June 24-26 rides

[Catrin]

Chryss - have an awesome time, sounds great!

[tulip]

Today was my first ride in a month due to some crazy deadlines that had me working 14+ hour days withno days off for over a month. That's over now, thankfully.

I only rode 14 miles, but I prefer to go by time ... So I rode for an hour and felt really good. It's hot and humid, but I like it that way. So glad my work schedule is back to normal so I can ride regularly again.

[Crankin]

Got out for a short ride after getting totally frustrated with work stuff. Can't finish the on line training, system is down, and I did as much as I could with some other stuff.
21.5 miles, did pretty much the opposite loop of what I did with Hirakukibou earlier in the week. We rode with 2 guys from Newton who were "riding in the country." I dropped one on a hill, but the other was really fast. After about 5 miles, we split off from them. Then we stopped at Ferns to get a drink and some really obnoxious riders pulled up, wearing Harvard cycling jerseys/t shirts. They were talking really loud about their averages, enough to make me want to laugh out loud.
I have reached the 1,000 mile mark for the year, which is about 500 short of last year, but about 100 ahead of previous years. I will definitely make my "regular" goal and I still might get to my "reach" goal, depending on the weather.

[Roadtrip]

Got out for an abbreviated 9 mile ride, even tho the weather was nice (for a change-- but brought out everyone and their brother too) and fiddled with saddle height, while trying not to get killed by wee little dogs racing across the bike path, and got to try out my new skirt.

Shannon

[Bike Chick]

DH and I went to the Tour de Corn with friends today and road the 65 mile loop. It is a very flat (I mean NO HILLS) charity ride that offers corn on the cob at the rest stops. We took our TT bikes because it was so flat. It's a great ride to hop on a pace line and see how hard you can go and we did. It was a fun day.

[Catrin]

DH and I went to the Tour de Corn with friends today and road the 65 mile loop. It is a very flat (I mean NO HILLS) charity ride that offers corn on the cob at the rest stops. We took our TT bikes because it was so flat. It's a great ride to hop on a pace line and see how hard you can go and we did. It was a fun day.

I checked out the ride website the other day, it does look like it could be fun - or brutal if there is a strong wind coming across those cornfields. Did you have much of a head/crosswind?

[Bike Chick]

I checked out the ride website the other day, it does look like it could be fun - or brutal if there is a strong wind coming across those cornfields. Did you have much of a head/crosswind?

Gee, Catrin, how did you know I've done that ride 4 times and it's notorious for the ole north, south, east, west wind. You know, the kind you can never turn out of and get to your back??? It had stormed that morning before the ride so the first 30 miles were great but then the front moved through and we turned dead into a 17 mph wind and the next 30 miles were brutal. Thank goodness I could keep up with the guys and let them pull. I'm usually out there by my lonesome fighting it and that's an awful place to be. We turned back into town the last 5 miles and had the wind to our backs and it was so pleasant

[chryss]

Chryss - have an awesome time, sounds great!

It was indeed great. My computer says I rode a bit over 36 miles with getting to the starting line. The headwind was fierce -- we often have easterly wind here, and the road may bend a bit in the end but is overall going eastwards. I fell in with a 2-4 people that were beginners at riding pacelines, like myself, and just pushed me a little beyond my comfort zone. It was sunny, we were trucking along just fine, were polite and not competitive with each other, and in the end caught some of my riding partners who I thought I would ride with, but who'd gone out like a fire engine and gotten attached to a very fast group until they ran out.

We got bananas and cookies at rest stops, and a picnic at the end -- and I must say, I have barely had any sweetened drinks in months (maybe occasionally 1 tsp of sugar in my coffee), but today I had a can of Dr Pepper, two glases of sweetened ice tea, one of pink lemonade and three of sweetened coffee. Holy cow. Plus a rather fatty lunch -- what I thought was mashed potatoes turned out to be potato salad. My food diary is looking askance back at me .

We also got free entrance to the hot springs pool at the resort at the end of the ride, which was surprisingly hot. I think my numerous mosquito bites liked the sulfur-y hot water.

[Owlie]

Well, it is a hot spring! I'm glad you had fun, even with the mosquito (isn't that the state bird?) bites!

[owlice]

I rode tonight, just 13.5 miles, but fast (for me), despite, or maybe because, not having ridden since last Saturday (when I rode over the Golden Gate bridge -- the kid and I were in San Francisco for the weekend). I saw a fox at the lake, which is a first, and a beaver, deer, numerous frogs (which I managed to avoid squishing, woo-hoo), and rabbits rabbits rabbits.

[crazycanuck]

I set up my mtn bike on the wind trainer yesterday as i can't bike outside atm..

*sigh*...you know you're injured when leaning over & changing gears causes pain...AGHGH..Ouch...owiee..Hopefully my joint settles down soon...

SO..moral of the story is..Tomorrow when i'm back on the wind trainer, i'm staying in one gear for a while... I have a heap of mtn bike vids & other stuff to watch. Easy Coach Troy (*swoon*) stuff too..

Today we went to the Perth Track Cycling International event & saw Anna Meares race...Shane Perkins too..oooo...oooo...

For all you mtn biker chicks, can you do some good dirt time for me please?

[Orange utopia]

I did a very short 5 miles in my hybrid yesterday then probably about 5 miles of testing different adjustments on my road bike throughout the day.

Today I did 33 miles on my road bike and did great. It was extremely hilly so I still only averaged just under 13mph but getting up the hills was much easier with the lighter bike and I was cruising on what few flats there were at 20+ mph. I was very comfortable up to about mile 20 when my shoulders got really tight and started to hurt. I think that was more a case of just not being used to the new position, not really a fit issue.

[Espresso]

Wanted to ride ~55 miles yesterday, but only managed 40. Normally I would be discouraged by this kind of failure, but somehow I'm not. I really don't care at all. Maybe because before this year, a "long ride" for me was maybe 10 miles? Maybe because on this ride, I found a lovely new road to bike on?

I felt great for about 30 miles, but then I just felt sore all over. I tried to do the "just 5 more miles" thing, but it only worked twice.

Anyway, hopefully I'll make my ~55 next week. Otherwise I might actually start getting discouraged.

[tulip]

... I was very comfortable up to about mile 20 when my shoulders got really tight and started to hurt. I think that was more a case of just not being used to the new position, not really a fit issue.

I would say that your discomfort definitely IS a fit issue, anong with a position and core strength issue. I really hope you get a professional fitting soon. It will make riding so much more pleasant.