Saturday April 25 rides :D

[Duck on Wheels]

I did it! I made it to H€ll and back! That's a hilly 44 miles (well, actually 40, but we added on 4 more and visited DH's cousins who live on the farm where DH was born ... just outside of, yes, H€ll!). As for the ride ... I did pretty well except on the longest and steepest hills. I made all the hills until the one up from Hommelvik. That one's a mile long and about a 15% grade. I tried dividing it into chunks, standing off the bike to let my HR drop every time I hit my 95% mark. After 3 chunks I gave up and walked the top third. Even walking at 3mph my HR was at 85-90%! But then I made the next hill from Muruvik up to Gjevingåsen. Coming back I walked the even steeper and longer climb from H€ll bridge to Gjevingåsen. But I managed the next steep climb from Muruvik to the crest above Hommelvik in two chunks. Then I walked a moderate hill in Malvik to give my shoulders and butt a break and a steep quarter-miler in Ranheim because my quads felt like jello at that point. But even after that hill, when I thought I was probably exhausted, I still did 10-15 mph on the flats through Ranheim and made it up the last hills home. YAY! Or, well, ok... So I'm not really in shape for the ALC. I've probably reached my peak form by now, so I'll wind up walking hills on the ALC too, and I may not finish all the miles every day either. But I'll do my best, and very likely set new personal records for mileage, climbs, day-after-day rides etc. Good enough for an old lady. I'll be 60 a month after the ride, after all. Meanwhile, hugs and butterflies to DH who rode as my support on today's ride.

[txred9876]

duck.... you did great.... one day....one hill at a time.

I did a good solid 16 miles today. It felt good. My friend and I met up with another rider who is training for the trek triathlon on may 17th. She will be riding with us again in the future.

Happy riding!

Tina

My friend called me late this afternoon so I ended up doing another 6.5 miles! I am tired!

[makbike]

What a beautiful day in Kentucky. The skies are so blue and not a cloud in the sky. Temps are in the upper 70's and the wind is blowing hard (20+ mph) . Rode 60 miles this morning - longest ride of the new year thus far. The first 40 were great (avg speed 16.7 mph) - thanks to the nice tailwind. This quickly changed as I headed back to the starting point and was riding directly into the wind. The last 20 miles were miserable to say the least. I swear the wind was pushing me down the hills. Another cyclist went by and exclaimed "this s*cks!" I had to agree! In the end I averaged 15.4 mph and though I'm a bit tired I feel better good.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Oh my gosh it was EIGHTY FIVE DEGREES F and sunny here!
We did a 25 mile ride this morning and I actually started getting overheated for the first time in about 7 months! Good thing I put on sunscreen, got a tiny touch of pink on my arms anyway. It was like mid summer!
Great ride, stopped for ice cream on the way home.

[Duck on Wheels]

Wasn't quite as warm up here in Norway, high 60's I'd say, but a bright sunny day and quite warm when not in the shade. Here are some pics. Was still cool in the morning, so I've still got arm and leg skins and vest on at the top of that first hill I partially walked. DH rode to the top ahead of me (he did ask permission first) and when I saw him take his camera out I got back on the bike . Next is the obligatory picture at H€ll station, elevation 3.9 meters. Actually the obligatory picture is at the freight office shed. Freight is "gods" (think goods) in Norwegian and shipping freight ... well, think expediting. So the old freight office sign reads "Gods-ekspedition". But that building was undergoing renovation and surrounded with building equipment. Third snap is from our chocolate bar stop on the way home, just before the last really steep hill. And finally, the ride elevation profile. The bits I walked were part of the 80-meter climb at 25km, most of the 100-meter climb at 40km, the little hill near 50km and the short steep hill at about 66km. DH sent the profile to Trek. Trek asked if I was going to post it. DH said "Only if she tells how I ran alongside taking measurements every 10 seconds." Well, he didn't. He used his Garmin. But he did loop back from the top of the biggest hills and escort me up the last bits. And he brought the bananas and chocolate bars. In return, I treated to hot chocolate at a café along the way and gave him a hug when we got home.

[Mr. Bloom]

That one's a mile long and about a 15% grade.

Now, we know why Vikings were such fierce warriors...they did time trials on this route! WELL DONE!

I did a Metric Century with 20+ mph winds. We determined that the guy who I rode with needed to call me MISTER - since he was born the year Silver and I started dating

[Fredwina]

I started out wanting to do a short ride today,since I did 66 miles yesterday.
I did a litte extra before the club ride, but not much as usual. Then my 'bent "buddies" talked me into doing the longer ride. I stayed with them until the last hill, where I took shortcut because I really, really needed to use the bathroom.
After "social hour", I went by the post office and the bank and wound up with "only" 55 miles. Maybe I need to dail back a little bit.

