8 July Rides

[Aggie_Ama]

We did 54 miles combining two short loops we do. There is a lot of hills and we had a head wind on one of the hilly roads. I impressed myself by only needing my little ring for the toughest climb! It was pretty hot today but the wind made it feel cooler. The sweat was at least evaporating fast. I ended with an average speed of 15.2 which suited me fine since we did a climbing ride yesterday and had the hills and headwind today. I saw a roadrunner and tons of butterflies. Made me think of LBTC.

[KnottedYet]

26 mile TE ride on the Waterford.
10 mile hilly ride on the Surly.

I'm utterly pooped. Having a post-ride snack (crackers, cheese, pickled herring, beer). Then I'm taking a nap.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Everyone's rides sound so lovely today!!

DH and I had a nice pleasant 20 mile ride this morning too. It was 90 degrees but there was a breeze and shade here and there under the trees.

I set a new speed record for myself (previous was 39mph)- I finally hit 40.1 mph on a descent.
Woo-HOOOOOOO! The best part was that I felt in control and wasn't scared at all this time. Big difference from past times at 35mph when I was usually pretty nervous. This particular hill is long and smooth with very good visibility, so it's a good one for speed.
First we have to "earn" it by slowly climbing a couple miles of rough gravel hill through beautiful farmland in the blasting sun. Then we get to the top and the dirt road ends in a T and we can ZOOM down the smooth asphalt road towards another village.

[BikerJen]

18 miles on road bike today. It was around 85°F for my ride. I rode from home towards downtown. Overall I was pleased with my efforts, especially since I was riding a new saddle! A Selle San Marco Aspide. I like it!

Also rode 12 miles on mountain bike yesterday. I'm ready for a nap now.

[mudmucker]

Took another venture into southern New Hampshire but decided to turn around as storm clouds swirled above me and the wind kicked in a bit. This time I at least brought a jacket. Started to pedal back home as far as I could until the rains and some lightening started. Darn, I got stranded at the roadside ice cream joint for about a half hour while I waited to see how violent the rains would get. Logged 38 miles.

[Kalidurga]

Another east coast non-slacker here I had an awesome late-day ride on the C&O Canal today. Drove out to Shepherdstown, WV, for lunch of fritatta and English muffins at Sharazade's Tea Room, then crossed back over the river to get on the C&O at about 4:00pm.

I had planned to duplicate the 65rpm/13mph pace of last week's ride since I felt so comfortable at that combo, but I quickly settled into a faster rythm of 75-85rpm/15-17mph over the dirt, gravel and tree roots of the towpath.

Headed upstream all the way to the Big Slackwater area, at which the canal used to let out into a smooth section of the Potomac River to bypass some cliffs along the Md shore. As a result, there's a detour onto nearby roads to get back onto the towpath farther upstream. Well, I rode as far as the stop sign warning of the detour, and noticed that fishermen/hikers/etc had worn a nice little singletrack trail along the river's edge beyond the detour. And of course I had to ride it After about .5 lumpy, bumpy miles of parched dirt and one spot where I had to shoulder the bike to climb over a fallen tree, I got to the fence blocking the other end of the detour and had to turn around.

The 15 miles back towards Shepherdstown were blissful. It was late enough in the day that most folks were heading home, so I saw very few people. This is the kind of ride I love the most: just me and the bike, the river and the trees, with mental processes reduced to nothing but the perceptions of my five senses as I push myself just hard enough.

I got back to the car with just over 30 miles on my computer and cranked the stereo for the drive home through the Frederick County countryside. After a shower to wash away the sweat and grit, in the words of Lillie Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles, "I feel wefweshed!"

[salsabike]

First time on the bike in a month, again.

A beautiful PNW day here. Saw bald eagles, herons, river otters, AND KnottedYet---what a deal! Did just a 28 mile, pretty flat tandem ride with spouse, with short steep hill thrown in. Am totally fried and have been ever since. But had a great ride.

[tygab]

Took another venture into southern New Hampshire but decided to turn around as storm clouds swirled above me and the wind kicked in a bit. This time I at least brought a jacket. Started to pedal back home as far as I could until the rains and some lightening started. Darn, I got stranded at the roadside ice cream joint for about a half hour while I waited to see how violent the rains would get. Logged 38 miles.

Hey! Do you ride a specialized and were you chatting to a guy with a motorcycle at the ice cream stand? We were riding in that area today, and saw a woman with a yellow jacket leaving after the rain had stopped. We stopped at the ice cream place *after* our ride leaving from Lake Dennison. We had already ridden by the ice cream place during the downpour to get back to the car, but we decided we wanted to go for some quick food after our ride!

