June 7th rides

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Oh boy, I get to start a "rides" thread!!

Well, the wind is still screaming through the plains here. It "came right behind the rain", you know.. Sheesh... You know, I thought the saying was 'Spring comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.'
Okay.. where is the freeking lamb, I ask you??!?!?

Sustained winds of 25 with gusts up to 32... I rode 110 min and called it good. I just didn't have it in me THIS Saturday. Oh well. I'm on my way to Edmond to visit my mom with my 4 furry children. You gals enjoy your day! Hope its not nearly as windy where you are!

[la bicicleta]

I rode to buy the Sunday paper. I stopped to pet a teacup Chihuahua.

I will ride to Starbucks in the afternoon!

[Blueberry]

We rode to the farmer's market (and ran into a fellow TE'er - hi Tulip!!), came home and put up veggies, and then headed back out to the bank and the bike shop (to get DH's headset tightened - for some reason, the headsets on our Fridays frequently loosen). About 10 miles total - and a heat index of 100 by the time we returned home about 11.

CA

[motochick]

I rode the mountain behind my house again. I am getting pretty good at it, so today my goal was to not stop for my usual 4 short butt breaks. I stopped only one time to eat my gel and actually went down the backside and then back up again. This way I get to descend twice! I am still not fast but I love the fact that I can ride 37 miles and climb over 4500ft and not be whipped when I get home. I LOVE MY GRANNY GEAR! Today was a perfect ride.

Brenda

[makbike]

Joined the club for their "fixie friendly" 60 mile ride this morning. It was hot when it started (80F) but cloudy so that did help some. The ride made it ways from Cherokee Park in Louisville over to Indiana where we wandered about for most of the ride. This ride involved a lot of city and subdivision riding and I will readily admit it was not one of my favorites offered by the club. There was just too much starting and stopping for me. However, I rode with a great group of guys who knew the route and kept me on track. In the end we logged 60.9 miles today and covered them at a very leisurely pace. This is probably a good thing since I'm giving some serious thought to tackling the century the club is hosting tomorrow. Time to rest!

[BarbaraAlys]

I did a training ride for the charity ride I'm doing in the fall. They do these organized rides to give crew members a chance to figure out what they need to do, and to keep momentum going with the riders.

It was 30 miles, and very hilly (for this part of the world); the winds were 20-30MPH (at one point I was struggling to keep up 12MPH going down hill, so maybe there were stronger moments), it rained and although the official temp is something like 91, my bike computer said it was over 100 by the end.

A great ride, now I'm going to nap

Barbara

[KathiCville]

Rode 18 beautiful, foggy miles at 6:00 a.m. Temps have been in the 90s in Central VA this week; heat index even higher, so dawn is the only time I'm willing to be out on my bike! That's the first time I've pedaled for a long stretch through a blanket of low-lying fog. Was VERY glad I had three blinkies on the back of the bike plus a strong "See me, see me!" headlight on the front, in addition to bright clothing. My glasses kept steaming up, so I had to pull over every so often to wipe them off! Wonderful to see the pastures wrapped in fog!

My heart goes out to the local MS150 riders who kicked off their weekend-long charity ride last night. Back-to-back rides today and tomorrow. It's supposed to reach 98 degrees each day..........I helped IFJane and the MadCyclists raise and decorate their tent at the main registration area yesterday evening. (A tropical paradise complete with pink flamingos and a tacky toucan kite.) We were keeling over from the heat and humidity without putting a single foot to pedal! I hope the riders got a VERY early start this morning..........Go, MadCyclists!

[7rider]

Ugh.
DH and I did the Oxon Hill Bike club's annual Patuxent River Rural Legacy Ride today. We started in the fog at a bit before 9 (the hour drive to the start and my still being on Mountain Time did not lend themselves to getting out of the house much earlier than 7:30 ).
By 10 or 10:30 the fog had burned off and we rode in sun and vile, disgusting, heat and humidity. Blech. I had nothing in me for any hills. Fortunately, this route is rolling, but with no real sustained climbs. DH charged up a few hills - mainly to catch (and beat) riders who annoyed him - men! - but I stayed in survival-mode. He was keeping himself entertained any way he could I guess.
So...I got my second metric of the season in....62 miles and I managed to eke out a 15.8 mph pace.
Now.....bring on the Belmont and a bottle of cold brew....

