Weekend Rides: Sept 15

I had a wonderful 29 mile country ride this afternoon. I originally had plans to mountain bike today but I didn't make the trip. The ride was wonderful though! I rarely get to ride through the open fields with next to no wind, the sky was clear, and it was about 73 degrees. Perfect riding weather! I almost got creamed by a SUV backing out of a drive who I THOUGHT had seen me, but she didn't. I managed to get stopped in time and said a few choice things after she had gone. I shouldn't have assumed that she saw me, but all is well that ends well.

I got in a 19-mile ride after work. My knee is still tender. I have a long ride planned for tomorrow, but I think that may not happen...

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Just came back from riding this trail a mile up the road from my house. It is short but I take my mountain bike over it 2 or 3 times. It is just plain fun!

I compromised and did a 33-mile ride instead of the 50 I had planned. My knee was a lot happier being kept close to the top tube, and I suspect the ibuprofen I took beforehand helped! Now for a few days off.

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Originally Posted by DebSP

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Just came back from riding this trail a mile up the road from my house. It is short but I take my mountain bike over it 2 or 3 times. It is just plain fun!

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This is beautiful!

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Originally Posted by Owlie

I compromised and did a 33-mile ride instead of the 50 I had planned. My knee was a lot happier being kept close to the top tube, and I suspect the ibuprofen I took beforehand helped! Now for a few days off.

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Hey Owlie, do you ordinarily foam roll or anything for your IT band? Just wondering, these days the only time I've trouble with my knee is when my IT band gets overly tight...not saying that is what is causing your knee problems, I was just thinking about that. And yes, I am having problems with that this weekend...which is why I rode yesterday but not today.

Friday evening, I did a moderately-paced, women's-only mountain bike ride with the LBS that I'll be racing for next spring (gulp!). It was a great way to meet a couple of my teammates, and everyone was super-nice! Afterwards, we hung out at the shop, drank beer, and chatted. It was a great time :)

Sunday evening, I did the shop ride. It was 3 of us: the shop owner, another guy...and me. OMG. I'm pretty sure that my lungs and at least one leg are still are the trail somewhere! I know that ride will make me faster and stronger, but I dunno if I can do that again.... Oww.

I rode a lot. My rear end is reminding me about it.

Friday, an easy sunset ride to Saguaro NP and back.
Saturday, my regular ride group rode 65 miles, and it was kind of windy. We averaged about 15, still okay for me.

Today, my new team, all women, scheduled the same ride, (except we started a mile away, so it was 67 miles). Much less wind and some good teamwork with pacelines and we we ended up with 67 miles over 16 mph. That's about 150 miles.

Yes, it's time to train for El Tour de Tucson, but I it was a lot of miles for one weekend...

We did the north 65 mile loop of the Chuckanut Century on the tandem. It was our first "real" ride out on the road and we were secretly pleased to run into a tandem team we met on the Montana tour who said they were surprised and impressed that we were venturing out on such a long organized ride with less than 200 miles under our belts on the new bike. They had mentioned it took them two years to get "good" at it. Not sure what "good at it" means but they did pass us a few times, so I'm guessing that they meant fast... Anyway, the weather was gorgous and the route was beautiful and the beer was wonderful after we were done

I did 70 miles of the south loop of the Chuckanut Century today. The weather was perfect. The cyclist were all very friendly and helpful. The scenery was fantastic, we had ocean, forests, lakes, rolling hills, farms, ummmmm did I mention hills????? I think more than a few i went up are related to Mt Everest. The bbq and beer afterwards was a fun time. I really enjoyed myself and im Looking forward to doing the flat north route next year. :)

The north route wasn't all that flat... Well, according to a profile I saw, there weren't any hills with more than 200 feet of elevation gain, but in practise, we discovered, that can mean hills of a 10% or more grade! That Chuckanut Drive is quite a beauty, isn't it?

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Originally Posted by lauraelmore1033

The north route wasn't all that flat... Well, according to a profile I saw, there weren't any hills with more than 200 feet of elevation gain, but in practise, we discovered, that can mean hills of a 10% or more grade! That Chuckanut Drive is quite a beauty, isn't it?

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The scenery is unspoiled and pretty spectacular to say the least.
U did the north loop? How many steep hills did you encounter?

I didn't ride Saturday, but yesterday we did a 22 mile loop that is newer for us. There was a guy waiting at a stoplight to cross the highway at about mile 5 , and we took off ahead of him, which was weird, since he looked like he had been cruising. Then, there was a hill and we lost him. After the next light, he caught up and passed us, so DH decided to draft him (he asked if it was OK). At this point, I could not go any faster :). So, we cruised in behind him, at about 20. I noticed that the guy never, ever shifted, so I guess that's why he couldn't climb. We split from him, went for lunch at the end of the ride, and I ended up with an average much higher than normal.

Had a great 25 mile ride yesterday morning. A lot of rolling hills and "false flats". Hills have always been my Achilles heel, but I found a way to get through them and I'm actually starting to welcome them! I got a Polar RCX3 HRM with GPS and added the cadence sensor. My oh my what a difference it makes! Now I can "see" where I'm slacking off. I download my rides and compare them to the previous. It's pretty awesome. I look forward to the next ride because I will have to step my game up!!! The better I ride, the better I want to ride. Damn...I love it!! Have a great week ladies!!!!

:cool: Ride on sister, ride on.....

Yesterday DP and I rode with a couple of friends mostly along the Cedar Lake trail to the river and back home. Just a little shy of 20 miles, easy-going ride and great company, followed by a fabulous grilled dinner at our house. Damn, I am a good cook. ;)

I went to Ohio for Sat/Sun and rode with 2 friends on the Ohio and Erie Canal towpath. We rode about 25 miles, with lunch halfway. Great weather, lots of fun, nice path, good times! :)

I did 45 miles on Saturday with Video camera: http://youtu.be/oCnAQpZV_tg
and about 18 miles on sunday. Found I had bad cuts in both tires. Ordered some from Bacchetta

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Originally Posted by Wasp

The scenery is unspoiled and pretty spectacular to say the least.
U did the north loop? How many steep hills did you encounter?

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There were only two or three that were particularly memorable. On one of the descents we reached 45 mph, which was a new level of scary for me. I think the total elevation gain for the whole ride was about 1800 (where the EG for the south loop is probably 3000+) Not flat, per se, but not too bad on the hills