june adventures on a bike....

[BikeDutchess]

I just did a 2.5 mile ride with my daughter to get some after-dinner ice cream. The weather is so nice, perfect temp for a quick evening neighborhood ride.

[rebeccaC]

I just did a 2.5 mile ride with my daughter to get some after-dinner ice cream. The weather is so nice, perfect temp for a quick evening neighborhood ride.

......but now i want gelato and brownies and it's too late....smiling photos of women in helmets helps though sounds like two good rides!!!

[Crankin]

A pristine New England day, with no work, but plenty to do. I woke up feeling kinda off, so I decided to bag the 2 group rides I could go to. My friend, Jack, tried to guilt me into doing one of them, with the crazy old guys (i.e. my age or older), but I just didn't want to to do 50 hilly miles today. So, I set out to do a short loop. Right when I was coming to the intersection to turn back home, I was thinking about doing a few more miles when a woman on a tri bike passed me, as I was slowing for the 4 way stop at a busy intersection. I was to the right of the cars, in the shoulder, and there were 2-4 cars in the lane. She went right between me and the cars, where there was not a lot of space. It scared the sh!t out of me and then I got mad. This is not a place where you need to take the lane, but still. If she had stayed behind me and waited for me to stop and cross the intersection, it might have been 20 seconds? So, I went straight through the intersection, at a much faster speed and headed to get an iced coffee. It was nice to sit in the sun and chill, and then I headed home. As I was getting ready to shower, I started feeling really awful, still not sure what it is. Stomach is definitely off, kind of tired,weird muscle aches. Tried everything to calm myself and eventually headed out to do a bunch of stuff and then home to do paperwork.
I am glad I got out there, but praying this resolves when I wake up tomorrow. We leave for France exactly a week from now, and I have a ride to lead tomorrow night, as well as Saturday, although that doesn't look so good from a weather standpoint. It's my club's bike rally, so at least we'll have the happy hour and dinner if the rides get cancelled.

[Crankin]

We led a 17 mile ride at 6 PM tonight. I had a good time as the sweep, but poor DH had a real azzhole behind him, who kept passing him on the right and making left turns from the right... he said something many times and the guy just got pissed. AMC rides require that we keep people together, as in no one goes ahead of the leader or behind the sweep, and if they do, you are off of the ride. It's different than most bike clubs, but we like it. There was another woman leader in training who was at the back with me. She's a super hiker, but slowed near the end of the ride, and had some issues climbing, but a really nice person. Anyway, it was hotter than hell today, but by 6 PM, it was 82, breezy, and cloudy, and very nice. We were done by 7:15 and I feel good.

[azfiddle]

I started the bike adventure in Ireland on Tuesday. We got the bikes and all of the information for the routes and set off from Ennis to the seaside town of Kilkee. The route took us on a lot of quiet back roads for the most part- and we only had one bit of confusion over a turn off. We have been mostly using kilometers- but the first day was about 36 miles. It us almost four hours, between picture stops , route checks and the chain on my husband's bike coming off and getting stuck for a while.

Weds we rode south of Kilkee in a 23 mile loop that ended with spectacular scenery, on cliffs above the ocean. It was our second day in a row with clear, sunny weather and the colors were brilliant. We then rode 23 miles north to finish in Miltown Malbay.

Thursday we did a loop back inland to see a "tower castle" by the town of Corofin. It was supposed to be an easy day but ended up being 40 miles and 2000 feet of climbing in the end.

This morning we're going north to Doolin, via the cliffs of Moher. It is so easy having our stuff transported to each destination. We get to the towns, have dinner and have found trad music sessions on 3 of the first 4 nights.

[BikeDutchess]

Now that sounds like a fabulous trip! Hope you'll post some pictures.

[Crankin]

We had a great bike rally today. Thought it might rain, but instead we had 75-85 degrees and sun. DH led our group quite fast, but it was OK; as the sweep, I would say this is the most together group we've had. I hung at the back with a few people and all was well, until one guy, who had been near the front got slower and slower, until it was only me and him. Finally I asked if he was OK, and he said "no." Gee, you've been slowing and acting weird for 20 minutes and you'll barely admit it now?? We stopped, I gave him Nuun and a Shot Block, and then I had to tell him to actually drink the water with the Nuun, so it would work. He decided to stop at a park and wait for the slightly slower group, doing the same ride. I took off, thinking I'd be alone for the rest of the ride, but the group was waiting for me. Then, all of a sudden, we saw the guy, just as we were taking off. So, he didn't rest and didn't wait for the slower group. He didn't catch up, though. When we drove home to shower, before the dinner, he was standing in the middle of the road with his bike, just before the end. We didn't stop and he did make it back (they had to sign in). Despite the stopping and slowing, my average was faster than it usually is for a sweep. 29 miles.
Showered, went back to Verrill Farm, where we had drinks and dinner under the tent, with live music for happy hour. Very nice. Went out for ice cream with our friends afterwards, and now I am going to rest!

[Sky King]

Forecast for the weekend 100 to 108 degrees and we depart at 7 am tomorrow for our dirt road ride from Boise to Ketchum/Sun Valley. 155 miles in 3 days, self supported. A bit nervous about the heat.
I just keep telling myself it isn't a race, it isn't my first rodeo and the road, while dirt and gravel, it a good road. I am not even taking my sleeping bag, just my silk liner and a small fleece blanket. Promise to take some photos - perhaps some sunrises as I expect to be on the bike as early as practical everyday.

