Sunday August 16 Rides

[wackyjacky1]

No thread started yet for today's rides, so I guess I'll be the first!

Rode the incredibly beautiful Mission Trail. This trail is another reminder for me of how much I love San Antonio. The scenery is stunning, and the people are so friendly. If any of you ever visit San Antonio and happen to have your bike with you, you gotta ride this trail! I thought I'd share a few pics:

Mission Concepcion


Mission San Jose


The Rose Window at Mission San Jose


The San Antonio River just above Espada Dam


An artist has created these "Haystack Men" in a field near Mission San Juan


Mission Espada


Hope that's not too many pictures to put in a post.
But I really wanted to share with you the glorious ride I had on this glorious day! All told, I rode just over 33 miles (with lots of photo-taking pit stops).

[mudmucker]

Put in a 28 mile ride out in my area, between the many home maintenance projects I have going right now. I've been doing many group pacelining rides in other areas further east of me this summer. So today out in my neck of the woods I was ecstatic to discover that thanks to Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, I encountered about 14 miles of newly paved state highway road along a part of my route. This was in an area where previously the pavement was so bad that bike and body parts would fly off routinely. Ok, a slight exaggeration. I knew they were working on a section of road but the last time I went through it was that grooved pavement. Well, now it's fresh virgin pavement. So fresh the orange barrels are still out, lines aren't painted yet and no road debris or sand can be seen. No heaves, no broken pavement. Uninterrupted, smooth consistent cadence. It is like, slopeside - first one down, fresh corduroy in the morning. It was just pure bliss !

[tctrek]

We did a beautiful 28 mile local ride -- I thought I might have to go to work tonight, so we started out early 7am - and it was a wonderful 70 degrees. How I love riding when it's not stinkin' hot

We hit a couple of big hills, but I've been training and I didn't suck too bad on them and really held on to a moderate heart rate. The last few miles, we picked up a lone female rider and let her ride on my wheel -- WOW! someone actually riding on *my* wheel! Believe me when I say, that never happens! Felt good to help her out -- she was pooped out from riding solo.

[Crankin]

My ride was yesterday, but since there was no thread, I'll describe it here. We drove down to Tiverton, RI and did our annual tour of the south coast area: Tiverton, Little Compton, and Westport, MA. It was predicted to be 90 at home, but only 84 down there, so I wasn't concerned. When we got there, it felt really hot and humid, but much of this ride hugs the coast, so I figured there would be some respite.
This is a beautiful ride, with coastal and marsh views, past private beach clubs, and inland farms and roadside stands. At one point before the lunch stop at 12 miles, it did get misty and a bit cooler, but I was feeling the heat on the little rollers, so I really slowed. After lunch, there was a long stretch or 2 of unshaded riding and I really felt heat exhaustion starting. Eating shot blocks and pouring water down my jersey helped get me through, but this felt like the hardest 40 miles I've ever done. I actually had a cramp in my calf that I think might have been heat related, although I was drinking Gatorade, Acclerade, and water, along with having a turkey sandwich. I still enjoyed the scenery and I'd really like to spend more time in this part of MA and RI. when it's cooler!
When we got back to the car, it was 91 and I was toast. Ate a Luna bar and changed my shorts and cranked up the AC. After stopping to get an iced tea at Dunkin's I revived myself a bit. Later that night, our cycling friends came back to our house, where we had mojitos and flank steak... mmmm.
No riding today. I did a 3 mile walk and that was enough, along with a very short swim.

[mthr3brghtys]

Today I was able to ride through Prince William Forest Park - early so the weather was nice. There's a lovely 7.5 mile circuit through the park with a set of really good hills. We managed to go 21 miles or so this morning.

[owlice]

My real ride was yesterday, just under 58 miles on the C&O Canal towpath. This is the longest ride I've done, and my muscles don't hurt (which is typical) but my knees were killing me (as is typical) until I got some aspirin into me this morning.

My ride today was just once around the block, and riding around the block is always a humbling experience. I ride all flat trails all the time; I live in a very hilly neighborhood, and riding around the block winds me like nothing else!