April Fools Ride Reports

[Veronica]

I have to ask ... do all of your siblings have names beginning with V ?

4 girls with V's. 3 boys with H's.

V.

[Duck on Wheels]

Thom and I set out to do our local loop today. It's about 40 miles, a nice ride to do and still have energy to do chores. We were on the road out to the Las Vaqueros Reservoir, which sees almost no traffic, and my cell phone rang. It was my sister Vicki, calling with the latest update on my sister Valerie who got diagnosed with tongue cancer on Thursday.

I slowed down and rode one handed, talking with her. But this road is pretty far out and as I went around a corner, I lost the signal.

We turned around and went back to where we had a signal and I stood on the side of the road and called her back. We'd been talking for about ten minutes and I heard riders coming up behind me. I turned to see who it was, lost my balance and because my right foot was still clipped in, toppled over. It was a pretty funny fall according to my husband.

I have three, inch long gashes on my right knee. My left knee is banged up on the inside from hitting my bike. I rode the 12 miles home with my knee oozing blood and Thom drafting me.

As I was falling, I was still talking to my sister and I was more worried about the bike hitting the ground then me.

It's been a heck of a week.

V.

Sociologist Ann Oakley wrote a book (I think it was: Taking it Like a Woman), in part about being treated for tongue cancer (successfully!). It's also got some very hot sex scenes involving a guy I once shared an office with (I never thought of him as the least bit sexy ... my loss, apparently). Anyway, maybe your sister would enjoy the book if you can find it.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Today was my first ever solo ride on the road!

Only 15 miles with a slow average of 13.5 mph (but in my defense, I'm still a newbie on platform pedals and it's really hilly here!). This was a big hurdle I needed to cross because I am really rather petrified of the traffic around here. No shoulders, curvy country roads, still sand and gravel all over the pavement from recent snow, and hills, hills, and more hills! I was literally shaking during quite a bit of the ride, but I did it and now I feel great!

Hey, CONGRATULATIONS on your first solo road ride!!!! You GO, girl!!!!

You think YOU are slow?? Boy we've got some major hills all around here- some of them are so steep I'm actually going 2.5 mph on the way up!! My ride averages which include the hills are usually 9 to 10 mph. You are totally Speedy Gonzales compared to me. Good thing I don't obsess about speed! I concentrate on slowly getting fitter and stronger and on enjoying the simple beautiful act of riding out in the country.

[mimitabby]

Gee, yesterday i averaged 13mph and I thought that was fast!!
Sara, you're doing great!

[SheFly]

It all started out fine. DH and I headed out of the house on the trusty tandem to do an easy-ish ride (he is having some knee trouble). My post today was going to be about he won all of the town line sprints . Instead, our ride ended not so nicely...

As we were coming home through Acton, we cut through the Colonial Spirits parking lot to head up Pope Road. Suddenly, I knew that we had a flat. Here is the sequenc of events from here:

1. Run over small piece of glass.
2. Glass embeds in rear tire, cutting the tube and causing a flat.
3. Remove rear wheel, find glass, remove tube.
4. Take spare out of seat back, and put on wheel.
5. Spare is a 26" x 1.25 - we have 700 cc wheels...
6. Look for patch kit.
7. No patch kit in seat bag.
8. Make spare tube fit (difficult, but workable).
9. Pump up tire - doesn't hold air.
10. Pump breaks.
11. No cell phone either, and we are 10 miles from home.
12. Ride tandem remaining 10 miles on rim, including along dirt bike path (cause it's shorter).

This was NOT a fun way to end what had been a good ride.

The lesson here (are you all listening?) is to CHECK your supplies and make sure that you have everything you need BEFORE you head out on a 50 mile ride. Also, I will ALWAYS ride with a cell phone from here on out.

Foolish on April Fool's Day....

SheFly

[mimitabby]

eyewww!! what a bummer!

[Fredwina]

I did a 20 mile ride yesterday. Granted, not much for me, but the Sierra Club was having a a full moon hike in the San Gabriels, and I had a couple of chruch related things to do.

