June 25 rides

[Duck on Wheels]

Yippee! I'm back in the saddle. Rode to work both yesterday and today. It's only about 3 miles each way, but it's a start. And yeah, I know yesterday was a Sunday. Just back from vacation a day later than planned, had to dump a bag of books at the office and check my mail slot. As for the ride: Nice weather, made all the inclines heading to campus, dodged all the potholes cruising back down. Need to tweak my wires (front tire still scrubbing the brake a bit on one side, and can't get onto large cog in front), but I'll work that out. Come next weekend I'll try a bit longer ride.

[makbike]

I broke free of recovery prison today and hit the road on my beloved "little blue bike." Gosh it felt so good to on the road breezing along with just my thoughts. I rode my fairly flat, 14 mile route today for I did not want to do any damage to myself. I averaged 16.2 mph for the ride and felt pretty darn good in the saddle. I'm going to drive into Louisville tonight to participate in the clubs 12 mile recovery ride. It too is fairly flat and the pace will be slow. I'm hoping some friends will be there but if not I'll still ride and enjoy the fact that I'm back on my bike.

[Crankin]

I did my errand run today, a whopping 7.77 (weird number!) miles on my commuter. I had to make a return to JCrew and although what was in the box was light, the box wasn't, along with my purse, lock, etc. The box fit well in the pannier, though. So after the post office, I treated myself to a cup of iced coffee and a shortbread and bought some lip gloss at the make up store. I considered riding to the grocery store in town (which I don't usually go to) and buying a few things, but it was getting hot and humid and 2 of the things I needed require refrigeration. Normally, I don't freak about that stuff, but I don't want to tempt fate. I will probably ride down to the pond later, if I can figure out where the chairs that fold up and come in a carrier are.

[lyca]

Rode with my BF today to Dexter, MI and back.

Here's the breakdown:

Miles: 31
Terrain: Hilly
Highest Speed: 30mph
Average Speed: 16.89mph

We were really going for 17, but all the starting and stopping once we got back into Ann Arbor pulled our average down a bit. His general av. on that route is 18.5...I slow him down a bit...

What we saw: turtles, ducks, and horses. Oh, there were cars, too, but the turtles were way more interesting.

How it felt: Most of the time it felt great, but there were portions of absolute and utter torture. I could really tell the difference between drafting off of him and not. There were severals points when I just.wanted.to.stop. I'm trying to learn how to recover fast from breathlessness and a super rapid heart rate.

Man that boy pushes me.

[Jiffer]

Weather was PERFECT this morning! Did my favorite 12 mile "standard short ride", as I think of it. I like the route. A good ride for either recovery or for pushing it hard for speed. I can't get away from inclines here, so it's partial upgrade and partial flat ... and, of course, partial downhill! Today I pushed it hard, but was still a little sore even though I took yesterday off. Was trying to beat my fastest time, but ended up being the exact same. 15.5 pace. I don't have a lot to compare to, though, cause I'm still pretty new at riding on my own (as opposed to tandem). At least I was consistent! I broke 32 mph on my steepest downhill! 29 was my fastest before that (not counting the 48 Dh and I broke on the tandem recently).

I'm planning to do 30 tomorrow or the next day. That will be my longest yet on my single.

[Jiffer]

I broke free of recovery prison today and hit the road on my beloved "little blue bike."

I know what you mean about "recovery prison". I had oral surgery a couple of weeks ago. Went under general anesthesia and everything, so I had to take it easy for a while. Missed an amazing opportunity to do a group ride with Floyd Landis. I had to live vicariously through DH. (I posted his story and pics from his ride with Floyd.)

It was so much fun to get back out there, easing back into riding again. I happy for you! Have fun on your group ride tonight.

[short cut sally]

I woke this morning after working all weekend and an interuppted sleep thanks to my cat, and decided I had better get out before it gets hot. (Estimated to be 87-90 degrees today.) I live on a hill, so decided to trek upwards, starting about 8:30. About 7 miles into the ride, I thought what am I doing?, I opted to ride "around the block" which is 20 miles, lots of hills, and I was getting tired already. About 5 miles from home and going up a hill, had to take a break and eat some sport jelly beans (that were in my bag as a gift from last years SS that I saved for an emergency) or I wasn't going to make it home. The remainder of the hill climbing was fine. I wanted to be home by 10am, got home at like 10:05 or something. I had a nice ride, got back before the heat set in, had minimal harassment from cars, and saw some beautiful landscapes, sheep, goats, and felt great knowing that I was ready to throw in the towel, and I only had to granny on one hill vs. all of them. AND when i was traveling at noon to go to a drs appt. by vehicle, I took some of the same route, and a younger bear ran right out in front of me. Congrats to makbike, enjoy your ride tonight.