July 29th Weekend Rides

Since we don't seem to already have one going, I will start off :)

Friday morning had a nice 19 mile ride before heading to work - while the temps weren't bad it was more humid than I expected. The 22 mile ride Thursday evening was actually a bit more comfortable though it was close to 20 degrees warmer :eek:

This morning I had a sweet 35 mile ride - first rode 13 miles to a friends house to check out their new Labrador puppy & visited for about 20 minutes, then took a longer route home to do some sprints in the cornfields and play on some hills.

An interesting thing happened on the way home, I was riding up a hill past the entrance to a subdivision and saw a 3-4 year old little girl on her trike in the entrance, right at the edge of the actual street. I assumed her parents were somewhere, but sometimes small children do get away so I pulled over and asked her where her parents were.

The little girl didn't speak, but pointed to a couple walking a dog who were about 2.5 blocks away and had a dog with them. They waved to me, and I just kind of hung out for a few minutes until they were just about there before I took off again as I didn't want to get caught up in a conversation. It is hard to see how such a little girl had gotten so far away from her parents even on a little trike, she had been at that intersection for at least a few minutes before I arrived. I wonder if she took the initiative and started before her parents realized :) Anyway, everything was fine, and it likely would have been fine if I hadn't stopped, but people do fly down Kissel Rd.

Yesterday I went out for a great ride with a friend. All told it was about 39 miles, which is actually the longest ride I've done since the century earlier this month. I just can't seem to get myself to go for distance like I was doing while training for the century. But hey, at least I'm still riding! This morning I did another 30 mile route through farm country. As happy as I am to be moving away from here, I will say that it's been a great place to ride and I'll miss that.

Not today--I went out to put air in my tires, and sitting next to the step in the garage was a large rat snake! I spent much of the afternoon trying to gently persuade it to leave (and to make sure my mom didn't run over it). It left half an hour ago. Silly creature.:rolleyes: Just as well, as it was unbelievably sticky this morning.

I suppose we're lucky it didn't make itself comfortable in the recycling bin. It was nice enough to let me take pictures!

Had a very short ride yesterday - my youngest's birthday so couldn't be out long - but a lot of it was uphill, and has given me a plan for tackling the mega-hill near my house. Normally I stick the bike on the car and go to a trail but yesterday parked much closer, warmed up on a slight downhill and then had a slight uphill back. Then it turns into a much steeper hill all the way home. I think I am going to park where I parked yesterday and do the same route, then try each time to get a bit further up the steeper hill - and then I get to end on a downhill back to the car! It's too daunting to think of starting straight from my house still but I'd really like to be able to conquer the hill eventually.

This morning my DH and I were out for an hour or so, about 12 miles - he is only riding once a week so is even more of a beginner than I am, but nice for me to realize that 12 miles in an hour feels like an easy ride now.

Tomorrow I think I will tackle The Hill. Then I need to study - finals this coming week for my summer classes, aargh!

I feel like a 'whimp' only riding about 10 miles a day. I need to 'kick it' into gear and get serious about riding. I rode 10 miles yesterday and going for a ride in a bit, it poured a few mins ago, going to make sure the storms are out of the area.

Friday morning I got up really early and wanted to get out for a short ride while it was still dark, at about 4:45 AM or so. I thought i was being organized, but I had plugged in the wrong light charger the night before, as we have a few thrown in a pile near the place we charge all of them. DH got up, told me this and swore he wasn't going to ride with me, but he plugged in my charger and his and we got off around 5:15. By this time it was getting light, but the lights were still needed and they were charged. Only went ten miles, but at a brisk pace and it was super humid.
Today I rode 22 miles, in a combination of different loops. We changed our minds about where to go about 4 times, but it was good. Easy pace, saw a charity ride going in the other direction at one point, though I have no idea what it was. Next weekend is the PMC, and the number of people out there training is at a fevered pitch.
Tomorrow we are riding with friends to Kimball Fruit Farm in Hollis NH, from Boxborough (50 miles). We will be leading this ride 10/1, so it's a practice run. Beautiful and *very* hilly.

Sufferfest Part 3, The Punishment: new crankset, cassette and wheels put on the LeMond this morning and then we went out for 5200 feet of climbing over about four hours in the 90+ degree heat. Ugh. And after my awesome 36 mph sprint on the first flat, I ended up with an asthma attack (which almost NEVER happens to me anymore; I think I had an allergic reaction triggered). But I completed 46 miles, including going down one hill that was literally about a 30% grade and scared the crap out of me, and I am sure that my century ride next Saturday is going to be a breeze compared to this...

14.5 miles this am to the farmer's market and food co-op for fresh veggies. After we got home and unloaded, I thought it was too hot/humid to head back out, but DH went out for more punishment. Today's high was 102, and it was already 90+ by the time I finished up my ride.

