november rides....outside and inside

[ny biker]

I had a really good ride today. I led a club ride on a route that I've done before. We rode just 39 miles, sort of a big loop and smaller loop that lets us pass the Chesapeake Bay twice. Great fall weather, mid 50s with sunshine, all in all just a nice ride and a nice day.

If the weather holds I'll be leading club rides again on Wednesday and Saturday this week. And yesterday I was working on a route for a ride later this month. Before I went to bed last night I actually had to check the club website to remind myself where I was going to this morning -- too many different routes in my head.

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds like a fun ride, ny! Good weather always helps.

[Sky King]

This has been such an odd fall for me. Riding once a week is pathetic. We did get out on the pavement Saturday, We had no real plan but when we hit an intersection with a half marathon in process we decided to ride "against" the race instead of in the race as they were running with traffic on the side of the road - we thought that was a bit odd as traditional runners and walkers face traffic. Anyhow it was enjoyable as we rode a common route backwards, so to speak. Lots of wind so tucked home via the cemetery and some back roads. Sunday my BFF and I opted for a walk instead of a ride. Today she is having brain surgery to remove 3 tumors, my mind is certainly elsewhere as I type this.

[emily_in_nc]

So glad you're doing better, Sheila! Did not realize that had happened to you. How did you hurt your arm?

Happy to hear you're back in the saddle.

[Hartmame]

This is the toughest part of the year riding outdoors as much as possible, trying to hit the 3,000 mile mark before the end of the year. Yet hitting spin classes when the temperature are too low, wet or when I don't have time to wait for the temps to rise.

[azfiddle]

I did a 35 mile ride Saturday with my women's cycling group. I'm always the slowest one so I was spared seeing an accident in the front group. One of the riders is a little bit high strung and inattentive. She rode between two others and touched bars- one of them stayed upright but she and (I think) one of the other women went down. I got there and a few cars were stopped- a man in a big pickup truck kindly offered to take the two of them back to the start. At that point "L" couldn't put any weight on her leg and I was thinking some kind of fracture... We didn't call an ambulance- possibly should have but she went straight to the ER. Her injuries included a fractured sacrum and inferior and superior ramus. I think she had a torn muscle as well. Ouch!! After they left, I had to sit down for a minute because I get light headed just thinking about it. Then someone else went back with derailleur issues and someone else left early so it was just 3 of us.

I suggested we add in the 8 mile loop at Saguaro National Park instead of just stopping for water and halfway around I realized how close I was cutting it for getting back - I was scheduled to perform at the Tucson Celtic Festival. So I ended up with a few PR's on strava (which I only use when my Garmin battery isn't charged) but made it back in time.

Much more eventful than the usual Saturday ride. 6-8 weeks recovery time for my friend- plus wheelchair and then a walker to get around for a while. She's also a teacher and I can't imagine trying to be a middle school teacher with that limitation

[azfiddle]

Sunday's ride was much better than Saturday's. I was signed up for a century but opted to drop down to the 66 mile option - when I got to the start I decided I just didn't want to spend my whole day on a bike. Also, one of the sections for the longer route is very rough pavement and goes through a lot of depressing trailers where I always imagine people are inside cooking meth. At my speed (13.5- 14.5 average) it most likely would have taken me at least 7 hours. So my friend and I had a good ride although we battled the wind for most of the second half and got back for lunch when the fast riders were finishing the century. It was cool but not cold (around 50) to start, and in the 70's midday. Last time I did the full century, the food was about gone and they were taking down the SAG station when I rolled in (nearly last if not completely last...)

[Crankin]

I went to spin class today. Bah. It's cold, damp, raining. But, the good thing is that the club ride I was going to do was moved to Friday, another work-free day for me.
Spin at my new club is harder and better, but, going at 9:30 AM, well, you find yourself surrounded by the "housewives." I pretty much ignore them, and the least the instructor kept telling people to pay attention to themselves, which means no talking.
I wore my US Marines bike jersey for Veterans' Day and not one person acknowledged it.

[emily_in_nc]

Much more eventful than the usual Saturday ride. 6-8 weeks recovery time for my friend- plus wheelchair and then a walker to get around for a while. She's also a teacher and I can't imagine trying to be a middle school teacher with that limitation

Oh man, I feel her pain! That's similar to the fractures I had except mine was my ilium and the two rami on the right side. Non weight-bearing for eight weeks, wheelchair/walker, back to work after nine weeks (and limping a lot), but thank the gods I had a desk job. I hope she can sit a lot while teaching until she's fully recovered.

It's a slow road back. I rode on the trainer before I was weight-bearing and even did a 50-mile event four months out, but I've never really been the same since. Close, but not quite. I still have some residual scar tissue or something deep in that right buttock that sometimes gets achy even ten years after the fact, and all the PT, rest, ice, and ibuprofen in the world doesn't really make much difference. It mostly helps just to stay active. Foam rolling is helpful too.

I hope your friend will not have as many after-effects as I have over the years.

[emily_in_nc]

I wore my US Marines bike jersey for Veterans' Day and not one person acknowledged it.

Wow, I'm kinda surprised at that. Facebook is absolutely lit up with Veterans' Day memes today.

[Crankin]

That should tell you something about the kind of people in the class. Usually, when I wear it on rides, other women get nervous, that I was in the Marines, and I am going to drop them! At the least, I get a lot of questions.
Of course, I was also the only one wearing a bike jersey...

