October 1 Rides

[Fredwina]

I think May i over done my come back yesterday. Plus, I think i;'m going to wind up spend the entire day at church. I did get a quick ride in , and did some window shopping at REI. It's actually cloudy here. (yes, it's not always sunny in Southern California.)

[Kalidurga]

Weird weekend... I had a very busy, cycling-focused weekend planned. I intended to ride on Saturday, then today to attend a cyclocross race and the She Got Bike! fest, and pick up some new shorts at the LBS. Well, I woke up yesterday to an overcast sky and a 30% chance of rain. It did rain for a while in the morning, but then cleared up later in the afternoon. Seeing that sky first thing in the morning did me in, though. Looking out the window at a completely grey sky does terrible things to me. I ended up depressed- not sad or melancholy at all, but with no motivation, no inspiration, and no energy -and just sat in front of the tv all day. Didn't even open the front door once. Total sloth day

Today, though, was an entirely different matter. The sun was peeking out when I got up, and I immediately got moving so I could get to the 'cross race by 10 am. On the way there, I started thinking about how much I really wanted to ride this weekend. When I got to the race and saw all those other people on their bikes, it was decided. I stuck around for the last few laps of the first heat, then bagged the rest of the day's plans and went home to get my bike.

I ended up having a really, really great ride out around Hancock, Md. I had taken a wind jacket and shorts, but it was a tad chilly so I made a pitstop in C&O Bicycles in Hancock and picked up a pair of knee warmers. Once I realized that I had to pull them up high and tuck them under my shorts, they were perfect. I rode the 12 miles out to the end of the Western Maryland Rail Trail at a high cadence/speed and felt great the whole way. Also did my good deed for the day by stopping to herd a very aggressive snapping turtle off the pavement so that he wouldn't get hit.

Usually at the end of the WMRT, I turn around and return the same way. Today I decided to cut down to the C&O Canal towpath, to which the WMRT runs parallel, and head back to Hancock that way. It was a hellatiously bumpy ride since I'd inflated my tires to pavement pressure, but I was still able to keep up a fairly high cadence/speed. I think it was from watching those 'cross racers this morning. I couldn't have jumped any barriers, but I felt tough and strong barrelling along the towpath.

After a quick shower and some pasta, I am now in an almost euphoric mood. Endorphins rock

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Kali, that ride sounds great. It's so nice when you finally get out there after a miserable rainy day wishing you could ride.

Last week I did my own good deed of stopping and carrying a snapper off the road and down the ravine to the stream so he wouldn't get hit. His shell was about a foot long- fairly large. Heavy dude. At the end of my ride that same day, my DH spotted a tiny stone on the road and pointed it out to me. Turns out it was a teeny weeny newborn snapper, about an inch long! Cutest lil' thing, with big dark eyes. Well we carried him off the road to safety too.
I think he was sent to thank us for rescuing the other one earlier.

[7rider]

Kali, I had the exact same kind of Saturday as you.
DH and I were planning to do a loooong ride - last prep ride before the Seagull next weekend. Woke up, had b'fast, checked the weather on weather.com, and went back upstairs to get dressed. I looked out the window, and said "Hon. It's raining. It's not supposed to rain today!"
Grrrrr....
So, we didn't ride (we don't like to ride in the rain unless we *have* to..and frankly, we just didn't have to) and were total slugs. Well, we did get to the LBS so DH could drop off his mtn bike for work and I could look at fenders for my commuter.
Today, it was raining when we had to make our "go/no-go" decision for the sunday shop ride, so we decided to sleep in and not go. By 8 a.m., however, the sun was out, so DH and I left for a ride of our own - the "triathalon loop" up in Howard County.
We did about 43 miles (69 km) in 2:40:00. 2500 feet (762 m) of climbing.
I may commute one or two days this week but I think we're in official "taper" mode before the century. Plus, I'll need a trip or two to my chiropractor this week for my aching back.

[Kalidurga]

Regina, where's the "triathlon loop"?

And... 43 miles in 2:40??!! I think we need to compare everyone's average speed before our C&O ride on the 15th. Or will the Seagull leave you pooped enough that you won't smoke us all on the towpath?

Lisa, I wish you had been around today. I came close to losing a finger when I tried to pick up that snapper this afternoon!

[7rider]

Regina, where's the "triathlon loop"?

And... 43 miles in 2:40??!! I think we need to compare everyone's average speed before our C&O ride on the 15th. Or will the Seagull leave you pooped enough that you won't smoke us all on the towpath?

Lisa, I wish you had been around today. I came close to losing a finger when I tried to pick up that snapper this afternoon!

