June 14th rides

[KathiCville]

Another toasty day here in Central VA......Got in 26 miles starting at 6:45 a.m. this morning. I could feel the heat kick in by 7:30. Rode one of my favorite loops through the countryside northwest of town. Pretty and quiet on a Saturday morning. Only a couple of other cyclists out and about. Lots of folks are probably still recovering from last weekend's MS150, which took place on two days when the heat index was over 100 degrees........I wasn't particularly pushing this morning, but noted when I compared the ride to the same rides/route in March and April, I've picked up my pace a little. Yay! .......Tomorrow, for Father's Day, I'm taking my BF and his nine-year old daughter for a MTB jaunt at a nearby state park, followed by swimming and picnic. It will be my first ride on trails, rather than gravel road. (Yikes!) I'm not planning to go either fast or far, LOL!

[makbike]

I crossed the river today and ventured into southern Indiana for an organized event. I have tried to participate for several years but family obligations and work have always kept me from riding. Today I signed up and rode the Safari Ride in New Pekin, Indiana. I had been told the second SAG was to die for - home cooked food and all you could eat. Previous menus included homemade pies, puddings, pasta salads, pulled pork. The group was abuzz about the food which was waiting for us about 25 miles into the ride. The course was well marked and the SAGs had lots of good food (fresh fruit and homemade cookies). We arrived at the second SAG only to learn there was no home cooked food this year - a break down in communications between the family that host the meal and the new organizers. There were lots of sad faces. As one club member pointed out it was like Christmas morning when you just knew the gift you had asked for was under the tree only to discover after all the packages had been distributed and opened that your dream gift was not there. So with long faces we pushed on. The route took us through some beautiful rural areas, we climbed some hills and we encountered very little traffic. In reality it was a great ride and a great day to be on a bicycle. I logged 57.5 miles today and now I think it is time to take a nap. I need to rest before I start cleaning my house.

[Flur]

Rode 12 miles around the lakes by my house with my DH. We're both getting back into riding so this was pretty good for us. We had wonderful weather for riding, although it was a bit windy, but we were thrilled b/c the forecast was for rain. I wouldn't complain if it stayed like this for the rest of the summer.

[Fredwina]

As usual I did a metric.
I had my choice of rides, but did the club ride with some friend. Chatted a whole lot, which kept the speed down, but Had a good time.
It's over 100, so I got started at 6 am . but I was done before noon.
I sorta wondered around the neighborhood, so mostly the usual stuff
And It wouldn't be a Fredwina post without Pics!
The mountains:

Downtown Upland:

The view from Mile 62.14:

[Mr. Bloom]

New Pekin, Indiana

Where is that?

I did 46 miles - took a beginner group training for the tri-athlon on a 10 mile ride and then Silver and I did 36 miles to Hatfield, Indiana

Hatfield, Indiana...where's that?

Anticipating makbike's question and posing it as her...it's between our home and Owensboro Kentucky

[Crankin]

I'm starting to do more rides like I used to; no plans, just go out and ride. We started at around 10:45 and rode the beginning part of my commute to work and then went into Acton and Littleton. Rode up Nagog Hill the easier way and when I realized how long the downhill was, I remembered the first time I climbed it going the other way. It was my first club ride and it was 98 degrees out. Did a bit more climbing in Littleton and then headed back through some familiar roads in our old town. This whole ride was shaded and goes past several apple orchards and farms. On the way back, some old lady was driving crazy, all over the road, as we were descending School St. in Acton, heading back to Concord. Finally, after she came right up beside me and gunned her engine, I yelled for my husband, and he turned around and asked her what her problem was. She was lost and trying to ask us for directions, but in a very strange way. It was scary and there was a whole line of cars backed up behind her, probably wondering what was going on. Anyway, we ended up doing about 26.5 miles, with about 2,000 ft. of climbing, 15.2 average.
My German exchange student is here visiting for a long weekend. He is a professional cyclist with Rite Aid, and is now living in Philadelphia. What a crazy life. He arrived bearing flowers for me and empties the dishwasher without being asked, so I can't complain.

