July 9-10 rides

[Marquise]

I started the weekend early and rode 30 miles out in the country yesterday morning. A few miles in, I rounded a curve to see a doe and a fawn standing in the road not far off. When they saw me they calmly exited to the woods on my right. Then a second fawn came from the left and did what looked like a happy skip while crossing to join the others.

About 10 miles later on an open stretch of quiet road, a badger emerged from the ditch on my right just ahead of me. By the time I was passing, the badger was at the left edge of the road and turned and hissed at me. It's unusual to see badgers. I grew up in the country but never saw one before. They can be nasty so I was glad I was on the bike and moving but also glad I got to see and hear it hissing!

[Catrin]

No road riding today, spent 2 hours riding a couple of beginner trails, and had fun (will post more in the mtn bike section). It was interesting to see how much higher my heart rate was on the mountain bike than on road rides - not a surprise- but interesting. Tomorrow I hope to get in an easy 20-25 road ride in if I am not sore. I don't expect to be, but we will see!

[azfiddle]

My DH and I rode with a group today- they had a choice of long (55) or short (34) mile rides. It was overcast, and therefore really pleasant for a July desert morning, and although we planned to do the short ride, when we got to the turn-around point, we decided to go further. We ended up going about 42, and the clouds didn't dissipate until the last 2 1/2 miles so it was pretty nice. Although the first half of the ride was suburban, the second half goes through upper Sonoran desert, which is greening up a bit since our summer monsoons have started.

We must have passed 25 or 30 dead giant Sonoran Toads, 5 tarantulas and sadly, a roadrunner that had been hit by a car as well. The toads and tarantulas both come out with the rains.

Happily, my leg/hip issues were almost completely absent today.

[solobiker]

Got in a nice mtn bike ride this am up on one of the passes. The trail was a mix of nice flowy trails inter mixed with rocks and roots and a fair amount of climbing. We got in about 15 miles with close to 1500 of climbing. Some of the climbs were challenging for me for various reasons...being at altitude, some of the climbing was steep with rocks and roots on the trails. I have gotten better and more confident with stepping out of my comfort zone with trying to negoitiate obticles this year. I have also lost about 20# this past winter which I am sure has helped with my biking. I hope to go for a short 20 mile ride tomorrow before the rain hits again.

[Owlie]

My DH and I rode with a group today- they had a choice of long (55) or short (34) mile rides. It was overcast, and therefore really pleasant for a July desert morning, and although we planned to do the short ride, when we got to the turn-around point, we decided to go further. We ended up going about 42, and the clouds didn't dissipate until the last 2 1/2 miles so it was pretty nice. Although the first half of the ride was suburban, the second half goes through upper Sonoran desert, which is greening up a bit since our summer monsoons have started.

We must have passed 25 or 30 dead giant Sonoran Toads, 5 tarantulas and sadly, a roadrunner that had been hit by a car as well. The toads and tarantulas both come out with the rains.

Happily, my leg/hip issues were almost completely absent today.

I'm a little jealous. (Apart from the fact I don't handle heat at all well... ) And yay for no hip or leg issues!

[7rider]

I had planned to ride an easy N2-modified route with my friend, Trevor, while DH did the group ride all the way to Poolesville. My legs were (are) aching from doing a Nike Training Club i-Pod workout on Friday morning. I do them too infrequently for them to not hurt each time I do them!
But a little miscommunication on our part had Trevor turning back early after getting dropped off the back, and me hammering on trying to hang with the group to the first rest stop at a store. Got there...No Trevor. Voice mail from him that he was turning back.
Welp. Looks like I'm goin' to P'ville with DH and the Hammerheads. So I did. Got dropped, picked off those who blew up later. I can cruise for hours on end, but lack power for sprints and jumps. Gotta work on that. DH waited for me at a turn. Saw a bluebird on a wire (adding it to my life list, as it's the first one I've ever seen in the flesh! ).
All in all, although getting dropped is par for the course, it was a good ride.
55 miles at 17.1 mph.
We went out for ice cream after. Mmmmmmmm....

[redrhodie]

I did the lbs slow ride again today. We averaged just over 18 mph for 30 miles. I really like this ride. It's nice and flat, easy pace, fun people. All we need to make it perfect is pie at the end. I may have to fix that myself.

It had been raining overnight, so I rode Puddin'. He got so muddy (as did I; I looked like I rode the Hell of the North). I left him at the lbs for new bar tape after the ride, and they totally cleaned him up, too. He's all shiny and new looking, with bright white tape. I'm not sure I made a good decision with that. I like white tape, even dirty white tape, but I'm not sure about white tape with a brown saddle on a red bike. I think I could have done something more fun. Well, white it is.

I commuted yesterday, 30 miles. After work, I brought some ice cream to my friends. I've decided if I ever TT, I should carry ice cream. I rode like the wind. It was still hard when I got there.

[7rider]

I did the lbs slow ride again today. We averaged just over 18 mph for 30 miles.

18 mph over 30 miles is your SLOW ride? Yikes.

[Biciclista]

we rode from our house to the bike shop (to get my new brakes adjusted properly) and then to Alki beach and then back home. It was a mob scene at the beach. There was a pole vaulting competition, both men's and women's, i'd never seen this in person. They were AWESOME.
lots of people who are already tanned, walking, biking, rollerskating, you name it, up and down the waterfront. A perfect day.
22 miles .. in 5 hours. :-) I'm not as fast as Red Rhodie on my fast days and today was DEFINITELY not one of them

[redrhodie]

18 mph over 30 miles is your SLOW ride? Yikes.

Not my slow ride, the lbs slow ride. I hear their Sunday ride will kill you.

Thinking about it, I'm going to back off that 18 mph claim. I got the speed info from one of the guys on the ride, but I forgot he had to backtrack to pick up a tubular that someone dropped. He did have to catch back up, and the rest of us slowed down for him. His speed was therefore faster than mine.

I need to remind myself why I don't have a computer.

[Bike Chick]

18 mph over 30 miles is your SLOW ride? Yikes.

I agree! Holy cow!

It was a great day at our house. No races, no group rides, nothing planned! DH and I got a 1700 yd swim in at the pool, had lunch and a short rest break watching the tour, then went on a 40 mile ride by ourselves. We came home and grilled out and had a couple beers. It's been a long time since we had a day like this and it was very, very nice.