Rides - Sunday, June 20th

I am sure that I wasn't the only one out today, so will start.

I wanted to ride at least 28 miles today but have been having saddle issues as my rides have increased in distance and it was HOT today. I did not change my goal, but promised myself that I would listen to my body. While I want to increase my "long ride" by 10-15% a week - it won't speed things along if I wind up with heat exhaustion or a heat stroke. It was bad enough that I started at 3:00 in the afternoon!

It did not feel quite as hot as the numbers said, but it was certainly humid. I experimented with Accelerade since it was so hot, and made sure that I drank from my Camelbak often - and stopped in what shade I could find every 30 minutes or so to have some Accelerade and had a little bite or two of a Cliff bar every other stop. The Accelerade is more strongly flavored than I generally prefer, but not very sweet and my body seemed to like it just fine :D It was a sample, and I think that I need to use it during the hot weather - especially for my longer rides.

After 21 miles my stomach started to get a little unsettled, and it seemed prudent to take a shortcut to my car - I suspect that I was not drinking as often as I THOUGHT I was... I drank about 75% of the water in my 50-ounce Camelbak - and I did drink all of the Accelerade - so I think I probably did drink enough though perhaps should have drank water more frequently and taken smaller sips. I do not think it was the Accelerade upsetting my stomach but being out in the heat for 2 hours.

Even with the heat I really enjoyed my ride. Saw a few hawks flying, and I pretty much had the country roads to myself :) Fun to watch the corn zoom up.

Oh yes, much to my surprise, my average speed zoomed to 12.6 - apparently the heat and humidity are good for me! :p

Today was a short recovery ride after a hilly, hammerfest with DH yesterday. It is supposed to be hot here today also--an estimated 105 index, so I got out early and chose the shady cover of the Katy Trail. I was out early enough to get a smoothie at my turn-around before the crowds started. Missouri River is still high.

It made me smile to see all the bikes headed out on the back of cars, despite Father's Day and the high temp forecast.

50 miles on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. Very hard but lots of fun. Will post pics in the thread I started about this ride in the mid-atlantic forum.

11 miles to yoga class and back. Dragged my poor partner along; we were sore after yesterday's 30+. ;) Good day to ride; overcast and the east wind on the lake wasn't nearly as strong as usual. Lots of happy Madisonians out and about! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Catrin

I am sure that I wasn't the only one out today, so will start.

I wanted to ride at least 28 miles today but have been having saddle issues as my rides have increased in distance and it was HOT today. I did not change my goal, but promised myself that I would listen to my body. While I want to increase my "long ride" by 10-15% a week - it won't speed things along if I wind up with heat exhaustion or a heat stroke. It was bad enough that I started at 3:00 in the afternoon!

It did not feel quite as hot as the numbers said, but it was certainly humid. I experimented with Accelerade since it was so hot, and made sure that I drank from my Camelbak often - and stopped in what shade I could find every 30 minutes or so to have some Accelerade and had a little bite or two of a Cliff bar every other stop. The Accelerade is more strongly flavored than I generally prefer, but not very sweet and my body seemed to like it just fine :D It was a sample, and I think that I need to use it during the hot weather - especially for my longer rides.

After 21 miles my stomach started to get a little unsettled, and it seemed prudent to take a shortcut to my car - I suspect that I was not drinking as often as I THOUGHT I was... I drank about 75% of the water in my 50-ounce Camelbak - and I did drink all of the Accelerade - so I think I probably did drink enough though perhaps should have drank water more frequently and taken smaller sips. I do not think it was the Accelerade upsetting my stomach but being out in the heat for 2 hours.

Even with the heat I really enjoyed my ride. Saw a few hawks flying, and I pretty much had the country roads to myself :) Fun to watch the corn zoom up.

Oh yes, much to my surprise, my average speed zoomed to 12.6 - apparently the heat and humidity are good for me! :p

---

Catrin, have you experimented with something other than Clif Bars during your rides? The first time I ever ate a Clif Bar was on a day like today. Beyond barely choking it down, it just sat like a lump in my stomach. I'm much better off with bananas, raisins, trail mix, and Clif Blocs. There are other bars I can tolerate a bit better (Lara to be exact), but I still find them to be too heavy. I don't honestly eat anything other than bananas on most rides. My stomach tolerates them the best, plus the extra potassium is nice.

