March 27th Rides

[velocilex]

It's a beautiful, sunny 73 degrees this morning with minimal wind, so I headed out southeast of town once the morning traffic tapered off. I have a nice 20 mile loop that I like to ride on busy days. It's an easy ride, apart from the in-town bit with traffic. Today when I got off the highway to the real rural part, I decided to take a detour through a neighborhood that sits out in the middle of nowhere in the woods. It was a gorgeous area and it added a couple miles on to my ride.

Back on my normal route, I crossed over the highway to ride a section of rode that somehow always insists that I hammer away, so hammer I did until the end of the road when I turned around to head back home. This is when it gets good, though. On the way back on this same stretch of road, I passed a wooded area and saw a large Doberman-type dog trotting out of the trees and towards the road. I knew I needn't panic since he wasn't interested in me at all. Why wasn't he interested in me? Because he had a sandwich in his mouth. I slowed waaay down to make sure, and it was definitely some sort of meat and white bread sandwich. I'm assuming there's a house somewhere back in the trees and Mr. Dog scored big, because I've never seen such a thing. That just made my day.

I wanted to stay out and play some more, but I've got work to do. A good ride, even if it was too short. 23 miles today.

[Velobambina]

The dobie-dog showed restraint! None of my girls would have taken the time to carry the sandwich away---my goldens would have gulped it down where they found it! Must have been a treat, seeing that, Velo. Too bad you didn't have a camera. I wonder who lost their lunch?

I am working at home today, so I took a mid-morning break to get in 43 miles. It's summer-like outside---going up to 80 degrees--but mostly cloudy. I worked up a good sweat and when I got home, my face was it's usual summer hammer ride color--BEET RED. LOL. Happens all the time, and people sometimes ask me, "are you ok?" It's just that blasted Irish skin I inherited. Anyway, a super ride all around. All the flowering trees are blooming now so it feels like spring has finally settled in.

[liberty]

Well, I have to say I have been riding a lot so far this year. But I've only done flats, and today I did a 13 mile hill route. Used to do it all the time. It was my easy, "I only have a little while to ride" route. But it knocked me silly. Had to stop many times to catch my breath, drink something, and eat something. Guess this girl needs to forget the flats for awhile... The weather was nice though! The drivers were friendly, and there wasn't a dog to be seen!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Got in a nice 20 mile ride this morning. 45-50 degreesF, and foggy/drizzly. Very refreshing and I could smell the damp earth of spring (and the damp manure going past the farms!). Sad to start seeing road kill again, but glad the suicide earthworms aren't out in droves yet. Am enjoying my new stem and my nicely tuned derailleur.
Have gotten over my initial "spring thaw" soreness in my thighs and on my sitbones, and am feeling really good now. Now that Winter has finally retreated I'll be working on adding some strength beyond what I did last year. Actually, I was surprised how little I had lost over the winter- it only took about 8 rides to get back to where I had left off. Of course part of that is because we had another mild winter and I was able to get in 2 or 3 rides a month for most of winter.

[Crankin]

Did a 16 mile loop around Hanscom AFB and back. Usually, we do it in the other direction, but because it was rush hour, we reversed it, so we would have less time on the road with cars heading home from the city. So, except for my street and driveway ( ) it was a flat ride. I pretty much never have the chance to ride anything flat, so it was nice.The only weird thing was that when we left it was partly sunny, and after about 3 miles, the sky got really cloudy and dark. I mean so dark, I could barely see with my dark lenses on. It looked really threatening to rain or even thunder, but it didn't. As soon as I got home, the sun came out.

[makbike]

Rode into work this morning and spent the day trying to explain to my 7th graders how to balance chemical equations. By the end of the day I was in need of some time on my bike so off I went to check out a new road. According to RouteSlip the road I wanted to travel intersected another road I've been on a few times - a perfect connection that existed on the map but on in reality. So I climbed several hills only to find myself on a deadend road. Oh well, turned the bike around and headed home. Even though the ride did not turn out as I had hoped I was given the perfect opportunity to decompress and enjoy yet another picture perfect day (sunshine, 80's, little wind, etc). I got in about 25 miles and enjoyed every minute I was out and about on my exploration.

[silver]

Mr. Silver and I went on a fun journey today. The wind was blowing from the east so we decided to start our ride at the West end of the beach Road (West Beach). We drove out that way and parked the car and headed East. I led and Mr. followed. I could hardly manage 15 mph into the wind.

At Perdido Pass we crossed the bridge there. It's a pretty big bridge and qualifies as our only hill. I've never crossed a bridge on a bike before so that was a first.

