June rides....hopefully a pleasant month of weather and rides for all

[Crankin]

Because we were busy all day yesterday, I spent the AM, grocery shopping and lounging around the house, while DH did yard work. We went for a shorter, 21 mile ride around Concord, mostly Carlisle, took pictures and enjoyed the day. It was humid, not quite as hot as yesterday, but still up there, around 80-82. There were clouds, so that saved me. However, I drank 2 bottles, which is odd for me, for a shorter ride.
I probably will ride to work tomorrow, after the gym, as Tuesday looks like a rain out, with thunder.

[emily_in_nc]

A beautiful day today after buckets of rain yesterday! We rode the Constitution Trail, plus some extra rural roads, in Bloomington-Normal, IL, as we continue our trek westward across the US. Got in 60 fun miles, mostly flat to slightly rolling. 70s with sunshine and a fairly stiff breeze from the north. Ate some amazing ice cream in downtown Normal...YUM!

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[Veronica]

We got a late start to our ride today - 8:30 AM and it was already 84 degrees. Thom and I split up on our ride today, since I didn't feel like doing the 25%+ grades to get to the ridge and was not feeling great in the heat. We rode to "Cow Corner" together and then he headed up to the ridge and I continued on to the Water Tower descent. I absolutely love descending this trail when there are no hikers on it. Initially it has sweeping turns with good sight lines, but right by the water tower it gets super steep with some switchbacks. It's a fire road, so the switchbacks aren't hard to navigate and you have to cut your speed as you head into it to be sure there aren't any hikers or equestrians that you couldn't see. Today it was totally open and I flew down it, hitting 28 mph! Once you can see into the second switchback, you can just let the bike go. That was enough to convince me that I had another lap in me despite the heat. On the second lap I did have a couple of hikers that I needed to slow for on the descent, but that's okay. There was plenty of room to pass them, but I think flying by is rude.

I also discovered that I can change my rear shock while riding. On the first lap Thom and I were talking about it. I routinely change the front one from climbing to cross county mode, occasionally put it into downhill, but not often. I had had difficulty finding the lever for the rear one. You really cant' see it, you have to go by feel. By following the top tube down to the shock, you just automatically hit the lever. Climbing mode is very stiff! When it is in climbing mode, it's easier to find it using your left hand to put it back into cross country. On some of the flattish sections I practiced just moving it back and forth. This is my first fully suspended bike, with a dropper saddle, so I'm still figuring out what I can do with it. It's a lot to coordinate sometimes as you start a descent - put the the bike in the middle ring. Change the shocks to descending mode, drop the saddle - all as the bike is moving and picking up speed.

It was 92 when we finished our ride at 9:45. Yeah, it was short, just 7.25 miles, but with 1050 feet of climbing.

Veronica

[ny biker]

I did a 57-mile club ride yesterday in Fauquier County, VA, which is a rural area southwest of DC. Joe Dombrowski (Team Sky racer) is from this area. It was warm and humid, strong sun in the beginning, but then clouds rolled in and it got windy as a front approached. We started to see rain clouds nearby during the last hour or so, but it was an isolated shower that stayed north of us.

I had major contact lens problems about halfway through the ride, caused by the headwinds. My eyes got really dry, I put drops in them, then the right lens shifted way up high inside my eye. I had to ride that way for about half an hour until we reached a rest stop with a bathroom so I could wash my hands, remove the lens and put it back in my eye. At first I couldn't get the lens out, and for a few seconds I thought maybe it had fallen out and I'd lost it, but I put more drops in and that helped the lens shift down to where I could remove it, put more drops on it and put it back in my eye. After that it was fine.

I've had similar problems a few times this spring, and once one of the lenses popped out of my eye and I had to stop, take it off my face with my finger, get my half-finger gloves off, get the drops out of my top tube bag and remove the cap, put drops on the lens and get it back into my eye, all while standing on a rail trail trying to keep the wind from blowing the lens away.

I think the Patanol antihistamine eye drops that get me through pollen season are having a drying effect on my eyes, especially when I'm in a area with certain trees that I'm allergic to. The problem only seems to happen in certain places, and it's happened twice in the same part of southern Maryland. Since we're a week into June and tree pollen levels are lower, I'm going to stop using the Patanol and hopefully that will help the dry eye problem. When it's not pollen season, I usually put Blink drops in my eyes when I first wake up if it's very early in the morning (which usually only happens if I'm heading out for a long bike ride) because my eyes tend to be dry on those days. Anyway I hope the problem goes away now.

[colorisnt]

Rode around the neighborhood when I got to my parent's house yesterday afternoon (and holy Chicago traffic and road construction on a Sunday, batman!). It was a long drive that I am glad is done for a day. I got here in good time because I know the roads but had I followed the I-DOT detour, I would have added an hour on!

Rode about 15 miles this afternoon and have forgotten how to deal with flat roads! I was faster on the section with the mile long incline and serious climb for about a quarter of a mile than I was on the downhill and flat sections. Rode out on country roads and enjoyed the beautiful day. May go out with my Dad again later or may go out again on my own - depends on how he feels.

Up to Toronto tomorrow! Will be landing around 3 PM EST.

ETA: rode around downtown and saw my good friend from HS whose shop made me this custom: