July 29th Weekend Rides

[Owlie]

22 miles. My blinky has been gravely injured after it flew off going over railroad tracks, and will need surgery, but I expect it to survive. I didn't eat enough yesterday, it seems, and it caught up with me. I woke up hungry (bad sign, as it usually takes half an hour of wandering around for me to be able to eat), ate my usual breakfast, pushed it (yay speed!) and nearly bonked. I was seriously considering calling for a ride home around mile 8 or 9. Luckily I got a second wind when the shot blocks (all three of them) kicked in, and I managed to do another 13-14 miles. My hip and knee are not happy now, for whatever reason. Grump.

Ooh, I forgot to mention:
I got passed by a fairly young guy (compared to what I usually see on the trail) on a nice Trek, going at a decent clip. I decided to see if I could catch and pass him. Mischief managed! And with not too much effort.

[Catrin]

Took the Jamis across the street to Eagle Creek Park and worked on skills for about 90 minutes. Bikes aren't allowed in the trail there, but there are large mowed areas where I do play - lots of trees to weave around, some roots to go over, different surfaces to ride over, picnic tables to ride around, etc. I try to avoid riding her on paved surfaces as much as possible - I hate how she feels on the road but that isn't what she is meant for Amazing how different she feels off-road!

Going hiking later today to look at a brand new mountain bike trail in the city to see if it is too advanced for me - probably is at my current level, but my legs need something different to do that doesn't involve two wheels. Am having FAR too much fun to risk more over-use injuries this year

[redrhodie]

Did the 30 mile shop ride. I actually slept well the night before for once. I went to bed at 9:30, so when I woke up to check the time at 3:30, I knew I was good, with 6 hours already in the bag. The rest was gravy. I felt really good.

It was a beautiful day. Hot, but most of the ride is shady, so it was nice. I think 13 people showed up. We stopped and looked at the flowers. We talked. It's so fun.

There was a couple on a tandem with us. They flew up every hill, and whenever they'd go fast, the girl would laugh so hard. They were so cute. They accidentally went off road for a bit, and it was very impressive to see how well they handled it, riding across a field over grass and ending up right back with us. Very reminiscent of Lance going around Beloki.

I love riding my bike more every day.

[azfiddle]

24 miles, a little shorter than planned. There was an organized run on the loop at Saguaro N.Park so we skipped it. Some of the group I ride with opted for 50 miles, but I didn't want to be out that long in the heat because I had to come home and get ready to celebrate my birthday.

[indysteel]

Happy birthday, Sharon! How was your event last night (or is it tonight).

@Catrin, where's the new MTB trail?

DH volunteered as a SAG wagon at a club ride yesterday. Today, we did 45 really hot miles. We (meaning DH) isn't very good at motivating early in the morning, so we didn't start until 10. We did okay until the last 10 miles. We used our Camelbaks, which we don't typically use on our road bikes, and our backs weren't too happy near the end. They're much more comfortable on our MTBs given our more upright position. All in all, it was still a good ride.

[tangentgirl]

Met a friend who I haven't seen for a while and did about 28 miles around the regular loop. It was really nice to get out, and fun to ride with a friend - I love the way it challenges me to go faster than I would on my own.

[goride]

Let me start by saying how much I enjoy reading about all of your weekend rides. Had a good riding weekend this week. Started on Friday morning early with a 35 mile ride. Most of the people in the group I ride with hadn't ridden since Tuesday morning due to rain, so we were kind of itching to get out. Everyone decided it would be okay if they were "just a little late for work today." One of the members of our group is training for a two-day MS ride, so we did a 56 mile loop on Saturday, a nice route with hills, but no monster hills. Today we did another 50 miles with no real plan and a more relaxed pace. We ride early-ish, starting around 5:30 a.m. The starting temps the last 3 days were in the upper 60s (nice) but finishing in the mid-80s with high humidity. Sadly, it won't be long before we have to start a little later if we want to ride in mostly daylight.

[wackyjacky1]

I did my usual Sunday ride through downtown S.A. to the Missions and back. Got a late start (after 8 a.m.) and it was already 80-something degrees and hella humid (yuck). LOTS of broken glass on the road today, so it was a good test for the new Nashbar tires I installed yesterday. No flats -- yay!

Turned around at Mission San Jose 'cause it was so muggy and warm that it was getting kind of unpleasant.