[RolliePollie]

Just like Crankin, this morning I left the house with no real plans for my ride. I love that kind of a ride. Just get out there and ride, go where you want, and ride as long as you want. Of course this is much easier to do when I ride alone. My local ride routes are great because there are lots of different options. I can easily add extra loops or take shortcuts depending on what I feel like doing. The only thing I can't avoid are hills, hills, and more hills. So I ended up riding 32 hilly miles. When it started getting hot and smoky (there are tons of fires burning in Northern CA right now), I decided to call it quits.

Here's a picture of me in my parents' driveway. I rolled in to visit them and my dad was out taking pictures of the yard. This is the only decent picture out of the bunch because I'm far enough away from the camera. All the closer pictures are horrifying because you can see my fat blubbery thighs! Ahhhhh!

[7rider]

DH and I did the N2 ride today. Started in steamy weather at 7:30 this a.m.
DH went on to Poolesville, I opted for the "regular" route...but by the time we got to the end of River Road (a torture fest of big rollers that never seems to end), only 3 of us remained. We got dropped by the rest of the guys ("We gotta go." and off they went). I spun off by myself for a few extra miles and then stopped by the LBS to refill my water bottle. They were dealing with an influx of folks spilling over from the WABA bike swap in the back parking lot and it was happily hummin' inside (and air conditioned...yay!!). Got hold of DH on the cell, and head off into the steaminess back to the truck. 51 miles at 17.1....my legs are toast. Totally needed the massager today.

[makbike]

Mr. S, New Pekins is on 60 southeast of Salem.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

58.5 miles of more hill work. We finally had a sunny day here without 30mph winds! How do you gals calculate your total climbing? Do you use a mapping tool?

Speaking of hills and winds... here a picture of me (EARLY ON) from Tulsa Tough - my century two weeks ago. You know its early because my tongue isn't hanging out yet. LOL

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery...646&scount=220

You know, I never can make an honest assessment of my own body. I can't tell if my jersey is making me look wide, or if I really am wide. UGH. Men have it SOOOO much easier... Anyway.. it was a great ride (TT and today). lol Sorry I'm rambling! Hugs gals!! Keep crankin'!

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

P.S. I don't think I've ever posted about your pics Fredwina...but they are always gorgeous!! With views like that, ya just gotta ride more, huh?

[Fredwina]

The only problem with those hills is that you have ride up them!

[tulip]

Yesterday I did a wonderful ride in the Northern Neck of Virginia. We went with a gentleman who is very knowledgeable about the area, and we went on roads that I have never been on before. Beautiful, quiet country roads through farms and even some old fishing villages. There are so many hidden treasure bike rides around here!

Oh yeah, 25 miles (not that it matters on such a delightful ride!)

and I rode my Luna, which has lately been in second position to my Bike Friday. Great bike, that Luna!

[uforgot]

Yesterday I rode the Route 66 bike ride which is part of the festival in Edwardsville, IL. Very pretty, very few cars and FLAT! I only went 38 miles because it took longer to drive there than I anticipated.

[BarbaraAlys]

I did a local organized ride, the Collin Classic. That was my first organized ride two years ago. At that time I was still on my mountain bike (with smooth tires) and did 37 miles with an average of 10mph. I thought I was going to die, and my riding partner had to badger me the whole last might to keep me going.

This year I set out to do the longest route, they said 55 miles. I'm not on my new Trek 2.1, so was hoping I'd be able to it! It was about 80 when we started at 8AM, and finally the winds seemed to have died down. The ride is in North Central Texas with rolling hills and some not so great road surface (chip seal is icky!). About 20 miles into the ride we came across a storm, pretty heavy rain and darn it all that wind was back. Grump!

It took me longer than I would have liked, but I finished the ride, which turned out to be only 53.7 miles, and averaged around 13mph. I finished what I set out to do, didn't fall and didn't cry. A successful day for me

Barbara