Roctober Rides

I had a nice bike ride today. There were several good rides listed on the club calendar yesterday, but I had some bike issues to resolve at the LBS and wanted to visit a friend who's in the hospital. So I planned out a route in the rural area in southern Anne Arundel County, MD (west and south of Annapolis) that included a visit to the Chesapeake Bay, and I posted it for others to join me.

We had a small, compatible group. There were six of us in all, plus another friend who did a century yesterday, so he rode at a slower pace and took a shortcut after the first rest stop. It was cold last night, with lows in the 40s, so we started late morning to let things warm up a bit. It was a bit breezy but the sun was warm and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. We had a very nice ride, 46 miles in all.

I took this in North Beach, on the Bay.

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25+ miles along the Interurban, clear blue October skies, and even a few flowers along the way still. I was excited to see this little one:

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I have no idea what it is, but I usually only see it June and July. And only in one spot, which ends up being mowed down at some point. This little guy somehow escaped the mower.

Also a sunflower forest alongside the trail:

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What a treat.

I always have trouble this time of year with over dressing for a ride. It starts out in the low 50s in the morning, which is cool, until I start riding, then I get overheated quickly. Especially when the sun is shining. Takes me a few autumn rides to get my layers worked out.

I keep a journal for non-summer rides so I can note what clothes were comfortable under different conditions. It can be hard to believe that the sun will really warm me up when it's 44 degrees when I wake up and 55 at the ride start. But in October, the sun is still reasonably strong. Of course if the clouds roll in, it's a whole different ballgame.

Today I tested a wool shrug from Moxie that I bought at REI over the summer. It was quite cozy.

http://www.moxiecycling.com/ProductD...tCode=BOL14500

Yay for sunflower forests!!! :)

Rode to Pasadena to photograph a 1913 bridge for a monthly photo thread on another site. 58 miles round trip on city streets. Being in the 90’s made me stop for some other photos AND some plum sorbet and a strawberry lemon crullant on the way back :)

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Sunday I got out for a beautiful 45-mile ride out to Mercer Island, going around it in both directions, and back home. There were tons of cyclists out--it might turn out to have been our last dry weekend before the autumn/winter falling damps set in.

I'll admit that I stepped outside looking forward to the refreshing crispness of fall air, and was almost disappointed at how summery it felt. But I eventually resigned myself to the tragedy of bicycling in 70 degrees and sunshine ;)

The good weather has made it easy to bike commute to my Tuesday/Saturday job (the easiest of my several to bike to)--I'm going to try to keep it up even as we transition into rain. I have a hard time starting a ride in the rain, but once I'm biking in the rain, I actually think it's pretty fun. I always feel better biking to this job, and more importantly, getting the time on the bike on the way home, so here's hoping I stick it out and have some rainy commutes to report as the month goes by :)

Meanwhile, I'm slowly getting blog posts up about my cycling trip in Italy, which has been really fun as I relive each day. And I can't recommend highly enough Cinghiale Tours if you're looking for an Italian cycling vacation.

We bit off a bit more than we'd expected for our first October Ride. Did a S24O in the desert. We rode a section of the Idaho Centennial Trail. Picked it up outside of Bruneau, Id at the Bruneau Canyon Overlook and rode to Indian Hot Springs. In hindsight tackling 35 miles of this trail on loaded bikes was a challenge. The Hot Springs were wonderful, the two mile bike push/climb out in the morning certainly got the heart rate up. Ride back was dubbed the infinity desert ride - miles and miles of open country - no fall foliage on this one. Very rocky and bumpy so quite a bit of bouncing around on the saddle, I think everyone came back with sore behinds :)Attachment 17413Attachment 17414Attachment 17415

The weather has been unseasonably warm so I'm making the best of it. I have a few routes that I like to ride on and was pleasantly surprised to find that the main road (very busy city street) I use to get out of town had actually been swept by the street sweeper. It was the cleanest I've ever experienced with no glass, gravel and the various stages of road kill were all gone. It made for a very pleasant beginning to my 30 mile loop.

today was a wet and windy 45 miles with the infamous Cochate road outside of Sealy- 17 hills or rollers that you neeed to peddle up in 5.8 miles and just to prove we could do it we did it in both directions. about half the ride was against a steady 15 mph hour wind and the whole ride was enlightened with frequent " cow pissing on a flat river rock" type down pours of anyting from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. I consider having survived it a victory because it has been 6 months since I have done any climbing or had to deal with quite this much wind. The rain was just an added surprise.

