July 7th Rides

[Fredwina]

Lazing off are you? I've started the thread two day in a row, and I live in California
since we're supposed to have triple digits again (95 as I type this at 1:15), I started early. I got in twenty miles before the ride started. I manged to hang with the "big Dogs" until the first hills, where, of course, I got dropped. I chased back on, only to run across and episode of paceline training: the hard way we had several guy(on with a concussion) down, and one of them had his DW and FIL along in on of the slower groups, and since I wasn't doing much, I turned around to find them (We were at Mountain and 16th/Baseline, and I had to got back to Campus(about 2 miles)). I told them the bad news, and we rode up to the accident. Everyone was still milling around when the ambulance pulled up, so the club president told to take take off, hoping some folks would get the hint. I rode by myself to the top of shinn. Tim, The guy whose family i double backed for, caught me at the top(he's a semi-pro XC MTB racer). He couldn't get his bike in the large cog. we looked over, and I Let him use my mirror to examine the road rash on his face. A couple of other folks caught us, so started the descent. We had a bit of a mixup at a Y-intersection. Half went one way and half went the other. I Figured I wouldn't see them again, since I was the weakest rider. I cut it short to go back to the shopping center and see where everyone was , I was surprised that Tim wasn't there yet. I had a strawberry smoothie Tim rolled up as I left the smoothie shop. Talked with some folks, before rolling home to get ready for a TdF party.
Oh,BTW 64.8 miles

[smilingcat]

Did the tour of three harbors in Ventura. Sponsored by Ventura Velo. I've been lame for the past week with back problem, barely able to stand straight cause it hurts. Anyway, opted out for the half-metric to baby my poor back.

With my back the way it is, I have absolutely zero power on the climb. So I took it easy on the half-metric. Few minor whoopdy do hills nothing serious. Checked in around 9:00AM finito. 33.6 miles and 700ft of climb. Very tame.

It's nice to go elsewhere to do a ride. Lots of strawberry field, orchards, old town of Ventura and best of all it was well marked and a fun leisurly ride. And people were just out having fun. No speedy Gonzalaz or anything like that.

I wanted to ask a guy how he liked his Cervelo P2 (why ride a TT bike on a fun ride??) He was too busy fiddling with his ipod, his bluetooth and his silly phone. Can't help but to shake my head in disbelief... His bluetooth and phone weren't working together and ipod in the way of the incoming call...

Very EASY RIDE GOOD FOR FIRST TIMERS.

Next year, I might do their full century.
Smilingcat

[emily_in_nc]

Very nice ride with DH on our Bike Fridays to the post office, farmer's market for some organic local produce, plus some extra (and rather hilly) rural mileage in between. Just under 24 miles. By the end, it was really getting HOT, so I was glad to be home.

Emily

[7rider]

Lazing off are you? I've started the thread two day in a row, and I live in California

I admit I am.
I had my first of 3 cervical ESIs (Epidural Steroid Injection) on Friday morning, so I've been doing the conservative thing....wishing all that steroid juice to go and do it's thing in my neck so I can be pain free. So I've been off the bike for a few days (no doubt, Mimitabby has passed me already on BikeJournal!). Yesterday, I worked on my tan in the back yard. Today, DH and I went to see how the "other half" live, by paddling our kayaks around Back Creek in Annapolis - taking in all the fancy homes and yachts that we can never hope to afford. Well, if I had a spare $500K lying around, I might consider getting one of these - which we saw at one dock. DH's taste goes more towards the more humble sailboat - the Freedom Cat Ketch catches his eye, like this .
Tomorrow...I'll be back on the bike and hopefully I'll finish the ride with minimal pain. Wouldn't that be nice!

[Crankin]

Our friends had a friend in from NYC, so in his honor, they had a few people over for a ride and a BBQ. We rode to their house (4.5 miles) and then did a very pretty and leisurely 24.5 mile ride around Acton, Stow, and Boxborough. Everyone was an experienced rider, but much slower than our normal pace. The guy from NYC was dying, as he hadn't ridden in awhile, but he made it. I led for a while in the beginning and then stayed back a bit. Although it seemed hot and humid at the beginning, it got breezy and a little cloudy, which made it a very pleasant ride. We stopped at the Delaney Reservation to view the wild life and take a picture. Near the end of the ride 4 of us had gone ahead a bit; the other group made a wrong turn, so we ended up going on with the just the 4 of us. At the end Steve and I pushed it a bit near my friend's house, so I got my average up. Then we rode home, showered, and went back to eat!
One of the women on the this ride refuses to wear a helmet. She is a pretty strong athlete but it really got me pissed. I mean, it's not a club ride, but I did say something to her, which started a "thing" and everyone decided to stop the conversation. Plus, she's a mountain biker . I can't imagine doing that without a helmet...

[mimitabby]

we started out by taking the ferry to Southworth, and then hopped on our bikes and did about 12 miles to Port Orchard. From there we went on to Burley, Ollala,
and some other little hamlets strung along like beads along a very very hilly road. Yes, some of those hills were steeper than what i found on Hurricane ridge, but there were lots of downs too, including one steep and straight enough that I broke my personal downhill speed record of 32 mph... I was plummeting down that hill at 35 mph at one point..
About 10 miles outside of Gig Harbor, we got lost. Raleighdon who kindly stayed behind with me has only done this ride once before so he wasn't completely sure where to go; so after two false turns, he decided that the only way we'd ever catch up to our friends was to go the direct route over the hill and down into Gig Harbor. That was a nasty climb, about 10% grade for a distance. We caught up to our friends in Gig Harbor; had a quick lunch, and then I was informed that we needed to hurry to catch the ferry and we had 20 miles to go. I didn't think that was bad until DH told me he wasn't sure we could make it because the next 20 miles were HILLY. augh..
upon leaving the restaurant i noticed my legs were TIRED. REALLY tired.
but DH enthusiastically informed me each time we completed another of the three main (nasty) hills. and continued to be a warm, sweet coach/cheerleader.
With 20 minutes to spare, we finally arrived at the ferry terminal. It was beautiful and hot, well, for me. 64 miles and 4400 feet of climbing. I am toast. literally. but i completed yet another "grown up ride"

[HillSlugger]

Because of my sprained ankle, this was my first ride on my regular road bike since my Tour de Cure 50 miler almost 4 weeks ago. I've lost a lot of fitness! I felt uncomfortable for a while and weak, but finally felt good towards the end of the ride.

