October 8 and 9 rides

[Fredwina]

I also had my video camera out:
http://youtu.be/8HFMoz0eicw
was going to use the song " I love new York" by Steve Karmen http://youtu.be/uO7s02PvG2U but couldn't find a mp3 of it It's the official song of NYS ,and most other songs about New York are about the City, not the state

[tzvia]

Fall, my favorite time of year for cycling.

Yesterdays ride was awesome. It actually rained mid-week, so the air felt cleaner than normal. So I did my climbing mtb ride. I could see across the Valley to the next mountain range from the trail I was on in the Santa Monica mtns. On turning south, going over the mountains, Los Angeles came into view below, with some rolling low clouds hanging over the beach. It was only 90f. The air was so clear, the trail tamped down and 'washed' by the rain, perfect conditions after months of riding sandy, dusty trails. I passed a group of about 20 hikers enjoying the change from the hot smoggy summer to a perfect day.

It was a great recharge after a week at work rocked by an internal reorg/realignment of employee function/dept/manager, affecting all US employees. My roll is expanding to include IT security at our client in the greater US and possibly the world, much more than 3000 deskrops and a couple hundred servers in three states. Not sure if I want to hide, but a good workout on a glorious day was what the Dr ordered for sure

[ShubieGA]

Fredwina, you took great pictures. how do you have your camera hooked up? on your helmet?

[Crankin]

Well, my 39 miles to reach 2500 will wait until tomorrow, because I only rode 21 today!
It is unseasonably warm, in the 80's, and while others are just oohing and ah-ing, I would prefer crisp, cool fall days right now. I need time to acclimate to warm temperatures much more than cold, I have discovered. Then, just when we were getting ready to leave to ride, I started having some kind of allergic reaction. I took a Claritin and went, but it was disconcerting. My body seems very reactive now, and I'm not doing anything differently. So, we decided to ride to Nancy's Air Field Cafe in Stow, for lunch/brunch, although I had eaten a good breakfast. We went there the most direct way and, it was mobbed. This place is always very popular with locals, as it's a "locally oriented" restaurant in terms of the food they buy from area farmers, but today, well, I've never seen it this crowded. I quickly surmised that almost everyone in there were tourists who had come out from Boston for apple picking; heard many different languages being spoken, which, while we see a lot of tourists in Concord, not so much in the old 'hood. I had some delicious blueberry pancakes with orange butter, but we have a lot of work to do around the house, so we headed back the quickest way. It was a really nice ride, despite my allergic stuff. I definitely riding for miles now, and not so much speed. I have tomorrow off and am riding with a friend, so I'll hit my goal then. Still think I can get to 3,000, even with my lazy attitude!

[Owlie]

I didn't feel up to doing a long ride this morning. I did 3 miles around my neighborhood, with lovely weather. I got my courage up and tried the hill I generally avoid, because I live at the top of it and the people who live on it can't seem to find their own driveways. No one was parked on it today! I'm getting better about grabbing for the brakes, but not much.

[Fredwina]

Yes, it 's mounteed on my helmet

[indysteel]

DH and I did 45 today. Aside from being a little warm for this time of year, conditions were basically perfect. There was just enough cloud cover to keep the heat down a bit. Then we came home and raked leaves for a couple of hours. I'm ready for dinner and a beer at this point.

[nscrbug]

Wow pll...that sounds terrifying to witness something like that. Hope the cyclist is okay. Did this take place up north somewhere?

I did 80 miles yesterday, and 78 today. Yesterday we ended up riding out towards Plainfield and back. Today we rode down to Joliet and back. Weather was absolutely beautiful...nice colors on the trees too.

Linda

[AppleTree]

No long rides, but I got to ride both Saturday and Sunday, which felt fabulous...weather and our schedule finally allowed for two nice weekend rides. Today we went out to the Centennial Trail out of Snohomish for a few hours this afternoon. A few fall colors, but not many yet? Seems fall is arriving late this year (at least to me?).

I stopped for a drink and I turned around and noticed a small pumpkin patch inside the gate of one of the industrial businesses outside Lake Stevens...wood pulp mill or something like that, not sure. An improbable place for a pumpkin patch anyhow! So fun...those are the little things I love about being on my bike.

pll...what a scary story. Love your photos though, sorry it ended like that.

[bluebug32]

I did a 64 mile organized preview ride of the Tour of the Battenkill's new race course in Cambridge, NY. It was fast with some crazy hills and a good deal of the roads were dirt. One had an 18% grade climb. The roads are some of the best I've ridden and, though we don't have a lot of changing leaves in Upstate NY yet, the autumn fields, old barns and covered bridges made for some gorgeous scenery.

[azfiddle]

pll- wow, very scary experience and I do hope the other cyclist is really okay.

I took a DOR yesterday. It's fall break at our school, and I took advantage of the time and nicer weather last week- I had accumulated 194 miles between Saturday October 1 and Friday October 7, so I was completely ready for a day off.

Today I rode with the El Tour de Tucson / Carmichael training group again. The theme of the day was pacelines, and we practiced double pacelines, rotating double pacelines and single rotating pacelines, mainly along a freeway frontage road with little traffic. Even though we self-selected into 3 groups based on experience with pacelines, my group still had a few riders who didn't seem to be "experienced". Some of my regular riding buddies were in the group, and I was more than comfortable sitting 6-12 inches from their wheels, but there were a few that were very unpredictable and I kept more of a distance. On the way back, my small group of 7 were led off by a tandem at 18-20 mph. I managed to keep up with them for about 6 miles, and just dropped off a little for the last 2.

[smittykitty]

Got to ride both yesterday and today with my fav. riding partner (DH). Just 14 miles yesterday and about 18 today with a latte stop along the way. Rode on the local country roads. Traffic was a bit busy today though.

Weather is getting a bit cooler, but still very nice. Colors haven't changed much here yet. We've had a wonderful fall after a cool, wet summer.

The weather predication was for rain both days, but the rains held off!!!

Odometer passed 1000 miles yesterday for this year. It doesn't sound like much compared to so many of you, but a biggy for me

Hoping to get many more nice week-end rides in this fall.

[Owlie]

I think I need to get my a$$ in gear, reading some of these posts!

[redrhodie]

I was going to take a rest day today, but the next thing I knew, I was on my bike. I did a relaxed pace 21 miles. It was amazing out. The ocean was at low tide and there were no waves or wind. Lots of water fowl sunning themselves on rocks usually submerged, ones I've never noticed before. Lots of butterflies, too. I had to swerve around a few to avoid hitting them. There was an almost magical beauty to the whole thing.

[Dannielle]

Saturday I rode 23.5miles and Sunday I rode 14miles...on the Katy trail both times.

I really, really want to get out today as we're about to lose our 80 degree temps but I've got so much work to do I don't think I can make it happen.