We pushed east to the Florabama at the Florida/Alabama state line (about 17 miles). At the Florida line we lost our dedicated bike lane. Cars were very reluctant to give us space, but we pushed on. We wanted 50 miles. We continued to push on into Florida until the road turns away from the beach at Johnson Beach/ Innerarity Point). This was at 23 miles. We turned around.

With the wind at our backs we easily did 20-23 mph. Ahhh,,,so nice after the struggle into the wind. So we zipped back into Alabama. past the Florabama, over th Perdido Pass Bridge, past hwy 59. And back to west beach.

But we still didn't have 50 miles....just 46. So we turned back into the wind. Mr. says he's going to really push it and so he'll meet me back at the car. He passes me and cranks it. I fall in behind and him and suck his wheel. Surprised the ****ens out of him when he turned around and say me there a bit later. We turn back and finish out at 51. Near the end, I pulled up beside him and he tells me to go on, I challange him to race me and he pulls ahead and I can't keep up. He reaches the car first and looks like he's going to throw up. I avoid walking my bikeup on that side of him so that I'm not on the receiving end, but he recovers.

a very good ride!

However I had hoped to push my miles up a bit today, so later, I went out for a shorter slower ride in the neighborhood, adding another 13 miles to my total.

At the end of the day, I'm just so glad to be riding again after my horrible accident and witnessing Sam's even more horrible accident. I'm happy to be riding with my hubby. I've ridden 769.5 this year, and have moved up into the top ten of the riders posting to the Bike Journal, Team Estrogen club.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yay for you Silver, and Mr. Silver too!
Hey make sure he is eating and drinking enough on those long grueling rides- don't want him to BONK. Remember- eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty! (or is it starve a cold feed a fever? )

[SheFly]

DH tried to kill me on our ride last night .

We left the house at 6:00, and as Robyn said, the skies had turned black, but the sun way trying to come back out. We knew we didn't have a lot of time, and after DH played with his fender a few times (it was rubbing on the tire), he was off like a rocket. It was all I could do, just to hang onto his wheel.

We headed from Bedford into Concord, cresting a small hill on the way at over 20 mph . From there, it was up Strawberry Hill Rd. This hill always gives me trouble, but I SOMEHOW managed to stay with DH today, and to even beat him on the town line sprint at the top! Woohoo!

Back into full on mode, and at the bottom of the hill, I pipped DH for another town line sprint - yay for me (you have to know my DH to understand just how HARD this is for me, and how satisfying it is - he's a VERY strong rider).

We continued on our [fast] ride. At one point, DH turned to me and asked, "How are you doing, honey?". My reply, "I think I am going to throw up." DH just laughed. He said he knew we didn't have a lot of time, so we might as well go hard!

We squeked in just over 25 miles last night (BTW - it is VERY dark by 7:20 pm) and an average speed of over 18 mph - my fastest ride of the season! I was pretty psyched about the ride, but also didn't move off the couch the rest of the night .

I told DH that I need to do more rides like that - they are great training, and make me work harder than I think I can. At a couple of points in the ride, my body was telling me "No more". I didn't give in though, and stuck to that wheel like glue...

SheFly

p.s.
Silver - great job on the ride, and the mileage! I just checked last night, and I am up over 900 for the year so far!

[Crankin]

OK, you guys are waaay ahead of me in the miles; I think I have 157 for the year. Hope to clear 200 or more by the end of the weekend. This is a bad week for me for riding. Tonight my students are putting on a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." So, although I will head home before coming back to school tonight, I don't have time to ride. And, it's really nice out. Tomorrow I have a dentist appt. at 4:20 (I postponed from last week, so I could ride!). I could bring my bike to school, change and ride around school or the area near the dentist for an hour, but I am not sure that when I get home tonight I will be coherent enough to get all my stuff ready. Or, I could wait and ride at 5:30 or 6. Friday is going to be 60 out but, I have theatre in Boston, so we leave at 4:30 or so. I will probably go to spin in the morning before school.
Is this sick? The whole season is ahead of me, and I am ancy that my miles are low.
SheFly, I give you credit for sprinting up Strawberry Hill Rd. My husband also pushed me yesterday, but thankfully, it was flat. My average was 16 something until we got to Annursnac Hill (my street), so I ended up with 15.8, which is very good for an old lady like me.

