Saturday July 11 Rides

[Mr. Bloom]

...Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men so Often Go Awry...

6:00AM:Mr S. lays in bed thinking "today, I will do a century!"
6:05AM:... looks at the radar and says "Ugh! I'll be doing well to get 40"
6:15AM:...decides he'll start to the Northwest so the storm will be at his back on the return
6:20AM:...goes outside and feels the strong wind from the Southeast...thinks "don't want to be running from a storm with the wind in my face..."
6:21AM:...embarks on a ride to the Southeast, planning to go a generally easterly route
7:00AM:...at mile 12, encounters a closed road at a major highway crossing. No good/safe alternative. "OK, now I'll go west instead."
8:15AM:...feels the first rain drop...thinks "hmmm, so much for 40...30 is good!"
8:30AM:...sees a beautiful bolt of lightening...1 mississippi 2 mississippi 3 mississippi 4 mississippi BANG! "oh, that was close...better ride faster!"
8:40AM:...I'm home...31 miles at 17.8mph

[mudmucker]

Today I did a 35 mile ride with a group that's led by the LBS I got my bike from in Fitchburg, about a 25 minute drive from the house. In the last couple of years I've been wanting to go to these - but I kept saying to myself - " I commute over 500 miles a week and do I want to to wake up at 6am on my day off and drive yet more, and when there is already good riding where I live"? I typically ride solo short and long rides because a) I like to be one with the earth and b) there's no one really near me or friends living near don't ride. Well this year I decided to make the effort to join these rides and I have to say I've been having a total blast riding with a steady group of people again. It's been so fun to be riding paceline for at least once a week, instead of blasting into the headwind myself as I usually do.

Today we rode through Lunenburg, Lancaster, Sterling, Princeton, and Westminster. The intermediate rides with this LBS generally average 19+ mph while the advanced are somewhere around 23+. So I take the C rides and because of the average of the intermediates we get a lot of men on the C rides which I like. I love when men are in the group as it makes for a nice mix. Some of these men are strong riders that just don't feel like going at a 19 mph pace. These are no-drop rides where we re-group at intersections and at the top of hills, stop for mechanicals and the occasional person who has an exercised-induced asthma attack. The rides are perfect for me as it has a little of everything. On long straight roads the paceline might split up. Like today, two men were feelin' it and decided to go a little faster and I decided to chase them. I kept in their slipstream - I worked to stay in it or I'd lose them and be stuck in the middle - and after isolating that stretch of road (I love Sporttracks) my average was 22 mph for 8.5 miles (not the whole ride) up to the next intersection. I'd never be able to maintain that on my own. It's a real high. Just to add that I'm not a total wheelsucker; I did pull the group for 3 miles in Princeton and in intermediate areas, other than rotating my turn in the paceline when we had one.

The people who lead the ride are sweethearts, very fun people, are very encouraging. The folks on the ride are fun as well. There is no competition at all, people go their paces when not conforming to the paceline. Everyone is out for a fun ride so overall it makes it very nice. I will always enjoy my solo rides but these rides have been nice and I haven't missed one since they started in late May. I'm happy to have found a good group.

[Miranda]

...Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men so Often Go Awry...

6:00AM:Mr S. lays in bed thinking "today, I will do a century!"
6:05AM:... looks at the radar and says "Ugh! I'll be doing well to get 40"
6:15AM:...decides he'll start to the Northwest so the storm will be at his back on the return
6:20AM:...goes outside and feels the strong wind from the Southeast...thinks "don't want to be running from a storm with the wind in my face..."
6:21AM:...embarks on a ride to the Southeast, planning to go a generally easterly route
7:00AM:...at mile 12, encounters a closed road at a major highway crossing. No good/safe alternative. "OK, now I'll go west instead."
8:15AM:...feels the first rain drop...thinks "hmmm, so much for 40...30 is good!"
8:30AM:...sees a beautiful bolt of lightening...1 mississippi 2 mississippi 3 mississippi 4 mississippi BANG! "oh, that was close...better ride faster!"
8:40AM:...I'm home...31 miles at 17.8mph

Nothing like the thought of getting a bolt of lightening in your azz to help you pedal a faster average mph.

Omg... OK!!! Seriously, Mr. Silver... I'm glad you made it home safely.

I'm getting ready to go out for my own cut short and delayed ride due to weather as well.

My riding partner's DH was out on his ride this A.M. w/a group when it started down pouring and hailing! Some guys quit. Some kept riding in the hail.

