Sunday, 9/20 rides

[owlice]

A relatively short ride for me today, at 14 miles, on the trail I ride most often.

I'm definitely stronger since taking my C&O trip; I can feel it when I ride. That's borne out in my speed, too, which still isn't fast, but is faster than it used to be.

It was a gorgeous sunny day here, just a touch cool. Had I not had to go into the office, I'd have ridden longer, but alas, duty called!

[Biciclista]

about 46 miles today; I rode the "wave" Women against violence eastside;
it was a very well supported ride, excellent food at the stops, great SAG vehicles buzzing around right when you needed them, flowers in all of the portapotty urinals. At the end of the ride we were given our medals and chocolates!

[Aggie_Ama]

Sounds fun M!

I went for 8.64 miles of mountain biking. It was one of those days where things just were working, I was clearing things cleanly and not feeling overwhelmed by obstacles. I really had a great time.

[abejita]

I rode 25 miles (my furthest) at 16mph avg (my fastest) AND I went out and bought some speedplay pedals...now I just need to find some shoes that are comfortable and not white.

[Sadie]

Rode about 18 miles with a friend through some small communities in Cache Valley, Utah. Beautiful day to ride....

[Crankin]

I had an interesting ride in the the "quiet corner" of Connecticut. We got there around 11:30 and parked in a state park and headed out. I had found this ride in a book I bought about New England bike routes. It was beautiful and mostly rural, although some of the ride was on more main roads. As we were riding, we noticed a lot of motorcycles. Like lots of motorcycles, which were very loud, with riders who were not so polite. It seemed a little weird, since this is a very typical rural New England area, with farms and upscale housing, and prep schools. So, we got near the half way point and remembered we had driven by a nice coffee place, so we decided to go there, buy some drinks, and eat our packed lunches outside. As we pulled into the parking lot, about 50-80 motorcyclists started pulling in, too. It was so loud and overwhelming, we decided to eat on the lawn of a church, across the street.
The motorcyclists just kept coming. Then there were gnats, buzzing around our heads as we ate. We didn't linger too long. So, about 5 miles from the end of the ride, there was one (as the book described) killer hill. Overall, the ride was rolling, a lot like the Berkshires, with a couple of good climbs, too. But, this one was really a killer hill. You know the kind where you can't see the horizon. Now, I have climbed plenty of of hills with grades above 15%, but this one was longer than the ones I usually climb, and it was about a half mile of 15-21% grades. I am disappointed to say, I climbed about 3/4 of it and walked the last bit. Only the second time I've ever had to walk, but very much the same type of hill. My quads were already burning when I started the climb, but this is very much a mental thing. If my DH had been with me, I would have made it, with some encouragement, but my mind told me that I wouldn't make it. Basically, I always spin up hills and it is very hard for me to even stand on easier hills. But this one required standing.
Time to work on the quads!
We ended up with 31 miles. Most of it was nice, but it was a very strange ride. We want to find out if the motorcyclists are out there all of the time, or if this was one day event type thing. DH and my friends want to do this ride again, but I am not so sure.

[OakLeaf]

I did a recovery ride - first one I've done in oh, probably, ever. Not quite 15 miles, just about as slow as I could possibly go.

Years ago when I was training hard, our little club really didn't know about recovery efforts, and we trained hard every day.

Lately, on the bike I just ride, not train, so doing an effort I need to actually recover from is pretty rare. I almost considered doing a recovery run instead, since I'm not going to be running very hard or long this week either, but what I read about recovery seems to say it needs to be the hair o' the dog, not a different sport done easy.

Now, I'll ride slow now and then if I show up for a Tuesday ride and no one else is there but the old dudes (they get their miles in, don't get me wrong - two of them just got back from the Continental Divide - but they just don't ride very fast). But actually going out, by myself, intending to ride short and slow, well, that was pretty much a new one for me.

And it was important, too - not sure one way or the other whether it gained me anything physically, although I'm not sore today, which is a great thing - but mentally, just proving to myself I could get back on the bike after KCBC and not hurt at all, showed me that even if I have to cruise the whole way home this Sunday, I'll be able to do it. Those two extra teeth in back help, too, for sure. Saturday I didn't go out really hard, but I didn't really try to relax, either. Yesterday it turned out that with the new gearing, I can relax on up to a 10% grade, if I need to.

(The other thing that's helping is Traumeel on my @ss bones. I will be tough enough for the new saddle by the weekend. )

[indigoiis]

Ambitious plan: ride 30 miles in to the city to show my husband my awesome commute, change at the office (where my running gear was stashed) run a 5K, eat lunch, ride home.

What really happened: 10 miles in after a sweet few hills, I patted my back and did not hear the merry clink of keys. We had to turn around, ride back over the hills to home, where we packed the truck and drove up to within a mile of the race. Did the 5K, ate lunch, rode with full stomachs back to our parking spot, went home and napped.

So 20 miles, but they felt great, despite the letdown of not being able to show the man my commute!