Sept 7 rides

[fastdogs]

I'll start, because I actually remembered to take a photo today.
Yesterday I didn't really ride- the trails were muddy (except the really rocky ones up on the sides of bluffs that I'm too chicken to ride) So I took the chocolate bike to the bike shop for it's first tune up. The derailleur was bent, apparently, so they fixed that. I think I remember when that happened, when me and the bike slid back down a hill we'd tried to climb up. Then I talked my younger sister into getting on my trek and took her for a short 1 mile ride, trying to get her to catch the disease. She needs to do something for her weight and stress. I had her sit on a navigator at the bike shop, but she's horrified by bikes costing 400-500 dollars.
So today I took the chocolate bike to the katy trail, ane went the other direction, towards marthasville. We went to treloar and back, about 21 miles.
I wanted to try it on longer distances, and try out the terry liberator saddle. It was just ok- uncomfortable most of the way without being actually painful.
My hands got cramped, especially the right one. I don't feel as upright on the mtb as I do on my hybrid.
But overall it was a great ride, and there really weren't many people out there. It was a little cool at first and cloudy, even a few drops of rain.
I had wanted to go the other direction and ride to weldon springs, and find lost valley trail. But it was pretty wet, so I'll wait till I'm pretty sure the trails will be dry.
Here is one of the trestle train bridges between marthasville and peer.
vickie

[uforgot]

I like the picture with your bike in it. Did you start in Washington? Probably was a good day for a ride. Who went with you? Were you surprised at how there was NOTHING in Marthasville? Seems it used to be a hub of activity on the Katy trail and now just empty buildings.

Questions questions questions, I should have just gone instead of grading papers and doing yard work.

[fastdogs]

I started at dutzow. You're right- nothing but a gas station and a parking lot at marthasville. There was a dinky little store at peer where I got a snack because I didn't bring anything. They had a tiny restaurant area, but basically ignored me and there was no other bikes there.
I was by myself. Mostly by myself on the trail too. The usual 10 mph average.
The clicking is gone from the left crank, and everything seems to be working great on the bike (I didn't even realize the derailleur was bent).
vickie

[redrhodie]

What a cool bridge.

DBF said he might be able to leave work early today, so I waited around until 5pm, and when he still didn't come, I decided to head out for a ride. A few miles into it, he called my cell from home, and amazingly, I convinced him to ride out and meet me.

We did a really short ride, and I of course could barely keep up with him. I always think that by riding 10 times as many miles as he, I should be able to keep up with him, but alas, 'tis not so. Still, I love riding with him the few times each year we do. It's always fun, but a definite workout for me. We usually sprint at the end, but forgot to today. Oh, yeah, he was already off the bike by the time I got home!

A beautiful windy day, thanks to tropical storm Hanna.

[OakLeaf]

I commuted, sorta!

29 miles, 2041 feet of climbing, and the route worked out great. I did get a few sprinkles of rain on the way home, but not enough to get my bike all gritty. My favorite part was the stiff tailwind and net descent on the return trip. Outbound leg, average speed = 14.8 mph; inbound leg, 17.8 mph

[Zen]

Hard-hearted Hannah got out of town and left us with a beautiful day for the Civil War Century.
Or in my case, the Civil War Quarter Century.

Surprisingly, I found myself a bit disappointed at the end; I felt I wanted to ride more.

Maybe next year.

[Fredwina]

Since pep boys is taking three day to replace a belt, I rode to church and to the library

[makbike]

I slept in this morning - what a wonderful way to start the day! Once I got my lazy butt out of bed and moving I decided to go for a nice ride. No need to rush into writing lesson plans or grading the 130 essays I toted home. The big decision was which roads to ride? How far did I want to go? The work sitting on my desk was deciding factor in keeping the ride around 30 miles. Now the big question was which way to go? I decided to treat myself to some of my favorite roads - low traffic and lots of nature (little development). Bellview is one of my favorite roads to travel to it has a natural canopy of trees above and the remnants of an old stone fence along the way. Along this wonderful road I caught glimpse of a large red tail hawk flying low and heard the calls of another one in the vicinity. They are such beautiful birds.