How ironic, if it is you! We were the two grubby cyclists sitting on the back of a Honda Element hatch.

And oh yeah our ride, hmm from Lake D to Cathedral of the Pines, back along Mononomoc lake etc. Was a blast, even in the rain. Thankfully the rain came at the end!

[jobob]

Today was a big ride for me. It was my first club ride at the "M" level (one level up from what I've been riding in the past). There were going to be some significant climbs so I was kind of nervous beforehand.

But bottom line, I kept up!! It was a huge confidence boost for me.

We started near Natural Bridges park near the north end of Santa Cruz, headed up to Empire Grade, up EG to Ice Cream Grade (no ice cream, alas), turned around and back down some of EG to Smith Grade, SG to Bonny Doon, down Bonny Doon (40+ mph descent, whee!) to Highway 1, North on Highway 1 to a bakery in Davenport. (These people have their priorities intact.)

After Davenport, the group decided to skip the "junk miles" up Hiway 1 to the Pigeon Pt Lighthouse and instead go directly up Swanton Rd. Swanton was a big U so we wound up back on Hiway 1, headed south past Davenport, then UP Bonny Doon (of the aforementioned 40+ mph descent, lots of 10% to 12%+ gradient). From Bonny Doon, we took Pine Flat to Martin to Ice Cream Grade (crappy descent on that, I'm suprised I didn't lose a filling or two), and a very fun descent back down Empire Grade back to the start.

It ended up being about 56 miles and nearly 6000 feet of climbing, with plenty of steep gradients. My overall speed was about 11.6 mph (with some parts close to 40 mph, and lots more at 4 mph or less ) and I'm pleased as punch with that.



It was a great ride, with a very nice bunch of people. They made me feel very welcome. And I felt great at the end. I'm so happy I went on this ride !

[mudmucker]

Hey! Do you ride a specialized and were you chatting to a guy with a motorcycle at the ice cream stand? We were riding in that area today, and saw a woman with a yellow jacket leaving after the rain had stopped. We stopped at the ice cream place *after* our ride leaving from Lake Dennison. We had already ridden by the ice cream place during the downpour to get back to the car, but we decided we wanted to go for some quick food after our ride!

How ironic, if it is you! We were the two grubby cyclists sitting on the back of a Honda Element hatch.

And oh yeah our ride, hmm from Lake D to Cathedral of the Pines, back along Mononomoc lake etc. Was a blast, even in the rain. Thankfully the rain came at the end!

Yes that was me ! That was my SO I was talking to on the ahem, Harley. (He would want this distinguished you see). Wow. Nobody is ever out my way. I stopped at the ice cream place before the rain and I was eating a root beer float at a table outside. Interestingly, because I rarely see any other cyclists where I am noted that there were 2 cyclists (the 5th and 6th cyclist I've seen this season) heading south towards Dennison. The bikes looked like they were like a silver color, couldn't get the make. The riders I think had white/light shirts. I particularly noted that there was a female cyclist - something I never see around here. About 5 minutes before you I actually saw a guy go by on a time trial bike, all yellow (4th cyclist). He was decked out in what looked to be LiquiGas colors. That's 3 other cyclists in one day.

I have taken some time off and have been riding every day. I got caught in rain 3 times, some with more violent winds and lightening. I was getting tired of getting caught in the rain and having my prescription glasses fog up so I waited. At least this rain was more gentle and it was warmer because of the lack of a severe draft. When you passed the ice cream place it hadn't started raining but started seconds/minutes afterwards I think.

The SO was out and about and he met me at the ice cream place. We went inside because he also didn't want to ride in the rain. Already having had the root beer float, I ordered again and (with trepidation) ordered a cheeseburger. Biking and food like that don't really get along with me. When you saw us talking I was probably remarking on the fact that if he passes me and doesn't see me, I'm probably off in the woods heaving because we left about 5 minutes after we finished the food. All was fine and I just rode a little slower. At that point, I am only about 8 miles from the house.

I do recall seeing two people eating ice cream on the tailgate of a whitish vehicle in the front with the whitish/light shirts but didn't make a connection because I don't recall seeing the bikes. However, I did not note that they/you were grubby by any means. How about those bleeping portions? A small is huge! I can't eat a small myself, which is why I get the root beer float. They make the ice cream there.

I am interested in what route you took to go to Cathedral of the Pines.