June 14 Weekend Rides

I will start with my lovely 14 mile ride this afternoon. It was a great ride, nice low temps, NO winds, AND I found myself accelerating UP-HILL. When did I start to be able to do THAT??? :)

I am also coming to understand/accept that my neck just cannot tolerate the distances I used to ride before my mountain bike injury almost two years ago. That first year I was riding a metric most weekends - considering that was my first year the over-use injuries made sense :) While my neck seems happy with all of the wild and crazy gym stuff, after 15 miles or so my traps and cervical spine are complaining. Well, I've not been riding regularly so perhaps that is to be expected. Last year didn't get much better, but as I was going from one mtb injury to another last year I ascribed it to that. I don't have that excuse this year. I will take it one ride at a time and enjoy whatever I can do :)

I am very thankful for two things - that there are other things I CAN do, and very thankful for still being able to ride at all! Here is a picture taken at the end of my ride - I removed the hydration pack. I didn't realize it was so noticeable that my shorts are loose in the legs...

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I'm on summer vacation, so I get to ride much more than during the school year. In fact, I rode Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and today and am up to about 97 miles for the week, and riding again tomorrow. Today's ride was the default "I don't want to plan a complicated route" ride. 7.5 miles from my house to Saguaro National Park, around the 8 mile loop and home again for a total of about 23 miles.

Desert summer means get up and start by 6:00 or 6:30 am, or earlier. I was up at 4:30 but didn't get out the door until 6:30 - but it was tolerable. Lots and lots of lizards on the park loop road- mostly Desert Spiny Lizards, doing push-ups and showing off their bright blue sides. No Gila Monsters, though I looked. And cicadas. The drone is incessant this time of year once it warms up.

14.8 miles, trying out the new shoes. I think I'm putting them away until my insoles arrive. Ouch.

Breaking in new shoes can be rough. I remember breaking these in 3 years ago. It helped with my bad feet but I still ended up with blisters. It eventually got much better and now they are perfect :)

I did a "hill"/wind/cadence workout today. About 24 miles in total of focus on cadence. I figure that it's good to use the lack of big hills to work on my cadence and gearing. I will probably feel it in my abs tomorrow. I was very cognizant of my position and what my body was doing. I didn't have time for the long ride but this was very effective, I think.

No ride tomorrow. Going to Indy to see family. Possibly 30-50 miles on Sunday depending on if I feel up to going out with the local club and what their riding preferences are. I've already got my 100 miles in for the week so it's all gravy!

Took a new rider friend out today so we only did 25. Tomorrow is hill training with as many 13 mile loops as we feel like making.

I rode with a friend today. Went out the road (a pretty steady two-mile climb, then some rollers) and back the bike path (so shallow and even a grade the only thing you notice is that if you go out and back on the path, for some reason the eastbound leg is way faster :cool:). Didn't bother my back. And it was a good match, because he hadn't been riding hardly at all, either. Yay.

Just a short ride to the farmer's market this morning on our nearly twin Jamises. Tried out my new Ergon GP1 grips (did not like the bar ends on the originals so replaced them with these) and Mirrycle mountain mirror (awesome). Also added an Incredibell but did not have to use it. Thought it would come in handy for all the MUTs around here. Maybe even those listening to their iPods can hear it!

Tomorrow, weather permitting, will be our long ride day.

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Originally Posted by colorisnt

No ride tomorrow. Going to Indy to see family. Possibly 30-50 miles on Sunday depending on if I feel up to going out with the local club and what their riding preferences are. I've already got my 100 miles in for the week so it's all gravy!

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By "local club" do you mean CIBA? If so, their weekend rides are structured so that you can go at your own pace. The routes are marked and there is a SAG stop usually every 20 miles are so. The ride tomorrow is called the Wall. It's a fun ride. Watch out for loose dogs and the namesake climb of the ride. It's short but is really steep at the end.

DH and I went out for about 2.5 hours. Neither of us has a computer on our bike anymore so we only have a vague idea of our ride lengths or speeds. My legs felt a little dead at the start of the ride.