Beyond that, have you weighed yourself before and after your rides to see if you're possibly drinking too much or too little? It might give a better idea of what to aim for.

As for my ride today, DH and I still had gardening to do today, so we kept it to 25 miles. It was a nice ride. I just wish it had been longer and cooler. We finally finished our flower gardens though, so that's okay.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by indysteel

Catrin, have you experimented with something other than Clif Bars during your rides? The first time I ever ate a Clif Bar was on a day like today. Beyond barely choking it down, it just sat like a lump in my stomach. I'm much better off with bananas, raisins, trail mix, and Clif Blocs. There are other bars I can tolerate a bit better (Lara to be exact), but I still find them to be too heavy. I don't honestly eat anything other than bananas on most rides. My stomach tolerates them the best, plus the extra potassium is nice.

Beyond that, have you weighed yourself before and after your rides to see if you're possibly drinking too much or too little? It might give a better idea of what to aim for.

As for my ride today, DH and I still had gardening to do today, so we kept it to 25 miles. It was a nice ride. I just wish it had been longer and cooler. We finally finished our flower gardens though, so that's okay.

---

Bananas have certain, side effects, for me that I can't risk on the bike. I will eat one afterwards sometimes though. Clif Blocs are fine, I just don't have any right now :) Haven't tried trail mix yet, will give that a shot. I prefer to have a Cliff bar before my ride (1/2 a bar usually), and then use Clif Blocs if I think I need something during it. Just haven't had time to go shopping.

Good idea about weighing myself, I need to break down and replace my scale...

Glad the gardening got finished!

Rode all over Coyote Hills park, and out to the Dunbarton bridge on the salt-flat d*kes. San Francisco Bay was gorgeous sea-green, and the hills were golden. I was wearing cowboy boots and a miniskirt, which was quite amusing. Trek was dressed in far more socially acceptable attire. ("appropriately," as she calls it.)

Beautiful day, sunny and windy. There was a brilliant sun-dog in one of the clouds overhead. We saw vultures, herons, terns, egrets, gulls, pelicans, and swallows. And those birds with the silly long beaks. And squirrels. And minnows. Lots of very cute minnows.

Trek got sunburned.

Did my first "real" group ride today, 50 miles, and of course I rode with the slower 4-some at the back. I'm learning to ride in traffic, and ride a little closer to other riders. I'm still figuring how to plan food and drink. On the way out I had a bottle of plain water, one with glucose and half a bar. Perfect. But then the group stopped for 1 1/2 hour lunch - I had eggs (gluten/dairy free) but oh, bad choice. and bought apple juice. not good either I really wanted 2 bananas, more water and glucose water and a half hour break, but bananas were nowhere to be found. Can I carry them?? It was a challenge to take a break then gear back up mentally and physically to ride back. Also I like riding early in the morning, by noon my body was hot and wanted to do other things (like lounge...) Overall, a very challenging and pretty ride :)

I've been doing short rides around to get used to the traffic patterns now that I'm living in a new place. 6.17 miles this evening (I'm in my bike clothes right now), with a long (to me)-but-not-steep climb. Traffic was heavier than I would have liked. I also discovered that there's one intersection on my route that has enough interference to make my computer go crazy.

I haven't been feeling great lately, so that climb took it out of me. Not as badly as it did last week, but still. Grape gatorade is still gross, by the way. Has anyone experimented with diluting it?

