August 18 rides

[lauraelmore1033]

Was going to do a longish ride from home and explore this city I've lived in and not really appreciated for the last 20 years (Everett, WA, a less attractive little sister of dazzling Seattle), but about 10 miles in, DH called from Portland, frantically asking me to check our bank accounts because he had left his debit card in a gas pump somewhere in Washington. I had made good time up till then, and discovered, at that point, that was because it had been mostly down hill. I have noticed a certain tendency to panic on hills which makes it much more difficult to breath, and have tried to stay as relaxed as I can when climbing. Today, I was in full on panic mode and those little bronchial tubes obligingly clamped shut to make the ten mile ride uphill to the house a very unpleasant (and excruciatingly slow) experience. I didn't see any unusual withdrawls from the account, when I got home, but noticed that Hubby's transaction at the gas station hadn't even been posted, so there could conceivably be other charges pending as well. Pooh! And now it's raining to boot!

[cwodiva]

Today I got up early loaded ds and the neighbor boy and all our bikes and away we went to the park. Ds got a new bike this week, so we were ready to try it out on the trails. Riding with seven year olds is what you need when you feel burnt out on your bike! We played follow the leader and found lots of mud and had a nice ride, with of course dunkin donuts afterwards. I was going to ride later in the day on my own after dh got home, but that didn't work out. I guess that means I 'll have to ride extra hard in tomorrow's heavy duty group ride. We sure had fun today. (my ds is in the blue)

[Kalidurga]

I went back out to Antietam National Battlefield Park to repeat the hill practice route I did on Monday. It was noticeably easier today Of course, the fact that it was less than 90 degrees and my brain wasn't broiling in my helmet probably contributed to that. Regardless, I did the full loop of 13 miles (yeah, it's a short one but, remember, I'm still a hill slug wanna-be). I had to smile as I made it up the "Jesus" hill without cursing , and I also made it up another hill that almost made me throw up the first time I tried to ride it last year.

Then, on the way home, I stopped at one of the many LBS's in Frederick, MD, and test rode both a Bianchi Axis (a 2006 model, I think) and a 2007 Kona Jake the Snake. Man, am I in love with Shimano 105 shifters now (currently have Sora's).

[Righteousbabe]

I did a 100K organized ride that started out of Copperas Cove, TX. What a beautiful ride in the northern tip of the Texas Hill Country! The weather was nice (high 80s/low 90s) because Erin supplied some cloud cover and a little rain. But the winds were brutal heading back into town, which made it interesting going up and down the hills. I had the opportunity to pull a Serviceman from Fort Hood back into town. He hit the wall the last 10 miles and did not look good...so I slowed a bit so he could draft me. Poor guy...he was on a time trial bike, and did not have the gears for all that climbing. I heard there was 3,800 ft. of climbing on that route...which is a lot for us flatlanders.

After the ride, he came up to me and introduced himself and thanked me for letting him draft. Earlier, I had overheard at one of the rest stops that he was stationed in Iraq for a while. So when he thanked me, I replied that it was the least I could do. It just kind of came out of my mouth...and I don't even know if he knew what I meant by that statement.