May Rides

[Lelani Carver]

I did the Chicago "Bike The Drive" Sunday with a few thousand other people, and rode 30 miles. DH and I met up with other members of Team Red (Tour de Cure) and had a great day despite drizzling rain. There was one jerk that yelled at me but I and others yelled back. I also did 22 miles Saturday on a friendly social ride organized by a wonderful woman through Meetup.com. Locally in Chicagoland the CBG Meetup rides are well run, safe, and teach good group ride etiquette.

[rebeccaC]

I did the Chicago "Bike The Drive" Sunday with a few thousand other people, and rode 30 miles.

Lelani… that sounds like a fun time…is that the ride where only bicycles are allowed on Lake Shore Drive for the day?

There is an organized ride over three passes in the California Sierra Nevada mountains each July with 15,000 feet of climbing and 130 miles. A small group of us are planning on doing it. I was originally planning on doing a one-day Seattle to Portland ride again but this ride is the same weekend and a different kind of challenge. Because of the driving time to where we stayed to begin the ride, this memorial day weekend was a good one to ride the two steepest of the passes on the route for a total of 92 miles and 12,000 ft of climbing. We started and ended in Markleeville Ca., which is also the start/end point for July’s ride. We rode the July rides route up both sides of Monitor Pass and then both sides of Ebbertts Pass. Coming down the east side of Monitor Pass to Topaz lake was just an incredible fast descent on good pavement but knowing I had to go back up it gave me pause. On the way back we rode 4 miles past Markleeville to Grover Hot Springs for a long relaxing soak. Such gorgeous country with a lot of breathtaking views…well when I had the breath to spare..

The ride gave me a good chance see how I would acclimate to the elevation and to gauge my hydration/nutrition and mental strategies. Good friends and a good challenging ride always makes for a good day