riding into June and the beginning of summer

[emily_in_nc]

I just put up a blog post about some of our rides during our two-week stay in the Lake Ouachita area of Arkansas in late May. Yes, our blog is about 2 weeks behind!

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...ton-campground

[Helene2013]

I had my 110km (60km and 50km loops) on Saturday. It was very cold (11c), windy and last few kms rainy. I only did the 60km loop. It was 10km of hills in the middle and since I had not been able to train properly with my tibial plateau fracture in January, then the other issues that rose up because of this, my training started only mid-May and it was minimal vs the 5-6hours a week pre-fracture. Some hills I finished walking up to preserve the other knee as it has a baker's cyst and I do not want it to rupture (going to call ortho so he can take a look at it at some point). It felt great, I had no problem, did good speed on flat surfaces and hills...are hills. Last year I was able to climb them all but the biggest one which I ended up walking (because of knees again). But this year, I had to stop and walk 3-4 of them. But that's ok. I finished the 60km with a smile, and the last 2km were in the rain. We opted out of the 50km loop at that one is following the Champlain lake, and lots of opened fields. No need to push my knees or risk a fall at this point in my life. We did the 110km last year and the 50km loop, although mostly flat I think is a bigger (but boring) challenge due to winds. I think I prefer the hills.

I will register next year and hoping to do this time all the hills...on the bike. But hey! There are worst things in life than walking up a hill (saw a few women finishing on feet) and I count myself lucky to even be able to cycle right now.

[azfiddle]

Helene,
Glad to hear you took care of yourself and finished your rides.

We've been traveling since a week ago Friday. The route so far included rides Saturday June 4 in Silver City, New Mexico (30 miles, with friends and the hubby, and lots of climbing). In Albuquerque, on Monday June I road solo from the motel up the Tramway road and across town to meet up with the husband at the Bio Park, the long way, so about 25 miles. Part of the ride was on the path along the Rio Grande, so that was nice.

Thursday we camped at about 9400 feet in the mountains outside of Colorado Springs, and did about 20 miles of down and up and then back again. Highlight of the ride was seeing two bighorn sheep ewes cross the road and hang out on the hill for a few minutes. Yesterday (Sunday) we did a beautiful ride outside of Boulder, Colorado. We drove from my friend's house, which is above Jamestown, to a nicely paved road that runs north south through the mountains. We started about 9600 feet, rode downhill on the highway to about 8500 feet, then climbed back up mostly on a small road along the creek. The only time the altitude was a real problem was when the grade crept up over 7%...(not much of the time). Today, we hiked instead.

I'll post some pictures after I upload them to Flickr

[Crankin]

I was away for 3 days, and while I had the goal of riding Sunday when I got home, the winds were gusting up to 40 mph and it was cool. Much nicer than the 90 degrees and humid in Philadelphia. Clear, dry, and sunny. This is why I moved back here. Just 60 miles south of here, triple H weather.
I commuted today. It was cool this morning, around 56 and perfect when I rode home at 6 PM, about 77. Next week, is my last week of the 3 mile commute. When my office moves it will be 2.5. Not sure if it's worth it.
Going on a club ride tomorrow. Not long, but with riding to the start it will be about 40 miles.

[emily_in_nc]

We are in Missouri, and today I got to ride a segment of the Katy Trail I've not had the pleasure of riding before. Actually over to the trail from the RV park in Hermann (about 3 miles), over the mighty Missouri River, and then west to Mokane. I was ready to turn around in Portland, 10 miles earlier, but there was NO water at that trailhead, and it was 90+ degrees, so more water was a necessity. (I wasn't out but would not have made it back without getting more). Mokane had a cool hand pump, so I got to quench my thirst and refill my big bottle before we headed back east. At our last rest stop, there turned out to be a soda machine, so I got a Sundrop. That tasted sooooo good. I was absolutely drenched in sweat.

Final tally, including riding back into town: over 55 miles and 4 hours, 38 minutes in the saddle. Since the Katy is unpaved, it's fairly slow going by normal standards, so it was the saddle time more than the mileage that got me. It was an hour longer than any other ride I've done this year.

[north woods gal]

Good for you, emily. I have several loops of gravel road on my daily routes and it is nice to go off pavement, now and then, and explore some of the true backroads. I go with one of my bigger tire bikes when I do, like my Salsa Warbird with 700x35 tires. Does a very good job as long as I don't hit too large a gravel pile.

[emily_in_nc]

Good for you, emily. I have several loops of gravel road on my daily routes and it is nice to go off pavement, now and then, and explore some of the true backroads. I go with one of my bigger tire bikes when I do, like my Salsa Warbird with 700x35 tires. Does a very good job as long as I don't hit too large a gravel pile.

Fortunately the "gravel" on the Katy is actually very finely crushed/packed limestone so much easier riding than most gravel roads (though not as silky as asphalt, of course). We rode our Bike Fridays, which have 1.35" tires, but we saw other riders on skinny tired roadies, and a few on MTBs. When my DH did the entire length of the Katy, he rode his MTB, but after riding yesterday on our Fridays, he now wishes he'd done it on that, since the MTB was actually overkill for the conditions. For true gravel, the MTBs are a necessity, though. Gotta have that suspension and the wider tires!

[rebeccaC]

As the sun rose this morning I was on a peaceful slower paced ride with Alex and two friends. We rode from our friends’ house next to the golden gate park through the park then along the pacific ocean to fort funston. Rode back around lake merced and through city neighborhoods. A little under three hours and we didn’t keep track of the miles…..we just enjoyed being together.

