Apr.4/10

[shootingstar]

37 kms. --a ride all over an area to shoot some photos. One day will see some results. Sunny with gusts of wind about.

[Crankin]

About 18 miles all within my town. We found a new hill! It's a number nine loop, like my street, but it also has a little inner loop, cul de sac, for a little extra special thrill. This will be great for a short before or after work ride (it's actually only about 12-13 miles round trip from my house, but today, we rode a little extra.)
78 degrees again. I was hot and the pollen is already swirling in the air.

[7rider]

Did the shop ride today. I was in the parking lot, waiting with a friend, when one of the guys came up to me and introduced me to this young woman who wanted to do the C-ride. Yeah. So?
Young girl. On an old Specialized mountainbike. Suspension fork. Slick tires. Hooo boy.
Guy says "Follow her" to the young girl. Meaning she should shadow me and I'll lead her. Great. I just got assigned baby-sitting duty. I hate that. But she was alone on the ride.
"How fast can you go on that thing?" I ask.
"Average about 15. 16."
Okay. I'll bite. A few years ago, a woman was visiting from San Francisco. She borrowed a mountainbike and a helmet. Neither fit her very well. Still, she managed to kick everyone's butt on the ride. She now lives in the area and is racing. Maybe this girl has potential.
So off we go. She's on my wheel the whole time. Doing well. Sure, we're at the back of the pack, but we're the C-ride. About a half dozen of us got cut off from the group at a light. Three go their own way. One guy, the young girl, and I end up solo'ing down MacArthur Blvd for about 6 miles. She's going strong. Holds a line well. Not freaked out with close riding or cars. Impressive. She learns the hand signals - pointing out pot holes. Calling out "Car right." "Car back."
But ultimately, she faded.
Two bottles holding nothing but water, no food, and pushing a 32 pound bike around for 30 miles got the best of her. I gave her a few PowerGels and ultimately at the end, gave her my LaraBar. We had swept up 3 others, but I did a lot of soft pedaling at the end.
Nice kid (boy...does that sound old?? How about "Nice young lady"??). Visiting the area for 4 months. Put her on a road bike, give her some food, and she will be kicking our butts before long.

[MartianDestiny]

I played "C-leader" myself today 7rider. Also unintentionally. I really don't mind occasionally, especially since sometimes I DO want to just cruise and not worry about keeping up, but sometimes I want to work and try to hang onto "B". Just really wish the shop guys would confer with me first before saying "and MartianDestiny will be leading the 3rd group" *sigh* But, I was only just asked to lead, so I'm sure it will work out once I chat with them again about my goals and just how often I want to "lead". Maybe they'll end up paying me...in which case I'll ride with "C" every time out, LOL.

Anyway, turned out to be a good (albeit shorter) ride out and back with a nice older gentleman. I think I drove him a bit crazy chatting away while going just a bit faster than he really wanted to be going. CRAZY amounts of wind. LOVE the new wheels, SOOOO much better in cross-winds. Ended up doing roughly 40 miles and took an aside on the way home to do some hill repeats up to campus and back. Hill repeats HURT, especially when the hill hurts to go up once. Think I may have to go to a sports medicine place or something about my knees (can't decide if it's just doing too much too fast or if something's going wrong).

[hammertime]

60 miles today.

30 of that was into the north wind... which was probably 25 or even over today, it was brutal...

then 30 back with a tail wind which is always nice... but some of that consisted of having a cross wind at times which is never fun

but overall a good ride... considering it was my 2nd time out in 2010 on the bike

[Chile Pepper]

I was riding one of my regular routes yesterday, enjoying a glorious fall day. On the descent, I went into a turn too fast and my back tire skidded out in the sand accumulated in the curve. My carbon fiber frame is fine--just some scratches on the derailleur and pedal and torn handle bar tape. I didn't fare quite so well, but it could have been so much worse. I didn't hit my head or break anything, and there weren't any cars coming up as I was going down, so all told, I came out quite well. My thigh is just a mess, my inner elbow not so bad, and my shoulder aches. My husband took me to the ER to get cleaned up, which was a really good idea. They did a much better job than I would have.

