Sunday April 19 rides

[ttaylor508]

Great ride yesterday with friends. There were 7 of us at varying riding levels. One was on his first ride with a new bike another came with his Cruiser and a heavy backpack and several others are training for their first century ride. We left from our house and headed out to Redmond. DH and I and one other guy would do sprints to get our heart rate up and then wait for the others to catch up. They all did great. We turned around after climbing Inglewood Hill. It was a little hairy on E. Lake Sammamish as they are doing road work and totally took out the shoulder. Stopped by Redhook Brewery on way home and did the brewery tour (fun tour if you ever have the opportunity to do it). 35 miles total.

[kathybiker]

25 miles on the Big Island, my cruiser, in light rain and drizzle, temperature felt like mid 40's. Hunting for a forest preserve trail that turned out to be mud and impassable.

Did lots of riding on city sidewalks because the streets had no room for me.

Passed middle class homes crowded close together and nicer homes in spacious yards. Passed hundreds of businesses, dozens of strip malls, one interstate highway and a couple of forest preserves.

Ramps on all the sidewalk curbs, there to accomodate handicapped vehicles, made my ride possible. Didn't see any wheelchairs or other handicapped vehicles -- just about never do. The ramps help bikers more.

In about four hours, encountered only a handful of pedestrians and always went in the street to avoid them. Saw one bicyclist, dressed like me in rain gear and a backpack, a grocery bag slung over one of his handlebars.

Probably passed over 5,000 cars, or I should say, they passed me.

I stopped at a Sicilian bakery and ate arancini, a rice ball with a fried breading exterior, spicy rice, ground beef, tomatoes and peas inside. Munched on some sprinkled and chocolate butter cookies for dessert. Bought apple slices and cannoli cake for later.

Stopped at a video store and bought a DVD for $3.99. Something about a teacher and how her students made her internationally famous.

A few hours later stopped at a Polish grocery store and bought Black Forest ham and rye bread.

Picked out a couple of soup packets that had Polish writing on them, asked another customer what they were. She leaned in close and told me one was broccoli soup, the other a cheese soup. I could smell cigarettes on her breath. I thanked her and bought the soups.

Also bought Coca Cola that was bottled in Mexico, and so made with sugar rather than the high fructose corn syrup American Coke has. Cokes with sugar taste better. This one is sitting on my refrigerator shelf waiting for the right time for that "pause that refreshes."

The Polish grocery also sold PC computer magazine, Forbes, Newsweek and National Geographic in Polish language versions, besides a bunch of other magazines probably popular in Poland.

This was a big ride for noticing smells. Early on I passed someone's ranch style bungalow where roasting meat and onions wafted on the air.

I thought about stopping and just breathing in that smell, and all the warmth and homeyness it conjured up. Probably there was a family gathering around a dining room table, eating mashed potatoes and gravy, hot buttered rolls, a little salad, the roast pork or whatever it was, coconut cake for dessert. Just my fantasy.

Ten miles or so later, the smell of barbecue sauce on an outdoor grill sent a tangy pleasant smell through the neighborhood. Might have been Open Pit. Might have been ho'made sauce.

Laundry detergent scents would float past houses, once smelling like Tide, mostly like cheap brands.

Once I smelled hairspray ( do they still make Just Wonderful hairspray?) for an entire block. How could that be?

Did it always smell that way there? Who had sprayed it? How could the people who lived there stand it?

Once, on the sidewalk of a busy commercial street, I was hit with the most disgusting odor of wet and dirty dog, which was strange because there were no dogs in sight.

I stopped and retraced the last 50 feet or so that I'd rode, past a dental implant office, and the smell disappeared, as if I'd never smelled it to begin with.

The rain got worse on the way home, soaking my shoes, socks, gloves and shirt sleeeves around the wrists. I grasped my rain poncho on the handlebars of my bike, draping it over my legs and feet, but eventually the rain won out.

I was grateful to reach home with the Big Island. Grateful to get inside my warm and cozy place.

Glad to take a hot shower and dress in sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt, another riding adventure over, a simple day with simple pleasures, so thankful to have these experiences.

[Zen]

That sounds like a fun ride. We'll call it the Guess That Smell ride
Can you actually discern the different types of laundry detergent?
Are you part canine?
i am not familiar with Just Wonderful hairspray but I'm sure it makes hair-do's look just wonderful.

[OakLeaf]

Our Sunday ride is turning into a crazy scene! It was a very amorphous ride.

We started out with five of us regulars and one friend-of-a-regular. Within the first five miles we picked up another rider, then another, who'd ridden out to meet us. Then the fast group from the next town caught up with us and just melded into our ride. I think there were like 25-some riders at one point. They just started hammering. We got them settled down a little bit so we could all stay together. When we got to the convenient store where we all take a break, a few more from the fast group caught up with us. Some of them turned around to go back, most of them were going to go on and do our longer route.

At that point the six of us who'd started out together decided we'd just let the fast group go. But we all pulled out of the convenient store together and it wasn't entirely clear who was doing what. The peloton started picking up the pace while us geezers were still shaking the post-break stiffness out of our legs, only to about 23 mph at that point, but it got really strung out, and the weakest rider got dropped immediately. Another one of the regulars hung back to keep him company. I chased the peloton for a few hundred yards and finally decided to just drop back with the other two guys.

