Magnificent or Mundane May Rides!

[Blueberry]

Glad you're all still riding!

Glad you are too! I've missed "seeing" you as much around here!

[Crankin]

I did not have the motivation to drive 40 miles for a group ride along the north shore, so I rode with a friend who does a lot of work for both of the clubs I belong to. The one that was with me when my shift lever broke. It is absolutely gorgeous out. We didn't ride anywhere special, just around Carlisle, Westford, Chelmsford, and then we stopped at Ferns for lunch. Just as we were rolling in, another leader from one of the groups was there, just finishing up arrowing for a ride. We ate together, and then I took off to go home. About 27 miles.
Anyway, we are heading to NYC for Fri.-Sunday, so no riding until Memorial Day. I kind of am looking forward to the rest. Lots of walking, though.

[colorisnt]

I did a recap of the last couple of weeks on my blog. Not a lot of riding but keeping up with our long ride goals. We did a ride that combined wine and beer tasting on Monday.

http://elleonwheelsblog.wordpress.co...autiful-bikes/

[Dragonfly5]

I got in 15 miles this morning after sitting at my kitchen table fully dressed for a half hour while the little voice in my head tried to talk me out of going. "I don't want to ride alone" it said but of course it was really too late to call anyone go with me. I sucked it up and went b/c I knew I have to work all weekend and if I didn't go I'd kick myself in the *** later. Despite all that, it was a pleasant ride.

[Jolt]

Tried out the weekly women's ride from one of the Portland shops this evening...20 miles and I got my butt kicked. It wasn't that the distance or terrain was any problem, or that I felt bad afterward (I didn't), just that almost everyone else was way faster (meaning, all but one person out of the probably 10-12 who were there). Not surprising, given that 1) I am not a fast rider by any stretch and 2) everyone else was on significantly lighter/faster bikes. It's a no-drop ride, but there were still a couple of points where I lost sight of the group and that made me really nervous since I didn't know the route. I may try to ride with this group some weeks, in order to push myself, but would like to find a group that I might fit in better with and not be the annoying straggler. The one woman who was riding slower than me said she leads a weekly ride in a neighboring town so I may try that one out.

[emily_in_nc]

We've been at my mother's house in western NC for the past week and have only had time to do three rides. It's quite hilly around here (in the foothills) and very little flat terrain at all, so shorter distances seem harder than other places we've ridden lately. I've ridden 20, 25, and 30 miles over the past week, taking a day off in between each ride to do other things and spend time with my mom. Tomorrow is another day off, then we head up to Ohio to my DH's parents. We always get some riding in up there, but we also have quite a bit of yard work to do for them (as we did here for my mom), so mileages and number of rides will probably be similar to here.

[rebeccaC]

This is my second trip to Bellingham Wa. The first time was quick on my way to ride in the San Juan Islands. Doing a couple of days work in Bellingham this time gave me a chance to ride Mt Baker highway. Lower farm land to timbered mountain with beautiful shades of green everywhere, fast flowing rivers and snow on the side of the road towards the summit. Clear good roads with little traffic on a weekday.

[Sky King]

RebeccaC!!! that looks like an terrific ride, I think I am putting it on my wish list now

[colorisnt]

RebeccaC, that looks BEAUTIFUL!

[rebeccaC]

RebeccaC!!! that looks like an terrific ride, I think I am putting it on my wish list now

I've forgotten who it was but someone posted some photos of a Mt Baker ride here and that put it on my wish list

colorisnt...I haven't spent much time in the PNW but every time I've been I've had a great time.....and it IS gorgeous this time of year!!!!!

[ny biker]

I didn't do my Wednesday night hill ride this week, because there were thunderstorms forecasted during ride time and because I'd been feeling sick (mostly very weak) for several days due to a lingering cold. I felt much better yesterday, and though we did have more storms in this area, they were east of where I ride. So I did the Wednesday ride on Thursday. It was breezy, which kicked up the pollen, but my eyes only really bothered me for a short time. It was the first evening ride I've done this year where I didn't need any extra layers, and in fact my short sleeved jersey seemed too warm in the beginning.

Tomorrow is a big club ride that is a tradition for Memorial Day weekend, and it will be in the area that got the storms last night. I saw on the news that a 15-foot deep sink hole opened on one of the roads that is part of the ride. They've had to change the route to get around it. The detour is quite nice, though -- I led a ride earlier this year on the same roads and was looking forward to going back there again.

