Saturday May 15th Rides

[Skierchickie]

I did an AWESOME 80 miler yesterday. I decided to go down to Houghton and then ride to the south, because it would be warmer inland. When I started, it was about 10 degrees warmer down there than it was when I left home. About 60. Not sure how warm it got, but it was perfect.

I didn't have any steep climbs on this route, but stretches of continuous long grades, which I find more tiring overall. Felt all googly-brained for the last 10 miles. I'm doing 100 miles with a couple of friends on Memorial Day weekend, so I'm just upping my mileage every week.

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day. Only 1 tick (yes, a tick on a road ride). I stopped to look at some trillium, and just stepped off the shoulder for a minute. The dirty bugger was half-way up my leg by the time I got back on my bike. I had the creepy-crawlies for the next 35 miles. Lots (actually, an ocean) of trillium blanketing the hillside in one area. Saw an eagle, saw 1 deer. Several places with horses, on the first 1/3 of the ride. No bears, though. Sometimes it is just wonderful to ride alone, especially on roads that aren't real familiar. I have ridden that loop before, but only once, and the first 1/4 of it I ride a couple of times a year. The only thing better than a really long loop is a really long point-to-point! Those rarely are an option, though.

[HillSlugger]

I did a 42 mile windy, hilly ride. It was my longest ride of the year and I was VERY tired when I was done. I've rarely been so glad to be done riding for the day I'd love a weekend ride without the 15mph winds!

(Regina, I went by the bunny statue )

[Psycler]

I did a 55 mile hilly ride. Wanted to get out on the racer with a little distance and a little bit of hills. I chose a route I know that is challenging, yet doable since I haven't done a lot of long hard rides this year yet. It was a good choice. Very windy though. Made it a little more challenging than I anticipated, but hey, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

[XMcShiftersonX]

I had the most perfect ride yesterday! I did a group ride with the Cascade Bicycle Club. It was my second time riding with their blue group (16-18MPH). My first ride didn't go so well. But everything was perfect about this ride. It was beautiful rural scenery. The weather was perfect, low 70's, barely any wind. We did a little over 70 miles, with 3,087 feet of climbing.

[Catrin]

I had a beautiful 20 mile ride yesterday in a local park (more on it in the New Riders section). I was much warmer than the temps led me to expect, probably because the ever-present wind seemed to be, well, missing