How was your 5/7 ride?

Today I rode 28 miles of rollers with a friend. I felt great, but she was struggling a little. And the road we chose was really bumpy--I think I'm still vibrating from it. Gorgeous weather and scenery, though. At the end of the ride, all I wanted to do was head home and shower/change; my riding partner, however, chose that time to tell me all about how her soon-to-be-ex-husband is so crazy. I ended up standing in the parking lot for nearly an hour listening to her "purge" herself emotionally. Next week, I think I'll ride alone.

Today all I had time for was an early AM coffee ride... 10.5 miles, with the coffee break in the middle. Then we met DS and DIL in the city for Mother's Day, at an awesome Mexican restaurant, for brunch. We always do this on Saturday, so there are no crowds. After that, since we were in Somerville, we went to the Bike Expo, where we saw some cool bikes made by local builders. There's quite a few boutique type builders here.
Yesterday I rode 39 miles, with my friend who just got a Ruby. I had ditched the group ride to go with her and something funny happened. The group ride was split into the regular and "spirited" group. So, my friend who is much slower than me, told me to go ahead on a hill. All of a sudden, I felt some riders behind me. It was the "spirited" group. They asked me to join in, but I couldn't leave my friend. I got a little sprint from trying to hang on with them. They turned where I was stopping to wait for my friend. I doubt I could have gone 40 miles at that pace. About 10 miles later, we ran into the other group, going in the other direction from us. After about 20 people said hi to me, my friend was amazed at the friendliness of this group. I left my friend in west Acton and took the long way home, where I was dropped by a guy on a recumbent, going down a hill.

Buffybike- the ride sounds better than the post-ride...

I rode 41 miles. The real speedsters in our group took a longer route, so I kept up great except for one grade in the middle of the ride. 3 of us gals had a wonderful rotating pace line on the way back for about or 8 miles- it was almost a zen experience. Getting hot in the desert now - we were happy to be back around 10:00 am.

I did my favorite 18 mile loop. I think I'm over my 100 mile per week goal for the first time this year. It was a good week for cycling.

I felt awesome today! I don't know what happened, as I had to drive to Boston last night, and my neck totally hurt from that. It's less than an hour and a half away, but it's the longest I've been in a car in months, and it was painful. But I woke up feeling great. My ride was great, and I felt a little high from it all day. :) Can't say feeling good was related to the driving, though. That was pretty awful.

Preparing to leave town very early tomorrow so only had time for an 11 mile ride this morning, but I will take it! SO tired of tights and wool but that is better than not riding...

I will miss my bikes for the next 5 days! Hope to come home to drier weather and a chance to finally get to my 100 mile/week goal!

Half of TOSRV down and hoping for dry roads tomorrow! 50th anniversary of the ride, so I wasn't going to miss it.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Half of TOSRV down and hoping for dry roads tomorrow! 50th anniversary of the ride, so I wasn't going to miss it.

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Ooooh, looking forward to reading the ride report! I would love to do this ride but it is so early in the year...

Rode 52 miles today with 2 good riding buddies. It was awesome! Out in the country with little traffic and temps in the mid to upper 70's and beautiful carolina blue skies. My second 50+ mile ride ( I'm getting ready for the horsey 100 in Georgetown Ky Memorial day weekend - not that I'm doing 100 in one day, but hopefully over two days). We got a late start waiting for fog to burn off, so didn't get on the road until almost 9 a.m. After the ride, went for lunch, including a frosty cold mug and pitcher of Yuengling..... Then walked across the street to the local bike shop. They had a bin of socks and gloves for $5. each. I got a pair of sugoi winter gloves (regular retail $80) pus a pair of sugoi Betty gloves for $5.00 each -woo hoo ! Came home relaxed and watched the Kentucky Derby. Life is good!

Had a great -- well, 2 great rides today! Did a 16-mile errand ride in the morning with DH. Farmer's market, food co-op, and Trader Joe's. Fairly urban riding and a bit of traffic. Brought everything home in panniers, unloaded, had a snack, refilled the water bottle, and headed back out for another 16-mile ride (solo). This one was my usual suburban "neighborhood" loop, where I get to look at all the beautiful lush lawns and rose gardens in the lovely area near where I live. So, 32 miles total on a gorgeous day. Started in the low 60s, ended in the mid 70s. Light breeze, sunshine, blue skies, low humidity. Perfecto! :D

Rode 47 miles with DH today. We made it home just before the rain started.