Seven or eight miles later, here comes the guy who'd brought his friend, and the friend, back to join us slugs. I don't know if they burned up before or after the sign sprint, but they were burned up. So then we were five for the next few miles.

Then we came up on 10 or 15 of the fast riders trying to change one person's flat. The last of the guys we'd started with, and a couple of others, decided that there were plenty of people changing the flat, and they joined us again. I think we were nine at that point, for five or six miles.

Then one of us had a flat - one went on while the rest waited. Over the last few miles we split off for home one by one. I had 55 miles in all, a pretty good ride.

[kenyonchris]

I rode 40 miles on patrol last night/this morning...we work 12s...start and end at 7. As it was Sunday night, which is always quiet, I decided to try to get 75 miles in....since I have to stop and talk to people, check in at the station, and because I am riding the monster patrol bike in Kevlar with belt (spray, cuffs, gun, radio, knife, flashlight), that was a lofty goal. I generally average 18mph on the road bike....and on patrol I usually don't pay attention to how far/fast I go, because I am flitting about on bike trails and sidewalks.
I hit it hard, riding my road bike course. I can't believe how much slower I was. That bike, fully loaded, with me, fully loaded, is HEAVY. I don't think I got above 15 mph unless I was going downhill. And, when sitting continuously, the generic bontrager saddle is VERY uncomfortable. BLECH.
Around 2am, I was coming up our main road, a 45 mph (or 70, as most people go) and saw two cars stopped in the empty road. I did a U-turn and got behind the first, and, using my headlamp, stopped it. I detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage on or about the driver, so I actually did a DWI investigation...when my backup got there he thought it was a funny sight...my little bike parked there all proud to be making a traffic stop. I was nervous though...she stopped right in the median. Another officer took the other vehicle. Anyhow, all that took over an hour.
Another thing I found was that riding for a distance goal rather than tooling around on patrol is much more difficult at 4am than it is at 4pm when the sun is shining. I am used to riding long hours around the city, but at 4am I totally ran out of steam. Totally! Not bonking...my muscles were fine and dandy, and I am fit cardio wise, I was just soooo tired. At 48 miles I finally gave up and went in and sat around the station, the bike parked outside.
I am riding 50 tomorrow on my personal bike, its my day off so I get to do it during normal people hours. I know I will FLY it will seem so much easier!

[jesvetmed]

Posse: My heart goes out to you. Some of those events can be VERY emotional and bring everything to the surface. It's so nice that you rode for your mom. Great story about her.

What city are you doing the 3 day walk? I am a big supporter of the Komen foundation.

hopefully all your tire troubles are finished now!!!

I'm walking in the Seattle 3-Day. My fourth in a row! THANKS for being a Komen supporter. It is SO important. If you have never done the walk, it is an amazing experience. You should do it at least once.

My tires were good today and I had a GREAT ride (the sunshine really helps ). None-the-less, I went and bought new tires, the next size down () to add a little speed, and got all new tubes. We'll see how it goes.

[kathybiker]

@Zen,

"The Guess That Smell Ride" sounds good to me!

No canine blood... good question, though.

Cheap laundry detergent smells a little like grape juice.

[Biciclista]

@Zen,

"The Guess That Smell Ride" sounds good to me!

No canine blood... good question, though.

Cheap laundry detergent smells a little like grape juice.

Kathy, quite the ride report, i want to know where you buy Arancini!

[txred9876]

[QUOTE=jesvetmed;420983]Posse: My heart goes out to you. Some of those events can be VERY emotional and bring everything to the surface. It's so nice that you rode for your mom. Great story about her.



I'm walking in the Seattle 3-Day. My fourth in a row! THANKS for being a Komen supporter. It is SO important. If you have never done the walk, it is an amazing experience. You should do it at least once.

I am a survivor and I have walked in the Austin one the last three years and a special "team" out of Houston last year. It was a group of doctors and support staff from the MD anderson Inflamatory breast cancer clinic. I am an inflammatory breast cancer survivor. I will reach 4 years over 4th of July weekend. Out of about 50 walkers in Houston I was the only survivor of IBC that was able to walk that weekend. We lost one of our "sisters" that sunday morning so it had even more meaning and was very emotional. I had forgot my husbands tennis shoes......so he was my support.... walking in his steel toed boots! Support is a wonderful thing.
Tina

[jesvetmed]

Congratulations on FOUR YEARS SURVIVORSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!

That's really truly great, and it's really cool that you have such a team of supporters!

I lost my longtime friend to breast cancer just about 1.5 years ago. I still miss her so much. Glad to know there are so many great people out there fighting this fight. Some day, it will all be not necessary. Until then... we keep walking, I guess!

Good luck on this year's walk. There are a few of us on this forum.... Always great to meet another! I look forward to hearing about your 10th year of survivorship down the road! Meanwhile, I'll raise a glass to you on the 4th of July and celebrate with you from afar.

Cheers