October 6th Rides

[Kalidurga]

As Mo (ZenC) said, we did a nice early Autumn ride on one of the prettiest sections of the C&O Canal towpath. I kept wishing that the fog and clouds would burn off so we could have a beautiful sunny day, but that would have made it really hot.

ZenC and divingbiker, did you clean your bikes yet?

MDHillSlug: Congtatulations! I'm sure that ride felt reeeaaally good after spinning on the trainer the last week or so. Definitely looking forward to riding with you again on 11/3

[withm]

Well thanks to Hillslug I was able to do the Seagull Century. THis was my first Seagull, first "big ride" (~6,000 riders), and my longest ride to date -70miles.

This was the 19th year for the Seagull, and the first in many years where the weather didn't have a name. This weekend in October seems to have been fraught with the remnants of whatever hurricane was plying it way up the coast the last few years. Last year it rained so hard (yet many people still did the ride) that they were literally pouring water out of their seat tubes after the ride. And being so close the coast and with no hills, wind is a constant challenge here. Yesterday's forecast was for SSE winds in the 5-10kt range. Well of course the wind shifted so the last 15 miles or so were with a mild headwind, but not the 20-30mph winds that the Seagull riders normally have to fight.

I lucked out on a parking place early so at least I did not have to spend 1/2 hour cruising for safe or legal parking. I wore my AV jersey, buff, and arm warmers. Got a lot of comments like "Nice jersey" from passing riders, but did not see any others sporting the red and green. Thanks AV people! The weather was very foggy in for the first 3 hours or so and I was constantly wiping the condensation off my glasses and even off my computer so I could read it. But it finally burned off, and eventually the sun came out and it was time to switch to sunglasses.

I did the 65 mile ride. Both rides (65 & 100) ride the same course for the first 7 miles. It was like a peleton, with hundreds of riders in each group speeding by. Somehow we were in a pack of 100 milers, and missed the turn-off for the 65, and rode a few miles out of the way before doubling back and picking up the proper route. I saw one guy go down way off to the left. Don't know what happened to him but the roads were wet, and he could have just slipped or skidded to avoid an pinecone or something, and could not recover. Several people rushed to his aid, so I kept on going. Those 100 miler folks were FAST, and it was a real treat to be out of the fray once we got back on the 65 mile route.

There were 2 rest stops on the ride, each featuring a live band, and flush toilets. (OK, there was a line of portapotties at the 2nd stop, but they were too far away... lol) I'm sure the septic system at the 2nd stop got a workout with 2-3,000 flushes on Saturday! Food was plentiful and they even had pie and ice cream at the 2nd stop.

On the final leg, around mile 55 I hit the wall and my last 15 miles were hard. I stopped to apply more chamois butter which solved THAT problem (no pain today) and learned again what a difference GOOD shorts make. My PI Ultlrasensor shorts are quickly becoming my favorites. I probably needed more salt or sugar or something, but I finally made it back to the finish, and made a beeline for a coke, and then a BEER! By then it was pushing 85oF, and the "party" afterwards had only limited protection from the sun.

I only saw one person that I know there and rode with him a little bit, and of course my bike shop had a booth set up and were providing sag support and repairs, so I knew them.

Funny story, one of the guys from the shop did the 100 mile ride. Somewhere near Assateague a couple of deer popped out of the woods, one ran in front of a pack of riders, and another jumped over my friend! He said all he did was just duck and pray he would come out of this one alive. Yikes! No mishaps though. I did see a kamikaze squirrel dart out and fortunately do a quick turnaround - he would never have survived that crossing with a group of 50-100 fast riders blocking his path. I hate to think of the damage one squirrel could cause if the whole pack went down.

The ride was a lot of fun, and probably my fastest yet until I "died." Will I do it again? Yeah, I might but as usual, won't sign up till the last minute cause 65 miles in hurricane rain or winds just isn't for me.

