Monday, August 13th rides

[Kalidurga]

Today was my first post-40-mile ride, and since I said I was going to shift focus to working on hills, I headed up to Antietam Battlefield. The route I did is like the kiddie roller coaster at the amusement park compared to what more serious riders do (For the TE-DC ladies, it's similar to Poolesville, except with more rollers and less flat stretches), but for someone who's not used to hills it's a great place to start. It may have been too soon after my long ride on Sunday, though, 'cause my legs were tired immediately. Pushed on, though, and made it through most of the route I had mapped (I cheated and cut it short by a bit because the breeze became gusty and that was just insult added to injury )

At the top of the hardest hill, there was a sign at the entrance to a farm that read "Jesus is the answer". All I could think when I saw that was "For me, right now, a rear cog with at least 28 teeth would be the answer". So, I've decided that when I get a new bike with a bigger cogset, the biggest cog won't be my "granny" gear, it'll be my "Jesus" gear.

[divingbiker]

For the TE-DC ladies, it's similar to Poolesville, except with more rollers and less flat stretches...

Wow, that sounds challenging! Jesus gear, I like it.

I rode into work as usual today, but as the day wore on my legs got more and more sore. I've decided I need to do exercise other than biking, so yesterday I did my difficult aerobics/weight lifting tape. It kicks my butt every time. All the squats and lunges took their toll, and there was no way I could ride my bike home from work. I couldn't even get out of the chair. I ended up taking the metro and bus home and leaving my bike at the office, so today and tomorrow are half-commutes.

[PinkBike]

i've had a bad back for two days, but i wanted to see if i could ride. i cant get up off the couch without help and i can barely bend over to brush my teeth, but i thought i could possibly ride.

so DH and i went out to check it out. we took minor city streets into central phoenix to the library and made several short stops. i dont know our miles but we were out 3-1/2 hrs and when we walked in the door our outdoor thermometer said 114 degrees.

we met a little guy on a stingray who said "wanna race?" so i paced him and he was actually going 18 mph. on a little single speed. he was probably about 8, and i told him how great he was doing. it was just a fun kid thing.

good news: i can ride.
bad news: my bike feels like someone is squeezing my ribcage.

[makbike]

I rode to work this morning. I'm loving the new pavement the road department put down this summer! The ride home was so very hot, glad I only have a 2 mile commute!

I joined the club for the Monday evening recovery ride. It as always was a lot of fun. However, upon returning to our cars I quickly discovered my left shoe was stuck and no matter how hard I tried I could not get it to unclip. I finally had to take my shoe off. A guy in the club, George, came to my rescue. After a lot of work he was able to free my shoe from the pedal. He replaced some parts on my shoe and had me back in good shape. He was my guardian angel tonight!

[Tiffany]

I like the "Jesus gear" idea too.

I put in 27 miles yesterday evening after work. I love this particular route because it has a lot of great climbs but it also has several flats where you can get your "speed on" and fly! Yestersay was extremely hot though so we had to be very careful of heat exhaustion and dehydration. It was 102 degrees with HIGH humidity. Anyone from the midwest can attest to the humidity here. It feels like you can't breath it's so thick. Anyway, it doesn't take long to dehydrate with the amount of fluid you lose through sweat. The ride went well and ended with a 16.2 mph avg overall. We usually run around 16.8-17.0 ... we were happy that the heat didn't slow us down too much. Today is an off day and then back on the bike Wednesday and Thursday.

[BikeDutchess]

I'm on the road for my son's soccer tournament (which was in Denver) but I brought my bike along. Monday we were in Boulder and I rode about 13 miles on the Boulder Creek Path. A lovely leisurely ride, what a pretty path. This was my first visit to Boulder and I just love it -- such a bike-oriented town!