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

[Crankin]

So, I went on a group ride today, led by someone who often co-leads with us and vice versa. Today, i was just a participant. I went with my friends, as DH is at home awaiting his clavicle surgery. The ride went from Newburyport, MA to Portsmouth, NH and back. Now, I have actually done quite a few rides in this area, but I generally avoid beach rides in the summer. And today is the start of the "two weeks," when many people here traditionally take their vacations. A very weird group of attendees, 3 bridges (with steel plates, one over a highway), where we had to walk. One was the bridge where the women were killed in the century last September. This ride is flat, except for a couple of rises in the middle.
It was not fun riding through Hampton Beach, although there is a bike lane. But, typical beach traffic, pedestrians, and various honky tonk stuff. Ugh. They should call it "Live Free AND Die," not "or die." Tons of motorcyclists without helmets. Once you get past Hampton Beach, the rest of the coastline is lovely. The speed was high and I stayed up front. We ate at a parrk in Portsmouth, but my measly sandwich was not enough. I had appropriate snacks, Shot Blocks, hydration, but the heat was starting to get to me. I took off with my 2 friends before the group left, as we just wanted to get back. There was a detour, which we figured out, and thankfully, it got shady and cooler. But, coming back through the honky tonk was awful.
55.8 miles and I will meet my July 1 goal tomorrow, if I ride 23 miles. I am tired and a bit sunburned in weird spots. I was very careful to apply lots of lotion, but... finally feel full after eating dinner.

[shootingstar]

Am in Vancouver and enjoying it despite light showers here and there. Yesterday just 43 km. about town. And today less, visiting my favourite haunts and lovely food stops. I sleep a lot better for whatever reason even though it's tame cycling.

[Crankin]

24.4 mile ride recovery ride, with my friend. I stayed behind her for half the ride, to make myself go slowly. It's hot, so we stuck to familiar, shady spots in Acton and Stow. I did go ahead near the end. Then, we figured out I would be about 3/4 of a mile short of my 1K mile goal when we got back to her house, so she led me through some streets that connect back to hers. It ended up being about 1.5 miles more than I needed. My friend was fading, so I told her she got the friend of the year award! We came back a different way than normally, and there is a very short and steep hill right before her street. She was so hot and tired, she had to walk. I made my goal, and later she and her DH came over to bring DH ice cream, to aid in his clavicle recovery.

[Jolt]

I had a nice weekend of riding and local food on an AMC trip based out of the leaders' house near Auburn, ME. Friday night we did a short 13-mile ride followed by lobster, corn on the cob and potatoes, with gelato and fresh berries for dessert and a bonfire after. Yesterday was almost 30 miles, starting at the Brunswick farmers' market (where we picked out mussels, fresh pasta, bread and salad fixings for that night's dinner) and stopping for lunch in Freeport. We also had to stop at the LL Bean bike shop because I managed to lose a screw from my front fender just as we got into town...we were riding along and I started hearing something rattling, tried adjusting my front shifter thinking the drivetrain was the source of the noise, then figured out at a stop that it was the fender stay not being attached to the eyelet. I wrapped one of my velcro pant straps around it to semi-attach it to the fork and keep it from getting into the spokes and then got a screw when we stopped. Nobody else had any mechanicals fortunately. Today we rode to an organic farm for brunch and then back to the house, getting in another almost 30 miles...it was HOT today and it felt great to jump in the pool when we got back. I was by far the youngest person in the group; the oldest was 77 (!) and she still leads hikes etc.--now that's what I call aging gracefully!

[ny biker]

So, I went on a group ride today, led by someone who often co-leads with us and vice versa. Today, i was just a participant. I went with my friends, as DH is at home awaiting his clavicle surgery. The ride went from Newburyport, MA to Portsmouth, NH and back. Now, I have actually done quite a few rides in this area, but I generally avoid beach rides in the summer. And today is the start of the "two weeks," when many people here traditionally take their vacations. A very weird group of attendees, 3 bridges (with steel plates, one over a highway), where we had to walk. One was the bridge where the women were killed in the century last September. This ride is flat, except for a couple of rises in the middle.
It was not fun riding through Hampton Beach, although there is a bike lane. But, typical beach traffic, pedestrians, and various honky tonk stuff. Ugh. They should call it "Live Free AND Die," not "or die." Tons of motorcyclists without helmets. Once you get past Hampton Beach, the rest of the coastline is lovely. The speed was high and I stayed up front. We ate at a parrk in Portsmouth, but my measly sandwich was not enough. I had appropriate snacks, Shot Blocks, hydration, but the heat was starting to get to me. I took off with my 2 friends before the group left, as we just wanted to get back. There was a detour, which we figured out, and thankfully, it got shady and cooler. But, coming back through the honky tonk was awful.
55.8 miles and I will meet my July 1 goal tomorrow, if I ride 23 miles. I am tired and a bit sunburned in weird spots. I was very careful to apply lots of lotion, but... finally feel full after eating dinner.