It's supposed to be a smidge cooler tomorrow, so I am hoping for a longer ride!

22 miles. My blinky has been gravely injured after it flew off going over railroad tracks, and will need surgery, but I expect it to survive. I didn't eat enough yesterday, it seems, and it caught up with me. I woke up hungry (bad sign, as it usually takes half an hour of wandering around for me to be able to eat), ate my usual breakfast, pushed it (yay speed!) and nearly bonked. I was seriously considering calling for a ride home around mile 8 or 9. Luckily I got a second wind when the shot blocks (all three of them) kicked in, and I managed to do another 13-14 miles. My hip and knee are not happy now, for whatever reason. Grump.

Ooh, I forgot to mention:
I got passed by a fairly young guy (compared to what I usually see on the trail) on a nice Trek, going at a decent clip. I decided to see if I could catch and pass him. Mischief managed! And with not too much effort.

Took the Jamis across the street to Eagle Creek Park and worked on skills for about 90 minutes. Bikes aren't allowed in the trail there, but there are large mowed areas where I do play - lots of trees to weave around, some roots to go over, different surfaces to ride over, picnic tables to ride around, etc. I try to avoid riding her on paved surfaces as much as possible - I hate how she feels on the road but that isn't what she is meant for :) Amazing how different she feels off-road!

Going hiking later today to look at a brand new mountain bike trail in the city to see if it is too advanced for me - probably is at my current level, but my legs need something different to do that doesn't involve two wheels. Am having FAR too much fun to risk more over-use injuries this year :cool:

Did the 30 mile shop ride. I actually slept well the night before for once. I went to bed at 9:30, so when I woke up to check the time at 3:30, I knew I was good, with 6 hours already in the bag. The rest was gravy. I felt really good.

It was a beautiful day. Hot, but most of the ride is shady, so it was nice. I think 13 people showed up. We stopped and looked at the flowers. We talked. It's so fun.

There was a couple on a tandem with us. They flew up every hill, and whenever they'd go fast, the girl would laugh so hard. They were so cute. They accidentally went off road for a bit, and it was very impressive to see how well they handled it, riding across a field over grass and ending up right back with us. Very reminiscent of Lance going around Beloki.

I love riding my bike more every day.

24 miles, a little shorter than planned. There was an organized run on the loop at Saguaro N.Park so we skipped it. Some of the group I ride with opted for 50 miles, but I didn't want to be out that long in the heat because I had to come home and get ready to celebrate my birthday.

Happy birthday, Sharon! How was your event last night (or is it tonight).

@Catrin, where's the new MTB trail?

DH volunteered as a SAG wagon at a club ride yesterday. Today, we did 45 really hot miles. We (meaning DH) isn't very good at motivating early in the morning, so we didn't start until 10. We did okay until the last 10 miles. We used our Camelbaks, which we don't typically use on our road bikes, and our backs weren't too happy near the end. They're much more comfortable on our MTBs given our more upright position. All in all, it was still a good ride.

Met a friend who I haven't seen for a while and did about 28 miles around the regular loop. It was really nice to get out, and fun to ride with a friend - I love the way it challenges me to go faster than I would on my own.

Let me start by saying how much I enjoy reading about all of your weekend rides. Had a good riding weekend this week. Started on Friday morning early with a 35 mile ride. Most of the people in the group I ride with hadn't ridden since Tuesday morning due to rain, so we were kind of itching to get out. Everyone decided it would be okay if they were "just a little late for work today." One of the members of our group is training for a two-day MS ride, so we did a 56 mile loop on Saturday, a nice route with hills, but no monster hills. Today we did another 50 miles with no real plan and a more relaxed pace. We ride early-ish, starting around 5:30 a.m. The starting temps the last 3 days were in the upper 60s (nice) but finishing in the mid-80s with high humidity. Sadly, it won't be long before we have to start a little later if we want to ride in mostly daylight.

I did my usual Sunday ride through downtown S.A. to the Missions and back. Got a late start (after 8 a.m.) and it was already 80-something degrees and hella humid (yuck). LOTS of broken glass on the road today, so it was a good test for the new Nashbar tires I installed yesterday. No flats -- yay!

Turned around at Mission San Jose 'cause it was so muggy and warm that it was getting kind of unpleasant.

Stopped for my usual Sunday latte and scone at the CIA bakery about three miles from home. A chunk of scone fell down inside the front of my shirt, and seeing as how it woulda been kind of indecent to start digging around in my cleavage to fish it out, I had to ride the rest of the way home with scone bits in my bra. This, I don't recommend. :D

25 miles total.

