH did not manage to get a good photo of him ( :( ).

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...l/IMG_0767.jpg

Yours truly climbing the wall. Harder than it looks, as the faster one goes the more likely one is to NOT topple over!

Apparently while I was off racing phantoms, some other riders came up to check out the Velodrome action. Most of them were rather reluctant to risk their bikes on the track! I could not persuade them, even after pointing out that I had used this fine ancient specimen, including kickstand! Teigyr has now seen four of my bikes :) .

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...l/IMG_0775.jpg

I managed to flat this time, fortunately right next to a gas station. Unfortunately, even though we had air, and we'd brought the correct replacement tube, I had not brought the box wrench needed because this bike does not have a quick release on the rear wheel. I got to stay at Marymoor and watch people rock climb, while everyone else finished out their ride. Mr. East Hill had to come back with the vehicle for me, but we managed to figure out where the 520 trail is, and we will see about incorporating that into some future ride :D .

East Hill

My house to the Miss River levee, upstream to Ormand Plantation, and back, again. This time only one grainery was off-loading so the grain dust wasn't too bad. All followed by mowing the lawn before it rains, and the TdF is scheduled to replay.

Can't remember the times, but do remember that it was 89F and 65% humidity. That was when I rolled out of the house at 7 am!!

Quote:

---

I am interested in what route you took to go to Cathedral of the Pines.

---

That is so funny! Well your SO actually talked to my husband (he asked if he had a Specialized, which he does). You didn't see the bikes because we put them directly into the Element. And yes, we were both wearing white shirts. But it was definitely raining as we passed the ice cream shop (not too hard tho, then it opened up).

Anyway I will PM you with more info on our route. We might even ride together sometime!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tygab

Anyway I will PM you with more info on our route. We might even ride together sometime!

---

That would be cool. Here' the deal. I commute 500 miles a week so I like leaving the car in the yard for the weekend. I do some gourmet cooking and one way I lure my friends way out here in timbuktu (which isn't too hard) so I don't have to drive, is that I provide lotta fun food and drink. Having a TE person out in my neck of the woods biking is certainly cause for celebration. Some items on previous menus include goat cheese tart with carmelized onions, bloody mary shrimp cocktail, roasted asparagus puff pastry with gruyere cheese, rib roast, popovers, butternut squash soup, asparagus crepes with hollandaise sauce, ribs with dry rub, creme brulee both standard and chocolate (yes I own a torch), chocolate volcano cakes and I do make my own ice cream and sorbet but the ice cream place is great too. I am into making mead (honey wine) but I won't have a next batch ready until October. So yes, we might ride together and I wouldn't mind preparing food because that is fun for me. By the way, the cross country skiing is fabulous out here if you like to do that.

That's a beautiful mixte, East Hill !

Great pics, East Hill!