This is kind of morbid to share, but I think I will anyway. The route for today's ride goes past a school where we always stop to eat a snack. Back in 2007, a good friend and riding buddy of mine was diagnosed with a brain tumor which was largely inoperable. Things in his life took a really difficult turn at that time in his life, even beyond his illness. He came out to his wife of 25+ years and they divorced. By 2010, his health had begun to really limit what he could do. He couldn't work, ride or drive. He was estranged from his extremely religious mother and sister. He eventually took his own life in the parking lot of the school where we stop. I, of course, always think of him when I do this ride. It was a heartbreaking loss....a loss that occurred well before his death.

Today's ride was for you, Terry. I miss you and sincerely hope you're at peace.

{{{Indy}}}

I've heard about that ride, 'the Wall', I am just plain leery of the loose dogs on the south side.

Colorinst - let us know what you decide to do. The CIBA weekend rides are great since there are riders of all levels who participate and it is nice knowing that there are staffed stops - sometimes it is the same stop with loops designed around it. So far this year their schedule and mine hasn't been meshing well... :(

Oh, Indy. That is such a sad story. I think it was good to share it, as no matter how old we are, there are lessons to be learned and there is quite a bit to glean from Terry's story.

For rides this weekend so far, it's been glorious weather, tomorrow will be "iffy". I did a self-supported century yesterday and was able to ride part of it with someone that is friend and mentor both. Those miles flew by. I also got to ride with a bunch of friends today that was equally as nice. We got in 32 spinning, chatty miles at an event that was exceptionally SAGged. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but if the weather holds, I'm hoping to get in about 30 miles of a tempo ride, and that will give me a good week of about 275 miles, as I'm training for an event.

AMC Bike Rally ride is done.
We had probably 50-60 people for the 28.7 mile ride, which we split into 2 groups. I sweep the "fast" group, DH leads. We had a perfect day. Right away, I noticed the group had a natural break, but all was OK, until we got to some little hills. We stopped at a porta potty at a playground at around mile 10 and about 15 people decided to stay and wait for the slower paced group to come by. All was good, until we hit more small rollers. I was stuck with a woman who told me she "hadn't been out much," this year. Now, if you had a choice, would you go with the faster group if you hadn't been out much? But, I take my sweep role seriously, and I stayed with her, even asking if she wanted to stop and rest as she was gasping for breath going up a little rise. We finally made it to the lunch stop, where I made DH tell her she had to go with the slower group!
I thought the last 7 miles would be fine, but a guy dropped his chain going up a short steep rise, so I waited for him to fix it. Both he and his girlfriend were taking their time and then we came to Nagog Hill. Oy, I have surmised most people just don't use their gears right. They both stand and mash (these people are at least 30 years younger than me) and I pass them going faster, because I am in a lower gear and spinning. But DH waited with the rest of the group and we all made it back.
Someone from AMC has linked this ride to a Meet Up group and I hate this. These are the people who you can clearly tell aren't AMC members. They have poor riding skills, despite being able to ride at a decent speed. We saw several making lefts from the right, so both DH and I gave a "talk" at the lunch about this. Someone from DH's work went into the left lane on a left turn, and up onto the grass on the wrong side of the road :eek:. Thankfully, it was in Boxborough, so no cars.
Everyone loved the newly designed route and generally, everyone seemed happy at the end. I just wish people would stop and think.

Hey guys. Sorry, I should be more clear.

I'm riding with the club at home. It's looking like a big herd for the 28. We just went down to Indy for the day to see family and drove back. Gotta watch the game here in a bit. Your rides sound like fun. Saw so many trails this afternoon when we were in Noblesville. Looks like cool cycling that way. My cousin may be riding with the CIBA at some point this summer (soon-ish). He's training to do the Hilly this year. I swear everyone in my family is just cray-cray for bikes.

Sorry to hear about that, Indy. That's rough.

