May 8th Rides

[Zen]

So.
Started out from my house intending to do an out and back X2.
About one mile from home I see a hottie coming in the opposite direction.
We pass one another but he turned around and came up behind me!
"Beautiful day" he says. I responded, (verbally and physiologically). He passed and I was planning to give it my best shot to keep up but what happens?

DERAILLED in more ways than one .

Now I'm gonna be looking for that guy every time I go out

[Mr. Bloom]

It was a good ride and a newly minted route down to Lake Monroe ...literally DOWN DOWN DOWN to water level. 5% grade....then back through IU campus.

http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=38079&

At one point, I'm going about 20 mph and this couple politely ZOOMS past me on a tandem...at least 25mph!

[DebW]

2nd NEBC group ride. Started with a group that was advertising 15-17 mph but I think they were doing 19. I was struggling to not get left too far behind. But then they regrouped and slowed the pace and the rest of the ride was nice. I was feeling more comfortable in the paceline than last week, and even rotated into the lead for a spell.

[Running Mommy]

Had one HOT hour in the saddle! 102 here when the wheels hit the road. Had a bit of a breeze, but really had to work in the heat.
It was my average daily ride through the hood. Averaged 16.9 mph!! That is fabulous for me. I'm getting stronger girls. Watch out next year at IM!!
A half hour after I got in a dust storm descended on the house.
Glad I missed that! After being caught in one last summer, I'm a bit sketchy about those things.

[Trek420]

Uneventful ride to and from work. Did a casual wind sprint on the way to; see the light, sprint to the light
miss the light, easy spin, light turns green
sprint to the next light

Arrive tired but happy

This is not my commute but a view from Alameda Creek Trail by the Bay

[teigyr]

30 miles here! I intended to do 25 but it was so beautiful, I couldn't resist

[cosc]

My 26 miles ride was wonderful with no wind. The grass was so lush-green and the rain last week turned many fields into lakes.

[KnottedYet]

8 mile commute on the new bike. "Mitzi" the butch Kona Smoke. Beautiful morning, cold windy rainy evening. Need to replace stock bike saddle.

got put-down about my Tyrannosaurus head squeaky horn. (I embarrass serious bicyclists and make cars think we're just playing with toys.) You bet yer buns I'll be keeping that thing PROMINENTLY on my bars!

If it isn't fun, why do it?

Maybe T Rex needs some earrings. Or a necklace... maybe a lei. Lipstick. A goofy hat. A mohawk.

[SheFly]

2nd NEBC group ride. Started with a group that was advertising 15-17 mph but I think they were doing 19. I was struggling to not get left too far behind. But then they regrouped and slowed the pace and the rest of the ride was nice. I was feeling more comfortable in the paceline than last week, and even rotated into the lead for a spell.

Glad to hear the group settled back down for you! You did great in the paceline last week, so it sounds like this week was even better for you!

I think we ended up with a total of close to 40 women for our ride this week! Here are a couple of shots before the start (DebW is in orange with glasses in the first shot).

SheFly

[Crankin]

Geez, Deb's comment strikes a little fear in me! She's a bit faster than me, so I guess I need to go with the slow group????? I would also set out with the 15-17 group, but sometimes that means 19 to some people???
My commute home yesterday was HOT. I really need to get used to riding in temps over 72 or so, and it was 82 when I got home. I decided to go home the shorter way I rode in the morning, but I have to go a bit of a different way at the end because of the rotary. As I was zooming down Concord Rd. in Acton, about to intersect with Rt. 2A, another cyclist came wizzing down 2A, in the bike lane. Since I wasn't really going to come to a full stop here and turn right because there is a wide bike lane, I had to slam my brakes a bit before the turn, so I wouldn't hit him. He sped up a bit, thankfully, but he sort of came out of nowhere. Then I had to get right out in the lane to make a left on Pope Rd. First car wouldn't let me in, second one could have, but was too busy talking on the phone. I got out there and had to stop in the middle of the road before a truck stopped and let me make a left across the road. Up to this point my average was just under 17, but Pope Rd. is a climb, so that, combined with my street, brought my average down to a respectable 15.75.
The ride home was 14.7 miles.
Tonight I probably will ride a total of 6 miles on my commuter bike, to see SheFly at the time trial. I will look like a total dork on my yellow Voodoo with a pannier against all of those TT bikes!

[indysteel]

Last night was my sixth or so outing with one of the local training rides. The group is without it's usual ride leaders for a bit and our paceline seemed a little less organized than usual, but we held it together in the end. It was our fastest average so far for the year at 19.24 mph for 24 miles. I was pretty pleased with that.

[SheFly]

Geez, Deb's comment strikes a little fear in me! She's a bit faster than me, so I guess I need to go with the slow group????? I would also set out with the 15-17 group, but sometimes that means 19 to some people???

I am working with all of the ride leaders to make sure that we have standard verbiage and understandings of pace for this ride in the future, and smaller groups. Also impressing on them that if they are doing a 14 - 16 mph ride, they must stick to it . So, don't be intimidated, we are working all of this out, and we don't drop anyone!

Tonight I probably will ride a total of 6 miles on my commuter bike, to see SheFly at the time trial. I will look like a total dork on my yellow Voodoo with a pannier against all of those TT bikes!

Will be an awesome night for racing! I look forward to meeting you (and no bike looks dorky!).

SheFly

[IFjane]

Sunny, 72 degrees, no wind. Beautiful 25 mile, very hilly ride. First test of my legs & lungs in quite a while. There were only 4 of us - my SO, another woman, a new man who just joined the group & myself. The new member just moved from Chicago and is having a tough time getting used to the hills. In fact, at one point he said, "there isn't a quarter mile of flat anywhere around here!" *lol* nope. Not in Madison. It's either up or down (and then back up again!)