Memorial Day Weekend Rides

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DH and I did 50 hilly miles at the Horsey Hundred in Kentucky today, and we're doing another 50 tomorrow. It was a perfect day here for a ride. I'd really like to go back to doing the full century next year, but we just didn't have enough miles in our legs for it this year.

Some of my friends are doing that again today. Maybe next year I'll go!

[Catrin]

Headed out this morning before noon and put in 29 hot miles. If the weather had been more normal this spring it probably wouldn't have seemed so hot, I think this was only my 5th ride without vest, tights, or something similar.

Awesome ride though! I rode from my LBS and headed north into the country roads to check out some farms with reindeer and other exotic animals! I fully expect to be sore tomorrow after the trail maintenance activities yesterday and the ride this morning, but I do have riding plans if I am not sore.

Wind kicked my butt on the way back to my LBS though - AND I forgot to take food

[emily_in_nc]

I rode my age (50) today - first time I've ridden that many miles since summer 2009. It was a fairly hilly ride, some urban, mostly rural. DH was doing some extra loops to get more miles in (and b/c he's faster), so I took a break at a rural dairy and ice cream shop and got a pint of chocolate milk -- only $1. Whatta deal, and well worth it to use their rest room! Actually ran into someone else riding a Bike Friday there, a bit unusual!

I actually had my fastest average speed of the year today too (I won't say what it was b/c I am slow!) and felt pretty good even at the end of the ride, so I count that as a victory. The TENS unit I am wearing on my right ilium in back to counteract my post-accident pain has changed my (riding) life this spring -- before using it, I would often get pain just a few miles into a ride, and doing 50 miles was a thing of the past. I owe a lot to the doc who suggested it.

[Blueberry]

Yay Emily!! Ah yes - such a lovely place to stop Was the other Bike Friday purple? Just curious if it's who I'm thinking of....

(and I would BET you're not slower than I am....)

[Duck on Wheels]

Lovely day for it. Sunny, not too hot, bit of a breeze. Trek and I rode from home (her place) south to the Alameda Creek Trail, then up the trail to Mission Blvd and up Mission to Mission Peak Coffeeroasters for our first stop. About 15 miles altogether? Almost all of it uphill, but only the last couple of miles steep at all. Thought the return ride would be a breeze, but the breeze was blowing the wrong way and building up speed. Headwinds all the way home. Even had to pedal down the steep bits. Oh well. A good 30-mile workout. And was that LeeBob who raced past us just as we got back on Hesperian for the home stretch (which we shortly thereafter interrupted for a second café stop at Paddy's)?

[owlice]

All this talk of slow.... sheesh!!! I averaged 11.5 MPH on my ride yesterday, so there! I hope that makes some of you feel better, and if it doesn't, I averaged 10.8 MPG when I was riding around the ginormous parking lot. I'd love to be able to sustain 15 MPH so I can do a century; at my usual average, I'm too slow to try one.

And those averages are on flat trails!

[TrekTheKaty]

Rain all week and I had to work on Sat (and Mon) so today was it. We opted for a hilly 32 instead of riding long. DH dilly-dallyed around the house until it heated up and the wind kicked in. He promptly dropped me and then I hit a bump and dropped a water bottle. I had a 50/50 shot of guessing which way he went--and guessed wrong. Instead of calling, he backtracked. By the time he called, he was almost home! He finally caught up. I thought I was taking it easy on the way out with a good average speed. However, I bonked right after we turned around. Crawled home in my granny gear--into the wind. No money for a soda at McDonalds almost made me cry Probably dehydrated and should have taken Cytomax instead of Nuun--plus it was only our second "hot" ride (into the 80's, high of 90 today and HUMID). Gotta dig out the camelbak.

But at least I got out there! I'm still happy

[evangundy]

All this talk of slow... I averaged 10.8 MPG when I was riding around the ginormous parking lot. I'd love to be able to sustain 15 MPH so I can do a century; at my usual average, I'm too slow to try one.
And those averages are on flat trails!

My first century about 14 or 15 years ago, was about 10mph average for the day. And a long day it was. Began at 7am and finished about 6pm - lots of stops to rest. Pulled back into the parking lot as the trucks were loading up the port-a-potties. We were last in on the ride, but there were quite a few that had finished just ahead of me.

And now, after becoming a much stronger rider, my fastest century so far has been about 7 hours but I don't remember my average speed. I've never been fast and probably won't ever be, but I don't let that stop me from doing those long organized rides. They are fun, no matter your speed. At a 10mph average, it would take you 10 hours. If you build up your "distance" so you are able to ride that many miles, you'll be able to do it, just at your own speed.

Just pick a century ride that you want to do, register for it so you are committed to riding it, and start increasing your distance a little each ride. There are lots of good training guides out there - I used this one while training to ride a two-day STP: http://shop.cascade.org/content/even...gested-mileage - and if you'll notice, it mentions mileage, NOT how fast you ride those miles :-)

Have fun :-)
Edna

[emily_in_nc]

Yay Emily!! Ah yes - such a lovely place to stop Was the other Bike Friday purple? Just curious if it's who I'm thinking of....

(and I would BET you're not slower than I am....)