I rode to church
Video1
Video2

This ride was on Friday, but I am now catching up with my posts after being away for my son's wedding reception.
We brought our bikes to Philly and mapped out 2 routes. We were staying in Chestnut Hill, on the edge of the city, so it didn't seem too hard to get out to good riding.
OK, now I understand when you guys talk about angry drivers and no good places to ride. First, our hotel was on a cobblestone road, with old trolley tracks down the middle. So we plotted out a route through neighborhood streets to get around that. There's 4 way stop signs every block. Traffic lights, too. We got out to a main road where I was buzzed by several cars. I mean, I have ridden on roads busier than this and the cars here were just swerving close to us on purpose and then revving up their engines and speeding off. We finally got off of this road and out to a hilly more country like area. That was good. We saw the country club where the reception was going to be and turned around shortly after. However, we missed a street (the route back was different), so we had to turn around and try to head back the way we came. As we were going up a hill, with a light at a 3 way intersection, DH tried to get in the left turn lane (signaling, etc) and a woman would not let him in. He got really close to her car and raised his fist, as she was *screaming* at him. I guess she decided it wouldn't be a good day for a murder and let both of us go. After that, we actually found a decent way back, went up a really steep climb on a neighborhood street, and got back.
It was the most stressful 15 mile ride I have ever done. The next day, I went for a run. I now really appreciate where I ride at home. I know Boston drivers are notorious for being bad, but what I saw in Philly surpassed anything I have seen here, and not just when I was on the bike.

I have been diluting Gatorade G2 for quite a while....even the grape. I usually do half water, half G2. On these warm days, I fill a 24 oz bottle with ice then pour the G2 over it. YMMV

P2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rain

I really wanted 2 bananas, more water and glucose water and a half hour break, but bananas were nowhere to be found. Can I carry them??

---

Yes! Just put them in your bag or pocket. Or ....

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=15728

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Rode all over Coyote Hills park, and out to the Dunbarton bridge on the salt-flat d*kes. San Francisco Bay was gorgeous sea-green, and the hills were golden. I was wearing cowboy boots and a miniskirt, which was quite amusing. Trek was dressed in far more socially acceptable attire. ("appropriately," as she calls it.)

Beautiful day, sunny and windy. There was a brilliant sun-dog in one of the clouds overhead. We saw vultures, herons, terns, egrets, gulls, pelicans, and swallows. And those birds with the silly long beaks. And squirrels. And minnows. Lots of very cute minnows.

Trek got sunburned.

---

This sounds wonderful! The only wildlife I get to see on my country roads are deer and rodents, along with hawks and other birds. Glad both of you were able to enjoy them!

Sunday recovery ride of 31 miles. This is becoming a weekly ride with a few of my friends. We send texts and put a msg on facebook and it looks like there are at least 4 more people that want to come next time. Saturday (48-60 miles) and Monday (28 mile hammer fest) are some pretty tough group rides from the LBS' and so it's nice to have a tempo recovery ride. :)

I have been test riding some new wheels that take more than 2lbs off my bike. Vroom vrooom. :)

It does seem like every ride there is a dog running out on the road to chase us. I am starting to wonder if I attract them. I do feel better being in the group though when it happens. Most of of the guys are experienced and take charge of the situation.

Rainy ride. Rode about 15 miles including down several hills to get to Pert's Deli in Leschi. THen we rode up Madrona hill to meet our kids for a father's day barbeque in a pocket park. They found one with a shelter which was good since it rained most of the time we were there. Then we rode the rest of the way up Madrona hill and then down MLKway (a really heavily used road) and back up Cheasty. Cheasty is one of two roads leading to beacon hill which are really beautiful. Both of them seem like you are out in the country, birds singing, few cars... but then I noticed my rear tire was flat. Dear old DH changed my tire and we soggily continued up the hill and then home. Must have equipment: wool hat, rain coat, rain pants, booties... (oh, and a pump tire tools and a spare tube)

41 miles seeing the hotspots of Atlanta with Maidei. :D It was so much fun, despite the heat by midday (around 95 deg). I now understand why many people don't use clipless pedals while cycling in the city. I can't count the number of times I had to stop for traffic signals block, after block, after block!

Route traveled: Atlanta Cycling-Vinings, Vinings loop start, Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, Georgia State University, Turner Field, Grant Park, Agnes Scott College, Candler Park, Little Five Points, Piedmont Park, Georgia Tech University, Atlantic Station, then retraced my route back to Atlanta Cycling. What fun!