May 18th Rides

[BarbaraAlys]

Well, no one had started a thread yet, so I thought I would.

I am very proud of myself this morning. First, I went out riding by myself, something I've had a hard time doing (as some of you might already know I'm a fairly new rider, so I have all sorts of confidence issues.) Second, I rode on the roads around here with the intent of working on hill climbing.

Where I live we have over 40 miles of paved bike trails, which are great, but if you want to do long group rides you have to get out on roads because they are just harder. So, I headed off on the road I live on, which is really quite hilly. My goal was to try to keep the cadence up, not worry about speed or distance. I still struggled up some hills, doing 4mph and a cadence of 48, but as I paid more attention to the cadence counter it seemed to smooth out some.

Anyway, a beautiful morning, 75 degrees, 9.5 miles under my belt and now it is on to cleaning the apartment!

Barbara

[divingbiker]

Got up early to plant the garden and walk the dogs so I could get out for a ride before the rain came. I didn't want to waste time driving to a place where I could ride on roads, so I did about 25 miles on the bike path between home and College Park. Got home just as it started sprinkling.

This was my first ride using the Lake cycling sandals I bought from a TE'er last year. Bad move--we've had a lot of rain and the trail had some big puddles and my socks got very wet and my toes got very cold. I think I'll like the sandals for shorter rides, but my toes got numb (I think--may have been the cold!)

[xeney]

My husband and I took the baby out in the trailer today for our longest ride so far. It was also my longest ride on my Puch mixte -- wow, that is my new favorite bike, and if it only had gears I don't think I'd need another road bike.

It was a beautiful morning, and we are going to make it a regular Sunday event. Penny loved it (she slept for about half the ride) and it is the only real break I get from childcare. He pulls the trailer and deals with any fussiness, because it turns out that she is terrified of the sight of me in a bike helmet! Daddy rides to work everyday so she is totally used to him looking like a giant bug, but not me. I stuck my head in the trailer once to fix her hat and she nearly melted down.

Fine with me! He's on duty, I just ride. It's lovely.

[DebW]

Wanted to ride, and needed to go to Belmont Wheelworks to buy a tire, so I rode there. Took the longer hilly 15 mile route there and the more direct and less hilly 11.5 mile route home. Had to carry the tire in a figure-8 on my shoulders coming home. I even got home before the rain started.

[redrhodie]

Had to carry the tire in a figure-8 on my shoulders coming home.

Did you look like Fausto Coppi?
http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/rid...sp?rider_id=13

Although my chiropractor told me yesterday to take it easy, I got in a 32 mile ride. By the halfway point, I could even look back! Now I'm painfree! Happy dance .

[DebW]

Did you look like Fausto Coppi?
http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/rid...sp?rider_id=13

More like the picture at the bottom of that page. This was a stiff wire-bead tire. Sew-up are much more comfortable to carry that way.

[alpinerabbit]

45k at 29+kph average. Wee hee - I had sore thighs from yesterday's relay race and wanted to spin them out but I felt too good (read ecstatic because of the result) so I powered.

I went down the lake and back again, all in aero position. No back pain = maybe I can lower the bar a bit. it was overcast but I reckoned I could make it before the rain. I carried my new heavy rain jacket - no need for it. I got maybe 10 drops and had another 1-2 hours before the downpour, so I could have gone longer but would not have held up the speed perhaps.

[Crankin]

