Weekend Rides?

[Reesha]

On Saturday I lead a team ride through 40 miles of hilly West County. The kids were troopers... trooped right up some long (for Missouri) climbs and managed the whole thing in 3 hours which included a 15 minute break. The weather was a gorgeous 60 degrees for it too!

Yesterday I did a soggy, foggy, grimy 30 miles on the windswept flats of Madison County, IL. It was gross to say the least, one of those rides where you want to head straight for the steamy hot shower after you're done. This concludes a killer stretch of rides-- 250 miles in 8 days last week! No rest day required

[AppleTree]

Friday I did the "Tulip Ride" in Mt Vernon, north of us about 30 miles. I have always wanted to ride up there at tulip time, but never got to till this year. There weren't all that many tulip fields, but we saw lots and lots of daffodils. It was nice being up there on a weekday, not as many distracted tourists looking at flowers instead of the road in front of them.

It was pouring rain when I left home, and let up just outside of Mt Vernon, and turned out to be a completely gorgeous day. There were only three other riders in the group, so we got to chat and enjoy a relaxed ride. It was about a 35 mile ride.

Saturday, we went out to the rail tail and I did 48.9 miles....so close to my goal, ha. Another gorgeous NW spring day. Seems like it is our turn for the warm weather and back east is getting hit with snow... weird.

[azfiddle]

Saturday was an easy ride, 35 miles with more than half on the bike path. I did some birding on the way back, and mentored a new rider back but she had to put up with my birding spots. We were both pretty hot at the end.

Please take a look at my post about the "Bird-athlon" to see my ride report for Sunday- to the top of Mt. Lemmon as a part of the Tucson Audubon Birdathon event to raise money for wildlife habitat. We did it by bike- 68 miles, 8000 feet of climbing and 79 species of birds.

[luv2climb]

The temps at the lower elevations on Sunday were in the upper 80s to 90, so I decided to go a bit higher for my weekly climbing. I picked a trail I've never been on before, Fleming Meadows. This is at the bottom of Mormon Emigrant Trail, which is actually a road, not a trail.

I rode this trail in a counterclockwise direction, which gives you a nice climb for about two miles. It gets steeper at the start of the singletrack.

I caught up to three equestrians at the beginning of a singletrack descent, so I hung back a little and followed at what I thought was a proper safe distance. When they stopped in the middle of the trail, I stopped. That's when the last rider noticed me and said "Oh my God you're right behind us". Then she said "You're lucky our horses are okay with bikes".

Now maybe I'm wrong, but to me her tone of voice made it sound like she was peeved that I was there, and that she thought I was too close to the horses.

They pulled over a short time later and I thanked them as I passed. This is the first time I have had any kind of questionable encounter with equestrians. I don't know anything about horses other than to yield to them and try to stay out of their way, so if I did something wrong on yesterday's ride I really didn't mean to.

Lesson learned: always announce myself, or hang back even further. Maybe even stop and chill for a while to let them get far enough ahead.

When I finished the loop I rode the initial 1.5 mile climb up Mormon Emigrant Trail, which levels off and turns into a descent. As I climbed I kept hearing gunshots, so when I reached the top I got out my point-and-shoot and took a little video. I wish I had my new Zoom Q3 with me yesterday, as it records in stereo and the echo of the gunshots richocheted off the mountainsides for several seconds after the shots were fired. It would have sounded even better in stereo.

Fleming Meadows by freighttraininguphill at Garmin Connect - Details

Here's the ride video. You can see and hear my encounter with the equestrians and judge for yourself starting at 5:57. As with all my videos, this one is 100% natural sound. That means plenty of suffer sounds on the climbs, so be forewarned!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syUnL1YY8Tg

Here's the video of the gunshots, with plenty of bird sounds mixed in.

http://vimeo.com/40865645

Here's the video of the road climb and descent on Mormon Emigrant Trail. You can hear the gunshots as I approach the top of the climb starting at 3:17.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EOmQ0eu6-E

Here's a screenshot from the video as I came to a stop behind the equestrians.


View of the snow-capped Sierras from the bottom of Mormon Emigrant Trail at Jenkinson Lake.


"YOUR GPS IS WRONG!!!" warning sign near the bottom of Mormon Emigrant Trail (screenshot from helmet-mounted ContourHD). This road is not plowed in the winter.


Trailhead at the gravel area I parked in. The picture doesn't show just how steep this trail is. I'll have to check it out someday.