However that makes 100 miles for the week so I can't complain.

The bridge pictures were just stunning...wow!

A couple of interesting rides this week. A few days ago, just on the way home from the grocery store, saw a coyote trotting along near my neighborhood. Just looked like he was on a mission, glanced over at me and kept going. A few people out walking were a little freaked out, I guess I would have been too. Somehow felt safe on the bike anyway, I don't know if I WAS safe, but I wasn't too worried about him. :rolleyes:

Yesterday did about 20 miles along the Interurban, and found someone's credit cards laying on the trail! At first I rode by them thinking it was just trash, but something made me stop and turn around and have a second look... This is the 2nd time I've rescued credit cards laying on the ground in the last few years. No wallet or anything, just a couple of debit cards (for the same person) and a McDonalds gift certificate. I decided I should drop them off at the bank on my way home, about 4-5 miles out of my way, only to discover when I got there they were closed for Columbus Day... rats. Took them by the bank this morning though. Other than that it was a terrific morning ride before our rain and wind storm hit later that day. The light was beautiful with the storm clouds just hanging out to the north.

We were in the Burlington, VT for our Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend. Rode 2 days. A cold and cloudy Saturday and warm, sunny but windy Sunday. Took roads and bike paths and drivers are so courteous on the roads we cycled. Very different than Montreal area for sure. We'll have to go back. :) No pictures taken but scenery was spectaculor as usual at this time of the year.

Our campings are already booked for 2015 season. :)

We now only bike on weekends as it is dark too early and I have dogs to take care of when we get home from work. That and some outdoor chores we try to do during that little light we have left.

I have been super lazy about posting- have ridden over 300 miles this month but nothing longer than about 45 miles. I'm supposed to ride a century Sunday.... not sure if I will stick with the century distance or do the 71. I did a couple of 60+ mile rides in September and then had a cranky IT band and hip for a few weeks. Trying to get ready for El Tour de Tucson in November.

I too have been riding but not posting. We've been traveling from the NW to the SE and stopping to ride in many places along the way. I'm behind on the blog (we're now in Mississippi and blog is still back in the west), but here are some of the rides I have had time to blog:

Crater Lake NP (only my DH rode this one, I drove it): http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...y-bike-and-car

Northern California Redwoods: http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...g-the-redwoods

Redding, California: http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...ing-california

Reno, Nevada: http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...-reno-and-elko

Salt Lake City (various bike trails and "Cycle the City" downtown: http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...lake-city-utah

~~ Emily

I've been to Elko. My sister lives there. Lamoille Canyon is nearby, and it's a nice place for a hike.

Did you take I-80 to SLC? It's quite a drive. There's a 50-mile stretch that is completely straight, and the salt flats are like another planet. And at the state line, the difference between Wendover, NV and Wendover, UT is striking.

Really nice, Emily. I find it interesting that all of these places have bike trails that you can ride for miles. We have nothing like that around here.
This really reminds me that I have seen very little of this country.

So many memories with that blog. We traveled those areas a few years ago and loved it. Salt Lake city flats are something to see in a lifetime too. Can't wait to retire in a few years to travel and cycle as much as we will like in X area.

True we do not have such paths here either but we have a few. And road conditions are rarely wow.

Emily you gotta start posting your itinerary before you get to places. I would have loved to get together when you were in CA.