Thanks Nicole for your generosity!
Martha

[ibcycling]

Yesterday was awesome! I decided to do the club ride from Hat Rock Park to Pendleton, over to Echo, up to Hermiston, and back. They have it listed as an 80 mile ride which had me very nervous since my longest was 46 last Sat. Only 3 of us showed up, maybe due to the weather being a chilly 45, and we carpooled to the park.

As soon as we set out I felt panicky and was wondering what I was thinking when I showed up that morning. They assured me I wouldn't get left anywhere and they planned to take it easy.

The initial climb was the biggest hill I've done. I started strong and just kept switching gears as I slowed. After the big hill we had some climbing rollers, slow climbing, and some great climbing rollers. About 20 miles in I was struggling with seat and knee pain. At that point I wasn't sure how I was going to make the rest of the ride and couldn't wait to get to town and find some Advil! Somehow it worked itself out and 5 miles later I felt great with just mild seat pain. It was like my body was rebelling for a few miles and then decided I was set to keep going so it adjusted. Yea!

Amazingly I was having fun on the last set of rollers and moving right along. I got far enough ahead of my fellow riders to stop and remove my jacket while they caught up. That would be when the chilly side wind picked up so I got ahead again and put my jacket back on. The decent into Pendleton was a blast! We ate at a great sandwich/wine/beer shop and headed out for Echo.

The 20ish miles to Echo gave us a nasty head wind. I felt good but one of the other riders was struggling and almost bonked. After a short stop to hydrate and refuel we kept going and had a much needed rest in Echo at a great little coffee shop.

The headwind turned into a tail/side wind and we scooted the rest of the way back. I'm thrilled to say I had NO problems completing the ride and felt great when it was over! The worst part is I had no computer on my bike to record all of my milestones. Total mileage was 73.48 according to MapMyRide and 1175ft of climbing.

My bike and I must be a good fit and I think the riding I did on my mountain bike all summer must be paying off. I was climbing great and actually had to hold myself back to stay with the other two riders. I noticed my cadence was quite a bit slower than theirs but I would have had to go onto my smallest ring in order not to increase my speed leave them. I wasn't pushing hard and my knees felt great so I just pedaled slowly and enjoyed the scenery. I never thought I'd look ahead and say "Bring on the hill!" LOL!

I don't know how you guys get routeslip to work. I have a heck of a time with it so I've been putting stuff on MapMyRide instead.

Happy riding!
Lora

[Tri Girl]

Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted to do 100 miles since I hadn't done a century yet this year. I was going to do a self-supported one until I found a ride about 2 hours away. Did that one instead. I was the only woman to do the 100 miles (woo hoo), although it was a small group.
Saw lots of beautiful countryside and lots of interesting animals (some of the prettiest goats I'd ever seen, horses, cows, deer, and plenty of roadkill).

I hadn't really properly trained (my longest ride this summer was 63 and that was 2 months ago), but I did ok. LOTS of hills that I wasn't ready for. Took me just over 7 hours. Glad I took my tri bike- that baby is just soooo comfortable. Glad to know I can sit on her for that long (thinking ahead to another IM next summer).

[ibcycling]

Congrats on your century! I wish I could find one near here to do. I've got to get a small camera that I can take with me. We saw lots of fun livestock too. Longhorns, Brahmas, bison, Belgium horses, and BueLingo cattle.

[Tri Girl]

Congrats on your century! I wish I could find one near here to do. I've got to get a small camera that I can take with me. We saw lots of fun livestock too. Longhorns, Brahmas, bison, Belgium horses, and BueLingo cattle.

Congrats on your amazing ride, too! I have a camera on my phone and that's what I use. I'm amazed at how many pictures I can take while pedaling along. I'm far too lazy to stop- hence the blurriness of most of my pictures.

[michelem]

Okay, trying again on the photos - hopefully they work this time!

Konocti Challenge 2007 - 65 mile option - Clear Lake, Lakeport, CA www.konoctichallege.com

Sundial - I already had a physical therapy appt. scheduled for Wednesday. I'll have him look at the knee while I'm there. I'm limping today.