July 29 ride reports

[DrBee]

Took an easy ride today - just 15 miles. First ride in a couple of weeks (been out of town). It was overcast and *humid*! At least there were only a few cars. It was nice to see the normal crew of walkers. Some of them said "hi" with a 'oh - there you are' tone. Like - where have you been? It sure felt good to be out riding again!

[makbike]

I hosted a club ride this gray and gloomy morning - temps in low 80's, high humidity and a low hanging fog greated us as we gathered for the ride. Started off well but at about the 4 mile mark I picked up a big chunk of glass in my rear tire. As I was finishing changing the tube a nice man who lives a few houses from where I was offered me the use of his air compressor. I gladly accepted the offer and made good use of the free air. By the time I got back on the rode (about 30 minutes had lapsed) I knew I would never catch up with those who were ahead of me so I rode solo, swept the course and had a great time for I was able to set my pace and take in all the beautiful sights along the way. Today I got to enjoy an awesome indigo bunting, a garter snake (first snake I've seen this year), a red tail hawk and lots of corn, tobacoo, soybean and sunflower fields. In the end I got in 34 miles and average 15.6 mph.

[SouthernBelle]

I got an early for me start this morning. It had rained most of the night, and was overcast and cooler.

At one point wanted to take a left into a market. Took the lane, signaled the turn, and some idiot in a minivan still passed me. Idiot is my favorite word for those people.

Otherwise it was a pleasant ride, though I did get to spray a rotweiler. Why do dogs only chase you on an uphill?

31 miles.

[Fredwina]

today started out with rather threatening skies. I thought I would be the only rider at the club rendezvous. well, I was the only woman there, We rode down to the Mission Inn in Riverside(pretty place!). We took a different route, which took us through a "challenged" neighborhood. We we got there. we found that bagel shop that we usually stop at had gone out of business. We found a coffee shop and took a break. We then rode back along the Upper Santa Ana Trial, and did loop by the airport In Ontario. I did some mileage, since I wanted to do a 4 hour ride. Got a metric, but I'm wishing I did 75 instead. Am I distance crazy or what?
Wildlife; none , unless you want to count the squirrel that tried to get in our paceline....

[eclectic]

Only 51 degrees when we pulled out - brrrrrr. Supposed to be a high today of 90 I don't think it will make it. Temp was stil only 71 when we pulled in 3.75 hours later, I was pretty cool the whole ride. I really am trying to send the cooler air south but it just won't go

Tried a new route today, good thing I had a partner who knew where the turn was - no signs marking it. Rode though the Upper Souris wildlife refuge beautiful scenery, blues,greens and yellows, many birds that I am unable to ID. The only ones I could tell were the road kill a lot of hen pheasants and partridge

A few fields are already harvested, the barley is ready to go, the wheat is turning and should be ready in a week or two, the sunflowers are starting to bloom, I guess no one grows canola on that route or didn't see any anyway

Wind picked up to about 15 mph, liveable, had a head wind for about 17 miles with a crosswind the rest of the way

All told did 57 beautiful miles.

Candisc starts in a week and I feel I am as ready as I'll ever be

[Triskeliongirl]

52 beautiful miles along coastal cape cod. Really great day!

[Kano]

Today's ride was a bit over twenty miles, with a hill climb that for me is HUGE. Had to stop to catch my breath twice --- just as we started up from my first pause, a red fox crossed our path. The other five riders in our group, all far better climbers than me (DH and sweeper kept me company) didn't get to see that little beauty dash across the road and down the hillside.

Still -- I did better on that darned hill than I expected to, and in the end, I DID IT!!

Celebrated with a lovely downhill run, followed by another hill. We were almost to the turn around/top when DH asked how I was doing. Told him, "I'm doing." A few moments later, he asked if I was ready to turn around -- we rounded a bend, and there they all were, waiting for us to join them for the ride back down.

And what a ride it was! Some of you will remember, I ride a Specialized Expedition Comfort-beast, which pretty much makes me the slug in just about any group, but I was flying --- and had to slow down behind my fellow road-bike riders because they were slowing faster than I was on the wee up grades! THAT was fun!

The bulk of the downhill run was a little bit twisty, in a residential area. Fun, but I didn't feel comfortable with letting my bike have it's head. Kinda rode the brake...

The next part of the ride was on our city's "greenbelt" path, which is mostly flat, but maybe slightly uphill on our way out. I'd been way behind the bulk of the group most of the way, but surprised them by not just catching/keeping up, but passing! Til I got to where DH and another lady where riding side by side, chatting, and he just would NOT get out of the way!

