October 21 ride reports

[Fredwina]

I rode with the redlands club. we did some hill climbing, had breakfast, and came back via the Sunset loop. If you've seen any coverage of the Redlands classic, you've seen sunset. Gorgeous ride, and good company.

[mimitabby]

We joined the Seattle Bike club for the first time for a ride. The temp was in the low 50's at my house, but by the time we'd gotten to Auburn, it was in the low 40's. The sun did not come out until we were 3/4 through the ride, it was a cool foggy morning.

I really wanted to show you guys a photo of our nice fall colors but instead you get to see us waiting for the cascade starliner train to go by. Note the empty tandem seat. That's where I sit!!

we got 40 miles in, and I warmed up AFTER I got into the bathtub!

[btchance]

Had a nice 30 mile ride this afternoon. Beautiful day - sunny and just a little wind with the temp in the mid 60s. Absolutely beautiful, and nice to have a day where I could spend a little time on the bike.

[Trek420]

So I could have gone to Mt Diablo or gone on the Melo Velo or just ridden around here or....it is soooooooo beautiful today. I'm just sitting her with the patio door thrown open listening to the wind, it's nice outside.

But my friend Marinela was testing for her black belt at San Leandro Aikido so I thought I'd get my happy butt to class and support her.

I drove, didn't ride, I know that sucks but do I get points for plaintive whines when I saw riders go by the dojo (we're on a popular bike route).

Lesson learned: even though the Saturday class tends to be less intense than the regular class and even though I knew it'd be shorter than the usual 1 1/2 - 2 hours because of the tests .... I still gotta really eat before. You'd think I know that by now. How long have I been training?

But it was a great class, nice energy, got to train with some of my favorites there, felt pretty good and didn't get corrected tooo often by my teacher.

Now off to walk the doggie.

[im4smiley]

My plan was to get up early and ride this morning but...it was soo windy and chilly about 35, I decided to go the gym. But after lunch I decided to go for a ride. I did 27 mile and it was still pretty windy, wicked gusts, but it had warmed up to about 54 I think. It was so beautiful out (except for the wind gusts!) I had a great ride, not too hilly, beautiful scenery, the fall colors were great, I was surprised the wind hasn't knocked all the leaves off the trees! I so love to ride my bicycle!!

[7rider]

Left the house before dawn (6 a.m.) to meet up with a friend of mine - a.k.a. "Crack o' Dawn Margot" - for a ride out in her neck of the woods. I picked her up at her house, loaded her bike, and we drove up to the Kentlands, a planned community just west of her. We parked at a shopping plaza on Darnesville Road and rode about 5 miles out to a loop for which she downloaded the cue sheet off a local website: http://www.bikewashington.org/routes/index.htm
We did the "Peach Tree" loop - a rolling 25 mile loop out through some remaining farm and orchard land. It was beautiful, and I can't believe I left my camera in the truck! The leaves are a peak fall foliage, the morning sun was fabulous, and the cows were frisky in the early morning cold.
All told, it was 35.25 miles at a 13.7 mph pace. Unlike rides with my DH, Margot and I gabbed the whole time. All in all, a really nice ride.
Then, I picked up my daffodil bulbs that she had stored in her root cellar all summer after we had landscaping work done. I spent the afternoon planting daffodil bulbs. Ugh. I am SORE and TIRED. I really hope DH doesn't expect me to cook dinner!

[Aggie_Ama]

I went with DH for a "right at 30 mile ride". Wait, it is 38.52 miles. Weather.com is a lowsy source for information, the winds were "calm". No, they were not and I felt it every mile for the first 11 miles.

It was still a great ride. We left our apartment and rode out to see our house we close on in 2 1/2 weeks!! We then rode the backroads home. There was quite a few rolling hills and by the time we got home my knees were swollen. My shoulders are also sore. We only averaged 14.7 mph because the last 10 miles was slightly downhill with a tailwind, I definitely need to get back in shape!

[Popoki_Nui]

Gorgeous fall day here...temp around 16C (62F). Did a nice ride from Victoria through the rolling farmlands on the Saanich Peninsula out to the town of Sidney, then a side trip around Victoria Intn'l Airport to watch planes come and go, then a nice return trip to Victoria. Sixty kilometres (36 miles) on my trusty Bianchi Super Grizzly MTB. A nice hot bath next, then boat drinks, popcorn and a movie by the fire. Ain't fall a great time of year?

[Geonz]

Had a crash on our Saturday Saunter when kids using the path for a playground made it impossible to get by. Then I rode out to work to pick up music I left there. Maybe it was just the day, but I gotta wonder... I was riding my Trek, not my Xtracycle, and an English teacher buzzed me awfully close (don't know if he recognized me, so I'm going to send him an email and ask if he knew how close he was; maybe I should just have taken more lane and he'd have used the left lane.) Two miles later 5trt973 from California tries a right hook on me. Not horribly close, but midwesterners, on the whole, don't do that... and it has never happened when I was riding the Xtra.
Got home unscathed with 43 miles for the day - up to 171 on BJ :-)

[KnottedYet]

Did a happy little 30 mile ride while SKnot was at a friend's house. Rode on hills for the first time with Flossie. My turn around point was the Red Hook Brewery (where my favorite beer is made).

Quite an eclectic parking lot! Cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, an Xtra cycle, and two horses!

Took some pictures along the river trail.

Here's a pretty view, with a little fall color.


And here's Flossie posing on a bridge over the river.


The return ride from the trail to my apt is uphill most of the way, with a seriously difficult hill midway. I had to walk it. Luckily I had my cell phone with me, so I could pester someone and chat the 10 minutes it took to walk! (and cough and pant and yell at cars and blow my nose into the phone. Very ladylike! )

Wore my new Terry skort, felt great to have the wind blowing on my legs and the skort fits nicely. And I just felt great riding, heady freedom and light heart!

[Trek420]

you weren't pestering me

the trail looks beautiful.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

DH and I did a nice 18 mile loop through several villages today. It was about 50 degreesF, but WINDY!!!
This was the first time I ever experienced getting pushed back and forth sideways by heavy gusts of wind- weird feeling! But kind of thrilling, and the cold wind was invigorating. It was a fun ride that really had me wide awake and on my toes!

[caligurl]

did a REALLY FUN mountain bike ride with bikeforums and (and also some TE members: tprevost, brandy, tiffany and roadfix)!

we all had a BLAST! and i know i can't wait for another dirty ride!

if anyone wants to see the pics... there are a TON in this thread at BF!

[GLC1968]

DH and I had a great ride!

We did about 30 miles at an easy pace. Terrain was mostly rolling with a few steep hills and some flat spots. I actually broke my previous downhill speed record with a 39.4 mph max! Temps were at about 60F, but it felt significantly cooler in the shade. Our fall colors are still a week or two away from 'peak' but it was a beautiful ride nonetheless. Below is an 'action' shot I took of my husband while we were riding...