Sunday 15th July Rides

[Crankin]

We were up in the Mt. Washington, NH area from Friday late PM until this morning. My husband's company has their annual outing there. They rent the whole Mt. Washington Hotel, many condos at Bretton Woods and several other hotels in the area. This is only the second time we'v gone to this; there's no business involved, basically it's a free 2 nights up there, with 2 breakfasts, one dinner, and a lunch provided. We stayed right at the hotel, arriving around 5:30 Friday. I had done a brisk 30 mile club ride Friday AM, so i was tired. We drove over to Gorham for dinner, through Jefferson Notch Rd., which is a dirt road, only open in summer. I was thinking about my mountain bike, but the great italian food we had kept those thoughts out of my mind. On Sat., we set out for N. Conway, ariving there around noon to start a ride I had got out of a book in the library. I chose one that was described as a ramble and not the climb of 3 notches.... It really was a beautiful ride. The first 7-8 miles were completely flat. We stopped at the town beach (a lake) in Eaton to eat and my average was just under 17. I was tired and it was really quite a bit hotter than I thought it would be. The lake was beautiful. So we start out of there, on a road decribed as a "gradual" climb. It was up and down, but I would say it was a bit more than gradual in spots. Finally, at the top, we crossed into Maine. Lots of dairy farms and beautiful scenery here. As we turned onto the road that would lead us back to N. Conway, we had quite a surprise; this was a real long climb! Not super steep, I'd say about 4-6%, but long. I found out that while I am used to short and steep climbs, i haven't really done a lot of long and steady ones. After my husband told me repeatedly to slow it down, I settled into a rhythm at about 6-8 mph and was rewarded with some nice downhills. We got back to Rt. 302 and about 2 miles from where our car was, Steve ran over something and blew his tire. We stopped and he booted it with a dollar bill, changed the tube and as we took off, we passed the Louis Garneau store Mr. S. had discussed last week. So after reviving with some soft serve ice cream, we headed to the LG store. Not a lot of good cycling stuff for me there; there were hardly any x small jerseys and the ones they had were down to my mid thighs! But they did have some really nice casual clothes all for 30% off. I got a pair of board type shorts in a wild pink and orange print, a technical T, and a skort that fit perfectly.
When we got back, I discovered my average was 16 for 34.5 miles and about 2,000 feet of climbing, a personal record for me.

[BikerJen]

Finished 1st and last in a mountain bike race today. No one else was racing in my age group. I did beat the other 3 women in the race and 2 guys I think. I was either 4th or 5th overall. Great ride today. A tad hot here in VA today!

[SouthernBelle]

Meg & I headed out about 6:00 this morning to do a quick ride before church. I took her on a route she had never done before, and I had only done once. It had a couple of climbs of about 8% but was otherwise rolling and pretty. For some reason we saw lots of rabbits. As we went by a truckstop I could smell ham cooking. It was hard not to stop and have a ham and biscuit.

18.97 miles

[Fredwina]

I was going to ride to church, but I had altar guild, which meant I needed to be there at 7:30. I drove there instead I had to go to a committee meeting later, and then I did some shopping, and then I composed a post on Bikejournal,com about the pluses and minuses of biking in LA.
So at 4:45 I got on the road. Only 98 degrees . did about 28 miles with 1400 feet of climb, and felt pretty (for those who want to know: went out Arrow/Bonita, up Wheeler, down Esperanza, across Baseline, up Benson, across 21st and back down through the Colonies) . I bought some Accelrade to try out, and seemed to work pretty good

[RolliePollie]

Today, while literally moaning and groaning my way up one of my least favorite hills, I was thinking about the Death Ride (near Markleeville, CA, which is near Lake Tahoe). Today, those amazing folks, some of whom I'm sure are TE'ers, rode 129 miles with over 15,000 feet of climbing! I guess my little ride was nothing in comparison! Just 24-ish miles with 1600-ish feet of climbing. That wouldn't have gotten me over even one of the Death Ride passes! But tonight I was talking to a friend and he mentioned next year's Death Ride. He's done it 3 times. Hmmmm...I must start considering this.

[Aggie_Ama]

We did the Katy Flatland Century. DH predicted we would "thrive" and we did! It started with a rain storm which meant the first 7 miles were at about 10 mph, but then the skys cleared and we were off! I couldn't believe how strong a girl used to hills can ride when it is flat. There were 5 "speedbumps" and nothing else. The only significant climb was up an overpass.

101.16 miles
5 hours 37 minutes
17.7 mph average

[KnottedYet]

30 miles for a visit to my bike shop, where they turned my Shimano double into a Campy triple for $19.

I love my LBS.

Today I rode my Surly Cross Check. Flat pedals. Fenders. Rack. Pannier. Chaco sandals. Wild print Terry Skort.

And I had SO MUCH FUN passing dudes all dolled up in team kit with purty carbon frames and sexy clipless road pedals... on my steel bike wearing my flip-flop-ish sandals and a SKIRT!

Oh, yeah.