[Beane]

Things I learned on my ride today:

1) While one doesn't want to be scared off by the weather radar, with this philosophy, one must expect to get rained on.

2) Taking off a (very) sweaty helmet at a rest stop is not a good idea.

3) Zipping up one's saddle pack is a good idea, especially when it's carrying a cell phone and cash.

4) Hershey bars are not a good pre-ride food.

[Fredwina]

I went to beach today!
The bad news, I got dropped right of the bat
But then who wants to spend 4 hours staring at some else behind?
And you would miss such fun things as
A really big "A" with a light-up halo:

A whole bunch of water(did I mention that I forgot my camelbak?):

A golf course in the middle of a River?

A another sports arena. I hear the team that play here is really "quacky' (yes, I'm being silly)

62 miles,

[Crankin]

We're starting our first heat wave here. Yesterday was 58, drizzly, and damp. Today it got up to 90 and is getting more humid by the moment. I hate this! We went out around 10:45 and just rode around Concord and Carlisle. Did quite a bit of climbing for a very local ride, including Strawberry Hill, Rt. 225, and of course my street. I rode up the steep side of my hill for the second time this year. I felt strong and I think it's because I haven't been on my bike since I commuted last Monday. Tuesday I went hiking and I was really sore! Wednesday I lifted weights and did yoga and Thursday I did nothing. Yesterday i went for a little 2.5 mile walk.
I need to rest more that I have been and this proves it helps my riding.
There were SO many cyclists out today, I lost count. Not just group rides, but lots of couples, small groups of women, and people pulling their kids in trailers.
21.4 miles, average 15.4
Tomorrow I am going to go out at 6:30, ride to breakfast, and then collapse at the pond.

[pranachick]

Did the Albuquerque (New Mexico, that is...I don't think there's another Albuquerque, but ya never know) Century today. It was nice, cool and no wind early in the ride. Got windy and hot (90 degrees) by 1030am-ish. But seeing everyone else's post, I should just shut up...we rarely have a humid day, jusy wind.

Anyway, got in 106 miles...time to take a shower and then have a cocktail.

[RolliePollie]

Today I rode from Pollock Pines to Placerville (in the CA foothills/mountains between Sacramento and Tahoe) and back. What a perfect day for a ride! It's just beautiful out and not too hot. I took a convoluted route so it turned out to be 39 miles round trip with probably 3,500' of climbing. I'm pooped!

Speaking of poop, there was a lot of it on the road. I had to take an unexpected detour because I met up with the Highway 50 Wagon Train, which is an annual event where a bunch of horses and wagons start in Nevada or South Lake Tahoe and follow Hwy. 50 and some back roads to Placerville. Then they have a big parade and BBQ and other festivities. This is the 59th annual event. The actual Wagon Train was really small this year, but I'm kind of happy about that because if it had been larger, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to avoid all the road apples!

-sara

[Triskeliongirl]

46 mile club ride today, but ooh so windy. I took an out of town gal I met on the bike friday site out with us that was in town for a convention. It didn't rain, but it misted just enough to keep everyone cool!

Great rider turnout, must have been more than 100 people at the start including some good friends, so we had a great ride.

[redrhodie]

I got out before the temps got silly. It was swampy damp, but there was an ocean breeze that felt good.

I almost ate pavement while signaling a left turn while flying down a hill. Did a scary "s" thing with bike almost going down left, overcompensating the recovery, then almost going down right. That was fun! Proud I stayed vertical!

Did something like 25 sticky miles.

Oh, and I found a broken link on my brand new Sram chain. That was causing the mystery click I had been hearing. Really lucky I found it, and it didn't find me (on my butt). An entire side plate was missing, and of course, my LBS had never seen that before. I'm lucky like that. Now, why can't I win the lottery? Had them upgrade me to a Shimano chain. I've lost all faith in Sram.