8/22 rides

[Crankin]

We have sorely needed rain heading in (actually pouring now) and will last through Tuesday. So, despite waking up with my sinuses screaming, asthma acting up a bit, and my body generally angry at me for all of the hiking it's not used to on my vacation, DH and i headed out to do our shortest short loop this morning. It started sprinkling on the way back, so I am glad we went then.
The ride is 8.25 miles and starts off with a climb up Strawberry Hill. DH was pushing it and I stayed pretty close to him until we got to the final climb, which I treat as a cool down (albeit one with a 10-15% grade). My average was 16, when I got to the final climb, which is a number I have not seen all season. I usually don't obsess on my speed, but I knew I was riding faster than usual.
Going to rest over the next 2 days, with some yoga and maybe a walk/jog on the treadmill.

[Aggie_Ama]

It was horribly humid this morning. I was really enjoying my cozy bed and blackout curtains so I opted for a road ride from the house instead of mountain biking. Didn't get moving until 10 so it was already heating up and I couldn't find the sunscreen. Once I got on the bike my quads were really tight, I decided on a relatively short route and just rode whatever pace I wanted since I was alone. I did totally drop a guy on a small hill which was invigorating, I did nicely say hello. Otherwise I rode pretty slow since the humidity was making me sweat buckets. Got home with 18.7 miles, cool shower and now I have nothing but laundry to do. Relaxation is nice.

[smilingcat]

almost became a road-kill from an idiot bike rider with a clip on aero-bars on his drop bar.

Shtupid J***!!!

I was stopped at a roundabout, I also had a stop sign on my side not to mention of a small detail, a car was in the roundabout and being somewhat hesitant. Not wanting to be squashed like a bug on a windshield I stopped and waited patiently while the driver of the car decided what he/she was going to do.

I almost got skewered by a clip-on aero bar on a bike ridden by the j***. He yelled some obcenities as he blew by me then he slammed his brake to avoid hitting the car. Clip on aero-bar who the heck does he think he is?? So I hunted him down on my bike, easy, and told him he really ought to have stopped. He wasn't happy that he was being chicked. Mr. Studmuffin didn't even apologize so I kept yelling at him while he huffed and puffed up the gentle incline. Major dufus!!

then...

a SUV that was driving next to us suddenly stopped and from the corner of my eyes, I saw several jay walkers sauntering across the road. Holy *&^^% batman , I locked up my front wheel and did a reverse wheelie. Managed not to do an endo. Studmuffin almost hit them too. Again I had to catch up and he sheepishly acknowledged that maybe he ought to cool it.

Why can't guys ever say I'm sorry!!! I should have chicked him big time. But I also don't want to risk getting in another crash.

No use talking to a brick wall, calmed myself down and enjoyed rest of my ride.

still little miffed I could of gotten skewered by the clip on aero bars!!

[colby]

My husband and I are going to Italy in October for a 5 day cycling tour of Tuscany, so I took him on his first longish ride today. I have been telling him we need to start long rides for a while now, but things didn't really line up until today (I've been racing triathlons quite a few Sundays, plus some occasional travel and excuses). My computer said about 41 miles, but he stopped for around 15 minutes for a rest while I pushed for what was probably 4-5 miles then came back to get him, so he ended up at around 36. We were out for over 4 hours, but that included lunch and 3 breaks (1 out, 2 back).

The return trip was very windy and a little brutal. Considering he hasn't gone that far on a bike in a very, very long time, the wind was not really welcome. "It's not windy in Tuscany, right!?" He actually chose a route that's not as flat as the option we could have chosen and we knew we were starting with a slight tailwind, but this route let us go by more lunch choices and more bailout points if it started raining on us on the way out.

Our cycling trip is something like 30-40 miles a day for 5 days, so my plan is to ride every day this week, alternating days of just commuting (12 miles) and days with commuting and lunch rides (which will put us over 20). We'll take Friday or Saturday off, and do another long ride next Sunday (probably longer - if we eat lunch at the turnaround we'll have to go a little farther). There's no SAG wagon when Colby's your trainer, but there is when we're in Italy, so if worse comes to worse he'll have an out.