Umm, here in the midwest, that can usually mean a tornado is coming. About the only time they cancel kid's soccer games too. 'God strike you down' straight up and down lightening. GHEEZ!

As I was standing on my own front porch thinking... hmm, maybe I *should* train in the rain too for my century. Perhaps I should post on TE for pack-able rain jackets suggestions etc.

I could hear the story of my ride pal about Oprah training for her marathon in my head...

Oprah's coach shows up to run when it's downpouring. Oprah says, "what? are you crazy? It's raining! I'm not running in the rain... it messes up my hair!". The coach says, "what are you going to do Oprah if it rains on your big event day and it rains? Trash all the hard work training???". "OH..." says Oprah.

Yea... Mr. Silver... I was having an Oprah moment about riding this morning. Well, not about my hair. Just about my skills balancing in the rain. So glad you took care of that for me lol. Now I'm off to ride in the heat and wind instead.

[7rider]

There are a few women who do the N2 - not many, but a few. One occasionally wears a leopard print tank top from Shebeest. It was (she claims) a gift, not something she would EVER pick out to wear on her own. But it brings out hoots and howls of delight from the guys (and endless banter on the group's Yahoo listserv) whenever she dares wear it.
I think she wears it just to push their buttons...
Well....I just discovered another jersey that makes the guys even MORE crazy than seeing this woman in her leopard print tank. Another women in the group swept her 3 Master's road national championship races last week in Kentucky. Yes....this tiny 50-something year old woman is a powerhouse, and now the owner of 3 national champion jerseys. She wore the red, white, and blue today on the N2 ride. The ride, which had been quite civil and moderate lately, suddenly blew up into race pace. I can just imagine what the arrival of Lance Armstrong would do to a weekend group ride with a bunch of middle aged flunkies.
Fortunately, I rode with a friend of mine, and we got dropped together. She flatted at one point, and so the 2 of us rode back to the end together, alone.
60.75 miles, possibly somewhere in the 16.5 mph range.

[OakLeaf]

Today was the local tour - our club had put it on in the past; this year it was run by the Y, with some help from the club, so we got to ride. The weather forecast was looking iffy all week, but it was dry in the morning, and my buddies teased me into committing to the 100. I needed to do 100 anyhow, hadn't done one yet this year.

Naturally it started raining just five or six miles beyond the split where the 100 mile route diverged from the metric. I thought about turning back, but decided that pressing on was better than not being able to live it down.

My cadence sensor held out for a good 15 miles in rain that varied from light to heavy, then it drowned. Again. I don't know why Garmin can't make a waterproof cadence sensor - this has been an known issue with these ever since they first came out. They're good about sending replacements, but it's a PITA going without it.

Turned out the route was only 97.7 miles. I thought about taking an alternate route to get myself the extra distance... for about two seconds. If the weather had been nice I probably would've. As it was, no thanks. I got to the finish looking like a drowned rat. The sun came out (briefly) just as I arrived.

Then I came home to find that the storm had brought a tree down across my lane (also we got very little rain here, which we desperately need). Luckily the tree missed the power lines - I don't know how. Also luckily, it isn't too terribly far from the house. So I left the car down there and lugged my bike and all my stuff back up to the house in three trips.

Unluckily, the batteries for the electric chainsaw weren't charged. I'm way too sleep-deprived, groggy and tired for it to be a good idea for me to try to figure out how to use the gas chainsaw, which I've never used. The rain's stopped for now, but it's dark and overcast even this early in the evening, it looks like we might get another round of rain.

I'm about *this* close to bagging it for the night, cracking a beer, and worrying about chainsaws in the morning.

[emily_in_nc]

Great ride with DH to the local farmer's market for amazing heirloom tomatoes, organic zukes, garlic, peppers, and cukes; then to the local food co-op for additional goodies. Went the long, long way home for a total of 41.7 miles (my longest of the year).

One tip learned on this ride: if carrying very ripe heirloom tomatoes in your rack pack, don't ride on gravel roads.

[tulip]

53 miles in southeastern Virginia. Flat and beautiful!

