June 14th rides

[arielmoon]

Distance 0 miles, average speed 0 mph.

Gave myself a rest day after feeling stiff and off this morning.

[Crankin]

Me too.
Bagged the 50 mile charity ride (we were going to sign up at the start) and stayed in bed on a nice rainy morning. I'm a little under the weather. I also bagged a 5k run my friend was in charge of at the local hospital.

I can't remember the last time I did nothing all day, not even a walk.

[jobob]

I can't remember the last time I did nothing all day, not even a walk.

Doing nothing is underrated.

- jobobism

[jesvetmed]

Jobob: Nice to see you biking again - even on the trainer! Good work. How is it feeling?

[jobob]

Thanks! I'm feeling not too shabby on the trainer. I'm still wearing my back brace -- coined The Clamshell (or the Turtle Shell) by some dear friends -- so all I'm doing on the trainer is moderate-intensity spinning, not too easy & not too hard, and I need to sit fairly straight up since the brace kind of restricts my mobility (well, duh). It's more to keep my butt and legs functioning.

I can take the Clamshell off for good on June 29 or thereabouts -- nooo, I'm not counting the days I can't wear a hrm under it, or stand very well on the bike, so it's not really worth pulling out Coach Troy yet. Hoo boy, it's boring though. So I watch whatever is on Universal Sports network to keep the boredom at bay, the other day it was the Kona Iroman triathalon and today it was beach volleyball.

I'd much rather be riding outside though - which will be early in July methinks.

[OnTerryOh]

After Carolbiker and I rode 20 miles and stopped at Starbucks for a decaf coffee (Carol) and a venti caramel frappachino, extra caramel (me), we returned to our bikes and I saw my back wheel was flat. Not having a spare tube with me, I went back into Starbucks and asked a woman in line if she knew where the closest bike shop was.

It turns out this woman, Jean was her name, was an angel. She insisted on driving me the three or four miles to the bike store, which was closing in about 20 minutes. Carol followed on her bike and met us at the shop.

Jean even gave me her phone to call Carol with directions to the shop. She said she had a daughter who was a senior in college and into racing bikes. She said her daughter was doing a race called Snake something, I think in Iowa -- not sure .

At any rate, I gather that she was not only simply a very nice person, but also that by helping me she was doing what she hoped someone else would do for her daughter on the road. She gave me a quick hug goodbye.

Life and the strangers you meet on bicycling adventures can be so wonderful at times.

While I was waiting for Carlos, the mechanic who fixed my flat, I spoke with an elderly couple about the Raleigh mixte they had with them. The man had never heard the term mixte and was interested that his old bike was rather special. I told him to Google mixte.

Earlier on the same ride, we met an 80-something gentleman riding an unknown cruiser bike built, I'm guessing, circa 1950. Here are some pix.

Check out the dual action kickstand and the plastic cover (could it be bakelite?) on the crank. The sticker on the rusty back fender is for a bike safety club headed by Richard B. Ogilvie, governor of Illinois from 1969 to 1973.









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And on the same ride, before hitting Starbucks, we met Debbie at her yard sale selling bikes. Ever hear of a Kalkhoff bicycle?

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All in all, we rode about 31 miles today -- can't say for sure because when Carlos put my front wheel back on, he put the magnet side away from my odometer's sensor. No problem -- I'll simply take the wheel off and turn it around to align the magnet again.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, crisp temperature in the low 60's, fish scale clouds painting the sky, not too many people on the bike path, the wind lightly billowing through my shirt, parts of this song going through my mind all day --
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[KathiCville]

On Saturday and Sunday combined I did 100 miles of the local MS150 charity ride. I rode 75 miles on Saturday, the longest ride of my life by 18 miles, woooohoooo!

The 75-mil route included a truly wicked uphill at about mile 68 that nearly did me in. (And plenty of other folks too.) Sunday, I logged 25, another ride which ALSO included a couple of ascents that left people gasping for breath.

Both days were gorgeous, fellow riders were terrific, support was fabulous, whole event was great fun and gratifying!

The MS150 was also the last big outing for my trusty old Schwinn. She will now be officially retired to become the touring bike that she's really meant to be, and my new lighter, sleeker Fuji will take over the top spot as my main ride.