Did you go through Seabrook? I know someone whose family has a beach house there. In fact he'll be going up for a visit this weekend.

I rode twice last week. On Thursday I took a vacation day for my birthday. The club I belong to has a ride every Thursday that always starts at the same location but uses a different route each week. I came up with a 39-mile route on the roads I like best in that area and led the ride. It was fun. There were 17 people at the ride. Most were faster than me, a couple rode more slowly and took short cuts, and we all managed to meet up at the rest stops. The weather was great. On the way home I stopped at a deli to pick up a sandwich and a slice of carrot (birthday) cake.

Yesterday I did a 63-mile ride that started in northern Maryland and went up to Gettysburg. It was a huge group, because it was posted on the ride schedule for two local clubs. The route was beautiful and we had another day of beautiful summer weather.

[Crankin]

Yes, we went through Seabrook. Twice.
I will withhold my comments about Seabrook. The beach itself is beautiful, but...

[Jolt]

Yes, we went through Seabrook. Twice.
I will withhold my comments about Seabrook. The beach itself is beautiful, but...

When I hear Seabrook mentioned, all I can think of is the nuclear power plant!

[Crankin]

It's not the power plant that I was talking about.
It's just a skanky beach town, as is Hampton Beach. Whe I first moved back here, I did take my kids to Hampton for day trips, as I lived in the Merrimack Valley. But, after a couple of years, I discovered North Hampton and Rye, which was more like the Cape and no honkey tonk. I know this sounds terrible, but Seabrook and Hampton have terrible drug and crime issues, along with Salisbury Beach, MA (the next town south).

[Crankin]

I decided to get in a ride before the rain from Arthur started. Got out a bit later than I wanted to, and spent the first half of the ride convincing myself not to just do the 11, 13, or 15 mile loop. while keeping an eye on the sky. While I've always done these short loops alone, I do find it hard to motivate myself without DH. Plus, these often end up being my faster rides. Decided to do what we humorously call the "flat route," and today I realized the one part that sort of seems really flat, isn't, it's a false flat. The humidity was 99%, which made breathing a bit hard, even though it was not that hot out, at 73 degrees. I've had an average as high as 18 on this route (OK, 6-7 years ago), and most of the time, even when I'm alone, it's usually about 15.5-16.5. On this route, I can pretend I'm fast. Not today. It took me until I was turning into my neighborhood to get to an average of 15, and that was with sprinting for the last few hundred yards. I totally slowed down after that, and climbed the steep side of my hill for the first time this year, as I wanted the momentum to get up the driveway.
I don't know how people in the south can ride in humidity. When I came inside, DH said he has rarely seen me that sweaty and with my jersey unzipped almost down to my navel!
It started raining even before I went up to take a shower.

[Crankin]

Today I rode with my neighbors. He's a triathlete and she is a boot camp and spin instructor. Both are very fast runners. Needless to say, they are also 15 years younger than me.
I rode with them once before, when they both had hybrids and it was fine. I had a bad feeling about today, as we were heading into Harvard and Bolton (hills) and they now have road bikes. They don't know their way around that well, so of course, they needed to keep me in sight. I managed to stay with them until we were about a mile and a half from the base of the first big climb, and told them where to turn and where to wait for me. They waited at the top. There was one more bigger climb and one smaller one, before we got to the climb on our street! I also went my usual speed on those, but they waited. It's a beautiful day out, with little traffic. At one point, the woman was fading, and got behind me. Then, about 3 miles from home, I just felt awful; not sure why, we stopped and I ate a Shot Block and poured water over my head. It's actually warmer out than I thought it would be.
I am glad I went, but I was stressed. Just a teeny bit too fast for me to have fun, but I am glad I pushed myself. The ride was 36.8 miles, with about 2,000 feet of climbing.