Rides.... May 25th!

[Running Mommy]

Good morning all! Just got back from a hot sweaty 21 miler. COuld have gone longer, even had the time, but the sun was frying my noggin.
Ahhh yes, the rest of the country is pulling out their steeds for the summer riding season and us "zonies" are putting ours away. Well, not TOTALLY, but those mid day rides are a thing of the past for now. It's all early am and late pm for this kid. And nothing longer than 2 hours.
I had to wait until the "school mom in suv" traffic cleared out then I headed out. It was already 88 degrees at 8:20 am. SMOKIN! But nice. If it weren't for the sun beating on my noggin I would have been fine. I found a brand spankin new stretch of pavement. SWEET!! It still says road closed, but I'm gonna go poach it this weekend to check it out. No real reason for it to be closed other than to keep the kids out. And no road block, just a sign... So I don't feel like too much of a scoflaw!
Had a good ride, only one incident w/ an idiot construction guy almost turning into me. They are worse than women on cell phones! They all have their phones to their ears and don't pay attention!!
Saw a HUGE vulture chowing on a dead bird. That made me sad, but hey- circle of life.
Stopped at the park to get some more water and my sons class was there for an end of school outing. All the kids came running up. I just love them. They asked me if I was training for another Ironman... heh heh
Yeah, I'm gonna do one next week!
Chatted w/ my son and then went on my way. Almost crashed on a stretch of those dots they put on the pavement to slow cars down.. UGH. But kept the rubber side down, so all was good.
All in all it was just good sweaty fun. I love my bike!!
Hope y'all are having a good day as well!
Denise

[Crankin]

Yesterday I realized that there's enough light for me to do a short ride before work now. Now, I usually get up at 5 or a little before and leave my house by 6:20/6:30. Since there was no reason for me to be at school so early, I decided today would be a good day to ride. So last night I convinced my husband it would be fun to do a 5 AM ride. He was tired from commuting yesterday, but we got up at 4:40 and were out the door at 5:11. It was 44 degrees (brrr), even though it is about 70 right now at 1:20. I was wearing my midweight wool jersey and a hoodie, tights, and full fingered gloves. Going down our hill, it was FREEZING! But then we did a mile climb, so I was warm for the rest of the ride. The birds were chirping and the smell of lilacs and honeysuckle was strong. Much better than my ride yesterday after work, when a house about a mile from me had a gas leak and it stunk up the whole area. We only saw 2 cars on the climb and then didn't see another car for about 5-6 miles. The loop ended up being about 11.5 miles in 45 minutes. Not a record speed, but considering the time of day and the climb, it was relaxing. I was showered and out the door by 6:35.I love seeing and hearing things you don't usually notice when it's noisier around from all of the cars. I plan to do this once a week until school is out (June 21).

Robyn, ex-Zonie, who really isn't complaining about 45 degrees at 5 AM!

[salsabike]

Another nice 27 mile ride on the Burke Gilman/Sammamish River Trail today. Didn't get rained on this time, which is nice. But the amount of white fluff I ate is prodigious. Northwesterners, what IS that stuff? Is it from cottonwood trees? I try to think of it as salad.

[mimitabby]

Another nice 27 mile ride on the Burke Gilman/Sammamish River Trail today. Didn't get rained on this time, which is nice. But the amount of white fluff I ate is prodigious. Northwesterners, what IS that stuff? Is it from cottonwood trees? I try to think of it as salad.

yes, that's from cottonwood trees. but does it taste good?
(also in Seattle)

[salsabike]

Tastes just like chicken.

[mtkitchn]

Good on you for riding in the heat, Denise! I have a hard time with anything over 80 degrees and I woke up kinda late, so today it was treadmill and swimming pool. Tomorrow, stationary bike! I'll be dreaming of cooler climes while I'm on that stationary! I hear it's going to cool down this weekend but I'll be out of town for work.
I love to hear about everyone else's rides, though! And I can't complain because I was riding all over the place in January!

[yellow]

Tastes just like chicken.

In Utah it tastes like Jell-O.

(For the uninitiated, that is a Utah joke. OK. Not very funny unless you live in Utah, I guess.)