Nov 11 Rides

[PinkBike]

mimi, are you and r-don coming for el tour?

we did our last ride before el tour also. it was an el tour training ride so we drove down to tucson -again. it was spozed to be a 90-miler, but they changed it to a 60-miler and i was greatly relieved! of course with the change in route they gave us no maps, so i hastily scribbled instructions on the back of the original map. good thing. the group split wide open at the first light - those who made it thru before the light changed and those who went thru after it changed we never saw again. as the light was changing, one guy got mad that we were actually gonna stop for the light, said 'forget this', and went around us and on thru on the red. as he rode off i saw that group up ahead of us riding in a big clump taking up the whole lane and was happy not to be with them. matter of fact, when we took off from the light we didnt see another soul the whole ride.

riding on those same roads for the millionth time i got bored, tired, burnt out, so we made up excuses to stop - DH couldnt get any water out of his camelbak so we had to make adjustments, twice, had to take off the arm warmers, then vest, had to stop and buy batteries for the garmin, saw something in the road and turned around to check it out, yadayadayada. 60 miles. 4 hours.

thanks to the TE-er who recommended Holiday Inn Express for late check out times. they give you a grace period up to 2 pm, no problem. that was excellent.

gotta 3-day work week (woohoo!) then it's el tour de tucson - 25th anniversary - this saturday - can't wait.

[mimitabby]

Yes, Laurie
we're flying down for that ride. How many miles are you riding? I would love to meet you. It looks like you (and your bike) are as distinctive as mine!
I'll be looking for you!

[PinkBike]

we'll be there early friday, staying at innsuites. pm me and i'll give you our cell number, maybe we can hook up? we're doing the 109 miles, last year i did it in 6:06, this year i want 6 hours for platinum! but i'm a year older, soooooo. . .

[RolliePollie]

43 miles on the bike trail with some pretty good winds. Funny how you can have a headwind both coming and going. Lots of leaves and puddles on the trail. I nearly crashed in a giant muddy patch...my own fault though. I went off the trail to avoid a flooded area and didn't realize I was riding right into some deep slimy slippery mud! I averaged 17.2, which is super fast for me. AND I made it to 2,500 miles for the season, which, by the way, is my first season so I'm kinda proud of myself!

One thing that struck me as kind of funny...the American River runs along next to the bike trail, but there are lots of times when you can't see it and you kind of forget it's over there. So I'm riding along and this man comes walking up a dirt path in his waders carrying about a 3' long King salmon!

[li10up]

I'm a little disappointed with myself. I had Monday off (Veteran's Day) and had planned on doing a long ride. But I just didn't have the energy. I got out of bed at 9:00 am and then proceeded to sleep off and on in my recliner until 3:00 pm. I feel like I wasted the day and a chance to get in some good miles. Anyone else have days like that where all you do is sleep all day?

[Aggie_Ama]

I feel like I wasted the day and a chance to get in some good miles. Anyone else have days like that where all you do is sleep all day?

Yes! And I find if I push myself to go out I usually end up coming down with an illness. Sorry you missed out on the miles but your body probably needed the rest.