[Celeste]

Well, we did not go with the TNT group training ride in Magnolia, TX on Saturday due to weather. Lots of bad thunderstorms with lightening. Did not want to chance it.

So...hubby and I signed up for the "Space Race 2007" ride down south from us a bit in La Marque, TX. It was foggy to start, that cleared out. Rain came in...several times thru the ride. Most of it not bad, but for a while there it was that "ouchie" needle type rain. We met up with a fellow TNT-er and she rode with us.

I gotta hand it to the folks that were working the rest stops. They were awesome!! They stayed perky thru the rain and mud for us to have a place to stop, rest, pee, and re-stock our water and food. Two of the stops were very muddy, bless their hearts! I thanked as many as I could for being there. And they were nice enough to thank me for riding. Awww, good people.

This being our first organized ride, I was very impressed with the support that was given. Lots of SAG vehicles, one big Ryder moving truck for serious problems with bikes that had to go back, motorcycle marshalls patrolling and helping stranded cyclists as well as the multitude of Ride Marshalls that were every where. Oh yeah....and multiple pottys at every stop!

I am told that the MS150 sanctioned rides are all that well supported. Well, this newbie was very impressed. There were many different mileage rides to take. We chose the 62 mile ride since that is about where we are in our TNT training. Successfully completed all of it; with no flats! Woo Hoo!

Don't know what it is about the rain...but there were flats absolutely *everywhere*!
Have a great week everyone!

[smilingcat]

no kiddin about fools day for a ride!!!

lets see... went for a short 20+ mile ride. 5 miles or so is on a road marked with bike path lane.

several idiots were weaving their bike on the bike path. going the wrong way. They could see that I was going the right way. I ended up slamming my brake and locked up my rear wheel. I figured the idots would stop weaving when they got near me. NADA!! Only one guy in the group smirked and said, "Oh, sorry"

second set of idots riding on a bike lane big enough to drive a semi. 4 or 5 people riding abreast. At least they were going the right way. And they are riding really slow. I was still doing around 32Km/hr and yelled plenty loud, "On your left!" So they did the sensible thing and all moved to the left. I ended up swerving into the car lane. Luckily their weren't any cars.

Third set of idots, people were ready to jay walk across the street, not in the cross walk but right across anyway. They look right, they look left, I think they saw me coming pretty fast. Some hesitation, and now I'm really close. Then they all decided it was a good time to cross and stepped off the curve.
Locked up my wheels again.

Maybe I should have completely given up cycling.

yes its April fools but do they really have to be fools? GRRRR!!!!

Shawn

[indysteel]

What a fitting ride for April Fool's. All weekend, the forecast called for strong winds on Sunday, but like a lot of cyclists in Indianapolis, I woke up yesterday and breathed a sigh of relief because the winds were calm. I called up my friend Tracy and said "it's a go." However, by our 10 a.m. start time, the winds--at least out in the boonies--had already started to pick up. I can deal with the wind, but after a certain point--say over 20 mph, it makes me lose the will to live.

In any event, there was a big crowd and given the sun and warmth, everyone seemed eager to ride. Somehow or another, Tracy and I ended up being two of the first riders out. No big deal, except that we spent the first few minutes holding on for dear life and letting the members of the "fast pack" pass us, including my ex-boyfriend whom I hadn't seen since last October (but that's a whole other story ).

Anyway, after about 20 riders flew by, we found ourselves pulling the second big pack. Thankfully, we weren't heading into the wind at that point and it felt pretty darn good to be cruising along with 30 or so people following behind. After about 7 miles of that, we turned a corner and let another couple of guys take the lead, one of whom complimented us on a "good pull." From there, Tracy and I fell off the back of the main group, deciding to take it a little easier, and we essentially rode into the SAGat a relaxed, but strong, pace.