Veronica

Took my first ride since getting back from my trip. First time I've felt that going on a tour didn't make me stronger. I don't feel weaker, just the same... it's cool, about 50 when we started, with a stiff breeze, with gusts up to about 20 mph once in awhile. It was partly cloudy when we started, then it got sunny, then back to some clouds. At one point DH's Garmin said it was 47, which is probably true on some of the shady roads we were on. We just took it slowly, until the end, where we ticked up the speed once we got within about 7 miles of home.
The fall foliage is just about at peak and is just beautiful this year. I savored every minute, as fall is my favorite season. Riding from now until the snow flies will be just for fun. I am going to do my birthday ride next weekend, since DH will be away the Sunday before my birthday. This year, though, I will plan the route, with no dirt roads for my skinny tires.
22 miles.

Oh, Rebecca! I LOVE your photos--especially, the one you gave a vintage look!

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Did you take I-80 to SLC? It's quite a drive. There's a 50-mile stretch that is completely straight, and the salt flats are like another planet. And at the state line, the difference between Wendover, NV and Wendover, UT is striking.

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Indeed we did take I-80 and saw the salt flats for the first time. Fascinating drive! Blogged it:

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...lake-city-utah

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Emily you gotta start posting your itinerary before you get to places. I would have loved to get together when you were in CA.

Veronica

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We didn't make it any closer to the Bay Area than Redding, though. I know there are several TEers in the Bay Area but didn't think there were any in Redding. Typically we have such a short time in places we visit that unless we have old friends there we can make plans with ahead of time, it's just too much to try to meet new people, especially being the introverts we are. We can only handle so much social time, and if we only have one full day in a place, we prefer not to throw socializing into the mix. We do enjoy visiting with friends when the opportunity arises (as it did in Portland, Salt Lake City, and Durango on this trip), though!

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Originally Posted by CAS

Oh, Rebecca! I LOVE your photos--especially, the one you gave a vintage look!

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Rebecca takes the most amazing photos!

Rebecca, if you are not a professional photographer, I am surprised. You certainly could be!

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Really nice, Emily. I find it interesting that all of these places have bike trails that you can ride for miles. We have nothing like that around here.
This really reminds me that I have seen very little of this country.

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I feel you! The more we see of the US, the more we realize that we still haven't seen. Still, it's been amazing seeing SO MUCH more of it since returning from Belize in March 2013. We have now visited all the states in the US except Alaska. Strangely, our 49th state was Arkansas, of all things. We'd been above it and below it, but never through it! We spent a couple of nights in Little Rock and rode the very nice river trail there, saw the Clinton Library (from the outside, ran out of time for a tour), etc. Even though we've crossed a lot of places off our bucket list, we've probably added at least as many as we travel around and learn about more places -- or find places we want to re-visit.

Can't wait to read your blogs when I have a bit of time Emily!

I did almost 51 on the Centennial Trail again today. Last weekend I did great, this week was more tiring, but there was a stiff headwind going back south. Lots of riders out today and no wonder, it will probably be one of last days this year it will be in the 70s. Gorgeous day!

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Oh, and I had a little hitchhiker!

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Somehow I've ridden about 400 miles this month and haven't posted anything! Last week I did three twenty-ish weekday rides (two "training" and one commute) plus a group ride on Saturday and an organized ride on Sunday.

The organized ride is the "Tumacacori Century", which mainly follows the Santa Cruz River valley south of Tucson toward Nogales. I had signed up to ride the full century Sunday, but my longest ride this fall was about 64, so I wasn't sure about jumping up to about 100 miles. I opted for the 71 mile length, which also meant I had a riding partner. Only the fast gals were doing the longest distance and at an average of around 14 mph, it would have been 8 hours or so, depending on rest stops. It was a good choice- I still had a something in the tank when I got back, and wasn't in the last 20 riders dragging into the parking lot. It's a nicely supported ride, with more options for snacks than a person can possibly sample, and sub sandwiches and a local Tucson treat- Eegee's frozen fruit slushies at the end of the ride.

Thanks AppleTree, CAS and Emily for the nice comments on the photos!!!!