[ny biker]

Sunday's ride was much better than Saturday's. I was signed up for a century but opted to drop down to the 66 mile option - when I got to the start I decided I just didn't want to spend my whole day on a bike. Also, one of the sections for the longer route is very rough pavement and goes through a lot of depressing trailers where I always imagine people are inside cooking meth. At my speed (13.5- 14.5 average) it most likely would have taken me at least 7 hours. So my friend and I had a good ride although we battled the wind for most of the second half and got back for lunch when the fast riders were finishing the century. It was cool but not cold (around 50) to start, and in the 70's midday. Last time I did the full century, the food was about gone and they were taking down the SAG station when I rolled in (nearly last if not completely last...)

You've just described the reasons I don't do full centuries anymore. I have a friend who doesn't care that he's the last to finish, with the post-ride picnic over before he gets there, because he loves spending all day on the bike. But I enjoy it more when I do shorter routes, usually a metric.

Best wishes to your friend on her recovery.

I had the day off today (well our client was closed so we weren't allowed to work, but my employer was open so I had to take a vacation day, but anyway), so I led a 40-mile ride for the bike club. It was nice to do a daytime ride on a day when I would usually be going out in the dark after work. One of my friends co-led for another ride category, a slightly slower group. Yesterday's club ride was cancelled because of rain, so I expected a good group, and in total we had about 20 people. It was a nice route through farmland with a visit to a local park on the Patuxent River.

As I was driving to the ride start, just before I arrived there, the odometer on my car reached 100,000 miles. Seems nice for my car to reach that milestone on my way to a fun bike ride with friends.

[rebeccaC]

I want to ride through lots of rural fall color!!!!!

Azfiddle….i got lightheaded just reading that…..hoping your friend has a lot of positive moments on her healing journey!!!! The Tucson Celtic Festival looks like a good weekend...i like the idea of a welsh baker's tearoom too. It must be good to have the Festivals influence in the community….and good for your enjoyment of playing


I’m getting comfortable riding in downtown l.a. now. Took me awhile to get the traffic patterns/moves and know the streets/alleys. I don’t have vision’s of messengers in S.F. yet…..but I have met some interesting messengers. We go to meetings in downtown a few times a month…. frequently meeting with some there that have ridden/walked to the office so that works. Ellie wanted to ride more so we've done a few rides to meetings. We work close to the beach so it’s beach path to a series of paths going downtown to bike lanes and then city streets. It’s nice to have the miles of path going home to go slow and talk about work etc or if by myself just enjoy the ride. I waaaannnt that nice later sunset light back especially for weekend rides. After sunset the path’s are mostly softer light with a couple of interesting dark sections. It gives me an appreciation of looking through the dark with a headlight. ……..anyway we had a great ride on Monday. Perfect first stop for tea and a lemon ginger scone/breadfast oakmeal cookie to go, then we rode into an early meeting. We planned a few hours of being at the moca museum and eating something. That gave us a ride up some city hills and through some really busy streets where you just have to be calm…..which also gives me time to see photo opportunities or just stop and take one. A later meeting went really long so we had dinner near the start of the path and had a couple of short interval challenges on the way home to just tease each other. Just 46 miles but interesting miles and day...with pleasant weather as a bonus. Looking forward to the next ride.

moca mirrors

[Crankin]

Did a nice 23.5 mile ride today, with my friend and DH. Friend's husband was leaving for a business trip, so off we went. We pretty much stayed at her pace (slow), although I went ahead for part of the ride, just a little. DH is hurting from all the work he did at the condo yesterday, including lugging the new vanity for the bathroom upstairs, so he was happy to ride this way.
Went on many favorite roads, with just one bigger climb, near the beginning of the ride, through an apple orchard.
For once, I was dressed perfectly. We both commented that riding at a slower speed is so much nicer!

[ny biker]

I rode 33 miles yesterday, my third time leading a club ride in a week, 11th so far this year. It was an all-class ride starting at 9:30 am. I had declared several weeks ago that I was done with getting up early for bike rides this year because I prefer to let the sun warm things up as much as possible before rides in the fall and winter. But yesterday's ride was special. It was billed as a rededication of a rail trail that had been closed for about a year due to utility work in the area, but really it was a surprise dedication of a new trailside bench in honor of two members of our club, a married couple who have devoted many hours to improving conditions for cyclists over the past several decades. The plan was to offer two routes -- an out-and-back on the trail and a slightly longer route that started on the trail and then circled around on roads back to the start. I volunteered as one of the leaders for the longer route.

The weather forecast did not look good when I went to bed the night before -- overnight lows in the 30s, highs the next day reaching 50 but with strong cold winds from the NW. I prepared a winter riding outfit. Happily when I woke up at 6 am I found that the temperature had not gone below the mid-40s. It was still windy, with the worst headwinds at the the start of the ride, but the sun warmed things up and we spent enough time with tailwinds or on roads sheltered from the wind to make it an unexpectedly good day for cycling. I still wore my warmest tights (PI Amfibs) and my Woolie Boolie socks, but otherwise wore lighter-weight clothes than I had originally planned and was more than warm enough.

As for the main event, the surprise bench dedication, no one expected that we would really be able to keep it a surprise from the honorees. But we were wrong -- it was such a surprise that only one of them came to the ride, as the other had a prior commitment helping out at a local food pantry. Nonetheless it was a nice ceremony, well worth an early start on a blustery day.