Next up: shopping to replace the torn clothes, and I should get a new color-coordinated helmet even though mine never hit the ground, right? Red and yellow are just wrong together.

[arielmoon]

(((Chile Pepper))) owie! Sounds like you want a new coordinated helmet!!

I rode my butt off this weekend!

45 miles with LBS group on Sat and 49 with a St. Pete Bike Club group on Sunday. Both days I got dropped at the 25 miles mark but both days I managed to keep on a wheel for a pull home.

I feel pretty good all things considered. Group ride tonight with other LBS so that will be 28 more miles.

My neck and shoulder have been bothering me quite a bit since last week but I start some new therapy tomorrow that I hope will help. I went to an auto injury specialist and they think the neck is from my accident last year. I had never even thought of that. It does make sense though that when your head hits the whiplash effect on the neck can be bad. They say I have quite a bit of scar tissue there in addition to the pelvis.

It will be fine and good as long as I can keep riding while I am in therapy!

[OakLeaf]

Ouch ouch CP.

Thank goodness you aren't hurt worse!

But be sure to rest. Pain is exhausting and it can be hard to take time off when you don't think you have a "real" injury. Some of the sickest I've ever been started with a bad case of road rash and a refusal to rest... Three months later I wound up having to take a week off work before I could get better.

Ariel, hope you get all your issues sorted soon too.

[ColoKate]

I'm envious of all these long rides! I got home in the late afternoon yesterday from the mountains and took my cruiser grocery shopping to two stores. Then came home and couldn't let my new bike sit idle so we went around the lake just for fun. Mid-60s out, sunny and gorgeous with a little wind. I'm having a hard time gripping the brakes from the hoods so I'm looking forward to my fitting next weekend.

MartianDestiny, I have been browsing local group weekend rides on different websites just trying to get a feel for what's out there and where I might fit in, do you recommend any for a beginner? Both sexes or just women?

[MartianDestiny]

I'm envious of all these long rides! I got home in the late afternoon yesterday from the mountains and took my cruiser grocery shopping to two stores. Then came home and couldn't let my new bike sit idle so we went around the lake just for fun. Mid-60s out, sunny and gorgeous with a little wind. I'm having a hard time gripping the brakes from the hoods so I'm looking forward to my fitting next weekend.

MartianDestiny, I have been browsing local group weekend rides on different websites just trying to get a feel for what's out there and where I might fit in, do you recommend any for a beginner? Both sexes or just women?

ColoKate,

I'm really only familiar with Boulder proper, and I've only ridden with Sports Garage (my bike shop). You are welcome to come ride with us and try it out, particularly on the nice days there are 5-8 "group C" or "Beginner" or ____ (we haven't decided what to call it) riders that cruise somewhere between 10-16mph depending on the group with instructions on group riding, stops along the way, no rider left behind, etc. Our "B" group is "no drop" as well, but it's really expected you can maintain 16-18mph through the ride. Anyway, we are a safe, stable pack that obeys road rules (ok, we may all roll through a stop sign at once, but the front does stop and wait for traffic to clear) and a good, fun bunch of people to learn with.

There's also Venus de Miles out of Full Cycle up here that's "women's only" and rides 3 times a week. I haven't gone with them though, so I don't know what their dynamics are (may try them out this summer). No club dues necessary to join them on their rides, which is nice.

[ColoKate]

I will look into the C ride at Sports Garage, that sounds up my alley and my husband's too! My neighbor got her bike last summer at Full Cycle, she only rides in Boulder anyway so maybe we could look into that one as well...thanks so much!!

[MartianDestiny]

Sounds great! Shoot me a PM or something when you plan to come up (technically our rides are member based, but this isn't enforced and "guests" are welcome, so you'd be my "guest" to ride with us).

[ColoKate]

Thanks!! Gotta wait another month for ski season to end but I willl definitely PM you soon!

[roguedog]

48-50 miles into the wind most of the way and pedaling to try to beat the rain.

What nice way to feel worthy of an Easter feast . Tried out a Terry Butterfly saddle. Think I'm sticking with my Brooks. Boy, I missed it within the first 12 miles.

Anyone wanna buy a lightly used Terry Butterly w/ carbon rails?