July riding

[Crankin]

I commuted today, at a different time than usual. It was lovely, albeit a bit more humid than predicted. I got to work so early (I had an 8 AM client), I had to unlock the doors. People are in a holiday mood, I rode home at 3:15, and was totally soaked with sweat, though it is breezy and partly cloudy.
I've been commuting on my Silque, with a little back sack thing, mostly because I was trying to not ride my Guru with the super low gearing, before my trip. Now that that is done, I need to go back to riding the Guru, with my pannier or Arkel Trail Rider. Of course, the pedals need to be put back on the bike before that!
Plan to do 3 days of riding this weekend. On Saturday, we are doing a ride around the Wachusett Reservoir, starting in Harvard, MA. 45 miles of hills .

[azfiddle]

I'm still on summer vacation, so riding most mornings. Yesterday was a ride up to Sabino Canyon and back, Wednesday and this morning the usual ride up to Saguaro NP and the loop road through the park. The saguaros are still fruiting and birds are all over them - surprisingly there are a few blossoms still. The monsoon rains have moderated temps a bit since the 111 degree highs we saw in late June. And no, I don't go out midday and ride in those conditions!!

[Crankin]

DH and I just got back from a little 16 mile loop, which we call the flat ride. Of course, it's not totally flat, because we have to get back to our house, and there are 2 other small hills. It's really nice out. We stopped at our favorite local restaurant for coffee and a bathroom break. They were closing up for the holiday, so the chef came out and talked us about cycling, as we were seated outside and drinking our iced coffees. This is what I like about living in a smaller town. He told us they open earlier 2 mornings a week for the large groups of riders that stop in there.
Tomorrow's ride to central MA has been postponed, due to weather concerns on our friends' part (I don't really think it is going to rain here). We're going to do a local route, a club ride I've done a couple of times, with a group and with one of the guys I ride with. It's local, but pretty hilly, and since we are riding to the start, it will be 45 miles.

[azfiddle]

It's summer in Tucson, which means a lot of rides up our mountain: Mt. Lemmon. Today it was warm (80 degrees to start) and about 45% humidity but it was overcast so that was good. I rode to the base (5 miles) and then up to milepost 9 (Seven Cataracts) - elevation gain about 2900 feet. It's always amazing how fast the descent is after the long slog uphill.

[Crankin]

I wish I could learn to like descending. I suck at it.
Yesterday, we did a 44 mile local ride. DH and I rode slowly to the start, about 6.5 miles. It was also cloudy and overcast here, which was good. There were several periods of sprinkles, but no full blown on rain. I had my rain jacket stuffed in my jersey pocket, which seems to superstitiously ward off any rain! We rode from Carlisle into Chelmsford, then into Westford, through an area that I used to frequent when I first moved back to MA. Also, the site of many of my first scary snow driving experiences... When DH was going down a small hill, we went over some rr tracks and his seat bag came flying off in front of me. We had to stop on a busy country road for him to retrieve it and put it back on, but, we were able to stand in someone's driveway. Then, came the climbing portion of the ride. There's a 3 part hill, about 1.5-2 miles long. It's a slog, and I had no desire to try to go fast up it. When you get to the top, you are in the town center, so we stopped on the green, and made our plans for later with our friends we were riding with; after about 6 more miles, we parted ways, as they had driven to the start and we rode home a slightly different way.
I felt good during the ride, despite no sleep the night before. Had a good dinner at our friends' house after the ride, but I think I may rest today, although I kind of want to try out my new trail running shoes. It's going to be sunny and warm, so I am having visions of just laying out by the pond.

[NbyNW]

I brought a bike back from the UK, and picked her up today from the LBS, where she got some TLC from the stress of travel, as well as new Brooks handlebars and a double kickstand. I haven't settled on a name for her yet, but it's definitely a girl!

So, introducing my new "practical" bike ... a 2014 Bobbin Bramble. Already loving it for quick errands around the neighborhood. I'm toying with installing an e-assist on it, since it's hilly around here, it's a heavy bike and I'm terribly out of shape. And, if I can ever get DS to wear his helmet, I'll be able to tow him in a trailer.

[qcuthbert]

Like hearing about all the riding going on. I only made it to 20 miles in one setting. Trying to do more but anything with a hill gets me exhausted

[lauraelmore1033]

Like hearing about all the riding going on. I only made it to 20 miles in one setting. Trying to do more but anything with a hill gets me exhausted

it gets so much better qcuthbert!

[Crankin]

Had a good commute today. The traffic was not detoured yet, but I was prepared with an alternate route. However, there were other narrowed lanes for other work, right before the real detour. I like when I commute on Mondays, because leaving work at 7 instead of 6 is just so much nicer! I was flying and had my fastest commute of the year.

[khg]

A week and a half ago, I was scheduled to do a fun ride on Mt Rainier with my husband and a friend--but woke up with a cold instead, and spent the day in bed I was really disappointed to miss the ride for training reasons, and because it's just a beautiful ride.

Between various commitments, today was the only time in a several week span that I could do it, as long as I got up early enough and didn't dilly-dally so that I could get back home in time to head to work in the afternoon... So painful as it was, I jumped out of bed at 5:45 and hit the road soon after. (I am NOT a morning person!)

The route I did starts at the Crystal Mountain turnoff, then enters Mt Rainier National Park to go up to the Sunrise Visitor Center (highest paved road in Washington State!), comes back down the mountain, then turns to go up to Cayuse Pass, continuing on to Chinook Pass, and then 13 miles of descending back to the car, with a respectable 55 miles and 5,500-6,000' of elevation, depending on who's counting. It's challenging--hardly a flat moment--but also stunningly beautiful, and the weather today was perfect for it--views for days.

I had a great time on the ride--no pictures, because I was trying not to stop (15 minutes to buy and eat food at Sunrise was my only time off the bike)--so you'll have to take my word for it that the wildflowers on the mountain were riotously beautiful. The range of colors and shapes was constantly engaging, as well as the contrast with the dark evergreen trees behind. On the last bits of the climb up to Sunrise, you're facing directly towards the summit of Mt Rainier, and it's just HUGE. Even from Seattle, it can dominate the landscape--up close, it's incredibly awe-inspiring.

I had a little more excitement than I wanted partway up to Sunrise. About 50 feet up the road, a bear emerged from the trees and started casually crossing the road. I immediately stopped and waited. And sure enough, a couple bear cubs soon followed. They lingered a bit, eventually crossed, then hung out on the side of the road for a while before heading up the hillside. The cubs were so cute--but that was way closer than I ever needed to be to a momma bear and her cubs!!!! Had I kept biking instead of stopping, I likely would have been directly between her and the cubs when they got to the road. Yikes!

And now... Now my legs are tired. We're doing a road trip this weekend, and sitting in the car for a long time suddenly sounds really really nice. Sitting anywhere sounds really really nice.

But I'm glad I made myself get up and go--it's a great ride, and was so worth it!

[Crankin]

And I think I'm tough because I ride 15 miles at 5 AM????
I would have totally freaked out at a bear sighting. Of course, seeing my neighbor's dog freaks me out, so it's all relative.
Had a lovely, and cool/dry ride this morning at 5. Fifteen miles, same ride I did last week, even though I was tempted to cut it short. It was below 50 degrees F at one point, and while I was dressed appropriately, I could have had knee warmers on. When I got to the top of Nashawtuc Hill, a deer and fawn were coming out of the woods. They didn't move, but I was concerned they might go down the hill the other way and run out in the road, out of the woods, on the other side.
I usually don't ride early AM on Thursdays, and I did not see as many riders as I do on Tuesdays.
Group ride tomorrow.