He did help select the trip - there were beginner trips, but the difference between beginner and the next step up was significant. The beginner trips sounded boring and short, and the next step up sounded like a doable reach. I think he has enough time to get there - he did make the 35. I should get him a pair of Chastity Tights (recovery tights).

Happy Riding!

[zoom-zoom]

Did a 75 miler today that was, in some ways, harder than my first century a little over a month ago. It was humid at the start (which really messed with my asthma), hilly as heck, and we had a headwind (and I only got 5 hours of sleep as we were on the other side of the state welcoming some friends who did a cross-state ride, yesterday, which got us back home really late). The first 25 miles were the worst. I thought I would be happy to switch to the 50 mile route.

But somebody (my hubby) dragged me along. And the last 20 miles were pretty fantastic. On a well-rested day that would have been challenging and fabulous. Today it was challenging...and challenging.

[crazycanuck]

I'm following the training peaks 100km mtb enduro program for an event next month & yesterday was the 5hr ride. Since we have an event this weekend at part of the course I decided to ride partway there & do a lap. It gave me an opportunity to see if my planned eating strategy was up to par or if i needed to tweak it a bit.

I had ian drop me off at a certain point of the Munda Biddi & i'd ride it to Turner hill then do a lap there with him. I really hate portions of the munda biddi as it's often one BIG rut in certain places. It's always been like that on most of the Munda Biddi so it's all part of the game. I chose the route as I knew there would be some good hills & yup there were!

One of the downhills was a bit of a navigational muddle in terms of picking a line & core strength. In the middle there was a long/big rut & on the sides two bits of trail you could ride but if you get it wrong it wouldn't be much fun. I'll have to do it again on my next long ride to see if i can get it.

I got to Turner hill (technical singletrack course..awesome but hard in places) & realized nope..I need to have more Cliff Shots (along with the cliff bloks, my drink & a yummy bar i found) as I was mentally unprepared for the singletrack. I fought my way through the trail & reminded myself I needed to keep going. My legs were fine!

I knew that this might happen & know it's going to be the biggest challenge for me on the event day. I have another long ride this weekend (after our little race) and will up the timing of the cliff shots.

55km & heaps o fun! I had most of the trail to myself

[Atlas]

Yesterday was my longest single ride. It was about 24 miles (first time in spandex too) from our home to my mom's. I didn't drink enough and got a little dehydrated but this ride has been a goal of mine for a while. It was about eight miles of pavement and the rest was gravel. I know my partner likes gravel but I'm not a huge fan yet. I like where it's pretty packed and hard but all those spots where it's just been graded or it's washboarded are not fun.

[buffybike]

My husband went on a club ride first thing in the morning, and since it's 90 by 9 a.m., my road ride opportunity was gone. So I rode in the woods. It was going great until my saddle came loose. Of course, I'd forgotten my multitool. I tried to use my car keys to tighten the bolt, but to no avail, and nobody else on the trail had a multitool either. Luckily, I only had about a 4 mile ride back to my car.

[Tawnya]

Longest ride so far. Myself and daughter took off from Thornton at 3:30 and rode along the Platte River into Downtown Denver. Texted DH our start point then sent him a pic from Downtown to see what he'd say. His response: "NO S*%@?" He was very proud of our accomplishment. Total ride almost 20 miles.
Had to pat ourselves on the back for sure.

[Catrin]

Instead of riding Sunday I helped some friends move. We tried to keep a nice even cadence and to take advantage of the breeze. The sun was very bright and regretted not putting on sun block. Had fun moving their bikes around, and shocked at how light the big aluminum road bike was with carbon fork and seat post!

We finished with a nice cool-down on the front porch and a beer for our recovery drink. Back on the bike tomorrow