I did the CRW Spring Metric today. It was a beautiful day; about 65 when we started at 9:30 and sunny. I think it must have gone up to around 72 or so.
The route was pretty flat, with some rolling hills, which were unfortunately in the last ten miles. Well, I know now why I don't like big group rides... people just ride poorly, piss off the cars and do other squirrely things. We got into a couple of nice groups going fairly fast for me on a long ride. But I kept up, going 18-20 because I couldn't stand to be behind some of the other people who were scaring me. At about 25 miles I said I wanted to stop at 30, to eat. By his time we were riding behind two guys and one woman was drafting me. At mile 27, all of a sudden, these guys slowed abruptly and turned into a driveway! They thought the arrow was showing to turn there??? My husband was able to go around them, but I tapped his wheel and went down. The girl behind me crashed into me. Cars stopped (it was more of a country road) and asked if we were OK, which I was. I was really concerned about my bike. Steve just put new, red bar tape on it last night. The only damage is scratches on the top of the shifters, like on the silver part that says Ultegra. I am going to see if I can get replacements. My only damage on me is a scrape that's a little ugly on my left elbow and a lesser one on my left knee. My right knee has a slight bruise from where the top tube hit it. The other woman had more damage. She had bruises and swelling on her chin and one of her knees was hurting. I had my "leader" supplies in my bag, so I was able to rinse off the blood, put antibiotic creme on the bad scrape, and put a band aid on. My knee hurt a bit, but that went away. The whole thing made me feel a little nauseous, just from the shock of it, but my helmet did not hit the ground. In fact, I landed on my side, right on the padded part of my bum. Anyway, I was cursing those guys until the rest stop at about mile 40, where I ate and replenished my drink. I saw a few people I know from the health club or around town and we talked. Then it was onward.
The route was really pretty, through a lot of marshes and woodlands until the last 10 miles,where there was pretty bad suburban traffic. There was one left we had to make in between a long, tight row of cars, which was scary. By this time I was dragging. I know I needed to eat more, but I didn't want to stop. I kept drinking Accelerade and that helped. I had to slow down a bit, as there were some long, kind of gradual ascents, but I made it.

65.5 miles, average 15.7. I am thinking of doing a century on June 22nd, but it is going to have hills. I have to train more! There is a 50 mile option the same day, that I have done 3 times. It's leaving from a location across the street from my street, which is very nice. I wish I was tougher!

[shootingstar]

I I wish I was tougher!

With a woman who fell down and all, you are tougher than you think. You did stop to look after her. There is no point beating yourself up..anyway you got a bit of it for real.

I wanted to show Grog a pleasant coastline route in North Vancouver....that takes you to in inlet with mountains. So with her, my round trip must have been around 57 kms. Then she had to go home (to attend a wedding later). So I continued onward myself through another part of city and ended up stopping near end for more grocery shopping and another snack to replenish dehydrated self.

I do this 2nd portion of the route nearly weekly ....so by time I got home..I must have done close to 90 kms. in total.

It was a beautiful hot sunny day..perfect for riding on a holiday weekend. (On Monday it's Victoria day in Canada.)

[BikeDutchess]

A very satisfying cycling weekend. Today did 55 miles through the rather desolate Rush Valley. A triangular loop around the Tooele Army Depot. The last part included a part of the Pony Express route. And other than the pavement, I think it probably still looks pretty much like it did back then (I was imagining hearing the thundering hooves - unfortunately it was big ol' RV's pulling trailers with ATB's).

The first 10 miles of the ride I thought I had made a big mistake as I felt VERRRRY sluggish after doing 72 miles of the Salt Lake Century yesterday. But I found my legs and had some very nice club riding companions who didn't mind my sluggish pace. And the sag support today was wonderful. There were absolutely no services along the way (basically all desert) and the sag wagon kept us supplied with ice, water, and the most wonderful oranges ever.

I'm ready to tackle LRRH!

[mudmucker]

This weekend I focused on shorter hill interval rides. Not a lot of time, very busy and productive with other things. Yesterday I built an additional raised bed, 4'x20'. My dad came by later with a cubic yard of compost/loam in his truck and I spent 2.5 hours removing the soil out of the truck, into a wheelbarrow, and over to the bed. Didn't want Dad to do too much as he's 82). The raised bed looks great.

After he left I quickly put my new Frog Speedplays on the bike and changed out my cleats and went out for an hour. I sort of need to throw in some rides with some intensity - I got a late start this season due to some late winter ailments. My back was already sore because I was lifting improperly, while in the truck but the hills actually helped a little. It still was an Advil evening though. I love the Frogs and my left knee was happier so these are a keeper.