We came to san francisco to walk with hundreds of others this afternoon from the harvey milk plaza through the castro district then through the mission district to a gathering in the streets around the galaria de la raza to honor our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in orlando. The feelings of a quiet beautiful morning ride along the ocean started the day in a way that helped us to see that actively working for peace in our own lives and especially our communities is such a strong and needed paradigm shift from hate, fear and negativity. The benefits of bicycling can be so much more than mere exercise or transportation.

amor y solidaridad

[Crankin]

North Woods, I wouldn't have called this a heavy traffic situation at all. Main St. is a 2 lane road, and purely residential at the place this occurred. Yes, cars were going by (speed limit is 35), but not as many as during rush hour, as it was Saturday morning. DH commuted, for years, in heavy traffic, so he is uber alert. I sort of had a feeling something funny was going to happen here, and I slowed a teeny bit, so I was not right behind him. We've had a few weird things happen this week, but it will die down next week, as school is out in Concord on Monday and is already out in surrounding towns. There is a noticeable drop in traffic during the summer, and we see this even on the weekends, because people tend to use the precious summer weekends to go to the beach or mountains. The worst summer thing around here (and it basically starts in March) are the huge number of people training for the PMC out on the roads on bikes on Saturday mornings. I live in a very popular area for cyclists; tons of people come out here from the city to ride, have lunch, ride the hills, and go home. It is annoying, even to me, when they are clogging up narrow country roads to the point that before I moved, I had to alter my route if I was going to the grocery store on Saturday morning. I love seeing how popular riding is, but a lot of these people just have poor riding etiquette.

[north woods gal]

I get that. I lived in the Chicago area for about seven years, so I know about heavy bicycle traffic. The Chicago area actually has some very good paved and unpaved bike trails, but these are also shared by pedestrians, often with kids. I'd see guys flying by these pedestrians, weaving in and out, no warnings, doing 20 plus mph on their bikes or the usual bicyclist and jogger plugged into an iPod, listening to music and so on, totally tuned out to the environment. Also, being a multicultural area, my usual, "On your left" as I passed didn't always register since English was definitely a second language for a lot of folks. Interesting place to live, for sure and I enjoyed the diversity.

It's all mostly a matter of educating, of course, as to proper etiquette and safety. As for the bicycle traffic, I worked around it as best I could, often riding during the heat of the day when traffic was the lightest. By August, had the trails to myself in the afternoon.

Up here, the biggest danger is some of the older retired folks in their cars who really don't know how to pass a bicyclist, not seeing us, passing too close, honking their horn and so on. By and large, though, I have the roads to myself and that's a good thing, of course. Might see another biker or two in a 20 mile loop, maybe half dozen cars. Still, there are times when I miss my Chicago days and having folks all around. Okay, just miss it a little.

[Crankin]

Did a little 10.2 mile to the Acton Boxborough Farmer's Market in West Acton, mostly so I could reach 1,000 miles today. I only needed 7 miles to do this, but we go back a different way, that is pleasantly almost all downhill, and a little longer. It is not a huge farmer's market, but very nice. Nice to see how my former community is doing something to bring people out; so many walking and riding there from a 2-5 mile radius. Although I've lived in Concord for almost 11 years, I still don't feel very connected to the community, but it's not a big deal, since it's all close by.
It's definitely hotter and more humid today, so this was fine, since we were out at noon. All we bought were some bagels, as we did not bring an ice pack or the big panniers, just a trunk rack.

[emily_in_nc]

I love riding to farmer's markets! There is one nearby (10-11) miles to our current campground, but we didn't want to brave the heavier Saturday traffic to ride there, as there's only one main road that way, and it gets busy. We did ride into town today, though, to visit a Little Free Library so I could exchange a few books (left five and took two; good for keeping the motorhome weight down ). Oh, and also to ALDI for groceries, which DH carried back in his panniers and rack basket. We have finally figured out that if he carries 40 lbs., we are well-matched in cycling strength. LOL!

Traffic was light on the way there and pretty heavy on the way back. Hot (80s) and sunny but not too humid, for Missouri in the summertime, anyway!

Ended up 27.6 miles at a slow pace -- lots of hills there and back. But a fun and productive ride.

[Sky King]

We live in a mixed use neighborhood and the owner of the complex has a food truck rally 4 times a year. I don't mind food truck rally's but really needed a people break so on a "lark" we decided to do an S24O Friday night. Left the shop at 6pm and rode 14 miles. Now 14 miles isn't that far unless it involves over 3,000 feet of elevation gain on a loaded bike! I was experimenting with load so went with heavy in the front and light in the back, I didn't like that for climbing. Notice we stopped at the brewery at the bottom of the climb to grab a growler (which I carried) so once we found a wonderful, isolated spot to hang the hammocks we enjoyed our beer and pre-cooked dinner. Had a beautiful view of Boise as well. Saturday morning we were up with the birds, drank some coffee and then a quick descent back to town. We were home by 9am. Quite a satisfying little "stay-cation"

[rebeccaC]

i always carry a satellite gps messenger when I do rides alone in the desert or mountains. It’s worth it for my peace of mind in sending location info and a message if I should need help or to emergency responders if needed for me or others. I also always have pepper spray gel hanging on the side or in my handlebar bag. what i use is even more potent for animals but like with people it subsides with no damaging harm done.

[Crankin]

I ditched the group ride yesterday; just was feeling off when I got up. Actually had my cycling shorts on, when I decided. Instead, I walked to the gym, did a power class, and then walked home.
This morning, I got up at 4:50 and got out for a glorious 10 mile ride, starting at 5:15. It's funny, before I moved to the condo, I would see tons of riders on my early morning rides, including large groups in Concord center, at 5:30 or 6 AM. Today, was the first time I saw other riders, 2 to be specific. It was 52 out , but I was dressed correctly, except maybe I should have had a light head cover on. Ad perhaps, long fingered gloves.