Aug 11 rides

[Righteousbabe]

I did 62 miles at the Rockwall Hot Rocks Bike Race/Rally in Rockwall, TX. The ride lived up to its name! At 8 am when we started, I was soaked with sweat just standing at the start line waiting to take off. At 9 am it was already 90...and when I finished at 12:15 pm, it was close to 100. I was really feeling the heat, too (nausea at mile 40, chills towards the end)...not a good sign since Hotter 'n Hell is only a couple weeks away. I have to get out there and do some more heat training...our summer has been pretty mild up until a couple weeks ago. And it does look like I will get my chance to ride in the heat...the forecast for the next week has our highs at 100-102.

[ibcycling]

Yea, my first ride post! I did 15 miles yesterday evening after dh got home. Nothing fab, just working on faster speed. If I bike from home I'm pretty much stuck with this route since we at the end of a road but it's a nice quiet route with a couple small hills.

[emily_in_nc]

DH and I did 40 miles on our Fridays including a trip to the post office and farmer's market. We went in the opposite direction on a lot of the roads that Bikefest Rural Heritage Tour (in NC) was going that day, so got to wave and say hi to a LOT of cyclists, who probably wondered why we were going the "wrong" way!

It was our longest ride this year and a good one!

Emily

[7rider]

On Saturday, I did a Ride Like a Girl mountainbike ride with the kind folks of MORE at Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg, Maryland.
This place was a bit more technical than Rosaryville, with more sustained climbing, and looser gravel and rocks on the trails. There were few hills I had to walk up - - and a few bridges I got off to lift the bike up onto, but otherwise, it was mostly rideable and a really nice change of pace vs. the roadbike.

[Kalidurga]

I hit the Western Md Rail-Trail yesterday with the intention of finally riding the whole thing (22.5 miles each way). For a lot of you ladies, 45 miles is nothing. For me, it was the goal that inspired me to trade in my old Schwinn all-terrain heavyweight for a lighter, more "serious" 'cross bike. It took almost two years, but on Saturday I finally had the right blend of time, motivation, strength and endurance to do it. In addition, I did it at my highest average speed yet, 15.8mph.

Despite a couple of very difficult rides this year, I've definitely shown noticeable improvement in my speed and endurance. Yes, those improvements are taking place on flat trails like the C&O and the WMRT, but they really make me feel that I'm getting stronger on the bike. With the distance goal achieved, I feel like I can shift focus now and take some more serious steps towards getting comfortable on hills.

Statistics aside, it was a great ride for other reasons. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, with a beautiful blue sky and lots of fluffy white clouds. I started riding at about 3:30pm, so by the time I got back to the car I was able to catch the sunset in my rear view mirror on the drive home. And, while on the trail, I had some interesting animal encounters: At one point, I had to stop for a doe and fawn that were grazing on opposite sides of the trail. I whistled at them a few times until the fawn wandered over to mama's side, then very slowly pedaled past while they just stood there and watched me. Later on, a trio of wild turkeys crossed the trail in front of me. And even later, a raccoon waddled across the trail. And just for a bit of fun, I practiced riding hands-free for a bit and managed a whole 1/3 mile

This ride felt like of those days as a kid when I used to head out with my bike in the morning and my folks wouldn't see me 'til dinner time, and that's a feeling that I love

[GLC1968]

Saturday was 102 miles for me. I had signed up to ride at Bikefest in Hillsboro, NC and since it was our first century last year, DH and I had planned to ride the century again and try and beat our time. Unfortunately, I've had some back/neck issues lately and haven't been on the bike much. I went to the ride planning on only riding the metric (while DH still did the century). I even took a book to read during my wait!

Luckily, it dawned sunny and hot, and then clouded over. Temps never topped 90 degrees. When the 62/100 mile split came in the routes (at about mile 26) I made the decision to go for the full 100. I wasn't as fast as I could have been had I trained, but it went surprisingly well anyway. Thank goodness for clouds!!

The route was essentially the same as last year, and we beat our time by 30 minutes (without consciously trying). My only issue was some sit bone soreness because I'd only ridden my saddle one other time (my mistake...but oh well). It was a fun ride and I'm super glad that I went ahead and pushed it to do the full century!

[Zen]

I did 20 rural miles with the woman who owns the Mariposa.
I've decided I want it but it will be a slow project.

She told me about being attacked by a vicious dog and actually laying on the ground with her bike between her and the dog. When the dogs owners came out she gave them a piece of her mind and they had the nerve to chastise her for using bad language in front of their kid.

Right.

She also told me of riding past a Mennonite church on a spring Sunday.They had all the windows open and were singing. It was just a beautiful moment. I can see it.

She was using clips and having a really hard time on the hills. She was in front of me on some hills and I had to laugh when I told her I'd never had to coast going uphill before.
I think she could improve her climbing a lot by going clipless.
Next time I'm gonna have her just try on my shoes and see how easy it is to clip in and out. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

It was a good ride and i got to ride in some traffic. I don't often get to practice that and it's a good skill to have.

[cyclingmom01]

43 miles of rolling countryside in hawt Georgia. Got started at 0630 to try to beat the heat.

[crazybikinchic]

60. It was HOT!!! I tried to sing "let it snow", but it didn't help much. I should be ready for the HHH in 2 weeks.