[Crankin]

After sitting in class all day long, I got home at 5:30; it was 90 degrees at my house. We went out for our shortest loop, 11.5 miles at 6 PM. It was so hot, I was dying. Some of the route is shady, but, talk about acclimatization. I think those 11 miles are worth at least 15, maybe 20, because I was drenched when I got home.

[reddDesign]

no ride today...went down to a car meet and washed and polished the car.

how is this cycling related? I washed and polished my bike too

I'm gonna find some nailpolish that matches my bikes color so I can fix the chips.

Not sure if I'm riding tomorrow...I'm burnt to a crisp...and kinda wanna sleep in.

[7rider]

Wow.
Summer arrived in D.C.
Was nice and cool for the 7:30 start of the N2....warming to mid-70's or so by the end. I think the thermometer finally topped our somewhere in the mid- to high-80's are our humble abode.
The N2 reached a group record today: there were 40 at the first re-group spot. From there, the ride fractured into 3 - one group to Sugarloaf Mountain, one to Poolesville (DH was on the crew), and one (actually, 2, a fast and a medium ride) that did the "regular" route. That was me....in the medium group. There were 6 of us on that. One-by-one, we lost them, tho', until only one other guy and I did a loop through Rock Creek Park - which was PACKED with walkers, joggers, in-line skaters, and other cyclists.
55 miles at 17.0 mph. I think I'm in good shape for next week's metric on the eastern shore. I hope the weather holds.

[ASammy1]

I had every intention of going out and riding 75 hilly miles today. Unfortunately the 93+ F weather thwarted my plans. It was 85 by 10 am and 90 by noon, so I only ended up riding 55. The heat really did me in today. I started to get the chills by mile 40, so I knew 75 miles was out of the question. The rest of my group ended up riding 70 miles, but I listened to my body and am thankful that I did. A few of the other people told me that I made the right decision and they wished they had stopped when I did.

The awesome part is that I conquered 2 hills this ride that I walked last weekend! Yeah!

[jesvetmed]

Great mountain bike ride yesterday (unfortunately, work prevented a ride today). My first clipless singletrak ride. I was scared, but it worked out ok. I discovered it's much harder to get myself unclipped from the mtn bike candies than my road ones! And DOWN SHE GOES! Thanks goodness for the trees and rocks that helped keep me off the hard ground! Great day for a ride though!

Kim's dog Molly is our "map". She knows the trails way better than we could ever read the map! Weird, but it works!

[shellkay1212]

Yes, this is actually a bike ride. :-) We stopped for lunch at 'The Pint n' Slice'.

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Sorry I'm so late chiming in on Saturday's love fest!

My riding partner and I met up at Fort Gibson to do "Flower Power" (near Muskogee... yeah, I know.. "I'm an Okie from Muskogee"...THAT Muskogee from the song - LOL). We started off intending to do the 65 miler, but had our fill of fun with the 50 b/c of the wind and sheer amount of hills in this "challenging" ride.

Here's the ride report I sent a friend who didn't make it to the event:

"Cruel and unusual punishment at this year's Flower Power. Course started out doing the prior course backwards. First real hill came in about at mile 7: avg 8% for at least a mile. The hills didn't stop until about 5miles from the finish.
And I'm not talking little hills like Avery Drive...there were a LOT that were 8-9-10%. The last year I did this ride about 1/2 was fairly flat and fast, and the last half was hills-O-plenty (incl that "respectible hill" I told you about). Since we started out the route backwards, we got to FLY down it this time. That whole hilly first section was wrought with surprising ribbons of gravel in the worst spots. Talk about butt-pucker time....one was in a curve at the bottom of a hill. One gal who'd just flown by me didn't play that corner safely and flew right off the road into trees and brush! Thankfully and miraculously, she was ok and able to continue.

Anyway, just when you think the hills can't go on, we ran onto an 18% sob. Guys without the proper gearing (or legs?) had to dismount and walk - then watch ME mash past them. LOL!
But wait...you don't think after that it's get worse, right? WRONG! We hit one a few miles later that went up to 20%! no joke. I'm somewhat surprised no one flipped over backwards. Ha ha

Hill after hill, this was a very challenging ride. I never walked. :-) It feels soo gratifying to have passed so many fit-looking men walking hills. And really, I don't remember getting passed by many. "

I'll come back and post a picture of the elevation. Crazy hills!
My Sexy Beast and I did great though... no quams about my compact and 11-28 setup. After this ride, I don't think there's anything I can't climb (around here). I love my new bike!!!

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Sorry - I didn't realize I couldn't attach a picture in "edit" mode...

Here's the elevation for Flower Power 2009!