Showed up for a group ride this morning. The rain was supposed to have blown over and it was supposed to be sunny. However, still raining where we were supposed to meet. Only one other person showed up for the ride. We decided to drive to the sun and start from there. My partner rider ended up having a slower pace than the group usually does so we meandered for about 25 miles. It was great. Mostly sunny. Nice scenery. I'm glad I went out - even if it might have rained.

21 miles on my usual trails and just a little road this evening, with the ducks, the mutts, the gnats, the small children, the big children, the grandmothers, the clueless youth, the clued-in youths, the geese, the beavers, a few kamikaze robins (I swear one of these is going to end up snagged in my open, panting mouth one day), the bikers with no helmets/lights/reflective gear after dark, the stop signs, and a few, but only a few, raindrops.

A fabulous time!

Thanks to one of my YouTube subscribers, I found two more good steep, painful climbs to play on:p These are both in El Dorado Hills, CA. The first one, Hollow Oak Drive, has a maximum grade of 16%. I climbed both sides of it between Bass Lake Road and Spinning Wheel Court:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84143204

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaaFCbwxCGE

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/...7c62277907.jpg
view from top of Hollow Oak Drive climb by kittyz202, on Flickr

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2691/...999a83176c.jpg
Hollow Oak Drive & Spinning Wheel Ct by kittyz202, on Flickr

The second climb was quite a bit shorter but it was steeper and more painful. This is Boulder Ridge Road. I measured a very quick 22%, but I tend to believe the more consistent 20% readings I got for a max grade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWRVLM-pgUk

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3485/...973e5764b3.jpg
view from top of Boulder Ridge Road climb by kittyz202, on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/...d731554d64.jpg
my Specialized Sirrus at top of Boulder Ridge Road climb by kittyz202, on Flickr

I got chased by a dog near the top of a climb. As you will see, my usual tactic of making puppy sounds to calm barking dogs failed miserably:D:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JHqmrRUcJ0

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Originally Posted by buffybike

Today I rode 28 miles of rollers with a friend. I felt great, but she was struggling a little. And the road we chose was really bumpy--I think I'm still vibrating from it. Gorgeous weather and scenery, though. At the end of the ride, all I wanted to do was head home and shower/change; my riding partner, however, chose that time to tell me all about how her soon-to-be-ex-husband is so crazy. I ended up standing in the parking lot for nearly an hour listening to her "purge" herself emotionally. Next week, I think I'll ride alone.

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:eek:Hmmm...even though I'm new to riding, I like your solution! Plus thanks, because I will use this as a lesson of what to avoid

55 miles, gorgeous weather. Cap2Cap ride, 1500 riders. It was a great ride.

Did the Metric Century of the Skagit Spring Classic, and boy was it miserable. It was 46 degrees, the rain was unrelenting, the dan henries melted away, my map melted away, the other riders melted away, the winds on the flats were even more ferocious than I remember, and to top it off, I got a flat around mile 55. Luckily, the SAG driver happened by just then and i was more than happy to let him change it for me (in spite of the fact that I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. Don't judge me, I was frickin' tired and frazzled). The only thing that kept me going was the realization that it wasn't nearly as bad as STP '08

Did one of my favorite routes out West of the metro area - you very quickly get into the countryside and horse country and a beautiful county park. Shortly into the ride, I got a nasty nose bleed and ended up using one of my wet wipes after running out of kleenex. :eek: Made it home about 34 miles later just has it had started to rain. Nosebleed aside, still a good ride. :)

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Originally Posted by tulip

55 miles, gorgeous weather. Cap2Cap ride, 1500 riders. It was a great ride.

