june adventures on a bike....

[salsabike]

Great pictures!

[Crankin]

Did a little 19.5 mile ride this afternoon. So nice and cool out, after Saturday's disaster in the 89 degree heat.
Other than my GPS getting stuck at 20.5 mph for a couple of minutes and saying I was "off course," when I was not on any course, a pretty good ride. I stopped messed around with the screen and it righted itself. Also took off my arm warmers, although it was barely 60 degrees, the sun came out.
There's a lot of road resurfacing going on in Concord. It's sorely needed, but it seems like it takes forever, when the neighboring town had better advanced warnings and got it done in 2 days. One place had grooved pavement on a small downhill that is nice to use for momentum for an uphill, but I had to slow down instead. Then, I started to get home a certain way, but, I had to turn back, as it wasn't just grooved pavement, but a one way obstacle course. I hope this gets fixed soon, as it impacts my commute on Tuesdays, when I have to take an alternative street to avoid a traffic back up.

[Crankin]

A quick little 5 AM dark ride, which isn't really dark at this time of the year! It was predicted to be 44 degrees, but it was 49-50. I was a bit overdressed, in a thermal jersey and short sleeved base layer and wind jacket, but the light tights and winter shoes/woolie bully socks were right on. Not so much the fleece beanie and Mavic fleece lined gloves. But, I only did 10 miles, as I had to be at work by 8:30 and the above mentioned grooved pavement wold have impacted my usual longer route of 15 miles for this time of the morning.
Glad I did it, but very tired. Deciding if I will ride tomorrow or just do boot camp. I have a big eating weekend coming up, as well as a hard 50 mile ride on Sunday.

[Helene2013]

112km yesterday. Finally nailed a challenge.

Winds were soooo strong coming North at 30km/h plus the gusting. We had 2 different loops to do. 60km and a 50km (a lunch in-between was served). The 50km was the hardest because of the major hills. I only walked the end of the last one - very steep - and I did not want to risk injuring my knees. We only had 25k done by then. After we finished the hillier part of the ride, I was able to get some speed and hit 37km/h for a very long stress (using the wind in my back). Never was able before. The 2nd part of the ride (50km), was flatter but some smallish slopes but the wind was against us probably 40 out of the 50kms. Hubby never complains on a bike but this time he had his truck with the wind. I was rarely able to get 25-26km/h. It was more like 18km/h. Discouraging. For the first time, I was able to ride in the drops to gain some speed from that heavy winds. But I did not feel totally 100% safe so only did this when the road condition was good. Wind was pushing us left and right and it was no fun.

But we did it and are very happy.

[azfiddle]

I posted elsewhere, but my June rides have all been city commuting (3-6 miles a day or so) in Cambridge UK, where I have been visiting my daughter... plus a round trip from Cambridge to Ely. About 15-16 miles by car, 28 by bike each way if you don't get lost (but we got lost, so it was a bit more).

It has been fun, but I won't be sorry to leave the heavy hybrid bike behind and get back on a road bike.

[BikeDutchess]

Beautiful photos, RebeccaC!

Little Red Riding Hood was yesterday. Went up the night before with my riding besties - 2 longtime friends and my daughter. We had a blast! I haven't been riding much, so decided to drop down to the 50 miler this year. One friend did the 100 and the rest of us met up with her at lunch and at the finish. The 50 mile route was actually much prettier than the 70/100 miler we've ridden in past years. The cut-off after the Benson stop, along Blackrock Rd, was gorgeous! The weather, which had looked threatening as I watched the forecast in the days leading up to the ride, turned out quite wonderful. We had some wind after lunch, but didn't get rained on. My daughter (5 1/2 mos post hip surgery) had no problems with her hip (such a relief). Saw the occasional rider stupidity (why oh why do some women keep ignoring the "single file riding only on this road" signs??), but not as bad as in some years past. The volunteers were fabulous - this year, instead of admonishing riders to do a full stop at every stop sign, volunteers actually helped direct traffic at intersections. Brownies at the first rest stop, and creamies at lunch, yum! It was a super fun day. Even though I didn't win the bike at the raffle.


LRRH 21015 by DutchRosie, on Flickr


LRRH 2015 - finish line bling by DutchRosie, on Flickr

[Crankin]

A good riding weekend, and I am tired! A good tired, though.
Yesterday, did a quick 11 miles and my DH killed me, ending up with the highest average I've had in a long time. I did not intend this! We were busy with a lot of house stuff in the morning and last night we went out with some of our friends from AMC.
Today we did our Kimball Fruit Farm ride, with our friends. We've done this ride for years, and in the past couple of years, we've changed the second half quite a bit. It's a 45-50 mile hilly ride from Boxborough up to Pepperell/Hollis, NH border, then back through Nashua and Dunstable, Tyngsboro, Westward, and Littleton. We are planning to lead it in July, so we needed to test out the changes before we go on our bike tour. The weather was perfect, and the hills, while challenging, felt a little easier thn I remembered. Although the biggest climb is right before the lunch stop, the second half actually has more climbing. There's one change in the end, that involves making a left across a busy road and then riding along by the entrances/exits to I-495. I am a little concerned about people doing this, given the bad behavior I see on some rides, but we have a plan to bring everyone through together. This actually makes the end of the ride a little shorter.
48.8 miles, 2,685 feet of climbing.

[Sky King]

I was proud of myself yesterday. Did a very hard crossfit class in the am and then a good climbing ride at the end of the day. Was debating on the ride but did fine and felt like I'd earned my gin and tonic

[Crankin]

Sky King, we do have them sign a waiver. Unlike most bike clubs, we are part of an outdoors club, and our liability rules are the same for us as for the hikers. We are clear in the beginning safety talk that if you go ahead of the leader, or behind the sweep, you are off of the ride. I knew he was bonking, but he did seem better after the stop/brief rest. If he had had an issue after he told me to go ahead, I would not have been liable. I would have been perfectly happy to stay with him on the way back, as it was only about 8-10 miles. Of course, he should have stayed at the park and waited for the second group, but I cannot control the behavior of adults. He was on a mountain bike with slick tires, had appropriate cycling clothes, clipless pedals. He did not look inexperienced, and judging from his riding in the beginning, he was strong. Perhaps he mostly rides in the city; the hills and warmer weather may have played a role. Our pace was pretty brisk (I averaged 14.5, even with all of the stopping and staying behind the slow climbers) and DH's average was around 15.5.
It was much easier handling this, though, than unsafe riding behavior. This is the first year we didn't have that. Well, just one guy, and his wife kept him in line!