Thanks! I was actually surprised not to find more cyclists at Maple View while I was there, but I did see several cars with bike racks parked along the road there. A couple of weeks ago when we did a similar ride, it was packed with cyclists.

The Bike Friday was a black NWT. I talked to the man (and his wife) who owned it. There's a woman around Chapel Hill we see quite often riding a Friday with really, really high handlebars, and it might be purple. Can't recall.

My speed actually isn't that bad, but is a lot slower than I used to be on my Aegis Swift. Not sure if it's the bike or the engine - probably a bit of both. I feel pretty strong, but I am definitely not as fast as I used to be. On my Aegis, before my accident in '05, I averaged between 15-18 mph. On my Friday I'm usually doing utility rides so generally average between 11-13 mph. Today was 14.2. There, I said it.

[emily_in_nc]

My speed actually isn't that bad, but is a lot slower than I used to be on my Aegis Swift. Not sure if it's the bike or the engine - probably a bit of both. I feel pretty strong, but I am definitely not as fast as I used to be. On my Aegis, before my accident in '05, I averaged between 15-18 mph. On my Friday I'm usually doing utility rides so generally average between 11-13 mph. Today was 14.2. There, I said it.

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I think I figured it out, at least in part. After posting this, it got me thinking, so today after my ride, I weighed my Bike Friday. It currently has a rear rack on it, but I'd left the rack trunk (Arkel Tail Rider) off and just put on a small seat bag with an extra tube, tools, and a CO2 cartridge and chuck, plus my cell phone, lip balm, and keys. Weighed the entire thing: 25 lbs. Not bad, but...my Aegis, with similarly equipped seat bag, came in at around 21 lbs, if that. Doesn't seem like a huge difference, but since I am very light, it's definitely a higher % of my body weight and could certainly explain away most of the speed differences I notice.

But I'm really not a speed weenie any more, just enjoying the ride!

[rubysoho]

43 beautiful miles between yesterday and today.

Yesterday I rode with a friend along the river and had a nice break watching airplanes landing overhead (one scared me because the wing was dipping down low on one side and from my angle I thought it might crash into me!!! ). First time riding with a friend and he and I had some fun competitive moments.

Today i went out before it got too hot but it was pretty muggy still. This was a solo ride and I had planned to take it easy because yesterday I doubled my longest ride. Well, ended up putting in another 20 miles today with a lot of time spent between 15 and 20 mph. Definitely had to push myself the last 5 miles. My legs are spent. Can't wait until I can do a longer ride!

[pll]

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I think I figured it out, at least in part. After posting this, it got me thinking, so today after my ride, I weighed my Bike Friday. It currently has a rear rack on it, but I'd left the rack trunk (Arkel Tail Rider) off and just put on a small seat bag with an extra tube, tools, and a CO2 cartridge and chuck, plus my cell phone, lip balm, and keys. Weighed the entire thing: 25 lbs. Not bad, but...my Aegis, with similarly equipped seat bag, came in at around 21 lbs, if that. Doesn't seem like a huge difference, but since I am very light, it's definitely a higher % of my body weight and could certainly explain away most of the speed differences I notice.

But I'm really not a speed weenie any more, just enjoying the ride!

I think a smaller wheel requires more effort relative to a bigger wheel. Each revolution of your crank will move you less distance in the Bike Friday, so perhaps you have not lost all your speed...

[Owlie]

I was going to ride my age (23) today, as I owed myself a birthday ride from October. I somehow added an extra mile. (So an early birthday ride for this year?)
Left the house at 7:10, left trail parking lot at 7:30. When my ride started, it was in the mid-sixties and humid. When I got back to the car, it was in the 80s...and humid. I took it slow, as my knees were bothering me the first half of the ride. There were twigs everywhere from last week's thunderstorms. I took a few pictures--I'll put them up later. I had a slightly unnerving encounter with a deer, and got whacked in the face a few times by plants or small branches that I didn't see in time to duck. A tiger swallowtail followed me for a little while. I had a bit of a headache by the time I got back to the car, but a little trip to Starbucks on the way home (and the sugar and caffeine) made it all better.
All in all, not a bad ride.

[MojoGrrl]

I did the Indian Valley Century (metric) on Saturday. Longest single ride I've been on, at an altitude WAY above what I'm used to, lots of small hills but I am totally new to hill climbing. And on the way back, for the last, oh, 20 miles, it was 40 degrees and raining - eventually sleeting/hailing, VERY painful - and I have never ridden in the rain. And did I mention I was wearing shorts and fingerless gloves? Thankfully I had 5 layers on top and a waterproof windbreaker. My boyfriend, who did the full century and got up to the elevation where it started snowing, did not have any wet weather gear on and came back soaked and almost hypothermic

I felt pretty bad-*** for completing the ride, especially under those conditions...and considering I have only bee riding for 3 months

[Grits]

Friday's ride got canceled due to weather. Got in 27 miles today with some friends during the hottest part of the day - upper 80's and HUMID, but it was the only time I could ride. This was officially my first really hot ride of the season, and it showed in my speed. Tomorrow morning we are leaving at 8:00 to beat the heat and planning on 50 miles.