[nolemom]

Great ride today with the local group. Managed to stay with the B group and posted by fastest average to date - 19.1 for 50 miles - I may bonk tomorrow but for today I am feeling ecstatic

[Crankin]

We left for the Cape at 6:15 AM, to eat breakfast at one of our fav places before a 10 AM ride. All was well, good food and perfect weather. When we got to the start, we found out that this ride was a ride for BOTH of our clubs, because of scheduling issues and the original leader being out with back stuff. Now, club A, which we lead for has a different set of people in most cases. The leader was from this club, and we knew him. He leads many rides. Club B is known for hammering, but this ride was advertised as following the style of the specific sub group I ride with. We use "human arrows" to denote turns and you stay there until the sweep goes by... There was obviously an extremely wide range of riders. Some had bikes more useful for tooling around on the path. I was already nervous about riding in a beach area, but I knew most of this ride was on back roads. It was advertised as a tour of Dennis beaches.
So, all was well for about 10 miles. I was able to stick with the front group, even when the leader told us to go ahead on a long straight a way. The cars were mostly respectful. The scenery-- gorgeous. Then we came to a crowded area where there was a town fair. There was a stop sign and a huge truck was letting us turn left. For some reason, the woman (rider) ahead of me, decided, no, she would stop and let the truck go. Down I went. My foot was in the up position and I couldn't get unclipped. I knew it would happen. She didn't even say "sorry." I was furious. I spent the rest of a 36 mile ride with blood on my knee and getting stiffer by the minute. Thankfully, I had my leader supplies and washed it and applied antibiotic stuff.
Several people left the ride as they couldn't keep up. One woman told my DH to "get off of her wheel." She was pretty mean. This wasn't a paceline. The riding etiquette was horrible, no signals and the leader didn't announce that he needed a rider to stop to arrow soon enough. I stayed as close to the front as I could. On the second "go ahead if you want," I was maintaining 23 mph for about 2 miles, but a hill came and my DH went with the big boys. I was exhausted and stiff and had to slow down.
Lunch was at a great outdoor cafe overlooking Sesuit Harbor. The water was so green, it looked tropical. All in all, nice, but on the 1.5 mile ride back to the car, I was cranky; I dropped everyone except my DH and one other guy.
We went and had soft serve ice cream at the Kreme N' Kone (mmmm) and headed to the beach we used to go to with our kids.It was very windy, but we relaxed for an hour and headed home.
I am now drinking a beer and sitting with an ice pack on my knee.

[RolliePollie]

41 miles for me today with about 4,200 feet of climbing. I found an elevation map for basically the same route I rode today, so I'm attaching it for y'all to see

One interesting addition to my ride was when some teenage boys tried to grab me on a busy rural road that has no shoulder. They had no idea how dangerous it was to match my speed and drive right next to me while yelling obsceneties and grabbing at me. I'm shocked that I didn't get killed. I had some choice words I wanted to yell back, but I had to focus all of my attention on staying on the road, not crashing, and not being run over. Luckily they did not kill me and the rest of my ride was wonderful.

[divingbiker]

Another women in the group swept her 3 Master's road national championship races last week in Kentucky. Yes....this tiny 50-something year old woman is a powerhouse, and now the owner of 3 national champion jerseys.

Wow, was this Erica? Good for her!

Scary, RolliePollie.

I did a leisurely 6.8 miles trying to find my way from my hotel to the triathlon site in Philadelphia where I need to be bright and early tomorrow morning. Good thing, too, because I had a heck of a time finding the right road. Went by the Rocky statue at the Art Museum and had a nice quiet ride along the river.

[7rider]

Wow, was this Erica? Good for her!

Scary, RolliePollie.

I did a leisurely 6.8 miles trying to find my way from my hotel to the triathlon site in Philadelphia where I need to be bright and early tomorrow morning. Good thing, too, because I had a heck of a time finding the right road. Went by the Rocky statue at the Art Museum and had a nice quiet ride along the river.

No, not Erica. Her name is Kay, and another woman and I are interviewing her tomorrow and drafting an article on her for the women's cycling column in the August Spokes magazine. So...stay tuned!

Good luck to you - and to Nicole - on your tri tomorrow!!!

[Miranda]

Short on time so a quick 16mi w/my ride buddy. Hot and windy. But good wind to chat. Always makes for a fun ride.

[hilldweller]

... but me and one other did 50k despite the sleety showers not long before we set off. We got very wet, and filthy (with a nice mud/cowshit mix), and my feet were so sore when the circulation finally returned in the shower afterwards, but we rocked .

Tried a Clif bar for the first time too - yummy!!! - and with the temp just above freezing and drink bottles splattered with the aforementioned mud/cowshit, much more appealing than sipping electrolyte .

Happy to say no lightning strikes. That would freak me out

[Mr. Bloom]

Oprah says, "what? are you crazy? It's raining! I'm not running in the rain... it messes up my hair!".

Hmmm...I got more flexible when half of my hair disappeared.