Stopped for my usual Sunday latte and scone at the CIA bakery about three miles from home. A chunk of scone fell down inside the front of my shirt, and seeing as how it woulda been kind of indecent to start digging around in my cleavage to fish it out, I had to ride the rest of the way home with scone bits in my bra. This, I don't recommend.

25 miles total.

[Crankin]

We scouted out our 50-ish mile ride to the fruit farm in Hollis/Nashua, NH, in preparation of leading it on Oct. 1. Actually, the farm may be in Pepperell, MA, but, it's right on the border.
We have totally revamped much of this ride, including about 36 of the 48.8 miles. I had only done the route this way once, and I am trying to get it in my head, because DH will be up front with the GPS and I will have a cue sheet, being the sweep. It's fine if the group can stay close together, but it seems like i always get stuck with one person who really shouldn't be on the ride, despite my screening, or is having mechanicals. This is a gorgeous ride, but very hilly, with the street leading up to the farm, about a 4 mile climb that has about 6 separate hills, 2 of them being quite steep, but short. There's one steep climb after lunch, that is new, and near the end of the ride, we go through the Lost Lake area of Groton, another climb. After that, we headed back to the start point, a totally different way, which necessitates climbing over a freeway overpass, not too bad, but then another hill that is torturous, and ends right when we turn into the lot where our cars were. I used to ride up this all of the time before we moved to Concord, and it brought back memories of struggling up this hill when I first started riding.
It was hot. Like 90 degrees. A lot of this ride is shaded, but I drank almost 3 bottles of Nuun/water, and more water with lunch. The view where we eat at the farm is fantastic, and makes up for the climbing. I never feel like leaving the lunch spot!
Tired.

[azfiddle]

Indysteel- the event was fantastic! It was so cool because most of my new cycling friends had never seen me perform. I collected over $150 and almost 150 pounds of food for the food bank, all of my music friends joined in at various times.

And the cake... mmmmmmm.... giant chocolate strawberries topped a fabulous chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

[Catrin]

Happy birthday, Sharon! How was your event last night (or is it tonight).

@Catrin, where's the new MTB trail?

DH volunteered as a SAG wagon at a club ride yesterday. Today, we did 45 really hot miles. We (meaning DH) isn't very good at motivating early in the morning, so we didn't start until 10. We did okay until the last 10 miles. We used our Camelbaks, which we don't typically use on our road bikes, and our backs weren't too happy near the end. They're much more comfortable on our MTBs given our more upright position. All in all, it was still a good ride.

Hope the ride went well yesterday!

The new trail is at Ft. Harrison, and it is only unofficially open - though it is "officially" unofficially open, there is information on the HMBA website.

The trail is fun and very mixed terrain. Parts of it is pure beginner, parts of it are far from it. The first half of the trail has a LOT of exposure, and there is no where to go - I actually got a little nervous walking part of it as the trail was so narrow. Not many hairpin turns at all, lots of gentle swooping single-track. Some impressive obstacles, though of course one can walk those.

After my camping trip I will likely go in from the exit and try riding the back half of the trail, far less exposure there and lots of trail that would be fun to ride even at my level. The first half...is more advanced.

As the trail is not "officially" open yet there are no signs, and I got turned around. Not saying the "lost" word, but I revisited a good part of it Nice 2.5 hour hike though, and it was good for my legs to do something different for a change.

[AppleTree]

DH and I did the Seattle Century ride yesterday - the 50 mile route. Once again, SO lucky with weather here for a major ride! 70's, clear blue sky all day long. Nice crisp start to the day, maybe in the low 60s, didn't even need a jacket to start. We've done this ride three times now and enjoy the scenic route around the Seattle-Bellevue area. I really love the section over the I-90bridge bike trail over Lake Washington and through Mercer Island. To look out over the water at the city skyline (when I dared take my eyes off the path) is just stunning.

I loved it so much I took a wrong turn in Bellevue and ended up on the "scenic" route thereby adding another hour or so to my ride. From what I heard at the finish line, I wasn't the only one. They could have used better markings on the roadway at some intersections.

Nice salmon BBQ at the finish line party, they have some wonderful food. Oh, and strawberry shortcake at the Mercer Island rest stop.

After much consternation over our weather this past spring, I am SO glad we aren't somewhere having temps in the 90s and 100s... I don't think I could do it. I'll put up with a little rain, thankyouverymuch.