May 30 rides

[Miranda]

Today marks the most drama-filled ride of my brief cycling career...
...Ah well. I biked over the George Washington Bridge (one of my goals for the summer) and it was awesome. I'm going to get some ice cream.

Pam

Holy Bageebas Batman! That's crazy. Glad you made it back home in one piece. And good for you on the bridge. Man, guess sometimes ya gotta go through a lot of rain to find the silver lining in the clouds. Yikes.

For me... took my new roadie girl Candy out w/a GF on flat to rollin 28mi. Moderate pace. Towards evening with the wind dieing down (yea on that one). Going out w/same pal tomorrow to try her on some hillier terrain. It was a good ride day.

Pam, I hope your next ride is a bit less drama... other than the cool part of the bridge, of course.

[polly4711]

Pam! oh my goodness... I'm so glad that you are ok....I had something similar happen last week and the driver didn't even get out of the car to see how I was doing.

My ride today was pleasant. One of the local bike stores was doing PR along a way that most people ride... they were giving free bike inspections. I knew that I needed to switch my front and back tires due to wear.... so I asked them... and then they did it for me!!! that was so nice to not have to worry abut my own skills..... or lack there of. I met some nice people.... but was stilll leary about one of them. He wanted to go on a route that isn't very highly traffic-ed... and just meeting someone, I just didn't one to do that.... I just felt odd. Does anyone ever feel that way?

I feel like i'm riding faster... but not fast enough...

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Holy cow, that sounds very scary Pam!! I'm glad you're okay (other than being 'shaken').. Hope the ice cream helped calm the nerves!

I had a very challenging CENTURY at "Tulsa Tough" today. <shaking head at self> I had convinced myself I would do the 100K both days, but I dunno.. Just got caught up in feeling good the first 30 and deciding I could go ahead and "go for it".

Well, the first 45-50 were very nice..until the wind picked up and I turned into it directly. Also, it got very warm (90F) and there were no group pace lines out on the century this year. It was especially brutal and because of all this, I guess I've officially overextended myself a bit too far. I'm not sure I can ride tomorrow at all like i'd planned all along.

Hats off to all you ultra-distance folks who can do this back-to-back. I think I'd have to have alot more riding in and on more consecutive days before this'd really be possible for my body. I won't say its impossible, but it really AINT easy..

I met Katie from Fayetteville, AR (fellow TE'r) this morning a couple of times on the course before I turned off to the 100M route. I hope she posts her Tulsa Tough experience on here. She hosted some Jelly Belly riders at Joe Martin a couple of weeks ago and one of them won the pro crit race last night. She's riding the Sunday 100K as well has today's... two diff and challenging courses.

Well, I'm talking your ears off.. I'm pretty sore and should get to bed now...

Summary:
100.98 miles
14.8mph avg (last 20 I slowed down considerably while whining LOL)
5500ft climbing
max grade 16.1% (that might've been on a gravel portion, too - ugh!)
max temp 90F, wind speed 14mphWSW max

[Crankin]

I did my first 50+ mile ride of the season. We rode from Acton, MA to Hollis, NH, had a picnic lunch, and then decided to do something different in terms of the route on the way back. At one point in the route, we are very near the place I lived when I first moved back to MA. It's very rural and pretty, so our friends were game. However, I didn't remember how hilly some of the roads were... they were cursing me a bit, but it was so beautiful, it wasn't real complaining. Then when we got to a main road, I knew I would be a little confused as to how to get back. We had a GPS, so it ended up OK, but spent a bit too much time on very busy roads in Littleton, MA. It was a little bit of an adventure; I am always skittish on this ride because about 4 years ago, this was the ride we were on when we got caught in a thunderstorm, the temperature dropped 20 degrees, and we actually had to call a taxi.
When we got back to our friend's house, we had a beer, with cheese and crackers on their porch. It really feels like summer is officially here!

[7rider]

The benefit of riding with a group:
Saturday, I did the N2 for the long ride out to Poolesville. After much chit-chat on the groups Yahoo listserv about the ride being taken over by hammerheads and it losing its character as a GROUP ride, they've been making a concerted effort to stick together as a group (except for the usual sprint zones, which usually are followed after a few miles by a re-group).
So, the group rode - rather nicely and chatting much of the way - out on our loop. Yet for all the "wow - this is nice and sedate" - I actually posted one of my fastest rides of the year with them. 60 miles at a 17.7 mph average. And...the best part...I didn't really FEEL that I hammered that hard. Sure...I was beat when I got home (I also did another 8 mile loop through Rock Creek Park at a slower 15 mph speed that ultimately brought down the average), but the ride itself was tolerable. Hmmm....there's a lesson in there somewhere.
And...Props to Pfunk12 who joined us and posted her longest ride...EVER. She is super strong, and I definitely know who's wheel I'm going to be sucking on future rides!!! Congrats, P!

[skinimini]

Pam, I have total empathy with you--last year I almost hit a toddler who ran in front of me. It's so scary for all involved. I'm so glad that your situation turned out OK on all fronts.

Yesterday, I completed the longest ride since my youth--70 beautiful miles in rural Georgia. We did a total of 35 miles on the Silver Comet Trail, and then the 35 mile Sky Loop Trail from Hiram to Dallas. However, I've come to realize that my more experienced bike friends tend to understate the truth about the difficulty of the ride and number of hills "oh if you did that ride, then this is absolutely no problem--much easier". When will I ever learn?

One interesting thing though, is on the last leg with about 12 miles to go on the Silver Comet Trail (rails to trails path), I hear this whirring noise just behind me. Next, "can I draft off of you?" I turned my head and saw a rollerblader just off my left side. Wow, was I impressed. I've never seen a rollerblader going that fast! Then, "how fast are you going?" (about 18mph). A few minutes later, "can you go faster?" I sped up to 20 mph, stayed there for about a mile. He was so close, that we had a nice little conversation. Turns out, he is a competitive skater, generally racing at around 20-21 mph. I probably could have kept that pace for a little longer, but felt I needed to drop back to finish the ride with my friends.

All in all, it was a great day, but I was so exhausted (and hungry) by the time I returned home.

[Crankin]

Skinimini, both my DH and I were dropped by a roller blader last summer, going UP Oak Hill, a local favorite training hill for racers. It's 4 miles long with a 3-7% grade. Just like you, we thought it was another cyclist passing us, as he had a bike helmet on and we heard a "whooshing" noise.
And this guy was our age (50's).

[pfunk12]

Thanks for the props for hanging on the group ride yesterday, 7rider. I wasn't sure I could do it so when it was over, it gave me a ton of confidence. That group is a lot of fun. And...you won't be sucking my wheel. I need you in front of me so I know where I'm going I was exhausted after the ride but it was a great feeling. If only I knew if that cute, nice guy was single...the ride would have been a total success