Ahhh, but that's on an 18 pound road bike chasing my DH who's not very chatty. When I'm on a 28 pound mountain bike with people I can talk to, things will be very different! Fear not. But...I may not be able to do the C&O ride after all. Check out the regional posting I just put up.

The "triathalon loop" starts (for us) going up New Hampshire Ave to Ednor to 216 heading north/west, becomes Highland, around 10 Oaks onto Linthicum, left onto Tridelphia which becomes Tridelphia Mill Rd, back to Highland and right on Brighton Dam Rd and ultimately back to New Hampshire. I probably missed a few details, but it's a nice, if hilly, route. There is a bike group that has cue sheet routes that start at the Cloverly Safeway, so that seems to be a good starting point for folks.

[KnottedYet]

Another heart-poundingly beautiful Seattle fall day! The sun was out, the sky was blue with exciting sculptural clouds, it was crisp but not chilly, and not too much traffic on the Burke-Gilman and Sammammish River trails.

I only had a limited time for my ride, so I rode kinda hard. (you Seattlites - I went LFP to just past Marymoor) It was so gorgeous along the river, through the fields, and along the rows of huge poplar (?) trees.

Had a rest stop at the Marymoor velodrome and watched a woman with the most incredibly lovely legs ride a Bianchi around the track.

Hot-footed it back homeward, but stopped to help a woman who was getting a flat. Some of the folks who'd been at the velodrome stopped, too. My new Serfas pump blew a seal or something. That'll be going back to the store... Anyway, we managed to get enough air into her tire to get her home. The velodromies paused to admire Flosshilde (as well they should!).

Great day for a ride.

[emily_in_nc]

Just did a little, fun, flat ride on the American Tobacco Trail (a rail-trail) in Durham with my DH. Had never done that before. Road mountain bikes but really didn't need to since it was all paved. Gorgeous day in the 70s. Just 13 miles - we would have done more, but the connector to the southern counties is incomplete.

It was fun to do something different!

Emily

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, I wish you had been around today. I came close to losing a finger when I tried to pick up that snapper this afternoon!

You have to run around behind them and grab them QUICKLY by the base of their tails. YOu can pick them up and carry them by the thick base of their tails (not by the ends of their tails though!) Make your move fast when you go to grab them because they'll spin to face you. They can reach to bite just about all around themselves - except to their own tails. Haul them to wherever you need to by their tails, but make it quick because they are VERY heavy and it's hard to keep holding out away from your leg as you carry them.
I have a slight local reputation as a snapping turtle wrassler- I've been known to leap into the water and grab them bare handed!

[Popoki_Nui]

I promised a friend to take him to a LBS to look at (and possibly buy) a new bike for him. He hadn't ridden or owned a bike since he was a little boy in Korea. His English is pretty limited too, so I thought to myself " I'm going try to explain the complexities of choosing an appropriate bike to someone who hasn't ridden in 30 years, and speaks almost no English....this oughtta be fun!"
FF>> to one of my favourite bike shops: a bewildering assortment of MTB's hybrids, tandems, comforts, roadies, triathlons....the full monty. We talked about what he might like, kind of riding, dollar amount to spend, etc. Poked around, tried on various bikes, explained the pros and cons of each. I assumed maybe a mid-range hybrid for a year or two to get his skills up, and see if he'd like cycling as much as he imagined. Two hours later: one Bianchi SL3 Easton Ultralite with carbon forks and wishbone stays, full Campy Centaur gruppo:$2200CAD. Shoes, cleats, pedals, lights, FULL clothing set (jacket/jersey/inner shorts/outer shorts, tights, helmet, gloves, sox), computer: $800. With taxes, he walked out with $3300+ worth of swag without batting an eye, happy as a clam, comfortable with what he just bought. Ay carumba. So much for assumptions!
We parted and I went to meet a friend for a light afternoon ride on another amazingly lovely day. Halfway into the ride, and on a trail way in behind a lake, my friend came to an abrupt halt. Seems she went over a speed bump (not very fast or hard) in the parking lot a couple of km's back, and broke a spoke. Checking her wheel, another spoke just snapped like dry spaghetti. She has had the (4 yeard old) bike in for broken spokes three times already, so something isn't right with her wheels. The wheel was so warped, I could barely get it to turn in the stays. We limped back a few km's out of the park and then decided no good could come of continuing to ride, so she and her wounded bike caught the bus home. Too bad...it was a nice ride, but breakdowns are going to happen, right? Kinda put a damper on an otherwise great day. Only 25km's for the ride too, but c'est la vie.
~S.