By the SAG, I think we all had a pretty good sense that the wind had picked up even more. Some people were opting to take a shorter route, but we were determined to stick to our original plan to do the "long" route. Nevetheless, I suggested to Tracy that we tag alone with a group of guys that are all steady, strong riders since I knew that we could never make it alone. They paced us through a 10-mile loop from there that took us back to the SAG. We hit some strong cross and headwinds during the loop and took advantage of the SAG to refuel a bit more.

From there, a couple of groups came together to head south. I was second from the front behind my friend Don, who proved to be a godsend. The headwind was bad, but we plowed through it pretty well for the next 9 miles or so. Then we turned into the west into some brutal crosswinds. At mile 42 I remember looking down at my odometer and thinking "just 6 more miles to go." Then I went up a short hill and literally felt the last drop in my gas tank before it emptied. My legs were toast. At that point, I fell off the main group a bit, and Don was kind enough to slow down and pull me in. Then Tracy fell off too and the two of, with Don's infinite patience, crawled in.

By the time I reached my car, I was on my middle ring and my 25 cog. It was rather sad, but in my defense, there were reported gusts of 37 mph, with sustained winds in excess of 20 mph. It wasn't pretty, but I did it--with a little help from my friends. I am knackered today, however.

[HappyAnika]

I set lots of "firsts" yesterday:

First time cutting short planned mileage, planned 50, only did 36.

First time reaching 180 bpm on the bike (well, since I got my hrm a few weeks ago anyway). Unfortunately this occured while pedaling up a 6% grade into a 30 mph sustained headwind at a whopping 4.5 mph. (My slowest sustained speed ever).

First time fearing that the wind might blow me backward down the hill.

First time nearly being blown into a guard rail.

First time bonking.

First time thinking that I might actually have to stop and have DH go home to get the car and pick me up (although I made it). This was while traveling directly into a 30 - 40 mph sustained headwind for 8 miles through rolling hills.

Almost forgot, first time being moved to shout expletives due to wind/fatigue induced misery.

The only good "first":
A new top speed of 43 mph.

My face is peeling not from sunburn, but wind burn. I'm taking today off.

[mimitabby]

gee, sounds like it was windy all over yesterday!

[quint41]

We were the fools...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It all started out fine.

SheFly: We could have been on the same ride!

Started off just fine with 3 friends.

First - I almost got run over by a box truck. Honest to God, that truck was so close to me I felt the dust on the side of it. One more inch and I would have been under his wheels. (High granite curb on my right, no where for me to go!)

Second - rider in front of me stopped short with no warning. I avoided a collision, but didn't unclip in time and fell over. Fortunately, I feel in the grassy shoulder! (Tip-over #2 with my clipless pedals.)

Third - We discover one rider's rear tire going flat. Found the glass, fixed the tire, back on the road.

Four - We discover same rider's front tire getting soft.

We decided to call it quits. 15.9 total.

Just in time! It started to rain!

That's ok. Did 23 miles on Saturday, first real riding weekend of the season. I can feel the shoulder muscles kind of rippling, but nothing's really aching, so I'm a happy girl.

[RolliePollie]

I just love reading about everyone's rides and experiences...even about the skinned knees are near misses. This forum is just wonderful. It really helps me to read about what other ladies are up to...I start to get a little discouraged sometimes because I want to make faster progress...but then I read all the different posts and it makes me feel better. Thank you to everyone for sharing!

So my new bike seat played a nasty April Fool's trick on me. Another first...my first saddle sore! Ouch! Anyone want to buy a Terry Liberator X? Only has about 50 miles on it. I know you have to give a new saddle some time to break in...but I just don't think this is going to work. Did I say ouch yet?

Mimitabby and Lisa S.H. - I feel guilty after reading your nice comments about my speed...I must admit something just terrible. I had to get off and WALK on one gigantic long steep hill because I literally just came to a stop when I ran out of gears (and my legs just happened to die at that moment as well). I turned off my bike computer so it wouldn't mess up my average mph. I don't think that's allowed. I think I am a big huge cheater!

Happy April everyone...hopefully we'll all be blessed with good weather soon

[RolliePollie]

Me again...

Hi Yellow...I didn't see your post before. I walked up Miller Hill. Do you remember that one?