8 July Rides

[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.

[Starfish]

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.

There was a beautiful day here in the PNW somewhere?!? *Sigh* I'm glad you had a great day! Nothing but gray, cold wind, and spitting rain over here.

No ride for me today...still recovering from Friday...had an extra nap!

[cosc]

My dh and I rode 50 miles today. We enjoyed seeing big fields of corn, wheat, oats and sunflowers. It's always a treat to watch the buffalo run along sides us in their pasture. We started after church with temps in the low 90's and had a nice crosswind (not windy enough to push your around but a challenge) until our turn around point where we hit the truck stop for soup and malts. Nice to have company for a ride.

[East Hill]

There was a beautiful day here in the PNW somewhere?!? *Sigh* I'm glad you had a great day! Nothing but gray, cold wind, and spitting rain over here.

No ride for me today...still recovering from Friday...had an extra nap!

Oh, we had a great day in Redmond/Bothell/Kenmore!



KnottedYet explains why Frogs are so much better than Looks. That's teigyr and Mr. teigyr with her.



Dex joins us for the ride too.

KnottedYet had an appointment, and had to leave before we got to the Velodrome:



Mr. East Hill went for a spin. So did Mr. teigyr, although Mr. EH did not manage to get a good photo of him ( ).



Yours truly climbing the wall. Harder than it looks, as the faster one goes the more likely one is to NOT topple over!

Apparently while I was off racing phantoms, some other riders came up to check out the Velodrome action. Most of them were rather reluctant to risk their bikes on the track! I could not persuade them, even after pointing out that I had used this fine ancient specimen, including kickstand! Teigyr has now seen four of my bikes .



I managed to flat this time, fortunately right next to a gas station. Unfortunately, even though we had air, and we'd brought the correct replacement tube, I had not brought the box wrench needed because this bike does not have a quick release on the rear wheel. I got to stay at Marymoor and watch people rock climb, while everyone else finished out their ride. Mr. East Hill had to come back with the vehicle for me, but we managed to figure out where the 520 trail is, and we will see about incorporating that into some future ride .

East Hill

[bmccasland]

My house to the Miss River levee, upstream to Ormand Plantation, and back, again. This time only one grainery was off-loading so the grain dust wasn't too bad. All followed by mowing the lawn before it rains, and the TdF is scheduled to replay.

Can't remember the times, but do remember that it was 89F and 65% humidity. That was when I rolled out of the house at 7 am!!