June 22 rides

[divingbiker]

I had a glorious commute today--beautiful mid-60s ride in, and a perfect, but a bit windy, mid-70s ride home. I took the long way home, 18 miles instead of 7, and enjoyed every bit of it. One of my coworkers caught up to me about a mile into the trail part of the commute, and we rode together and talked for about 8 miles. It was fun.

The construction on a one-mile stretch of the trail is done, and it is amazing--what used to be a rutted, eroded mess of deep large gravel is now a flat, hard-packed trail with drainage ditches on the side. I was pleasantly surprised that the trail was open and very happy that I didn't have to take a detour.

[7rider]

Because I arrived at work early today - we had morning briefings on Capital Hill - and my conference call ended early, I was able to scoot out of work at 4ish today. DH did the same. We put the Speedplays on the the Trek and the two of us went out and did our "French Countryside" loop. For some reason, my Garmin didn't like being in my back jersey pocket, and it beeped on and off the whole ride. I was driven nearly insane from listening to it's beeping. And..it underestimated the normally 23 mile loop by about a mile and a half. Grrrr....
But, the new Trek Madone 5.2 is a really nifty bike. I do prefer the DuraAce of my Seven over the Ultegra, however. Call me a snob, but I really like the <<snap>> of the DA. Still, the Madone's frame handled the rolling route in stride. DH commented that he needed to ride faster, because every time he looked back, I was right there! Yeah, the bike wants to go fast.

[Fredwina]

Donna,
I think I top you for bad days
My Cannondale roadie is in the shop . I almost went Mountain biking, but no, I got the Bike Friday out for spin, I rode up through Terra vista and past the Colonies in Upland.
When I start going down Benson, I had a flat. And I found I had left the road morph with the Cannondale . I was about away from a wal mart, so I hoofed there and bought a pump for $7.00 The good news: it was only $7.00. The bad news I got what a i paid for. (memo to self: buy Pump when I pick up other bike.) I got it infalted to about 20PSI and road home, Very slowly. did I mention it was 99 degrees when I got home?
joy joy joy!

[Dr. Liz]

Gah. A rough week. A good friend got very seriously injured in a crit on Tuesday, got Life Flight-ed off the course with a fractured skull (he had a helmet on that stayed on through the crash) and a serious concussion; he just got out of ICU yesterday, and because of insurance issues, may be kicked out of the hospital too soon. He's really messed up (didn't know our names when we saw him yesterday), and it will be a while before he is back to 100&#37;. Frightening.

Wednesday, I crashed (completely operator error) on my TT bike (I zigged when I should have zagged, and found myself having a close-encounter with a guard rail - I protected the bike, and bruised myself pretty good in the process - major hematoma on the left quad, spectacular bruising on the right knee/shin). Finished the day off with getting dehydrated (or possibly a tad bit of shock) at the far end of the loop, and got a ride home from an off-duty fireman, as there was no way I would have made it back.

Today, despite barely being able to put weight on the left leg (it's just a bruise, but it's a deep one - the swelling on my upper quad is something to behold ), DH and I went out for a very easy 30 miles (no hills, high cadence). It was hot, and I really made sure I was hydrated, but it was hard. I made it home, and have spent the rest of the day icing/heating/using the electric stim machine on my quad. It is stiffer than a 2x4, but I think spinning is the only way to loosen it up. So I anticipate more flat(-ish, this is Utah, afterall) high cadence rides for the next couple of days.

A rough week, but we'll all survive. And at least some of our team is still riding, while we are doing everything we can for our fallen comrade and his wife.

[cosc]

Dr Liz and DDH after your ride reports mine sounds like a walk in the park. On my 50 mile ride I can report rolling hills, stampeding buffalo, great soup and carrot cake, no wind and 90's. My knee is complaining a bit today so I will walk or stay in the air conditioning today.