I then headed to the little town of Pleasureville and down Cemetery Drive - again a very rural and scenic road. No cars today! As I headed down MacGruder I found myself staring at a large tent with lots and lots of chickens scattered about. A quick glimpse into the large tent found lots of cages and more chickens. Looks like someone has gone into the egg/chicken business! I continued on my journey taking in all the wonderful sights and sounds.

Finally, I turned the bike toward home, boo hiss! As I headed down Mulberry Pike I was saddened by all the corn still in the fields - the plants were brown so I'm guessing crop after crop was lost to the drought here. I'd hate to be a farmer!

I returned home one happy cyclist. I had a great ride, just over 29 miles and a nice average speed. I sure miss being a bike bum!

[Aggie_Ama]

I went to ride the Barton Creek Greenbelt with one of our fellow TErs- alleyoop. She was very gracious in showing me the ropes of this trail which is more challenging that what I am used to. Very rocky but a lot of fun and it helped to have a patient rider who had done the trail before along. I no longer fear the greenbelt.

I was a little sore this afternoon and am beginning to feel a bit ill. I slept all afternoon and still am not feeling well. I was hoping to go ride with a mountain biking group she told me about tomorrow but I think I will not be up to it, which is disappointing.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Fastdogs- we have a trestle bridge like that too! But it's been closed and condemned (but heck we ride over it anyway on our bikes!)

HUsband and I had a lovely lazy breakfast in town and then an easy 13 mile ride on the country roads. It was good.

[Crankin]

I rode my new bike 43 miles on a new route yesterday. We started in Groton, MA and rode up through Hollis, Brookline, and Mason, NH. It was a gorgeous day, a bit windy, left over from Hanna at first. There were hardly any cars on this route and mostly rural roads, with rushing water along the roads. We stopped at a maple sugar shack for lunch (which we brought). They were having a Native American pow wow, so it was noisy, but we ate on the grass and relaxed. The lunch stop was in the middle of a very steep climb; it flattened out at the stop, but it was hard to get going after sitting. Of course, we didn't know the climb continued. We started a a long downhill after climbing for like 8 miles, back into Massachusetts. There was one more 2-3 mile climb nearer to the end.
Verdict on the bike: It fits! The new bars do feel a little "twitchy," but they ARE the right size. I don't feel scrunched and for the first time ever, I don't feel stretched out trying to get in the drops. I can easily grasp the brakes. Now I just have to get over my wimpiness over descending. I can stand over the bike and i feel "one" with it while riding. By the end of the ride, I was more used to the feel of everything.
43 miles, 4,000 feet of climbing

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Crankin- have you posted a thread about your new bike, with photos yet???
We want more info!!!!

4000 feet of climbing?- holy COW!

[Blueberry]

Lisa-

Here's Crankin's thread on her new frame: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=26429

It's purdy!



CA

[GLC1968]

Heh - I rarely post ride reports anymore (mostly because most of my riding is commuting!), but after yesterdays misadventure, I felt the need to document it.

H got a new 29er...so he wanted to take it out on some easy dirt trails. I cleaned off my ancient mountain bike, and joined him. It was not pretty.

We went here:


(not my photo) which is only about 5 miles from our house. We were going to ride there, but decided at the last minute to drive up there and then ride. I'm so glad we did, or I'd have never made it home.

The trail we took basically circles that lake. It's about 85% wooded/fields/dirt/gravel/etc...and about 15% road/paved. For the most part, the road sections are just to get over bridges/rivers that feed the lake. The rest of the time, you are on trails that varied from flat fields, to vertical climbs that challenged my granny gear. H was told that this was an EASY trail. Someone lied. Or...I'm in worse shape than I thought!

Anyway, 15 miles of single-track later, we made it back to the car. H had scrapes on his legs from blackberry brambles - I had scrapes on my arms & legs from the ground. I wiped out twice - both times because I did something stupid because my body was just too tired to do the smart move. By the end, I was crying to myself as I was riding - praying that we didn't cross paths with any other rides who might hear me! It was rough.

I was wiped out.

When do we get to go again?