4th of July Rides

[mimitabby]

Today's ride was nothing special--just a chance to get out of the house essentially, because it's too hot to do much of anything energetic. So, I went to Big Soos Creek, and saw a huge crowd out there--more people than I've ever seen before.

Now, I've seen muskrats, river otters, mink, etc. down there. But I'd never seen a beaver--until today! I rode by this poor creature and did a double take:



The hat is in there for reference. It's not much more than a kit, but it confirms that there are indeed beavers down there. Now if only I could spot a live one .

East Hill

good thing it wasn't a skunk!!!

[East Hill]

I smell skunks every once in a while, but I have NEVER encountered a live one. That's probably a good thing .

East Hill

[BikerJen]

In preparation for a mountain bike race, I went and rode the course. 8.2 miles - I'm racing beginner class again. Was a very nice ride. This particular route is primarily fireroad with a smattering of singletrack. There is a difficult climb about 5.5 miles in to the race. I couldn't climb all the up without stopping today. I think I've only made it up without stopping one time! Oh well, the way I figure it, I rode the route about 3-5 minutes faster than my race time last year, so hopefully I will better my finishing time from last year!

HAPPY 4TH!!!!

[mimitabby]

I went within 10 feet of one on the green river trail. He did his thing i did mine

[im4smiley]

Today I decided to sleep in, I got up at 6 a.m. I put on my red, white and blue cyling socks and went out for my ride around 7. I started out to do a 25 mile ride but I felt pretty good, there was not much traffic and it was so beautiful out I ended up going 40 miles. It was a nice ride and I was glad I went.

[Meg McKilty]

SouthernBelle and I went with a group this morning, but got dropped in the first 2 miles (they were something fast, I'll say!) so we ended up doing our own original route and it was so much more pleasant.

Stopped by my house on the way. Saw a deer run into a chainlink fence and SB forgot her bandana so I gave her mine. Very good ride.

[oxysback]

There's nothing like a small town parade on the 4th of July!

Our sleepy little neighboring town, St. Paul, has a population of under 400. However, during the first 4 days of July the population explodes to about 40,000! St. Paul has one of the top 20 largest rodeos in the US that really brings in the crowds. We attended last night...always a good time. And I discovered that there is another use for my biking butt. I sat on a hard grandstand seat for 3 hours without a thought! Normally, I'm wriggling around trying to find a comfy spot after about an hour...but not last night!

Anyway, every 4th of July, St. Paul puts on a great parade. Since it's only about 10 miles from my town of Newberg, we usually bike out, and today was no exception.

There are all sorts of entries in the parade...from the rodeo queens and their horses, to the mounted sherriff's posse, to kids on their ponies. Lets not forget all the tractors and farm equipment, antique cars, fire trucks, boy scout groups, a band that plays marches on the back of a flat-bed truck, and even a group of caballeros on their fine looking Friesians and Andalusians.

The parade only lasts about an hour-and-a-half, but it's fun to ride out and not have to worry about parking.

We took a scenic route on our way home for a total of 23 easy miles!

Happy 4th, everyone!

[Chile Pepper]

I took my bike to the bike spa today. She's getting a full manicure, complete with new handlebar tape. We leave for California on Friday. Bring on the summer!

[DebW]

Headed out for a 40 mile rid this morning. Planned to head south on Rt. 27, but after 3 miles hit a detour sign. Rode another 5 miles and tried to get back to Rt. 27. It was still closed, and a parade was heading down the street. Watched the parade for a few minutes, then planned another route. Got to Natick center and found more parade/festival to be avoided. Final got past all that by riding on Rt. 135, 16, 115, 126. Final tally: 40.7 miles in 2.5 hours. Great weather this morning, now starting to rain.

[makbike]

I decided to join the LBC for it's 4th of July century. This one started in Boston, Kentucky and went to Munfordville, Kentucky. I was surprised that it was not all that hilly. Now don't get me wrong we had some hills to climb but this area of Kentucky has a lot of hills. The one and only major climb was about 3 - 4 miles long and it was nasty. We also fought a strong headwind the first 50 miles. The winds were blowing at around 15 mph - so demoralizing. When we approached the big climb my average speed was 16.8 mph and by the time we reached the top it had fallen to 15.4. It basically was a slow grind all the way to the top. I was able to maintain this average up to the first store stop. The next 25 miles found us fighting the rollers and the wind and my average speed dropped even more, down to 14.7 mph and I was very unhappy. The talk at lunch centered around the wind and the hopes that since this was basically and out and back would mean one thing, we would have a great tailwind to push us home. How sweet it was and we were flying back to our cars. It was so nice to have that gentle push the last 50 miles. By the time we reached the 3rd store stop my average speed had climbed to 15.7 and I was feeling very strong and confident. Small groups formed along the way and it was evident everyone was enjoying the wind at their backs. When we finally made it back to our cars, 101.15 miles later, my average speed was up to 16.3 and I wanted to do a "happy dance" in the parking lot. However, I did not and decided instead to treat myself to large chocolate milkshake before I got on the expressway to head home. It was a great ride and I just so happy to have ridden a century 3 weeks and 1 day after my surgery - life is so good and I'm so blessed. Happy 4th to one an all!

[Trek420]

I took my bike to the bike spa today. She's getting a full manicure, complete with new handlebar tape. We leave for California on Friday. Bring on the summer!

Summer is waiting for you here. In the Bay Area the weather's been hot today and yesterday, supposed to cool down later this week.

I went swimming, first time in years.

My gym has a pool at the location nearest home, there are actually several public pools nearby, outdoors and probably more fun but since this is part of my membership why not go?

I'll need goggles if I keep this up. My eyes gave out before it did. But it felt great. Thanks TE swimming thread for reminding me how much I love to swim.

After that I stopped by Sears "where America shops", I'm looking for a small patio table. Everything I see is humongous. I'll keep looking. Dear Marketing/design people, some of us just want room for 2 coffee cups, maybe a scone. That's all I need. I don't need something that fills the entire patio.

Now back home keeping my dog cool.