August 20 & 21 rides

[pll]

Linda: That was the Metra station at downtown Highland Park.

[nscrbug]

Linda: That was the Metra station at downtown Highland Park.

Ahhh, yes...the skies did look much darker up north. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and pleasant, so I'm looking forward to not getting wet.

[pll]

Ahhh, yes...the skies did look much darker up north. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and pleasant, so I'm looking forward to not getting wet.

Ditto.

I nearly didn't stop at the station, but one more close thunder "suggested" I should seek shelter. Within a couple of minutes, it got so dark the street lights turned themselves on, and it got very windy.

[Roadtrip]

Ended up doing 14 miles at the local trail. I won't get into the details as I've already posted in the newbie area, but had a "challanging" ride that ended in some road rash and bruses. Will have to see how much stiffness I have tomorrow.

Shannon

[Crankin]

Did about 20 miles in the later afternoon, when it was already hot and humid. I had my peer consultation group at the house from 10:30-1:30, then had to clean up. A nothing special ride; we did our Westford/Chelmsford/Carlisle route. It has a couple of hills, is mostly shady, and one of the roads is a designated scenic bike route. We went back a slightly different way, which I think made the ride a mile shorter.
Wednesday I rode 47.5 miles with the male half of our cycling friends, who is taking the month of August off. Well, I rode with keeping him in sight... I rode to their house (4 miles) and then we went up Oak Hill, up to the Fruitlands, and up Bolton Rd. in Harvard, to a rest stop in Bolton. I know I can't keep up with him, but I was trying a little harder than usual. After the rest stop, we were on flat roads for quite awhile and we were going along at 21-24, staying together. I was determined to keep up. I was so tired, I made the decision to go home a different way, that required less climbing, but added about 6 extra miles. I was shocked when I got home to see that my average was about 2 mph faster than usual for this very hilly kind of ride. I was absolutely dead for the rest of the day and took Thursday off. Friday, I rode 10 whole miles at 5:30 AM.

[indysteel]

I got nothin'. Yesterday was a work day at the ol' homestead. We had our drivewau repaved two weeks ago. To get the work done, DH had to move some of our landscaping pavers, as well as a mound of dirt. It was time to put all of that back. In the middle of that work, something went wonky with our overhead garage door, so we had a repairman come out for that. I mostly stayed inside and cleaned. Good times.

DH is making some changes today to my mountain bike and we'd like to hit the trails later today. He's kind of spent from yesterday though, so we'll see. When you own a home that needs some TLC, riding sometimes takes a backseat.

[goride]

I was happy to be back on my bike this weekend after being off for a week and a half with bronchitis and a sinus infection.

Friday did 27 miles, just a basic route with some miles on paved trail and some road miles with some nice hills.

Saturday rode 43 miles, the last 18 miles in rain. Great rural ride with some challenging hills, a few small towns, and a group of cycling friends. We did this same course the beginning of summer, and it was interesting to compare yesterday's ride to the ride early in the season. Definitely feeling stronger and faster.

After a nice hot shower, the sun came out, so I took the bike out in the yard and gave it a good cleaning and lubing. It needed it after the rain.