July 30 Ride Reports

Since the thread wasn't up yet, I thought I'd make it for my Livestrong ride report, too.

I want to start by saying it was the best Sunday Morning ride, Ever! Traffic was backed up all the way out exit 306B and onto I-5 by the time I got to the line, but I managed to get there in time to see Lance. Pictures don't do him justice!

I'd been looking to meet up with some folks I met yesterday at check-in, but ended up making a trio with a couple womenfolk I met and followed the first few miles.

The rest stops were very well placed, though we skipped the last one. We made much better time than I had expected to, especially given our fairly lengthy stops at the rest stops, to mosy, check the dunnies and refill water. We made it in about 4 hours, max speed 39 going down a hill (wheee!) and an avg. speed of 15mph. I was impressed, given I hadn't gotten around to getting slicks, so I was using my 2" wide 'chubby nubbies'. :o I guess I'm a lot faster than I had thought-and I'm better on hills than I'd thought, too!:D

At the end, I was both happy to 'see the end' and considering taking the 70 next year... if I get those slicks and a more butt-friendly seat!

It was a good ride, and the after-party was fun, though I didn't stay long. Had I had a ride, I probably would've tarried longer, but the long ride combined with pizza and beer had me pretty tired.

I just got home now, and after showering etc, I'm just posting this quick before my nap!:D

The club ride got rained on, so we cut it a little short. The sun was out after church, so I did a climbing loop. Very humid.

No ride, but does cross training count? The mutt kept me awake with crazy nutso barking, of course now...she's sacked out on the floor.

Anyway I felt too sleepy to get going for a ride I went to the dojo instead, Sunday is open training. You just show up and what you train on is up to you and depends on who is there. Nice group including 3 other women. I felt stiff and sore going in, much better now after the 1 1/2 hour class.

Might try riding to it next time, I've done that before.

I wasn't sure how far I would go today given my lack of sleep last night, however, once on the bike I found myself zipping along and feeling better darn good so I just kept going. I rode a couple of new roads today, very rural, very low traffic, very scenic and found myself "waking" up as the ride progressed. I ventured through the small towns of Jacksonville (consist of maybe 6 houses) and the town of Defoe (again maybe six houses) and stopped in the big town of Pleasureville to purchase some fluids and a snack. Back on the bike I found myself back on some familiar roads and my legs were beginning to wan a bit, however, I kept pushing on for I wanted to see if I could make at least 50 miles. However at the 32 mile mark on the route I found myself low on fluids and decided it best to head for home given there are no stores on the remainder of the route. It was quite hot and humid today and the last thing I wanted to do was run out of fluids and still be 10 miles from home. By the time I made it home I was out of fluids, out of energy but feeling pretty darn happy with the 45 miles I rode and my average speed of 15.7 mph. I'm so looking forward to crawling into bed later tonight and I don't think there will be any issues with accomplishing a good nights sleep tonight (I sure hope to avoid what occured last night).

what is it with no one sleeping last night? Work had me stay until 11, so it was such a pain to get home at 11:30 and only manage 4 hrs of sleep before my ride today. I was not thrilled.:mad:

I would have loved 4 hours of sleep last night but it was not to be but it will be, plus some, tonight.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pooks

Fantastic! Does that mean you rode the 40?

How far apart were the rest stops?

What are dunnies?

And what did they serve for lunch?

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1. Yup!
2. First rest stop was 12 miles in, and they seemed roughly 10 miles apart, but like I said, we skipped the last, and I actually think the 3rd was less than 10 miles from the 3rd, but then again, we were zooming dh, so it could well have been, just not felt like it.
3. Dunny- aussie term for 'outhouse' ... and I just liked it and adopted it. *dodges things thrown by Kiwis*
4. the 'actual' lunch consisted of subs, pizza, big bowls of various salads (I had thai noodle, but there were lots of others) and soda. Beer was conveniently one tent over. =) You'll probably see more of Shiner since you're actually IN texas, but yeah, their Hefeweizen was good!

I haven't been posting in ride reports much or at all. Mostly my rides are pretty uneventful save for noticing a new house being thrown up where none extisted the week before. Or noticing the surveyor's stakes where they are starting to lay out the streets and probably to plant yet another 100 or more houses in the midst of my absolutely favorite desolate farm road. Gonna have to find new routes in another year or so.