[azfiddle]

Wow RebeccaC- that is beautiful. We were in Washington a few years ago and rode Mt St. Helens and did some other rides around Mt. Vernon and Bellingham.

My mundane ride this morning was a commute into the LAST DAY OF WORK for the school year. Trying to stay focused on cleaning my classroom right now.

[colorisnt]

Going to go out in a bit since today is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL. Tomorrow, I have plans to ride a new trail with a friend before heading to a friend's wedding in STL. Then home, maybe a ride with the BF on Sunday, and then to the zoo to see the BF's kids on Monday. Big weekend. Lots of driving but also lots of riding (I hope!).

ETA: Oh my god. So MANY things today. I had an amazing ride going, took some cute pictures

But then about 3 minutes after taking this, I got a HUGE flat - found what I thought was the source (glass in my tire) and then patched it dutifully. Felt like a boss but then I pumped and pumped with the frame pump. AWFUL. SO AWFUL. So, then I checked the tube once more. By this point, my hands were KILLING me from pumping and working the hard bead on my cross tires. I found 2 more snakebites from glass, said screw it, put in new tube which was holding air but I still had that stupid pump. A guy comes along while I am on the phone with my boyfriend crying at this point because it's been an hour between all the switchouts, the pumping, and just general nonsense trying to stay away from a snake, spiders, etc. FML. Anyhow, he gives me a jolt of CO2 (with the CO2 pump I JUST ordered earlier this week!) and boom. Good to go, right?

Wrong. I end up getting back on the bike, not thinking about truing. My back brake was off because it's too tight for me to ever get it back on. I get stopped by my wheel and go a** over teakettle on the trail. I'm fine. Barely scraped up at all because I fell to the right into leaves which thankfully weren't poison ivy laden. Some guy comes up. I'm now sobbing, kicking my own back tire upset. He asks me if I am okay as I true it back and I assure him I am but I just want to throw my bike in the forest. He laughs and says, "You have a really pretty bike to be throwing it into the forest, kid." He was right but oye. I have a riding date in the morning and I will go but I'm still angry about the bike.

[cosc]

I did a solo 50 mile out and back ride training for the Bran-Nebraska ride the 2 week of June! Definitely need more miles in my legs. One good climb out of the river bottom, few rolling hills, and a stiff head wind until I turned around.
Cons: I couldn't get my new to me, spd sl cleats to release after many attempts. I've only been using road cleats for a few rides and was hoping practice would make it easier. I look like a violent bicycler as I'm attempting to free myself from the clips. My knee and hip got sore from all the effort. Running out of water before the end of the ride will not happen again. Not one of my more enjoyable rides.
Pros: I did not crash or run into anything while stuck in my pedals!

I surely empathize with you Colorists trying to fix your flats and all your trouble. Glad your fall wasn't worse.

[colorisnt]

I did a solo 50 mile out and back ride training for the Bran-Nebraska ride the 2 week of June! Definitely need more miles in my legs. One good climb out of the river bottom, few rolling hills, and a stiff head wind until I turned around.
Cons: I couldn't get my new to me, spd sl cleats to release after many attempts. I've only been using road cleats for a few rides and was hoping practice would make it easier. I look like a violent bicycler as I'm attempting to free myself from the clips. My knee and hip got sore from all the effort. Running out of water before the end of the ride will not happen again. Not one of my more enjoyable rides.
Pros: I did not crash or run into anything while stuck in my pedals!

I surely empathize with you Colorists trying to fix your flats and all your trouble. Glad your fall wasn't worse.

Good for you! That's awesome Have you adjusted the tightness of your release mechanisms? I just put new cleats on (wooot wooot so much mileage I needed them!) and I had to work to turn my release back down again. They were just too hard to get out of for my liking and I'm not used to them being so grabby. It's no fun with city cycling to have them that tight.

And thanks. Yeah, me too. I'm a bit banged up so the pictures for my friends' wedding if I'm in any are going to be lovely but the BF says my bruises and scrapes are barely noticeable (which is good because I'm wearing a short dress). My shorts and jersey tan are more likely to be an issue. I am sore today especially through my arms and shoulders. Was supposed to ride with my friend N today but we got rained out. Boo. So, instead, I am enjoying some beignets and coffee and working on some fun stuff like nails, hair, and makeup before the drive to STL.