July 28 rides

[hilldweller]

Woohoo! Did my hill loop today and didn't have to stop (except at the bottom of the hill to uncramp my fingers from the brake levers, which doesn't count). It's only about 15k but there's 300m of ascent/descent including some nasty steep sections where I was standing up and just barely managing to turn the pedals. But I did it

[mudmucker]

Well, it's Tuesday in NZ but still Monday July 27 here so I'll post tonight's ride.

I had such a fabulous ride tonight. I rode with the Monday group out of Lancaster. It was a lovely summer evening weatherwise. We rode through Lancaster, Harvard, Ayer, Shirley, and Townsend. Basically, this is a ride where the C rides were too slow and I was going to transition over to the B rides (19 mph). I knew the B ride would be too fast and I was wondering how much heart and lung I was going to leave out on the road before I got spit out the back. Well, I didn't know this but apparently the B rides have been going around 22 mph. Well, that's a pretty big gap, between 15.x and 22 so due to the supply and demand of the masses, namely a large group of slower B riders, they have decided to throw in a C+ ride at 17-18 mph. How fortuitous for me so I jumped right in.

This ride was so fun because the people are nice and I left no heart or lung on the road. I was not taxed aerobically at all, my heart rate stayed pretty low and the legs didn't burn. I did a personal best tonight and clocked 17.5 mph at 36 miles. That is probably because a) the terrain in this area is more forgiving compared to what I am used to and of course, b) I was in a group.

Well, I'm pretty happy that I didn't hurt. Plus we got the ride in before any thunderstorms.

[arielmoon]

hilldweller good job with the hilly loop! You are a day ahead so I am going to report on my Mon 7/27 ride!

Group ride was awesome. Started out in the B (19mph) group which 3 of us quickly became a B+ and we picked up 2 riders that dropped from the A group to form a very steady paceline. Averaged 20.6 for 28 miles. This was my best ride since the accident and I feel great! I did push and burn here and there but in a good way!

I am also happy to report that we did not encounter rain or storms. Last week I was not so lucky.

[leathela]

hilldweller good job with the hilly loop! You are a day ahead so I am going to report on my Mon 7/27 ride!

Group ride was awesome. Started out in the B (19mph) group which 3 of us quickly became a B+ and we picked up 2 riders that dropped from the A group to form a very steady paceline. Averaged 20.6 for 28 miles. This was my best ride since the accident and I feel great! I did push and burn here and there but in a good way!

I am also happy to report that we did not encounter rain or storms. Last week I was not so lucky.

Sounds like a great ride!

Mine was kind of meh this morning. I rode 27 miles with intervals, but the humidity was just so oppressive! (I'd planned to do 35, but was just not quite feeling it today...I think I may have been out too late last night [2 glasses of wine and an 11:30 bed time is a lot for someone who gets up at 4:20!] and hadn't gotten as much sleep as I needed). Anyway, the ride itself went fine, but I just felt very sticky and drained by the time I got back home to get ready for work. My morning rides usually leave me feeling so invigorated--not this one. I'm trying not to be down on myself about it, though--we all have our 'off' days, even if we can't identify what exactly about them was 'off'. I have a habit of competing with myself a little too fervently, for no apparent reason...

Anyway, I've decided that I'd like to get a new road bike at some point in the next few months. I'm looking at the Terry Isis--does anyone ride this? (Pro or Sport).

[Crankin]

I decided to ride my road bike to an appointment in W. Concord (6 miles) and do the rest of my ride afterwards, since it is going to be 90 later and it's humid. When I left the office, I thought, hmm, I should use the rest room, but I wanted to just go. My goal was to ride in as shady of an area as I could! I still had to use the bathroom when I passed the visitor's center with a bathroom and headed out toward my house. I didn't want to go home, but didn't want to do my regular loop, so I hit some back roads that I usually do in the opposite direction. It was really nice, as long as I stayed in the shade. I must say, it's really humid; my shorts were just drenched with sweat and I could barely get my jersey off it was so wet.
18.5 miles, shortened due to my inability to use the rest room when I should have!

[PinkBike]

our commute to work yesterday:

118 degrees when we left the house at 2 in the afternoon
(had an oven thermometer on the handlebars)
100 degrees when we left work at 11 pm
(according to the weather station on the wall)
90 degrees - the temp of my water after riding 25 minutes in the heat
(pulled the bottle out of the fridge just before we left the house)

[leathela]

our commute to work yesterday:

118 degrees when we left the house at 2 in the afternoon
(had an oven thermometer on the handlebars)
100 degrees when we left work at 11 pm
(according to the weather station on the wall)
90 degrees - the temp of my water after riding 25 minutes in the heat
(pulled the bottle out of the fridge just before we left the house)

Wow--I will not complain about 90 again! I can't even fathom what 118 degrees feels like to ride in. I'm seriously impressed.

[hilldweller]

Wow--I will not complain about 90 again! I can't even fathom what 118 degrees feels like to ride in. I'm seriously impressed.

I can't imagine even breathing in that sort of temp, let alone biking! Well done you.

[Crankin]

It feels like you are in Hell...

I never want to experience that again.

[Duck on Wheels]

I'm back to bike commuting as of this week. At last. Doing better on the hills now, after all the work and experience and hill-climbing insights of the ALC. Hmmmm. Used bike commuting to train for the ride, now it seems the ride was training for bike commuting. Tuesday I rode past home after work, went downtown to do a couple of errands and see the Medieval Faire. Saw something else interesting as well: I've seen bike cops before, but this was the first time I've seen a "bike ambulance". Two cyclists, presumably emergency med. personnel, with AMBULANCE clearly marked on their jackets and bikes. Panniers on the bikes, probably with defib and other medical equipment. Too bad I couldn't find which jacket pocket I had my cell phone in so I could take a picture, but they should be around more through the week. I asked how they deal with transporting patients, and they explained that they're first responders in crowd situations such as the ongoing festival. If I see 'em I'll snap a pic and post it here later.

[uk elephant]

I was finally feeling stronger on the hills too and managed to push the pace up ever so slightly at the top yesterday. Probably not noticeable to anyone else, but felt good to me. Must be a combination of the ALC hills and getting used to my commute. Wavered whether to cycle home again after work in the pouring rain. Went for a quick swim first and by the time I came out the rain had nearly stopped. Didn't start up again until I was nearly home so had a nice ride after all.

[indigoiis]

I did a half commute in (15.5) and the full commute home (28.2) yesterday, and then the full commute in this morning. My truck is at the park and ride and it is supposed to lightening and thunder later, so that's my miles for today. It was hot yesterday (Tuesday.) Nice to ride with someone else though - distracting! Especially on the bike path where we can ride side by side and talk.