September 30 Rides

[tprevost]

I thought I would need a jacket leaving home, but I did (I know, it's SoCal). Met the "gang" at the Train station ,and for once I was not the only female rider on a single bike. wed id about 15 flat miles before tackling Glendora Moutain Road. I got dropped by everyone, but, considering, I haven't ridden in 7 weeks, that was Ok, Got to the junnction of GMR and Glendora Ridge and turned around. I picked up a tire for my cannondale on the way home. another 54 miles to add my journal

I've not been on the board too much since starting my new job but just wanted to say YEAH!!! Glad to hear you are back on the bike!

trac'

[KnottedYet]

Around 30 miles. Things "clicked" for me and Flossie today, and I decided not to get a different stem yet. My shoulders didn't even complain once.

Great crisp weather, lovely leaves in a multitude of colors, and Lake Washington and Lake Union were beautiful as always.

Flosshilde had fan clubs at both bike shops we visited.

Want to ride again, but the light isn't gonna last much longer this evening.

Gonna go out to dinner with a friend and then spend the evening putting the computer and such on Flossie and drinking warm tea and listening to KPLU or KEXP jazz.

[im4smiley]

Brrr it was about 39 degrees when I left this morning, I was dressed with a sleeveless shimmel, a long sleeve shirt and a cycling jacket, long tights, wool socks. I thought my ears were going to freeze but once I got going they were ok. I should get a hat! THe plan was to do 40 miles with some good hills but after about 10 miles I thought...I will never make it so I went a different route that gave me a shorter less hilly option, however, I added to that route and ended up doing 35 miles! I seemed to be struggling on my ride but I did avg 15.8 mph. I only passed 2 other cyclists this morning! The ride was so much better than going to the gym!!

[emily_in_nc]

xeney, loved your ride report. DH and I often do utilitarian rides like that too; they're fun and serve a great purpose, and I am always proud of negotiating town traffic, since I live in the boonies so don't do the town thing often.

No ride today...too cool this morning for this southern gal (upper 40s), and if we don't leave home early, the traffic gets to be too much on our ride to the the markets, so we kicked off the hiking season with a 7-8 mile hike at a state park nearby instead (much warmer since you don't create wind). Lovely day for that - 60s by the end. Perfect weather, neat birds (wild turkey, great blue heron, pair of wood thrushes, etc.), minimal people, nice trees.

Emily

[DeniseGoldberg]

Brrr it was about 39 degrees when I left this morning... I thought my ears were going to freeze

A hint for your ears for those cold day rides - I've been using Earbags (http://www.earbagsus.com/) to keep my ears warm, and they really do the trick. (There are a couple of different manufacturers of the same type of item, but this is the brand I've used.)

--- Denise

[Crankin]

We did a charity ride yesterday, which raises money for many children's agencies in Boston. My husband's company paid for the fundraising ($700), so that part was stress free. The weather was perfect, but it was cold at the start (47). I was wearing a midweight fleece lined jersey and my hoodie to start, tights, full finger gloves, and a headband. Oh and toe warmers, too. My husband and I were astounded to see more than half of the riders wearing nothing but shorts and a jersey. We keep thinking that we are wimps because we lived in AZ for so long. But, really, it was cold! My legs still felt dead from doing the century last Sunday. I guess I haven't rested enough. I realized that this was the first bigger charity ride I have done and I did not like having all of those people around. But everyone spread out quickly and they started us off in groups. At the first rest stop I took my hoodie and headband off, but it was still pretty cool out. We were going a really fast pace and i felt like a panting dog for most of the ride! It was flat, with a few small rollers near the end, which was too bad, since I really had to slow down for the last 5 miles. I admit that i was complaining for almost the whole ride.
The food was great afterward (ribs, bbq chicken, and beer) and the best thing was that we could take a shower at a health club that was on the start site.
Total, 52 miles, 3 hrs. 15 minutes, av. speed 16.

[Selkie]

Coldest ride yet this fall---45 degrees when I left the house, but I was able to wear my Exte Ondo knickers.

The ride was good, except there was still some debris from Thursday night's storm (a tree across a bridge on the trail--it was there when i rode Friday morning, but apparently, the Park folks couldn't move it completely, so they cut a tunnel through it so one lane could get past). Everything went well until the last 10 miles--Team in Training trail hogs, more than usual (I think multiple groups got together), were doing some sort of big event. I swear those people are oblivious, as they run platoon style-two abreast in these formations--and don't seem to give a whit for others using the trail. Well, several of them were yabbering and wandering all over the trail. Had words with a couple of them who would not get over to the right. I got tired of it, so I left my usual route and went East toward DC (the "killer hill" route). I really didn't want to push it because I'm getting over some ankle/foot tendonitis, but everything worked out OK.

Suffice it to say that I can't wait until the TNTers do their Marine Corps Marathon and go into hibernation until next spring. I think it's great that they are raising money to help others, but you think they would be a bit more considerate when they are supposedly "sharing the trail." It's a safety issue, for crying out loud.

[xeney]

I have found that the best antidote to getting depressed about my road bike that doesn't fit (grrr ... stupid shorter stem shipped to wrong address, second shorter stem not short enough, third one taking two weeks to ship, husband out test riding my bike to see if maybe he'll buy it from me so I can buy one that fits) is to take the mixte on a ride around town to some place that I have previously been too afraid to ride. Today I rode to the bank, which doesn't sound particularly scary, especially since it's only about ten blocks from home, but it goes through a big traffic snarl and a spot where the bike lanes tend to be blocked by construction. It also involves a couple of left turns in heavy-ish traffic.

But I did it and it was a breeze. Good idea trying it for the first time on a Saturday, but since I have to go through a hospital zone there was still a ton of traffic.

Then I rode across town to buy coffee and groceries, and I stopped at a coffee shop to finish the short story I've been trying to finish for weeks, but every weekend has been taken up by trying to make my stupid road bike fit. The bike rack at the grocery store was full, which always makes me happy since I bugged my city councilman for a solid year to get that bike rack installed. In the process of coming and going I had conversations with one cyclist about my folding Wald baskets, with another (who had the same baskets) about my reusable grocery bags, and with a very cute dad and his very cute little girl in a very cute kid trailer behind their very cute Surly Cross Check about our matching handlebars. (His were upside down and chopped.)

And then I rode home, with the toilet paper and bread barely secured in my baskets with a complex arrangement of bungees and the ties on my bags (I always, always buy too much, and I need to remember that canned goods are HEAVY), and I got a workout pedaling my very heavy and very loaded single speed up a tiny little hill, and I impressed myself by changing across three lanes in traffic without wimping out, and I came home with no flat tires.

It wasn't very exciting, but it sure beat spending three hours on the trainer while my husband makes miniscule adjustments to my road bike trying to make it fit. I am done with that noise.