September Rides

[Helene2013]

I had not planned doing any ride before the upcoming weekend. Too busy since we came back from vacation Friday evening. We had to be at my friend at 1pm pm to chat about our trip and pick up my cat she was catsitting for us. Well hubby saw a few bikes go by our house and was itching to go. So I dressed and we went for a quick 30km. Not long but satisfying and I pushed myself hard on this one. It was pretty windy too. But oh so nice cool. Amen to fall decent weather. Came back to shower and off we were at 2pm. She was glad we pushed our arrival time as she was behind in her schedule. She works on Sunday morning. So it worked out well.

[azfiddle]

Yesterday was the group ride- about 40 miles. A frequent destination (Saguaro NP) but from a more distant starting point and with an extra bit out to the easternmost section of Tucson, ending that part with a half mile climb that gets up to 11% for a bit. Ouch! Today we took the new-riding son on his first ride up Mt. Lemmon- just about 4.5 miles from the base (plus the 5 miles from where we park the car) - 1500 feet of climbing and he did great. He took a few stops but as soon as he got back on the bike he was always able to ride faster than me (but not my husband). He's loving it! Wait 'til we unveil the touring bike we found him on Craigslist.... not sure it will wait until the holidays to be unwrapped.....

[Crankin]

I had a really nice 5 AM 12 mile ride this morning. Did not see the same amount of cars as last Tuesday, and no deer ran across the road in front of me, scaring me to death! It was 53 when I left, a bit warmer than I thought it would be. Yesterday was 48 at the same time, so when I put out my clothes last night, I based it on that. Still, not really over-heated, although I did stop about 3 miles from home, and take off my head cover.
First time wearing tights since the spring, and I was glad I had those on.

[cosc]

Helene, glad you got to ride in cooler temps. Very refreshing after the heat of Tennessee.
NY Biker, I'm jealous of the beautiful but challenging rides you accomplish.
Azfiddle, terrific to add a son to your cycling family.
Crankin, you bike reports inspire me to get on my bike no matter the circumstance and "Just do It". You always have a colorful ride, some on the blues side and others sunshine, but all end up beautiful.

[Helene2013]

Another 30km tonight. It was soooo cool, no wind. To me this is perfect riding weather. Could have done easily 2 more hours but was getting dark and needed to come home to my dogs. And to say hubby was whining it was too chilly for him. Lol mismatched couple on temperature. Lol it was one of my fastest outings to date.

[ny biker]

I'm supposed to go out for a ride tonight. The weather is beautiful. Yet I feel so lazy!

I'm working from home so to change things up I think I will ride around my neighborhood, going in circles up and down the hills. Hopefully there won't be much traffic.

I posted a long hilly ride on my club schedule for Saturday so of course now they say it will rain. But scattered light rain -- maybe we can still get some miles in. The route I planned includes 2 short cuts.

Looking ahead to the following weekend's charity ride -- the metric route is just as hilly as the one I chose not to do last weekend (and shares some of the same roads). I need to log some miles!

[Crankin]

OK, I am coming clean. I rode on Yom Kippur. Sat all morning in services, looking out at the most perfect weather imaginable. I could not concentrate and had a generally bad attitude that I don't usually have. Yeah, I didn't fast, either, so came home, ate lunch and did a teeny 11 mile ride, as I had a ton of paperwork to do. I felt really good after the ride, went to the store, and then settled down and did my work. The weather guy is now saying "best day ever." Rest day tomorrow, but I plan on doing at least 20 on Friday.
I guess my list of sins for the new year has already started .

[ny biker]

I'm supposed to go out for a ride tonight. The weather is beautiful. Yet I feel so lazy!

I'm working from home so to change things up I think I will ride around my neighborhood, going in circles up and down the hills. Hopefully there won't be much traffic.

I posted a long hilly ride on my club schedule for Saturday so of course now they say it will rain. But scattered light rain -- maybe we can still get some miles in. The route I planned includes 2 short cuts.

Looking ahead to the following weekend's charity ride -- the metric route is just as hilly as the one I chose not to do last weekend (and shares some of the same roads). I need to log some miles!

See, posting here is making a commitment. I hauled my butt out there and rode 20.7 miles without ever leaving my neighborhood. There's a community center at the top of a hill on the other side of the 'hood, with roads that go in a circle down the hill and back up again. So I rode over there for a warm up, then did 10 clockwise hill repeats, a brief spin around some flat roads for a break, then 10 hill repeats counter-clockwise, or maybe it was 11, I lost count. Then I rode back over to my side of the 'hood, and for one last effort I kept going past my house down the hill to the dead end and came back up again. As I turned around at the bottom there was a man standing on his front porch whistling "Pennies from Heaven." Estimated total elevation gain was about 1500 feet. My quads are feeling it. Mission accomplished!!

Riding around my neighborhood is not as nice as it used to be. Traffic is not too heavy but it's constant and most people either have no patience or are just clueless. The main through streets have bike lanes but there are many parked cars so the risk of being doored is also constant. And the squirrels are especially stupid around here, running in front of you and then stopping like they want to get run over. But tonight things went well. Perhaps we finally have enough cyclists in this area that people are more accustomed to sharing the roads. And I guess the squirrels were napping...