Well I only put in around 32 km. I spent several hrs. looking for frames (prescription) glasses. Several places had sales..and I felt slightly under pressure since I had already looked for past 2 wks. I can't wait 6 months later..

So I did put in an order. Finally. Then I rode off at 2:00 pm for some lunch on my way home.

I rode the Gorge Ride today. It's about 39 miles from The Dalles to Hood River, Oregon. Great scenery and starts out with a climb that ends in a great view.

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Originally Posted by TrekDianna

I rode the Gorge Ride today. It's about 39 miles from The Dalles to Hood River, Oregon. Great scenery and starts out with a climb that ends in a great view.

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Looks like a gorgeous ride!

Today was 26 miles of hill training. For a flatlander like me it was tough.

I stopped to save a turtle in the middle of the road. He didn't much appreciate it. First he hissed at me, then he tried to pee on me.

PS our hills did not result in any view whatsoever.

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Originally Posted by TrekDianna

I rode the Gorge Ride today. It's about 39 miles from The Dalles to Hood River, Oregon. Great scenery and starts out with a climb that ends in a great view.

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That looks like a great riding area!!

Was suppose to do a long ride in the Los Olivos to Santa Maria area but work got in the way this weekend. Next weekend!!!! I got a quick 25 miles last night on the beach path here to unwind and catch the sunset.

I rode 15.2 miles this morning, while DH went to the Minute Clinic to make sure his cold is nothing more than a cold :(. I did my early AM route in the full daylight for the first time. I don't usually go out riding in Concord on Sunday mornings, because there are so many cyclists, it's not always peaceful. I rode to Concord center, up Nashawtuc Hill and then back down, out Thoreau St., and back around a loop past the cemetery where all the famous authors are buried, and back home. It was humid, and I had that little asthma thing again for a bit, but I am still not sure it's that, as I was fine after the first 20 minutes, and I was riding fast for me. I am also a bit under the weather, so I think a combination of humidity, allergies, going fast without too much of a warm up, contributes to this. I purposely went slow up Nashawtuc, which made my average much slower than I thought it would be. A bunch of really fast dudes passed me, but when I'm going 18-20, I don't care. I dropped one woman, which is enough to make me feel good.
I'm glad I went, as we got back from Father's Day brunch in Boston about 2 hour ago, and are headed out to friends' for dinner!

I didn't get out :( I had a complex migraine and woke up with no feeling in my right hand so I didn't ride. Blargh.

Glad to hear you all got rides in, though. That gorge ride looks beautiful :)

Did 14.1 with people from work before work (with no breakfast!), then rode 20.2 after work with a coworker.

I managed 51 miles yesterday on the rolling hills of the west metro countryside. An absolutely gorgeous day, although I am suffering through a bad summer cold and at times, I felt like my legs were on autopilot and my head was just along for the ride but was not "there" for the ride.

I went over to Cohoes falls
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/100_2467.JPG
Just a bit muddy:
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17mi Friday. Easy pace with a social group @ Eagle Creek Park
32mi Saturday. Comfort pace with meetup group at the Girlfriend Ride in Columbus IN
5mi Saturday. Mountain biking with my Son in Brown County State Park after the Girlfriend ride. The park is located about 25 minutes from Columbus
25mi Sunday. Meetup group ride in Plainfield IN

Girlfriend Ride
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Girlfriend Ride
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Brown County
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Originally Posted by thekarens

Looks like a gorgeous ride!

Today was 26 miles of hill training. For a flatlander like me it was tough.

I stopped to save a turtle in the middle of the road. He didn't much appreciate it. First he hissed at me, then he tried to pee on me.

PS our hills did not result in any view whatsoever.

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Did you get a photo of the turtle? What kind?

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Originally Posted by TrekDianna

Did you get a photo of the turtle? What kind?

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Looked like a box turtle to me. I should have taken a pic and I wanted to, but I admit I was so worn out by that time that more than anything I wanted to finish the lap so I could go home. Sad, but true!