We scouted out our 50-ish mile ride to the fruit farm in Hollis/Nashua, NH, in preparation of leading it on Oct. 1. Actually, the farm may be in Pepperell, MA, but, it's right on the border.
We have totally revamped much of this ride, including about 36 of the 48.8 miles. I had only done the route this way once, and I am trying to get it in my head, because DH will be up front with the GPS and I will have a cue sheet, being the sweep. It's fine if the group can stay close together, but it seems like i always get stuck with one person who really shouldn't be on the ride, despite my screening, or is having mechanicals. This is a gorgeous ride, but very hilly, with the street leading up to the farm, about a 4 mile climb that has about 6 separate hills, 2 of them being quite steep, but short. There's one steep climb after lunch, that is new, and near the end of the ride, we go through the Lost Lake area of Groton, another climb. After that, we headed back to the start point, a totally different way, which necessitates climbing over a freeway overpass, not too bad, but then another hill that is torturous, and ends right when we turn into the lot where our cars were. I used to ride up this all of the time before we moved to Concord, and it brought back memories of struggling up this hill when I first started riding.
It was hot. Like 90 degrees. A lot of this ride is shaded, but I drank almost 3 bottles of Nuun/water, and more water with lunch. The view where we eat at the farm is fantastic, and makes up for the climbing. I never feel like leaving the lunch spot!
Tired.

No riding this weekend. Mostly due to heat and then rain. I won't complain though because we really need the rain. We are in a very bad drought. I did get to take the mountain bike out on our street long enough to determine we finally have the reach between seat and handlebars much better to where I feel a lot better on the bike. Also it was long enough to determine the main issue now is to find a saddle for the mountain bike. Hubby did the same with his road bike. Basically had to make my mountain bike feel more like my road bike and had to make his road bike feel more like his mountain bike. Those two things are now more accomplished. Now the issue is finding me a mountain bike saddle and him a road bike saddle. The sad part is I borrowed the saddle that came on his mountain bike (he has a different one on it right now) and it's better than any other saddle I've tried so far, but not right. He borrowed my road bike saddle (which is a men's saddle, but I love for my road bike) and it's better than what he had tried before. I think we may be making a trip to Raleigh to look for saddle at some point in the future (possibly the weekend we go to Bristol. Since the NASCAR races there are night races we'll be driving home Sunday and can stop by a couple of shops, specifically Performance and see what might work).

This weekend was all about multi-sport training.
Saturday: 1500 m swim, followed by a 23 mile bike ride. My first swim-bike brick.
Sunday: 4.75 mile run, 26 mile bike, 2.25 mile run (mini duathlon, on the course where I'll be doing my duathlon next Sunday.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Happy birthday, Sharon! How was your event last night (or is it tonight).

@Catrin, where's the new MTB trail?

DH volunteered as a SAG wagon at a club ride yesterday. Today, we did 45 really hot miles. We (meaning DH) isn't very good at motivating early in the morning, so we didn't start until 10. We did okay until the last 10 miles. We used our Camelbaks, which we don't typically use on our road bikes, and our backs weren't too happy near the end. They're much more comfortable on our MTBs given our more upright position. All in all, it was still a good ride.

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Hope the ride went well yesterday!

The new trail is at Ft. Harrison, and it is only unofficially open - though it is "officially" unofficially open, there is information on the HMBA website.

The trail is fun and very mixed terrain. Parts of it is pure beginner, parts of it are far from it. The first half of the trail has a LOT of exposure, and there is no where to go - I actually got a little nervous walking part of it as the trail was so narrow. Not many hairpin turns at all, lots of gentle swooping single-track. Some impressive obstacles, though of course one can walk those.

After my camping trip I will likely go in from the exit and try riding the back half of the trail, far less exposure there and lots of trail that would be fun to ride even at my level. The first half...is more advanced.

As the trail is not "officially" open yet there are no signs, and I got turned around. Not saying the "lost" word, but I revisited a good part of it :cool: Nice 2.5 hour hike though, and it was good for my legs to do something different for a change.

DH and I did the Seattle Century ride yesterday - the 50 mile route. Once again, SO lucky with weather here for a major ride! 70's, clear blue sky all day long. Nice crisp start to the day, maybe in the low 60s, didn't even need a jacket to start. We've done this ride three times now and enjoy the scenic route around the Seattle-Bellevue area. I really love the section over the I-90bridge bike trail over Lake Washington and through Mercer Island. To look out over the water at the city skyline (when I dared take my eyes off the path) is just stunning.

I loved it so much I took a wrong turn in Bellevue and ended up on the "scenic" route thereby adding another hour or so to my ride. :rolleyes: From what I heard at the finish line, I wasn't the only one. They could have used better markings on the roadway at some intersections.

Nice salmon BBQ at the finish line party, they have some wonderful food. Oh, and strawberry shortcake at the Mercer Island rest stop.

After much consternation over our weather this past spring, I am SO glad we aren't somewhere having temps in the 90s and 100s... I don't think I could do it. :eek: I'll put up with a little rain, thankyouverymuch.

