September 17 Rides

[Popoki_Nui]

Had a great ride, given that it was windy and rained the whole time. Did 52km along the multiuse Lochside Trail, and then onto the highway. Felt pretty happy with it, loaded the bike into my van, and drove an hour home. Stopped at the general store to get something for dinner, and realized I had lost the little purse I carry with my ID, DL, medical insurance card, debit card, and a little spending cash.
Totally freaked, I drove back into Victoria, hoping it was where I had parked the van for my ride. I remember putting my purse on the van hood after my ride (a very sloping hood). It must have slid off and I drove away without realizing it.
Halfway back to town, my cellphone rang; it was the bike shop where I started my ride, saying a neighbour of theirs found my purse while walking is dog! They went in the bike shop, asked it anyone there knew me (based on my less-than-flattering driver licence photo!). Of course they know me, and called with the good news. I almost fainted with relief! I was mentally going thru all the rigamarole associated with replacing my ID etc, so huge thanks to Anne at Selkirk Bike Shop, and the honest man who turned my purse in!!
Came back home, had a cold beer and a hot bath. Still feel a little shaky, completely stupid, but ever so grateful.
~Sherry.

[tygab]

So after nearly 2 solid weeks of cold, I think I rode it out of me today! At least I hope so. My husband of 1 year ago tomorrow () and I did a ride together, with our honorary best man joining us. It was an organized century and there was much debate about the distance, between 62 and 50. I wasn't sure how my ride would go, after the cold and bad experience the prior week. Husband hasn't ridden much in the last few weeks now that he's back in school. Our friend could probably ride to Katmandu since he's gone bike crazy in the last month (yeah, he even converted his single speed into a fixie), let his car reg lapse and so on. But he said he was looking for an enjoyable shorter ride.

I said we should play it by ear, and the guys, who went up ahead, should wait for me at the split or water stop. We had signed up for the 50 though.

In the meanwhile, I met a woman who said this would be her longest ride yet, and we got to talking. I encouraged her to try for the metric and she said if you will, I will.... so we agreed to do it. Well, we came to the split, and my husband and our friend were nowhere to be seen. I called, left a message, but neither of them it turns out had their cell phones. I decided with the weather being nice that they'd opt for the 62, so, off we set.

Well, a long time later, we pull into a rest stop that is on the 62 and 50 mile ride, and there they are. I rolled up, and he says, how was the 62? I asked if he'd been there this whole time, and he told me he'd stayed since he heard of a woman in an accident and no one knew who it was (we had passed it and it appeared to be a woman who fell/collided and may have had a broken collarbone or arm (hard to tell). So he was worried about me, and stayed at the rest stop for over an hour! Aww! We realized that not having the other cell phones hadn't helped the situation. They jetted off, eager to resume riding after their long hiatus.

The two of us kept encouraging each other, as we slogged through lots of hills (the cold really kept my heart rate going, but on flats I would recover just fine), and then we waited for her coworker friend who was doing the 100 to catch up, and the three of us rode into the finish together.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ride, winding along many roads near my home and surrounding towns, including some of our regular routes. Farms, river, meadows, shady residential streets, and several parks and conservation lands were along the route.

Best part, I helped (I think) someone achieve her longest ride yet AND a metric century. All in all very cool. I'm going to try to get her to come to the site too!

[Cassandra_Cain]

Mimi - I'm a dork, no further evidence is needed. It was in fact dimming, but then it was the ride I did on saturday the 16th. I even posted a thread for sunday - september 18th rides before i was politely corrected

[Dogmama]

[QUOTE=Best part, I helped (I think) someone achieve her longest ride yet AND a metric century. All in all very cool. I'm going to try to get her to come to the site too![/QUOTE]

Very cool post! That is how I rode my first century.

[Crankin]

Yesterday, I lead a ride with 3 other people. We had about 20 people for a 40 mile very hilly ride through Acton, Boxborough, Harvard, Bolton, Stow, and then back for a BBQ at my friend's house. Well, we decided to split the group in 2, with my husband leading the "faster" group and me sweeping. The other 2 leaders wereleading the slower group. After 6 miles we stopped to regroup and I was panting. They were going 20 (up a hill) and I could barely stay on the back. But since I was the sweep, it didn't matter. Still, this was a very un-AMC group. My husband kept trying to get them to stop and view the scenery (beautiful) but they didn't want to. At about 32 miles two guys were struggling, so I had a real excuse to stay back with them. They were very nice and we talked for the rest of the way back. Delicious food and beautiful weather followed.
But, I was exhausted. Myaverage was just under 15, and for a ride with SERIOUS climbing, this is good for me.