October 1 Rides

[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.

[xeney]

I spent the day in a women's beginning mountain biking class, because my husband's idea of a beginner trail does not exactly mesh with mine. I feel like this is the best thing I have ever done, cycling-wise, and I'm probably going to retake the class at least once and then sign up for a more advanced one. I had so much fun, and I was pretty convinced that I just hated mountain biking, hated my mountain bike, was never going to learn to enjoy going downhill or any kind of singletrack. It wasn't a tough trail (there were a few spots that were not really beginner level, but we just tried them and then walked if we couldn't make it) so it was a lot easier to practice technique and stuff.

The first time my husband took me out on my mountain bike, I had no idea what I was doing, and he took me on a steep rocky descent and told me that I needed to get out of the saddle and try to put my body behind it. I had never heard anything so stupid in my life, and I think my response to him probably started with an F and ended with a U. And I fell, over and over, and I got hurt, and I am pretty sure I pouted.

Somehow, today all that stuff was easy. Partly because I have been riding the bike on dirt roads and up and down the levees for the last year, partly because the trail was less steep and rocky than that first one we tried (although it was pretty rutted), and partly because the group and the instructors were great. And I wasn't the most beginning beginner in the bunch, by a long shot, which does wonders for your confidence.

So much fun. I am glad I was not the person who endo'd and landed on her head, though.

[Hub]

Well, I finally had a ride worthy of reporting- 40 miles yesterday- including crossing the Big Dam Bridge 3 times! Not to say that I ever flew over- But I never got off the bike & walked! More details & even pictures later!!

"are you riding or are you hiding?"- Lance Armstrong (aka THE MAN)