Did 52 miles on Friday, with 2,700ft of incline. It wasn't as bad as last week's 52 mile ride - humidity wasn't as heavy, we (group of four) went a little slower and stopped halfway to refill water bottles. I did better at eating during the ride too, made a difference also. Recovery wasn't as bad either.

25 miles today, much bigger group of folks turned out this evening - we even had a little lad of 10 who likes TRIATHALONS. :eek: We split into two groups, A & B, with the B group turning back for 16 miles. One of the fellows that joined us - the son of a regular rider - turned out today with his wife. They're young, early 20s. He's always leaving her behind on rides with just the two of them, and calling her slow... stuff that drives me nuts to hear. After a few miles one of the more experienced riders that was staying with the B group caught up with us and said he thought something was off with her bike setup, so one rider and I turned back to see if we could figure it out. She is clearly NOT comfortable, but we determined the saddle might be too far back, and perhaps too high.

At a stop I moved the seat for her - we're close in height so I tried it out. It's a Specialized Dolce - NOW I know what y'all are talking about when you say you love your Dolce! It's a very comfortable bike! I suggested a quick fitting for her would make a world of difference.

Anyway, she turned back with the rest of the B group, and her young hubby stayed with the A group. Well, he's full of piss and vinegar, lemme tell you! I half-listened to what he was saying to the guys, bit of bragging... I get tired of it, plus I was still annoyed that he didn't seem to care that his wife's bike wasn't set up so she was comfortable. He'd even poked fun at her for turning back. Halfway back, we let him be in the front for a while (we weren't riding in any formation, just loose so we could talk to each other) and I could tell it was going STRAIGHT to his head - that he was leaving us old farts behind. So with four miles left, at a hill, I decided to let loose. I kill hills, so I zoomed up and took off. REALLY rude of me, I have to email apologies to the rest of the regulars for it. Wish I had a bike computer to know how fast I was going - back at the cars he said he tried to keep up with me, saw he was doing 20, looked up and I was just GONE. Score one for the girls. :D

Indysteel- the event was fantastic! It was so cool because most of my new cycling friends had never seen me perform. I collected over $150 and almost 150 pounds of food for the food bank, all of my music friends joined in at various times.

And the cake... mmmmmmm.... giant chocolate strawberries topped a fabulous chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

The BF and I did 24 fast miles on Friday before work and 65 miles with 7000 feet of climbing on Saturday. Both were great. My only complaint is that PA thinks that oil and chips are the best way to avoid costly repaving, so portions of the long ride were on new chips (a.k.a. loose gravel). I think that loose gravel is the one thing that I fear the most.

Was hoping to break 60 miles yesterday but ended up only getting through 40 before I was not feeling "right." Still, I am pretty happy because I doubled the distance I've ever done alone (so I wasn't drafting! :rolleyes: ) and while I stayed on track keeping my mph low the first 10 miles I ended up setting a good time for my 40 (I ended up getting bored staying under 15 mph and kicked it up to a range between 17 and 21 mph).

I learned two things:

1. I need to pace myself if I want to go further and not give into my "I wanna go fast"/Ricky Bobby self. I think I could have at least gone 50 on my own, and probably 60 had I not increased my speed. (Also, I needed a bigger breakfast.)

2. I love that cycling allows me to shut my brain off. The constant chatter going on in my head about work and other stressful items gets annoying! There was a good 20 miles of "quiet" which I really needed.

Thankfully I planned my ride so that the first 40 put be back at my car in case I needed to bale and not complete the last twenty. Was able to chat with a few cyclists at a watering hole, always good meeting new people. I was a bit in awe of a guy who had a Ironman Finisher jersey on. :o

It was a good ride. The temperature did jump nearly 20 degrees from when I started to when I finished. And I think I need to increase the amount of water bottle holders I have (only 2, I want the attachment so I can put two more behind my seat) because I was feeling dehydrated the remainder of the day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by azfiddle

Indysteel- the event was fantastic! It was so cool because most of my new cycling friends had never seen me perform. I collected over $150 and almost 150 pounds of food for the food bank, all of my music friends joined in at various times.

And the cake... mmmmmmm.... giant chocolate strawberries topped a fabulous chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

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I'm glad it went well. Good on you for raising food and money for a good cause!

Shortest ride of the season, quite sticky hot, but quite enjoyable: we took our 12 year old niece out on one of the trails along Lake Minnetonka. 8 miles - a new mileage "high" for her so she was thrilled. I am so glad that at least one of my nieces has a real interest in biking. :)

Rode again yesterday, only 26 miles and about 700+ feet of climbing....then after I was done, went and got a deluxe pedicure with foot and leg massage and hot stone massage. Must do that more often!!! :D