[SheFly]

Is this sick? The whole season is ahead of me, and I am ancy that my miles are low.
SheFly, I give you credit for sprinting up Strawberry Hill Rd. My husband also pushed me yesterday, but thankfully, it was flat. My average was 16 something until we got to Annursnac Hill (my street), so I ended up with 15.8, which is very good for an old lady like me.

No worries - it is still REALLY EARLY in the season! Don't fret over your mileage yet.

Oh - and we call your street "Anneurysm Hill" I HATE that hill.....

SheFly

[Crankin]

SheFly, you can come visit me and have the pleasure of going up my driveway, too, after doing the hill. I have to say, that after 1 year, 4 months, my perception of hills has changed. I used to live in Boxboro, NEAR big hills in Harvard, but if I wanted to go out for a small after work ride, I didn't have to go that way.
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger????

[indysteel]

I had a great ride last night. I met up with my friends Tracy and Warren around six. The forecast had called for scattered storms, but the skies looked relatively clear. It was probaby about 78 degrees and the winds seemed calm.

We did a route that our local club has marked for a training ride. I rode it a lot last year, and it's one of my favorites for no other reason than there's little traffic and most of the road surfaces are good. We thought we might encounter some wind but it was relatively light. We ended up doing a little less than 29 miles, at an average speed of 17.17. At one point, I had to sprint after a stop to catch up with my friends and got the bike up to 27 mph in the process. Weeeeeee.

I have to say that I feel considerably stronger than I did last year. We had a few surges last night that were awesome, and I still had energy to burn. I'm pushing gears that I only dreamed about last year. I generally like to spin at or around 90, but I'm also getting more comfortable slowing my cadence down a bit and using a bigger gear. I'm going to have to start using my big ring more often because I'm running out of cogs with my middle ring. I feel like all my spinning and yoga over the fall/winter is really paying off.

Warren is arranging a trip to Asheville over Memorial Day and I officially committed myself to going last night. This will be my first cycling-specific trip. I'm pretty nervous about whether I'm ready for some challenging riding, but I have a couple of months to train and I'm feeling more confident after every ride. One way or another, I'm going to learn to climb this year.....

What fun!!!!

Kate

[silver]

Yay for you Silver, and Mr. Silver too!
Hey make sure he is eating and drinking enough on those long grueling rides- don't want him to BONK. Remember- eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty! (or is it starve a cold feed a fever? )

thanks Lisa! I have a "policy" of stopping to eat and drink about every 10 miles. Or I at least monitor the need to do so every ten miles. Mr. has picked up on this and seems to honor my "policy"

[Geonz]

I also had a delicious ride last night. the kind you can only have with people you've ridden a lot with and have a genuine compatibility with. I led us out of town, but after the traffic light I got to be pulled and just sit back and enjoy the view. Full disclosure, I *like* the view. Okay, whilst pedaling my bazoongas off.
We'd cruised to the "if we go the extra mile we're going to have to ride faster" point and went the extra mile, then turned into the 10mph wind, just enough to get me to that "ya know, even drafting, I'm not sure I can keep this up."
And ten seconds later, I smiled 'cause I remember what happens when I think that. That's exactly the pace that I *can* keep up for long enough and it feel soooo good. Okay, every time the pace slowed down a hair I just slowed down - none of this "I'll take a turn" silliness. Hey, nobody else did, either. (DId I mention I like the view )
We paused for a breather about 2/3 of the distance... and I started out in the lead but then this one-legged rider goes haulin' past me. Switches legs and he's still a-cruisin' I called out he needed to tie one hand behind his back, too, and he said "then how will I switch into a higher gear???"
Spring is here
Then we got back into town and I got to lead 'cause it was getting dark and my light's the brightest. (I was riding my Xtra, which I swear was not for feminine strategies but it *did* make the others look stronger ) . Then we got to huddle around the power tap (I had a headlamp so I *had* to huddle... just hope I wasn't too rank after riding hard...) and I got to take credit for initiating the ride 'cause certain people would have just burrowed into work otherwise. I think we averaged about 15 - for *us* it was ferociously far and fast for this time of year - just enough "push the margin" to be so worth it.
When we got back to the shop we went in so I could switch out for the Trek again and I streaked on home. It is definitely, simply not as visible as the big clunkers. Two cars acted as if I weren't there and the bus blew by me just before stopping right in front of me - that stuff doesn't *happen* on the Xtracycle (and definitely not three times in 7 miles!). I think there really is something to people being nicer to, or more tuned in to, or more aware of Big Bikes... or maybe it's just the spoke lights. (I switched out 'cause I'm getting stuff done to it at the bike shop.)