August 20 & 21 rides

[pll]

Nobody had started the thread, so here it goes...

Rode 42.5 miles, with the last 14 miles in pouring rain. The first part of the storm was with thunders, it was dark and windy, so I took shelter at a train station. The trains would not carry bikes this weekend because of the silly air show in downtown Chicago (never mind the trains were at less than 50% capacity). After failing to get a cab, I rode the remaining 10 miles home -- no thunders any more, but downpours on and off. Water sloshing in my shoes, I was dripping once I got home. Below is a snapshot of the sky as the storm was gathering strength.

[CyborgQueen]

Scary!

I'll chime in. I did 47.7 miles in Vegas weather (in other words, hot, dry, sunny). It's been 1 1/2 years since I did 40+ miles. 3 1/2 bottles of electrolytes. Did not feel hungry, actually I felt a little full. So that was perfect. Now I'm sporting cyclist tan. Off to see Penn and Teller for my birthday.

Hope everyone else had a good long ride! Any achievements?

[azfiddle]

About 32 miles- sunny, warm and humid for Tucson. DH was supposed to ride, changed his mind and decided not to go, then changed it again and came with me. But he was irritable and the first 10 miles was him "expressing his opinion" on a problem that recurs between us every few months. More of a rant than a conversation... But when he is stressed or anxious, exercise helps him get rid of it- and eventually we moved on (wouldn't say there was true resolution).

We rode further than the 20 miles I was thinking about doing today- but as he put it: "a tired dog is a good dog" and he did some extra intervals while I just plugged along at an unimpressive 14 mph overall rate. He took a nap and seems to be considerably calmer and more pleasant tempered now- wagging his tail again.

[goldfinch]

Today I did only 11 miles, slogging along a rather rough paved road along the south shore of Lake Superior, running northeast of Ontonagon. Long slow uphills and gusty winds. Hard ride for me at only a 9.7mph; I am still a wimp.

Yesterday though I had a fun 25 mile ride. The spouse dropped me off at lake of the clouds in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan. I rode from there to Ontonagon, Michigan. The first eight miles I flew down hill. The rest of the way I had a major tail wind. I had a taste of what it is like to really move on a bicycle. What fun! And pretty too.

[redrhodie]

I did the shop ride. By the end of the ride, Jay and I had dropped everyone. Our heads got so big by our amazing speed. Turns out they all had flats. (who were we kidding ) One guy had 3! I was all cocky, and rode off before they got back to the shop, and then proceeded to flat myself 2 miles from work. Serves me right.

The good thing about tubulars is you can ride on a flat for a couple of miles. This was good since I was so close to work, and I didn't want to mess with putting on my spare. Now the wheel is in the shop, where they're trying to inject the tire with some sealant to repair it. Otherwise, I'll be learning to repair a sew up. Doesn't seem out of my realm... or is it?

38 miles or so.

[nscrbug]

pll...We got caught up in those storms, too! We headed out a little after 6am, and got lucky for about the first 4 hours (rode out to the Plainfield/Bolingbrook area). At around 10am, we were in Woodridge making our way back and the sky was black and ominous to the north, with just a few drops of rain here and there. By the time we hit Western Springs, it was a steady but light rain. I was pretty much soaked by this time. When we got to Brookfield, it started to really come down. I felt bad for my riding buddy, as he lives in Oak Park...but I'm in Riverside so I was nearly home. The lightning is what scared me...a few of those lightning strikes seemed like they were right on top of us. Plus it was just SO eerily dark out. Shortly after I got home, it was a steady downpour. I'm sure my riding buddy was cussing the whole way home. All things considered, I got 75 miles in.

What train station was that?

Linda