I did 22 miles yesterday. It was hot. 18 miles today, hotter still. I must have gotten home just in time, cause when I went upstairs to take a shower, the thermometer in my bedroom window went from 90oF to 97oF in 15 minutes time. Now that was notable! What I wouldn't give for a nice cool ocean breeze.

Started out at 7:00 AM at Lake Lavon for a 70 mile ride to Greenville and back.

First 30 miles were good for me. I didn't feel as strong as I have in the past, but I felt solid. The chip seal roads were starting to pound on me, but not too bad.

Miles 30 to 50... HORRIBLE! It was 20 miles into a headwind, blowing around 15-20 mph. Headwinds and me do NOT get along. By around mile 17 of that section, I hit the GRANNY GEAR on the FLATS. I have NEVER done that before, but it tells you how bad the wind was getting to me. I kept telling myself I felt strong, and that I was fine, but I was wearing down. I didn't break, but it was rough.

After that stretch we lost one of our group of 9. The 97-100F heat was getting to her, so she stopped, and someone went back to get her later (in a car).

After our last stop with about 18 miles left, I was DONE FOR. I was tired. My legs felt it. I couldn't keep pace with the rest of the group. One kind soul, Paul, hung back with me and I thanked him profusely.

For the last 2-4 miles, I had this POUNDING headache. My whole head hurt. I think the heat was getting to me.

When the ride was over, I was so happy! I put a cool towel on my face and my head started to feel better.

MORAL OF THE STORY: I learned today that I will NOT be making it 100 miles at Hotter Than Hell. My body doesn't love the heat as much as I think it does.

I haven't been posting in ride reports much or at all. Mostly my rides are pretty uneventful save for noticing a new house being thrown up where none extisted the week before. Or noticing the surveyor's stakes where they are starting to lay out the streets and probably to plant yet another 100 or more houses in the midst of my absolutely favorite desolate farm road. Gonna have to find new routes in another year or so.

I wanted to do about 30 miles yesterday but settled for 22. It was hot. 18 miles today, hotter still. I must have gotten home just in time, cause when I went upstairs to take a shower, the thermometer in my bedroom window went from 90oF to 97oF in 15 minutes time. Now that was notable! What I wouldn't give for a nice cool ocean breeze.

Congrats Kitsune!

We are in another heat wave. :( So The only riding I did was test riding brand new bikes (approzimately 6 miles) and found the perfect fit-a Trek 1000.

Jennifer, finding your perfect fit bike should never be used in the same sentance with "only". Congratulations!! Tell us more about your new beauty tomorrow!
Today was my first day riding MY new bike too!!!!! We are NewBike sisters!
I wrote about it in a separate thread.

Will check to hear more tomorrow about your perfect Trekster... :)

63.5 miles with TE gals and BF guys and gals. We had great weather and it was a fun day. Unfortunately I'm having issues with dropping my chain when I try to go into my granny gear. Happened on the first climb, so when we hit the 12 mile stretch of rolling hills I decided to just go for it in the middle chain ring instead of chancing it and I did it...the whole thing! Of course, I dropped it again at a climb at the end of the ride, so I'm going to have to look into this dilemma further. :mad:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KSH

Started out at 7:00 AM at Lake Lavon for a 70 mile ride to Greenville and back.

Miles 30 to 50... HORRIBLE! It was 20 miles into a headwind, blowing around 15-20 mph. Headwinds and me do NOT get along. By around mile 17 of that section, I hit the GRANNY GEAR on the FLATS. I have NEVER done that before, but it tells you how bad the wind was getting to me. I kept telling myself I felt strong, and that I was fine, but I was wearing down. I didn't break, but it was rough.

After that stretch we lost one of our group of 9. The 97-100F heat was getting to her, so she stopped, and someone went back to get her later (in a car).



MORAL OF THE STORY: I learned today that I will NOT be making it 100 miles at Hotter Than Hell. My body doesn't love the heat as much as I think it does.

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KSH
You did 70 miles in HIGH WINDS and 100 degrees??!?!?! YOu are AMAZING!!

26.4 miles.

We were ready to ride and it started to rain... we waited 5 minutes and it stopped. We fought headwinds all the way to Kent (13.2 miles)
It was lovely out, not warm not cold.
We ate dinner at my mother's house and then returned home by 830pm
with wild cloud displays all around. IT was cool enough to wear the windbreakers on the way home. I love Seattle.