Emily…..Thanks for the blog links!!
We stopped to ride a few times on the northern California 101/1 on a trip back from Wa. a year ago.
It's absolutely a magical road through Prairie Creek. I also posted some photos of the ride in the "Show your 2013 summer adventures" thread. Looking at that thread again I found Eden's photos of one of her rides up to Mt. Baker that inspired me to ride it when on a trip to Bellingham Wa. I couldn't remember who posted the photos......THANKS EDEN!!!!!!:)

I did an early morning ride this morning, something I haven't done in awhile. I'm still waking up at an ungodly hour (3-4 AM) from traveling, so I got out of bed at 4:30, and since it wasn't raining, decided on riding, instead of spin class. I always love riding early in the AM, but sadly, there are more people up and about now, as compared even 2 years ago. However, the first 15 minutes of the ride is always quiet, and I even saw another cyclist at my first intersection.
I rode through Concord Center and came right back, so only 10.3 miles, but I felt like I was working hard. I have several versions of this ride and today I did the shortest and flattest. When I got back, I discovered I had jammed the zipper of the back pocket of my wind jacket; since my phone and wallet were in there, I had to work hard to try and get it unstuck. Unfortunately, I couldn't, so my choice was cut the jacket or rip the zipper apart, which I did. Since I won't be riding until the weekend, and it's going to be a bit warmer, I will be able to take it for repair and use other clothing combinations. It's going to rain for the next 4 days, of course during the days I actually have time to ride during the day.

Houston has been having a spell of perfect fall weather. Dry air, sun,and temps in the mid 60's raising to the high 80's by mid-afternoon a nd then cooling down.

I have been doing back to back rides but Saturday I did the Sealy (town name) Kiwanis Fall Classic also known as the "pie ride" since they serve pie at all the rest stops along with barbeque and St. Arnolds beer at the end. The terrain is flat to gently rolling and the traffic is pretty much non existent as it is farming country. A plenitude of press seal paving is about the only slight downer.

My riding buddy and I along with the SAG guy all started together a bit ahead of the start time. The Sag guy hasn't ridden for about 8 months as his current work schedule is 5:30 am to 7:00 pm and he spends the weekend trying to get caught up on energy and sleep. We rode slow and easy to the first rest stop, had a small slice of pie. I had the chocolate chip pecan pie which was sooo.. good. They had left the pecans a bit salty and used a semi sweet chocolate which cut the sweetness. SAG guy had the chocolate coconut cream which was also quite tasty since I had another slice at the turnaround. The apple pie that I had after lunch was also delicious.

At the first stop Sag Guy headed back and my riding buddy and I went on to ride another 46 miles for a total of 68 in 4:30 which is not too shabby for a couple of old ladies. The weather was picture perfect, mid 70's during the ride, full sun and little to now wind which is probably why our speed was relatively good.

The pie came from the Texas Star Cafe in New Ulm, Texas. I highly recommend it if you ever in the Houston vicinity around the last weekend in November. The added bonus was that it is a not very advertised local secret sort of ride and the total number of riders for Saturday was 350 riders.

Here's hoping thegood weather continues as I am actually clocking some great mileage on the bike.

I rode 32 miles yesterday, nothing special, but a ride that reminds me just how wonderful it is to ride right in my own area. We started out really, really slow, and sped up a little near the end, so I actually finished with an average not so much below what I do when trying to go fast. I feel like I've been riding for so long that now I'm starting to sound like my grandfather, always saying, "Remember when...?" as I ride by different places where stuff has happened.
Today the weather was a little drizzly and blowing at 20 mph right when we wanted to go out and ride, so I went on a 4 mile hike instead. Of course, the rain stopped and the sun peeked out, but I'm good with that. The I went to the lBS and started the process for my new bike build.

marni....i would have stopped at each rest stop :)

worked all weekend :(....planning a ride in Joshua Tree NP with some friends for next weekend though and looking forward to it!!!!