Sunday, June 1 Rides

[bluebug32]

Did my first 50 mile road bike ride ever. It was a benefit ride that climbs an 8-10% grade up the back of a ridge for 3+ miles, then a sweet downhill with incredible views and lots of great rolling countryside and a few more climbs. All-in-all it was over 3,000ft. of climbing. My legs are pretty cooked!

Just one gripe, though. At all the food stops, they only had water and bananas. We were under the impression that some real food would be provided, so didn't pack much other than GUs. Normally, I have nothing against bananas, but I feel like I'm driving the potassium bus right now after eating FOUR of them today! WTF?!

[ny biker]

I did 46 miles on the WOD trail. Started in Reston and went west. It was hot and windy at the beginning. Then after about 8 miles (just past Leesburg) there was a quick shower which cooled things down. It was an out-and-back ride with new twist - I rode to Clark's Gap (20 miles), then turned around to head back, but shortly after turning around I left the trail at Dry Mill Rd which I rode downhill for a few miles to Woodburn Rd which is good for hill climbing. It's steep at first and then levels off but keeps rising gradually until you reach the top, and then there's a short downhill to a T-intersection. After I got to the end of the road I turned around and doubled back to Dry Mill, which I then rode back to the trail. The detour added about 6 miles to the trip overall and added a good hill to a generally flat route.

Next week - Patuxent River Legacy Ride.

[indigoiis]

I did 105 miles for the RI Tour de Cure. I averaged 15.5 mph! Yipee! I managed to keep up with or catch up with, depending on stoplights and their level of energy, my all-male team the entire ride. Typical males shot out of the gun and wore themselves out so that by mile 65 I was riding on one of their wheels. They got ahead again and finished before me but not by much. I was proud of myself.

During my "false flats" I thought of all of your good advice and imagined a TE tow-rope. It was wicked helpful and it made me smile. I wasn't perfect but I was definitely better. I just need to be more aggressive and trust that it's not going to kill me to pick it up a bit.

One thing - at about mile 85 I developed very bad acid-reflux. I pulled in at the end and my DH and his mom were waiting for me and before I could say hi I asked for a rolaids. I have been off and on feeling ulcerous ever since. I did manage to get some dinner in me and countless glasses of water. I think it was a combination of windy (for it were windy oh yeah) and hot sun and that bent-over position. I did adjust earlier this week my positioning - lowered my stem and raised my seat about a quarter inch. Well, this made the Dolce fit much more like my old Giant and was waaaay better, although I did get pain in the arms and neck around the same time I had indigestion... mile 85. I think by mile 85 most people are beat. Anyhow, the good news is, I had no tailbone pain.

Strange things we passed (I should put this in the "what stuff have you seen on your rides" thread) - on route 2 a tiny kitten - I could not stop and I was very upset about it. I called my husband to go and get it but he did not get the message in time. I hope someone called the shelter. I also saw more flip flops on the side of the road than one might see at Payless. What is it with flipflops and the side of the road?

It was a great ride, a great tour de cure... slocum grange did an awesome job as stop #2. Nice folks over there.

[Livin the Dream]

DH & I did a short ride today -- 11 miles that included my favorite stretch of road for riding -- a very pretty scenic road that runs along the river. Lots of trees, flowers, an occasional wildlife sighting, low traffic and road that was just paved last year!

This was an exciting ride for me, though -- my first ride with with clipless pedals! Even better, I stayed upright the entire ride! I bought shoes for spinning class this winter, so I've had plenty of practice on a bike that won't fall over. But I was still nervous about making the switch on my Trek. I'm happy to report a beautiful ride and no problems clipping in or out! Of course, as I was riding down the road, my mantra was "don't forget to clip out, don't forget to clip out, don't forget to clip out". I hope I soon get to a point that I can think about something else

[withm]

Well I tried to make another bike convert today. A friend expressed interested in riding with me some evening, but so far we hadn't been able to connect. She kept telling me her tires kept going flat.... So this morning I rode over to her house, with a spare tube for her hybrid, a patch kit, and a FLOOR pump sticking out of my grocery bag style pannier. The tires definitely needed air, but they looked like they were brand new, and no signs of puncture, nails, staples or glass. So I pumped one, and showed her how, and she did the other. Turns out she had been trying to pump "until they felt full" with a pump without a gauge and only getting them up to abour 40psi.

