October 10th rides

[Fredwina]

I had new heat exchanger put in to(actually my landlord had),so went to the bank, and then to the new arena in Ontario, home of the ECHL's Ontario Reign(what's the East Coast Hockey League doing in California?)


actually, I went down there for what was behind me:





here's a link to explain it more.
I then went to the minor league baseball park before hitting the rail trail with the mondo headwinds home

[fastdogs]

I had a great ride, because I rode a part of the trail that I have always walked before! I'm still excited by it.
I didn't have a lot of time because I had to make a couple of birthday present stops (my little guy turns 5 tomorrow), so I got to castlewood state park late. I warmed up on the flat dirt singletrack part of grotpeter, then headed up love to rollercoaster. At first I didn't feel real confident, but the more I rode the more confident I got. I just seemed to have more control today, even though I was using the brakes a lot on the rocky parts, I was using both front and rear brakes (usually I'm terrified of the front brake) to slow way down just before a rocky downhill, then not riding the rear brake all the way down. I was past the last part of rollercoaster (where I crashed a couple of rides ago) before I knew it, and continued down grotpeter. I got off and walked the rocky downhill part with railroad ties and washed out sharp rocks- I always walk this part. But when I got to the sharp right turn with the tree and roots everywhere in the middle of it, I rode the path around to the left of the tree with no problems. Nice and slow. Prior to this, I'd always walked this part too. I flew the rest of the way, over the smaller water bars with the mesh, to the end of the trail.
It was a blast. I have no bruises or wounds (although I did bash myself in the mouth with my car door in a store parking lot prior to the ride- someone had parked so close I had to squeeze in the door)
vickie

[Tri Girl]

Glad you both had some good rides.

That is so neat, Fredwina. I read the site to learn a little more about it. Pretty cool.

[redrhodie]

I rode with cycling-sarah today! She's my new friend I met riding the other day. We had a fantastic ride. It was absolutely gorgeous out, and she and I rode really well together. The miles went by really fast, and our speed was pretty good over the 31 miles we rode together. She's enough faster than me to make riding with her more of a workout than I usually give myself, but she also reminded me to look at the ocean as we went past (which I sometimes forget to do). It was just spectacular. In the end, I rode 43 miles total.

Next time, I'm bringing something to eat! I was so hungry when I got home, I'm lucky the fridge still has a door on it.

[arielmoon]

Neat pics Fredwina! Sounds like fun fastdogs! Redrhodie how great to find someone to ride with!!

I rode my scenic route and added an extra loop that will be part of next weeks century to make 27 miles. I did not feel terribly strong and some wind gusts felt like someone grabbing my bike and pushing me back. So, I was rather surprised to see that my average speed was a new solo personal best for any route- any distance I have done up unto this point. I believe I exclaimed "Frak me!" when I looked at my computer. I am so amazed at the progress that I have made. It is very satisfying!

[cycling_sarah]

Had a great ride today with redrhodie (see her post above)! Having a friend out there motivated me to do a longer route than the one I've been doing by myself lately!

[Crankin]

It was just gorgeous here in New England. I did a short 14.5 mile ride that involved making a right turn on a busy road, with lots of thorny bushes squeezing me between them and the cars. Then the street I needed to turn on to head back to Concord was blocked off, but the police woman let me through, only to be met head on by a guy on a bulldozer whom I swear didn't see me (on a country road on a red bike and a red jersey). It was beautiful, but my average sucks... (see the what's your average thread).

[skhill]

Beautiful indian summer day here in KY... if a bit windy

I saw bison on my ride!! I ride through rural Central KY, so there are plenty of horse farms. There are also some cattle, and I've gone by a couple sheep farms (one of which has a llama, too). But I never knew bison lived so close to my home!

Meant to go 40 miles, but the winds changed my mind for me, and only went 30. Good thing, too, because I didn't bring as much foood as I thought I had, and was very hungry by the time I got home. But it was a great day to be out on the bike.

Now it's off to my LBS, to help my brother look into a new road bike. I'm only looking for him, not me, honest!

[mudmucker]

Did my 28-mile commute into work. A lovely day for a ride, warmish. As it starts to get darker, I've been putting in some extra time up front earlier in the week, so I can leave an hour or so earlier on the days I commute. I'm still undecided as to whether or not I'll commute in total darkness for the distance I do. Maybe half the commute gives me some good protective shoulder, but the other half squeezes me more out into 50-55 mph traffic with no shoulder. And in these areas I'm dodging sand pits, glass, and some deep potholes in daylight. Not sure I can react as well in the dark. Right now I'm using the carbon fiber bike but I'll probably change to the heavier steel bike if I do use it in the dark as I'll be going slower anyway. Last night it was pretty much dusk when I arrived back at the car. I thought I was protected by the back light I had. As I was loading the bike in the car I noticed it was gone and that it must of flung off the bike after some bumps. My headlight was on but I had no protection except my hi viz jacket from the back and I didn't know it. Going out to get new lights this weekend.