28 mile trail ride, in MUCH cooler weather and even some sprinkles. I love that! Very breezy in the RIGHT direction, which to me means headwind on the way out and tailwind on the way home. And, my, hills get easier quickly if you just keep doing them.

And one of these days I'm going to fall rubbernecking after the bald eagles on the trail. But it'll be worth it.

This was a single bike ride today, since now that the STP is done, Mr. Salsa is returning to doing some of his own hill rides to get ready for SOB (Summits of Bothell) in late August. Next big tandem ride August 13, the Tenino-Rainier-Yelm-Bucoda Rally: "Revel in the quiet countryside of Thurston and Lewis counties; enjoy views of the Skookumchuck and Seschutes Rivers, the llama farm, Mr. Rainier, and hawks soaring overhead along the Johnson Creek Road."

Well yesterday did my longest ride this year - no reason for waiting so long other than laziness.

I joined the OC July 30th ride organized by Brandy. This was a combined TE and bikeforums.net group ride. It basically turned into a BF ride as that group was much, much larger and comprised almost entirely of 20 - 30 guys and some gals ( a few oldsters like me sprinkled in but not many). The TE riders included Brandy and Tiff and Caligirl, who basically stayed with the BF group and ACG, Greenmachine, Tprevost and myself who hung back as the TE riders and really enjoyed the ride.

I do alot of rides around Orange County and this ride was not only scenic but epic. It did most of the known hill climbs in OC and the entire ride, was a challenge. We started out at a park near Back Bay, Newport Beach. The group was so large and that it was hard to manage. Alittle confusion at first. Carligurl and her husband had been left at the park but the TE gals waited and got them back up to the BF group.

Everyone stayed together through the warm up period before the first big climb up Jamboree. All in all the group stayed close together into the first sag area. After the sag we entered Santiago Canyon. The Canyon is a beautiful area to climb and ride but not when it's hot. Thankfully, it was cloud covered and misty making the Canyon a joy to ride. I went through with Tpevost and my friend Wayne and who graciously was acting as one of the sweeps. Lots of tire flats and Wayne would stop and help. Tprevost and I kept riding. Although slower on hills than the others we were steady.

Next sag/lunch stop Wayne and several of the TE ladies were way back due to flats. They got in just as the BF group was ready to shove off. This really split the group. No matter, we now had a nice, manageable group of 7 riding together and the downhills were coming up. From the sea to the mountain and back to the sea again we rode. 2 more epic climbs (Shady Ridge and Newport Coast) but we all made it back to the park safe and sound. It turned out ot be a beautiful day, we did about 55 miles, lots of climbing (3500' ?), but we did it.

Have to say I really enjoy the company of Greenmachine (and her friend Sylvia who fits right in), ACG (who I fell in love with when she turned out to be just as smart alec as my friend Wayne - she dished it out to Wayne as much as he dished it out to us - good onya ACG!), and especially Tprevost who got through this long hard ride without complaint. All 3 gals drove a long way to do this ride and I hope they enjoy the best to see and ride in OC. Can't wait to do the next TE ride. If we can keep the weather cool, might have to try the ride down to San Juan Capistrano, have a nice lunch down by the Mission and ride back. That's a good one as well.

Anyway next ride with the group is the Cool Breeze Century August 19th. I think we are all ready!

Still it was a good ride KSH..As we talked, Texas heat and humidity(head winds) sure are not good elemets to be riding in. I did 50 yesterday morning, but it felt like a 100! It doesn't take long, when it is so hot, for the heat to really drain a person of energy. You made it 70...that is more then I can say! :D

I didn't have a chance to post about my ride yesterday, so I thought I'd update today anyway...

78.0 miles, 14.8 mph avg.

The first 50 or so miles were AWESOME! The temps were cool (about 88 or so) and a good part of the route was shady. The hills were tough...but they were always followed with a fun downhill...so totally worth it. We were averaging about 15.8 mph and having a great time!

Then the HEAT hit. The last 25 miles or so were pure torture. DH was on zero sleep and his temper was flaring. It was HOT...96 degrees and about 85% humidity. No shade...open farmland...lots of wind...dreadful.

I will say that having made it through the last 25, I'm 100% sure we'll be fine on our first century in two weeks! :D