Well we got that squared away, and I was really glad I didn't have to change tubes, or let her see how much trouble I have replacing the rear wheel back on the bike. LOL. We set out for a short ride around the block. She seemed pretty shaky so we took it pretty easy. She definitely needed to raise the seat, and move it back but she was leery of the idea. I finally convinced her to try raising the seat a little bit, and taught her how to start since shd can't expect to be seated, and have her feet on the ground.... She practiced starting and stopping a bit, but I guess I wore her out. I tried riding her bike to see if I could isolate the noise - cables definitely need some adjusting and since the bike really was too small for her I did not want to get too involved with this. It's her daughter's bike and the daughter is only ~5'4", mom is 3" taller. It was way to small for me and as soon as I rode it I realized why she was so wobbly. We ended the outing having covered 4 miles, and suggesting she get the bike tuned up, and while she was at the shop perhaps try test riding a couple bikes in the next size that she might be pleasantly surprised.

On my way home I stopped at the shop and had them adjust my disc brake which was making lots of noise. That seemed to help a lot, but now need to have them do the front brake too.

So round 1 was 10 miles for me. Then I went and participated in a paddle/pedal event for the American Cancer Society sponsored by a local kayak rental concession. I dropped my bike at the pre arranged spot (to be watched over by an employee) then drove over the the kayak place where weaunched and paddled across the bay about 4-5 miles. Dropped the boats off to be trailered back to kayak place, and we changed to our bikes and rode 9 miles back where we were reunited with our boats/cars and stuff. It was a lot of fun and I got to see people I haven't seen since last summer. THey had a BBQ going and some great door prizes. I didn't win, but I had a great time. I ended the day with 22 miles on the bike and who knows what on the kayak.

[makbike]

A great day on the bike! I had intended to ride the first two club rides today and then return home to clean house. Gleefully, I extended my riding time and heck made it home too late to clean house tonight. Okay, I'll clean my house tomorrow.

Ride #1: The club's MS 150 prep ride. A 50 mile ride through some beautiful rural areas. This is a very hilly route but once I settled into my rhythm I felt pretty darn good on my bike and strong I might add. The ride was 50.45 miles long and I averaged 16.83 mph. I was very happy.

Left ride #1 stopped at Wendy's for a Jr. cheeseburger and headed to ride #2

Ride #2: The club's standard Sunday afternoon ride. This is ride takes us through a couple of parks, downtown Louisville and along the Ohio River. Not one of my favorite routes but I was game this afternoon. The ride was 21.9 miles long and I averaged 15.47 (guess my legs were a bit tired from the morning ride).

Joined the gang at the coffee house after the ride for some down time before heading to the last ride. We were a tired group of people and hungry too!

Ride #3: A couple in the club who is getting married hosted a ride for the club. A short and relatively flat course. The ride was 14.77 miles long and I averaged 15.6 mph on this ride. I was so hungry when we made it back to the start for cake and drinks. The cake was good but I really wanted something a bit more filling. A good friend and I went out for dinner and it was yummy!

I'm tired, sporting a good sunburn, and very happy with my performance today. I felt very comfortable on my bike and my legs were responsive. In the end I rode a total of 87.12 miles and I'm tired!

[elk]

I FINALLY got back on and did a rickety ratchedy 12 miles over two days; fine going since I was terrified that I wouldn;t be able to go .5 miles!!!

Proud that I did not weenie out..not once, not one hill...

AND AND AND I cleaned and lubed my chain first..

June 1st...1st ride of the spring!!

[dingster1]

Good job Elk!

[chicago]

Did my fastest century yesterday at the Udder Cenutry, wahooooooooooo!! (oh and I got cool Udder socks too, LOL)

Finished in about 5:22hrs riding time....

Avg speed 18.6

Granted, there was some drafting , but I was still pumping pretty dang hard. The bf and I went out with the bikeforums.net group. I lasted about 5 miles with them... at 25mph, not!!, LOL!! Told the bf to go ahead and I dropped back with a 2nd pace line from that group that kept it at 18-20mph... at least at that speed I could breathe

What a great day!! The bf had a great time... he is so fast, I'm so proud of him... and the new forum guys just loved him

and the best news is I ordered a compact today!! I am currently on a triple, and now that I ride in the big ring alot, I just want to move to a compact. So I ordered it today, 2day express shipment... and the bf will have it installed for this weekend's ride at TOMRV.

Great weekend... hope everyone had a good weekend as well

[Melalvai]

Well I tried to make another bike convert today.

I love your story about riding with your friend. I think 4 miles is just about right, perhaps even a bit far, for someone who is new to biking (ie, hasn't been on a bike since childhood). I hope she can get a better fitting bike, and that she takes up the "hobby" (lifestyle for some of us!) I had a similar experience trying to fix up a bike for a friend; I just wished I could do more for him, and I hope he'll get a new bike and ride more.

Your day sounds about as fun as they come.