JUNE 21 Saturday rides

[MsTerra]

Today has been a most excellent day for biking in the Boston area, but the spouse and I did a MassBike road skills course. Technique for him, confidence for me. We did do some riding, and it was the first time I'd ridden with a group, which was a little intimidating. Luckily, it was very orderly and very, very slow, and definitely whetted my appetite for a proper ride, possibly tomorrow morning. Also, I may feel confident enough to go back to clipless pedals soon. Got some good mechanical tips, and got to meet local cycling guru John Allen. All in all a nice bike day.

[Lynn39]

Absolutely gorgeous bike weather. Went to an area that I don't know really well. A group asked me to join them, I told them I'm not very fast, they said "no problem." I was fine till a 2+ mile hill, I'm so bad on hills. Rolling hills are fine, those long ones KILL me. It's so discouraging , I feel like I'm never gonna get stronger. So, I got dropped, never did catch up, not sure which way they went, so I got a little lost, not too bad though, lots of cyclist around, so I started riding with a guy that got me back.

All in all still a great ride, 40 miles. Longest yet.

[mudmucker]

I also secretly prayed for rain today.

Chuckle.

103 miles at a gut-busting 16.7 mph.

Holy bleep!Good on you!!!!

[SouthernBelle]

My ride was nice but shortened today. I have been having pretty bad headaches all week, but I hoped riding would help. I rescued a tortoise, saw a group ride that I didn't recognize (they looked to be going at my speed), visited the llamas, then had a flat. Lo and behold a cut that I have been eyeing had finally worked it's way through the tire. I changed the tube, booted the cut with a dollar bill and headed for home.

I had been discussing tires for the last week after seeing a good looking set of Maxxis on a bike at the crit last week and asking the rider about them. I knew I was going to be needing some soon, but soon was sooner.

So anyway, today I ordered a set of Maxxis Couchervals. They are so pretty. They have orange and gray stripes going around them and kevlar too!

[HillSlugger]

I did 25 miles at 16.91 Mi/hr and then ran 3.2 miles at a 9m 50s/Mi pace. The run was much harder than the ride.

At one point on the ride I blew past a group of riders that were just turning onto the road I was on; when they caught up with me (darn!) a little bit later one asked me if I was a RAAM rider. The Race Across America ends in Annapolis, MD and it turns out that they were traveling on the same road. I had noticed some red "R"s painted on the road and didn't realize what they were for until this guy's question. I wonder if he seriously thought I was a RAAM rider?!? (I doubt they would have caught up to a real RAAM rider). I guess I should be flattered.

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Congrats to Lisa and Regina!

[Mr. SR500]

Lisa, that's great. Cool website too! Looks like you had fun at 5.5 miles!


I did a Metric today. First 19 miles was coaching a few from Silver's Triathlon class.

The balance was will Silver and a couple of friends training for the Ironman that we actually picked up on our second loop and decided to go somewhere new to me. Average overall was 16.7mph, but in the non-coaching mode, it was 17.1mph which is the pace I'm targeting for RaIN next month (wind permitting...).

Our weather was close to perfect!


It won't be long...I can tell you've got the determination!

Mr. S,

You are killing me getting all these long rides in, I don't when I'll be able to even get a century before RAIN. You'll be amazed at the speed especially at the start, we were rolling 25+ last year at the beginning. The long flat hills got me out of Terra Haute, I hope to hang on to the main group longer this year. There are so many people and huge pacelines it's easy to maintain a good average, if you get in a bad group - find another. It's getting close!

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Last week, we were told that today would be the annual N2 century ride.
"No way," said I. "I'm not going to do a 100-mile time trial at max heart rate chasing after THOSE goons." And so I spent the better part of the week, firm in my belief that I would do the "regular" N2 route - a 40 mile route that I now know by heart. I also secretly prayed for rain today.
But a friend of mine on the ride is training for an Ironman in November (crazy woman) and wants to start doing these longer rides. She assured me that she would keep me company in the back of the pack. Another friend assured me that it would be at a more relaxed pace. The ride had been advertised on the shop listserv as "moderate but demanding."
So I agreed.
And set off to do a century this morning.
That climbed Sugarloaf Mountain....not huge by any stretch, but probably the tallest point in all of Montgomery County.
And survived. Barely.
Some cramping. Lots of Gatorade consumed (blech..that stuff is wretched after 60 miles and practically intolerable full strength). Had the ride leader's son been at the 2nd to last rest stop (a general store by Riley's Lock...local gals know it, no doubt) with the car, I would have sagged to the end. BUT...I caved to peer pressure a SECOND time, and after an impromptu massage session on the grass on the side of the road, was off again.
103 miles at a gut-busting 16.7 mph.
And tomorrow morning I sit on a plane for a cross-country flight. Oh, yay. My legs will fill me with such joy!

Holy cow, girl! You Rock! I was doing well to finish mine last mo with 14mph...

Hope you don't cramp up tomorrow! Drink plenty of water tonight and tomorrow! I'll be thinkin about ya.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Oh yes.. and my little story. I don't know what this means, but I actually killed a year-old Keo pedal today. Even my LBS guy had never seen it happen. The tip of one of the springs on the clip release snapped off.

I had to cut my usual 4hr Saturday ride down to 3 so I could make it to the LBS in time to get new pedals I found I didn't have the efficiency I usually did either.. So, 3 hrs only made 43miles for me today. Sad state of affairs for ol Susan today. boo hoo! Shorted 17miles and $100! Grrrrr.

I'm proud of myself for one thing. When shown current Keo pedals, I almost got white Sprints, but that would have meant I needed to get a white saddle and redo my bar tape in white. Gotta match up, you know. LOL. But... I held back. I just got replacement Keo Classics. This better not break again!