I did my "time trial loop", 11 miles at 17.6 mph, my fastest ever. Then did another 14 miles. At this point I discovered I had locked my keys and my phone in the car. Doh! There was a guy playing tennis in the park with his son, but he didn't have a phone. So, I road another 6 to my mom's house and called DP to pick me up with her set of keys. So, 31 miles total at 16.3 mph overall.

[makbike]

I took my recumbent out for an early spin. Given my time restictions I only rode 15 miles this morning. I had to be on the road before noon to make it to Evansville to celebrate my niece & nephew's birthdays. They my niece and nephew are growing like weeds and I enjoyed my visit with them.

The birthday meal was great as was the homemade blueberry pies. I also got a chance to visit with my older brother and his son (yet another nephew) who just completed a 1800 mile bike journey from Oregon to Colorado. Sounds like they had a blast and I do believe my nephew is hooked on cycling.

[tygab]

Hubby and I did a variant of our ride from last week, to Amherst NH. We ended up logging 51 miles. Rode up the road we have nicknamed the "grind" as it is a 2.8 mile uphill (not steep, just long), and there are also no trees for shade, and strong head/crosswinds. We rode by lots of farms and Silver Lake, Massapoag Pond, etc and I wanted to jump into the water so badly along both. It was warm out today! We closed out our ride with Lost Lake Road, which is this crazy, roller coaster winding road where the grades are over 10% (I think we logged that one of them is 14%). Arms feel a little sore. We'll see what we feel like doing tomorrow.

[Yes, I am having fun with all the data from the Forerunner & MotionBased... ]

[RolliePollie]

I'm hot. Only 9.6 miles this evening, but that's better than nothing. Good thing I don't live somewhere that gets really super hot...I wouldn't be getting in any miles at all!

[KnottedYet]

I rode a huge enormous 8 miles today!

It was to the post office to mail my first catastrophic medical insurance payment. Now that I have health insurance again (oh, what a MESS the US healthcare system is in!) I will ride and ride and ride and ride...

Thank goodness for Adventure Advocates (I found through the USAT) and their accident insurance. My catastrophic medical insurance specifically excludes any "sporting activity or training for sporting activities." Geeez.

Now I've got two insurances, and you can bet yer buns I'll be keeping the accident insurance even after I switch health insurance.

I find it supremely ironic that a healthcare provider (me) has to go through he** to get health insurance.

[jobob]

It was damp & cold on my ride today. Yes, in the middle of the N California heatwave, I was wearing my vest over my bolero over my jersey and wishing I had leg warmers.

We started out in La Honda in the mist, rode down Rt 84 to the ocean in the mist, went up and back down the north end of Stage Road in the mist, then south on Stage Road to Pescadero in the mist. drip. drip. drip. By the time we reached Pescadero the mist had gone away some - not "burned off", that would imply the presence of sun. The only time I was actually warm was when I was climbing Hasklins Hill on Pescadero Road. (Last time I went up that road it was on my aborted attempt at a permanent and I was hacking and wheezing from a nasty cold. Today I learned it's a pleasant climb when I can breathe.)

The ride was only 30 miles and I was toying with adding a loop out to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, but then Lee suggested maybe we drive back to Pescadero for lunch and pick up some more of that of that incredible artichoke garlic bread we tried when we cycled through. Hmmm ... 30 more miles in the damp & cold, or, lunch and artichoke bread and head for home and kick back & watch the TdF recorded on the TiVo?

[DrBadger]

I know what you mean about the cool and damp Jo, I can't imagine what it was like on the coast as we could see all the fog from Palo Alto!

Roommate Amie, another friend and I did a 40 mile ride from our place up Foothill, Arastadero to the back side of the Portola loop, up Mountain Home Road to Canada all the way to 92, and then took Edgewood to Alameda de las Pulgas back home. It was great in Palo Alto and the first part of Canada, was in shorts and a sleeveless jersey and felt fine, but that last strech of Canada between Edgewood and 92 it kept getting windier and foggier.... it was actually drizzeling on us by the end and everyone else coming the other directon had on jackets and tights Needless to say, we felt a little under dressed

Nice ride though, but my legs were pretty dead on the hills. I went to my first Body Pump (group weight lifting class) on Thursday in about 3 months, and I am still paying for it. So, tomorrow will be a rest day for me... see if I can get to the point where I can get up from sitting and walk normally again.

[Blueberry]

Very nice ride with DH on our Bike Fridays to the post office, farmer's market for some organic local produce, plus some extra (and rather hilly) rural mileage in between. Just under 24 miles. By the end, it was really getting HOT, so I was glad to be home.

Emily

Yay Emily! Hadn't heard whether you were (road) riding again!! Glad to hear you're back at it!

You were brave to ride yesterday - I wimped because of the heat!

CA

[Aggie_Ama]

We went down to Bastrop and did the 51 mile Piney Woods ride. It goes through Bastrop and Buescher State Parks which are winding and have steep hills. On the second pass through the parks we got stuck in a hard downpour. UGH! It was an awesome ride although the cue sheet was a little messed up and with all the hills it was a slow one.