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Glad to see the Cap2Cap is still going strong! Was the halfway point in that Williamsburg park again? I loved zooming down that hill looking like I rode it like a champ 2 years ago :D

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Originally Posted by ASammy1

Glad to see the Cap2Cap is still going strong! Was the halfway point in that Williamsburg park again? I loved zooming down that hill looking like I rode it like a champ 2 years ago :D

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I did the 50-mile route, but since I live right near the Richmond start and know all those roads so well, I detoured for a little peace and quiet. Nothing like riding with 1500 riders to make me want to escape the madness. So that's why I ended up with five more miles.

The route has changed slightly from two years ago when you did it (I'm sure we passed each other then!) The 50-mile route was not at all an out-and-back so I'm not sure where the century halfway point was.

It was alot of fun, though!

Saturday was a not-half-bad-day in the Northwest and as I started up the Interurban I noticed a "knocking" sound coming from the back wheel... Since the LBS was just off the trail I stopped by. Loose spokes. Easy fix! Hooray.

But on the way back, after just fourteen miles, I rode through what looked like a small dried patch of grass on the trail... I heard this horrible loud hissing sound, and my first thought was that I had run over a snake and it was caught in my spokes!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I should have been so lucky. :rolleyes: I had run over a big chunk of glass and it embedded in my rear tire. Too far away from the bike shop to walk back. I had a brief inspiration that maybe I could figure out how to fix my flat...I had all the tools and a tube. What a joke. I couldn't even get the wheel off myself. Thank goodness for cell phones.

So my husband gave me a lesson in rear wheel assembly/changing. It would be a challenge though, I don't have much hand strength for getting tires off and back on.

Bike-rideus-interruptus... rats.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Ooooh, looking forward to reading the ride report! I would love to do this ride but it is so early in the year...

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Not much to report - the only really unusual thing was the near-perfect weather which NEVER happens on TOSRV - but I'll post some piccies in a day or two.

The thing about it is, it's early in the year for everyone, southerners and snowbirds like me excepted. ;) I had lunch on Sunday with a kid who claimed his entire training for the year was "I rode 30 miles on Wednesday." :eek: Trainer miles? Nope, just that. 160 miles down and he was looking fresh as a daisy. I'm thinking to myself, Kid, I've got chainring holes in my tights older than you. :p

I'm not sure his strategy would've worked if the wind had been bad, though.

I skipped the scheduled ride Sat with hubby--http://stooges.rogerkramercycling.org/ because the radar looked bad. He braved it and got lucky--all the weather moved to the south.

SO I drug him out Sunday morning for my first hilly route of the season. I intended to take it easy and "make it a positive experience." Secondly, I'm hoping to graduate to a new bike this year and the real challenge was: could I ride the bigger hills without using my granny gear at the beginning of the season? :confused: (have a triple and hoping to switch to compact double).

There are three "bigger" hills--the first I made in my big chain ring (woo hoo), the second, I got cocky and tried to do it in the big chain ring and had to suddenly shift to the middle (almost a crash) but the THIRD--I got up in my big chain ring (granted there is a large downhill to give me momentum, but I've not made it up this one before). As I was yelling "woo hoo", my husband reminded me I could go down one more in the back and still be in my middle chain ring. I KNOW :D

There is a Denny's at the top of the hill and it was Mother's Day with a line out the door. They were curious what all the hollering was about and I had an audience and a big smile on my face!

I caught my husband looking at the WSD Trek and Specialized websites later that day :)

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Originally Posted by TrekTheKaty

Secondly, I'm hoping to graduate to a new bike this year and the real challenge was: could I ride the bigger hills without using my granny gear at the beginning of the season? :confused: (have a triple and hoping to switch to compact double).

There are three "bigger" hills--the first I made in my big chain ring (woo hoo), the second, I got cocky and tried to do it in the big chain ring and had to suddenly shift to the middle (almost a crash) but the THIRD--I got up in my big chain ring (granted there is a large downhill to give me momentum, but I've not made it up this one before). As I was yelling "woo hoo", my husband reminded me I could go down one more in the back and still be in my middle chain ring. I KNOW :D

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A compact double will give you plenty of low gears, so it's not really like riding in the middle ring on a triple. You can even get a MTB cassette, and gear it really low. Keep using your granny for now! Spin, spin, spin!