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

[Veronica]

Took my road bike out this morning for a short two hour ride with a friend. My road bike is so light! Road descents are easier than trail and mountain biking has given me a nice bit of acceleration both on the flats and the hills. She had a meeting starting at 8:30 so we met at 5:45. Sunrise was at 5:44. It was really nice to get out so early - 67 degrees when I started. We had a good time chatting and riding.

Veronica

[Irulan]

Our ladies' group MTB rides are a huge success. Twice monthly, response is overwhelming.

[colorisnt]

Our ladies' group MTB rides are a huge success. Twice monthly, response is overwhelming.

That's awesome! Great picture.

I rode around Toronto a bit and have been out 2-3 times/day here in Ottawa. Got 20 miles in today and it was like I didn't even know it. Went down to the best bike shop for women (per the cyclists I am staying with) and bought a new kit (first pair of bibs on sale) and another pair of LG shorts that I haven't seen anywhere in the US yet - also on sale. I got twice as much as I could get at the LBS at home for the price. Went to West Fest for a bit in Westboro and then the nut free bakery before I picked up some glass and watched my tire slowly deflate on the way home. Limped home okay, so not a blow out.

Was going to do an organized ride tomorrow but I don't think it's going to be as much mileage as I will feel like, so I think I will opt to go solo and ride a route myself.

[Crankin]

I hadn't been on my bike since last Sunday; a little because of weather, and a lot because I've been sick with my twice yearly sinus infection. I have been taking it really easy, since I am flying out to San Diego next Saturday, to see my dad and help my brother deal with all the stuff with my dad. Anyway, I was good and took a walk yesterday, even though it ended up being a pretty nice day. Today was perfect. We hung around and read the paper, ate bagels, etc., in honor of Father's Day. I knew I wasn't up to the metric I wanted to do, but I did want to ride. The medication I'm taking is making my stomach very upset, but it's working, so I've been plowing on, because the sinus stuff is gone. As soon as I got on the bike, I knew this was not a good idea. Not only did I just feel "off," my speed was really low, and I just felt like i was struggling. We rode on some roads that we don't do that often, in Sudbury, mostly in the opposite direction that we usually do. DH was really far ahead, which is not usually the case. At one point, I thought I would puke, but I think drinking Skratch helped that, a lot.
OK, we finally got back to our street and I told DH I seriously didn't think I could do the climb. He checked my bike, and guess what? Brakes f*cked up again. He's been working on them for a month. We got them good enough to ride, I kept my speed low on the climb, and I did feel not so bad. We came to the conclusion that the new "fancy" housing for the cables is not working on my bike. It's too stiff, and is pushing the cable, which causes the pads to stick, because of the position of where the cable enters the brake mechanism. Anyway, DH just replaced them with the old fashioned kind, and once again, I am glad we have an inventory of just about everything at home.
I have another 1.5 days of taking the meds and I don't want to, but I don't want to be sick, either. I will make my mileage goal of 1K by July 1, but it will be close with me going away.
23 miserable miles, in very nice weather. Going to meet DS and DIL for dinner now, for Father's Day.

[Jolt]

Well, if it makes you feel any better I had a yucky ride today too despite the nice weather. I didn't ride last week either, between weather, work and then being a bit sick Thursday from what I suspect was some bad fish (ugh). It has taken a couple of days to get feeling more or less back to normal. Today I decided to do a fairly hilly 25-mile loop that I have done before, and I was just not firing on all cylinders...started out feeling not so great, hoped that would improve after the first 15-20 minutes or so (as often happens) but it didn't really. Used the little ring (which always feels like giving up) way more than I normally would have and still struggled to finish the ride...before the halfway point I considered turning around but decided that if I did that I'd be totally disgusted with myself so I kept going. I'm not sure whether to chalk this one up to 1) not having done much for a few days, 2) the weather being warmer than I am used to so far this season, or 3) something else, but it was definitely an "off" day.

[colorisnt]

Sorry you guys had some rough bit of rides.

I got lost (didn't quite make it up to Meech lake as planned) but still got about 25 miles in. Had about 75 miles in the previous week despite about 19 hours of driving!

Here are some pics from the ride:




Rode around Parliament and the like today and then rode into QC quite a bit. FORCED myself to speak French for a second day in a week. Went to an all-french immersion dinner right after getting here and it was rough. I think my ear is either getting better or my brain has just had plenty of sleep, either way, it's easier.

Loving Ottawa so much!

Gonna blog about it later.

[ny biker]

So I had a great bike ride on Saturday. And I'm not going to be humble here -- I designed a seriously awesome route. I lead a club ride in northern Maryland, with a few miles in Pennsylvania for good measure. I used some roads I knew from the Civil War Century, a few that I picked up on a Baltimore Bike Club ride a couple of years ago, and some that I had never seen in person before but was able to scout out virtually using Google Street View. The result of 50 miles, with many quiet country lanes, lots of creek crossings, two covered bridges, an Oreo cow sighting (http://beltie.org), and just a whole day of fun rural cycling with friends. The weather was near perfect; after several days of rain and humidity, the skies cleared and it was actually cooler than normal for mid-June, with a just a bit of a breeze at times.

Every day should be this good!!