[salsabike]

Ride safe and happy, Sky King. Water water water etc.

[marni]

Todays ride was an out and back from Sealy to Bellville along the infamous Coshatte Rd- 14 elevation changes in 4 miles, mostly just rollers or slightly challenging short slopes but three rel hills with requisite gear changes. One real (to quote a friend) "oh God " hill because that's what you keep saying as you pedal up it. Started at 7:30 am at 83 degrees and finished at 10:30 with the temp at 92- high humidity throughout. Nice to see the whole group together again for the first time in several months and as usual the bakery in Bellville had a lot of good stuff.

And in spite of the miserable rain and thunder and lightning on an almost dily basis, I actually got in 6 rides this month which doubles the my average but is still purely pathetic. Of course with the heat and humidity it is hard to tell when you are all wet from rain or sweat. Most days it's a little like riding through a warm mucous bath.

[Crankin]

I took my first ride since coming home from France. I went out at 5:15 AM or so, and I was actually passed by another woman rider, as soon as I got out of my neighborhood. Very strange at that time of the morning, since I usually don't see anyone going in my direction for awhile. Today, I saw at least 6 riders before I got to Concord Center, as well as lots of others after. I started out strong, but got tired quickly, as I woke up with my stomach upset from what I ate last night. It was humid as hell, too. Rode 13 miles, with the intention of then riding to work at 9, but I quickly nixed that idea. It's going to rain hard tomorrow, with thunder, so the ride I was really looking forward to, along the NH seacoast, was pushed to Thursday, when, of course, I have to work.

[khg]

I feel like the last day of the month is a good day for me to post about June adventures on the bike, as other than a big mountain ride yesterday, day-to-day hasn't had much to write home about (or to the forum about...) but the cumulative effect has been worth something.

Mostly through commuting and errand-running, I've put about 300 miles on my bikes in June. I have some big rides coming up, both in terms of length and degree of challenge, and I meant to do more in June, but... Getting ready for a big new career challenge, busy with existing work, a fun little bout of food poisoning, etc. The usual excuses.

But often during June on my little rides--especially on my commute home--I've been picking sections to to go all-out on, sometimes more just as a way to burn off stress at the end of the day than any purposeful training plan (and there were still plenty of times I crawled home as pitifully slowly as I could). But my commute essentially turned into a bit of an unorganized interval training session. And I've been feeling good. Really good!

I decided that feeling good wasn't just wishful thinking when I set a new personal best of 5:07 on one of the hills on my commute home--having biked it over 100 times, I was pretty thrilled. And then a few days later, biked the same hill in 4:45!

And then yesterday I biked up Mt Baker (the ride went from 1000' to 5000' with about 4500' total elevation gain because of some rolling hills)--since I hadn't been doing longer rides, or sustained climbs for a while, I wasn't sure how it would go, but I had so much fun! I felt great the whole way up, and like I could have kept riding for much longer.

So, long story short, June's rides individually weren't that interesting that I wanted to write about them. But I feel like despite my disappointment with myself about not getting more riding in, that the sum total of the month was actually a noticeable improvement in my fitness, aka my fun capacity!

And it's a good thing too, since I have the STP double century on July 11th, and the big RAMROD ride on July 29th, and a few other similar challenges planned for next month... Whee...

[Sky King]

Decided I better check in and let you know we survived - there were certainly moments... Day 1 did not start off as planned, one of the last minute riders was an hour late for departure. The bike hermit and I waited for him and sent everyone else off. With 54 miles to cover that put us on the worst section of the ride at the hottest time of day - one guy said his garmin said is was 115 degrees. Guess what, some nail polish melts at that temperature - It was quite strange to take off my socks and shoes and see smeared nail polish everywhere. We lost 2 riders after that day. Thankfully day 2 & 3 had way more shade and lots of opportunities for jumping into rivers and creeks. Also being able to start between 6:30 and 7 am helped. Day 2 was 59 miles but after an early climb was relatively flat - rode through what I swear is the heart of ATV country - talk about dusty, they are like angry ants. Day 3 was really pretty. We had a major 5 mile climb but no traffic and some nice trees spaced just right for shade breaks. The last 20 miles is all downhill. Dropping off the mountain was like walking into a furnace. Big biking events in Ketchum so a bit overwhelming with bikes, music and crowds - we managed to find a bar with a patio and hide out until the Pedal Idaho Van picked us up. - Something we will do again, so nice to not have to juggle transportation.
I did manage to put to much pressure on the palm of my right hand and now have numb little finger and ring finger. I know if was the heat and fatigue on day one. Also managed to get a saddle sore - that's a first, again I attribute to the heat and fatigue.

I didn't take any photos so am at the mercy of the rest of the group but will post a few when I have more.
Looking forward to staying home and out of the heat - we've been over 100 for over 8 days now, whine

[Crankin]

Sky King, the only time I've ever had a saddle sore has been on multi day trips in high temps. This time, I took the Preparation H with me to France, and after the first ride, I felt something starting, I applied after showering, before bed, and before riding. It worked! I used it every day and it's the first time I didn't have a saddle sore from heat.
I commuted today for the first time since my trip. I had a client at 8, so I could leave early, before traffic, and of course, no school buses. I am done at 3, so an easy ride home.

[Sky King]

Thanks Crankin, I did put some on the minute we got home, I do think it helped