[redrhodie]

Yesterday was Women's Ride Day. Of course, I was riding anyway, my usual Sat morning group. There were a lot more women than usual. Specialized sponsored the event, and we got free water bottles, sport beans, coffee and baked goods, which was awesome.

On the ride, we stopped and split into men's and women's groups, and I went with the men. I may have offended some people by not conforming, but my new motto is "I do what I want." It felt fine.

I felt super strong and pulled a bunch. Until the hill, where I was quickly dropped by almost everyone. My new nickname is Cavendish, and not because I can sprint. Oh well, if the fastest man in the world can't climb, I should be okay with it. It still feels possible that I'm not fully recovered from my cancer treatments, so maybe I'll use that excuse.

I also rode to the ride from work, so 40 miles. My longest ride this year.

[malkin]

... my new motto is "I do what I want." ...My new nickname is Cavendish...

*picturing you on your bike as Eric Cartman with Pippi Longstocking's braids, in Cav's new Team Sky kit*

[redrhodie]

Put some glasses on that image and there I am.

[TTUchick]

My LBS also held a Women's Ride Day event sponsored by Specialized. It was the first group ride I have participated in and while I was super nervous meeting new people, it was a fun time. (I usually only ride with my boyfriend or my sister-in-law and her sister)

Until yesterday, I had only rode my new road bike twice: to/from my boyfriend's house and the bike shop for fit tweaking. It was amazing how 12.5 miles in the chilly wind just flew by because I was chatting with other women the entire way instead of focusing on the wind LOL

I think that I will start riding in the local no-drop club rides now

[Reesha]

I competed in my first crit race today. The Bike Surgeon Belleville Crit. It was a balmy 50 degrees this morning... chilly. But the roads were dry and clear considering the crazy storms we had!

I got dropped on the first prime lap... but never got lapped. In fact, since the juniors and womens were racing simultaneously, I rode across the finish line with three of my junior boys (not drafting of course). My student Emmy stayed on with the rest of the women's field though (about 8 of them) and I am SO very proud of her. I am proud that I finished! Better luck next year-- hopefully I can stay on!

Our team kids took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the juniors race. I am ridiculously proud of them too! Great morning. Now for foodz

[Catrin]

Awesome Reesha, glad you had fun! You may have been dropped, but not lapped and I think that is pretty darn cool!

No riding for me today - apparently my neck is happy with everything I throw at it...outside of the spinning bike. It is still a bit cranky today and while I COULD ride (want to so badly I can taste it), I am going to take the wiser route and just stretch and do my neck exercises and, perhaps, go for a hike.There won't be many opportunities over the next week to ride if we get all the rain they are forecasting, and I've not ridden outside since last weekend due to weather and schedule So I will be tied to the radar and hopefully be able to seize a couple of riding opportunities this week.

TTUchick - congratulations!

[Fredwina]

Went over to MA and did this short trail yesterday:

Cheshire Reservoir


End in Adams:


Today, I spent most of my ride time fixing a flat

[Reesha]

Ahhh the Berkshires! One of my many homes. So lovely. Thank you for sharing!

[murielalex]

Beautiful pics! This was the second weekend in a row of rain rain rain. I got on my trainer for a bit, but blech....

[Owlie]

I finally dragged myself out of the house and did a 19.2-mile ride, if only to get my total for the month over 100 miles. And I'm really glad I did. The lindens (I think that's what they are) were blooming, the bugs were out in force (I had to take off my helmet to shake them out of my hair!), and I'm sore for no good reason.

Luv2climb, I had a similar issue back in March with equestrians. I'm quite wary around horses, so I never quite know what to do if I need to pass one. Luckily, most of the ones I've come across are pretty chill. I guess it helps that I sing to myself while riding, so they figure "Oh, it's a human. That's nice" and ignore me. Anyway, I wound up behind a pair of equestrians after coming around a corner (singing to myself). They moved right, into the grassy verge next to the trail, so I figured they'd heard me. Apparently, though, the horses took some initiative in this, because one of the riders went "What the?! Oh, there was a bike behind us" as I passed. Either they're rather polite animals, or they found something interesting beside the trail.

[indysteel]

I would suggest that you announce your presence from about 50 to 75 feet away as you approach equestrians. Don't yell; just let them know you're there with a friendly "hey there." From there, ask them how they want you to proceed. Do they want you to dismount before you pass? Hang back? Unless you want to get bucked in the head or feel responsible when the horse throws its rider, never ride up behind or pass a horse unannounced.