Today I quickly got out on the bike for an early start because of impending weather and did another hour of my hill route. Got home, built another raised bed but smaller for a coldframe and added remaining soil. My tomatoes are hardening in there now, all snug and warm. Then after fighting with starting fluid, got my leafblower to start and quickly cleaned up some edges in the yard. After that, I mowed the entire lawn for the first time this season. It was just starting to rain as I was finishing up. So, yard looks great, garden is ready for planting on Memorial Day, and I still got some good rides in. An excellent weekend.

[makbike]

I joined the bike club for the return journey from Mammoth Cave to Louisville today. Riders assembled at 6 a.m. (EST) in front of the Mammoth Cave Hotel. Greetings were exchanged and we quickly made our way to Cave City for breakfast at the Crackle Barrel. The weather was the main topic of conversation - would we be rained on today was the question being tossed around. It did not take long for the answer to be delivered as the skies opened up and the rain poured down. The new question of the day - how long will it last? Riders assembled on the front porch of the Crackle Barrel - jackets were pulled out, leg warmers were put on as were arm warmers for with the rain our warm morning had quickly become a chilly morning. The good news - we had a strong tail wind to push us home!

17 riders started the return journey to Louisville. There were lots of tired faces amongst the group but spirits still remained high. Today's ride basically was a reverse of yesterday's route and once again we found ourselves in some beautiful rural areas. At about the 40 mile mark the winds shifted and we found ourselves once again fighting a strong headwind. Spirits dropped and riders dug deep. By the time we made our way to Bardstown for lunch exhaustion was etched on many faces. The wind was taking it toll but we kept pedaling.

As we made our way down Lilly Pike - a fun descent most of the time - I found myself struggling to keep my bike upright for the cross wind was unbelievably strong. I literally fought to keep from planting my bike and body on the road. I found my bike jumping from side to side and for the first time a small wave of panic crept into my head. Thank goodness I was able to keep things under control for I was flying down Lilly Pike at 30+mph when the strong gust came across the hill. When I made my way safely to the bottom of the hill I paused to give thanks for a safe journey and continued onward. By this time my legs were dead, I had some nasty saddle sores popping up, my neck hurt and my body was exhausted. We still had about 25 miles to go and so I pedaled.

The last store stop came just 10 miles from the finish but every rider stopped to rest, eat and chat. The group took off and it appears most dug very deep for the pace quickly picked up nearing 25 mph as we made our way up hilly Routt Road. I just checking the remaining miles off and finally caught up with the lead group and we finished strong. Lots of tired smiles, pats on the back and words of congratulations to those who rode both days under unbelievable windy conditions.

Today we logged 117.42 miles and I finished my first back to back century rides. I'm not sure if I will attempt this feat again but I can say I accomplished yet another thing on my "list of things I want to do in 2008."

My legs are sore and dead. My neck and shoulders are equally as sore. I'm exhausted but there is a big smile on my face so I can say without hesitation I had a great weekend! I rode 237.05 miles in two days and I will admit I pretty darn proud of myself. Time to take a shower, feed my tired body and crawl into bed. I'm glad I have the next two days off from work for I think it is going to take several days to recover!

[MALcontent]

Today I rode in the Brain Tumor Society's Ride for Research. I did 50 miles and really should have kept my heart rate at 142 or below, but put me in a group and I become insanely competitive! I ended up riding the bulk of the event with various cyclists I eventually dubbed in my mind "fat old white men on expensive bikes." My average speed for the day was 17.5 mph, a strong speed and I felt like I had more to give if necessary. A beautiful day, a great cause!

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, I wanted to do 80 miles today...but SilverSon wanted to see Narnia, so that's what I did and then squeezed in 20 smokin' hot miles in the wind!

[spotlightmama]

Drove all the way to get on a new bike trail that is 14 miles long, thinking I could get a nice 28-mile ride today. Well, I couldn't find the rest of the trail, lol! I rode all the trail I could find and only ended up doing about 6.5 miles.

That'll teach you to read the map before you go. Oh well, it was still a nice ride. Hot though - I think it was still like 90-something, even though I went at about 5:30PM. My Cateye is off, so I need to plug in my Garmin to see my speeds.