june adventures on a bike....

[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.

[lauraelmore1033]

Rolled out Sparky (the tadpole trike) fully intending to ride the one mile to the Interurban trail (on the sidewalk, if I had to) for an easy spin, but I couldn't do it. Two houses down from mine, a truck pulled up and suddenly started backing up, and I freaked out, and turned around and went back home. At least I did establish that I could readily sit down and get back up from the low seat, and that the bumps in the driveway didn't hurt the ribs too much if I went over them slowly.

[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!

[Sky King]

Yes, we can't control the behavior of adults We were discussing this on our ride yesterday and agreed That is someone tells you they will wait for the next group and you can go ahead you certainly can't control their actions.

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!

[Crankin]

Yesterday we tested the full route for a new ride we are leading in July. It's very local, but with some new roads. The end has a lot more climbing than I think we need for an after work ride, so I told DH that he will need to slow for the last 5 miles. The ride itself is only 16 miles, but yesterday we did it from the house, so it was 29. Stopped for lunch at Ferns and we both were feeling the dead leg feeling.
Total rest today.

[cosc]

I enjoyed reading all the ride reports.
Crankin it is very informative reading about rides you lead with the groups of riders. I live in a rural area with only a handful of riders who ride solo.
I could never keep up with the groups you ride with so it is good I crank alone. I am envious of your cycling strength and others gals on this forum.
I rode (Bran) a 7 day Nebraska ride this past week. Country was hilly but beautiful from lots of moisture. Two days were hot with high humidity. I had to stop in a cool place 20-30 minutes to cool down and feel human again. Carrying my baggage to camp was my biggest challenge on this trip. Some roads had nice surfaces but some had horizontal cracks which made me and my bike flinch. The last short but hilly day my bike wasn't changing gears right so I was glad to have that day behind me. My bike is going in for a tune-up this week. It might just need a new chain.
Tailwinds to everyone.

[Crankin]

Cosc, there are groups that ride all speeds. Speed doesn't matter, the fact you are riding is what matters! I don't do so much group riding anymore, unless I am leading...
Your ride sounds very challenging.