We stopped to eat, rode a few more miles to our cars, and all in all, I'm delighted with the ride. Gotta get better at the hills, but it was a GOOD day!

Nice weather too -- don't think it hit 90 til around 1p.m. today!

DH's new friend -- she and her hubby were visiting Boise from somewhere in California for the first time, found this group on the web, and joined us!

Too bad Tater didn't come. Would have been fun to meet!

Karen in Boise

[tulip]

I love when I get paid to ride my bike! I am a city planner, and we are working on a redevelopment project, and I had to ride my bike to and around the site, which is about 10 blocks by 10 blocks. It's about 10 miles from my house, so I know I got 20 miles coming and going, plus the very slow, stop-and-go tour of each street, stopping to look, think, make notes, and be creative!

[chickwhorips]

easy mtb ride to spin the legs after a hard run yesterday. felt good to get out and loosen the legs. a bit breezy 23 mph gusting to 32 mph went a total of 8.56 miles before calling it a day because the wind and new saddle got to me.

[mimitabby]

Next week we are doing Ride from Seattle to Vancouver (Canada) and Party, called RSVP, 183 miles in two days; so my request to my husband was to have an opportunity to go over one of the bigger nasty hills that we will encounter on this ride...
So we got up early and started driving to the Bellingham area.. The farther north we got, the greyer it looked, and just past Everett it started to rain a little... and then in earnest. we were not prepared for Rain, it was not even in the forecast.. so we drove a little further, getting cranky and cold just looking at it. So we turned around and went back towards Seattle.. where it was NOT raining.
We did the hills between Monroe and Brier and WOodinville, then we dropped down to the Burke Gillman, and then across the hills that parallel 520. We ate lunch at Marimoor park at the Veloddrome and watched some 1K time trials... then we went from Bellevue back to Logboom up Finn Hill.
We spent most of our time on hills, for 39 miles.. I guess we're as ready as we can be for the big ride next weekend.

[Bikingmomof3]

Another humid, bug filled evening ride. The pace was a lot slower since the twins wanted to ride along. Still it was enjoyable.

[Crankin]

Yesterday we did a beach cruise on the south shore (Cohasset and Situate) with our club. My friend was leading; since this was advertised as a leisurely ride, I was happy with the thought of a slow and fun day. I had been on this route once before, but it was cloudy and drizzling. This time, it was about 95 and sunny, not too humid. I can't find any seat bag that fits on my new bike, even with the modifications of the seatpost that the shop did, so I could try to use my detours bag. So, I had to wear my Camelbak, with the backpack. It was heavy, but I eventually I got used to it. However, the group very quickly split into 2; me, 3 others and my friend leading, and about 12 others who grouped up with the sweep. My friend was trying to stay at 12-13 mph, but it was hard, as the beginning of the ride is flat and downhill. I started getting annoyed and this bothered me. Even though it was hot and I had a fairly heavy backpack on, I still felt the need to go faster. This bothered me. I don't want to turn into this kind of person. Anyway, at the 20 mile mark we stopped at a beach, ate lunch and stayed for an hour and a half. Most of the people left before we did, so when we rode back to our cars (only 5 miles from the beach), we went for ice cream (my favorite, soft serve with chocolate dip). My husband and my friend's husband had left the ride and scouted out new routes and hooked back up with us. During this time they had an altercation with some idiot in a truck who told my husband that cyclists shouldn't be allowed on the road, along with some choice swear words! He called the police and reported the guy's license...this moron challenged my husband to a fight! Anyway, I have a sunburn on my back, even though I had #45 sunblock on. I think it's from when I was riding, not from when i had my bathing suit on, because it's in the shape of my cross strapped riding tank.
So, a fun and different ride for me. Today, I think I may end up being "a normal person," as we say, i.e., not riding.... (but I hit the 1500 mile mark on my computer, so only 1,000 to go).

[climbingbiker]

We haven't ridden for two weeks since the STP (two days - 204 miles), but figured that we'd be OK with one of our training rides: a nice 45 miler with a fair amount of elevation.

The best thing I can say about yesterday is that it's good to have goals. Right off the bat, there's a nice 400' hill and I struggled up it. I wrote that off to being 'cold' and not having much warm up. Once we got up that hill, the rollers started and the excuses ended because I ran out of 'em. I felt like I was riding in mud and my lungs were on fire. We had lost a lot of fitness in two weeks - sign of getting older ? In the end, we did about 30 miles.

Even with all of my *****in' and moanin', it was still a day on the bike in nice weather. Can't beat that!