riding into the heat of july

[Crankin]

I had a very hot ride today, also, and Helene, I was thinking about you.
We set out at 9:30 AM for the first 25 miles up to Kimball's Fruit Farm in Pepperel, MA, on the border of Hollis, NH. There is one big climb right before you get to the farm, with the rest rolling, a couple of smaller hills. It was OK, the temperature was going up, it's breezy, though and not too humid. There was a lot of shade in this part of the ride. I decided not to mess around, because I always get about 3/4 done with this ride, feel like I am going to bonk, and start chewing Shot Blocks. Today, I ate them every hour and it really helped. Because I rode my Trek, I couldn't bring a cooled lunch, and they don't sell stuff except fruit at the farm. I brought half a walnut butter/jell sandwich for lunch, with a Lara Bar. After lunch, there was less shade in various portions of the ride, a very steep climb (in the shade) after we get back into MA from Nashua, NH, and then we ride a rolling section by a lake that fools you a bit. There is one big climb after this, and then we are sort of heading toward where we start. Maybe 8-10 miles left? Anyway, there seems to be a hill every couple of miles, and right at the end, there is one that is completely unshaded. I was good about drinking my Skratch (I had 2 bottles) and some plain water, which I also used to cool myself. I was losing it when we pulled into the lot where our cars were, but I got in the car, ate another Lara Bar and we were home quickly (the start is in a neighboring town). I then proceeded to drink 2 huge glasses of ice water and eat some left over white beans with whole wheat cous cous.
All in all, I did better than I thought, given the fact it's 87 degrees out, my quads and hamstrings are sore from my hike yesterday, and I rode 48.6 miles, with about 2,500 ft. of climbing. We are bringing people on this ride in 2 weeks and it better be cooler. I was questioning our sanity about doing this, but we have led a version of it for several years and people like to torture themselves, I guess.

[north woods gal]

Heat plus all those hills makes for some tough riding. Really helps that you know the route and how your body handles it, though. Good for you, Crankin.

Just decided to relax a bit, today, and go back on pavement with one of the road bikes. (I am fortunate enough to have both MTB and road biking, right out my door.) Did a very easy 25 mile loop past some of my favorite lakes. Met a guy on a fat bike as he was about to head up the same trail I did, yesterday, and warned him about all the ATV activity. On the way home, doing my usual steady 13-14 mph and admiring the scenery, some guy passed me like I was standing still. He did wave, though, as he passed me.

As I rode, today, I reflected on just how lucky I am. My county really is road bike heaven. Hundreds of miles of paved roads with very little traffic and not a single hill that I can't handle with a compact double up front on one of the road bikes. Each road seems more beautiful than the next. Heat, at its summer worst, is very rarely a problem. Life is good in my north woods.

[ny biker]

We're having bizarre weather for July. A few days ago the forecast for the weekend said it would be near perfect both days, sunny and 80ish degrees, with Sunday a bit less humid than Saturday. So I planned to lead a ride yesterday (Sunday). I didn't expect a big group because it was up in northern Maryland which is a long drive for most of the people in my bike club. It's my favorite place to ride and I haven't been there since December. It's actually not great for long rides in the summer because there are long stretches of unshaded roads through farmland, but with the forecast for near perfect, unhumid weather I figured we'd be okay. Fast forward to Saturday, which does have perfect weather, and the forecast for Sunday has gone downhill, with rain showers expected. But they weren't calling for anything severe so I planned to ride anyway. When I woke up on Sunday, there was a big blotch of rain on the radar map but it was all just barely south of the area where I had planned the ride, with clouds but no rain expected there for the rest of the day. So the ride was on.

As it turned out, only one other person showed up. We started at a park that is a popular starting place for other clubs' bike rides, but hardly anyone was there at all, so I expect the holiday weekend was keeping many people off the bike with plans for cookouts and fireworks. Anyway the skies had cleared more than I had hoped. I've noticed that sometimes a cloudy day is gray and gloomy, but sometimes it can still be fairly bright with mostly white clouds, and that was what we had in the morning. The ride was mostly uneventful. We missed one turn (I was too busy chatting to pay attention to what road we were on) but had no trouble getting back on track when we realized our mistake. There was also a road closed near the end due to a bridge repair, but again we knew the roads well enough to come up with an easy detour. The only real incident was when a driver turned to pull into a parking lot too close to my friend, and he had to brake fast to avoid a crash.

The clouds did start to turn more gray in the afternoon, but overall the weather ended up just fine. The humidity was not too high and the temperature was in the 70s the whole day. We did see an occasional peek of sunshine but never felt uncomfortable. In all we rode 45 miles. The pace was slower than usual for me, my legs felt every hill and my back and neck muscles were sore at the end, but overall it was a good bike ride and a good first long ride after my vacation.

[rebeccaC]

Just rides around the neighborhood this 4th weekend doing errands, lunching with friends and some shopping. Took time to photograph some of the bikes around here. Mostly city cruisers but saw an interesting e-fatbike. The couple said they got around 50 miles to a solar charge. perfect low 70's with some clouds in the mornings. I feel blessed
















and since venice beach is the home of Linus bikes there are quite a few of them

[north woods gal]

Love the pics! Very interesting fat bike. Had no idea there was such a thing as a fat bike with juice.

[azfiddle]

It's my last week of vacation.... rode out to look for a rare bird and after 24 miles, discovered the wetlands were close this morning for mosquito treatment. Oh well. I picked up the car from my husband's work at mile 30 and skipped riding home in the heat.

[north woods gal]

Huge country music festival, here, this week along my favorite bike route. Tons of traffic and much of it is with big RVs and campers. Not the kind of traffic I want passing me, so have been working some bike loops on the opposite direction. Bit more limited in terms of variety, but a couple have some good challenging sand roads to keep my interest level high. Be pretty much fat tire bikes this week. Will get back to the road bikes after the festival.

[Crankin]

Took a much needed recovery day yesterday. This morning, DH and I went out at about 6:15 and did a 12 mile ride. It is supposed to be 95 today, and the humidity is way up there. I plan to be in the AC; just did not want to go to the gym. Feels like a snow day to me.
DH had done this short route one day without me; I was not that impressed, as there was one traffic-y place I avoid at all cost in that direction. There's a lot less people out than normal, as it's the week most people here take their traditional summer vacation, so it wasn't too bad, but on my early AM rides, I feel like this required too much concentration! We did go through some nice streets in Sudbury, but we had to also cross a busy road twice. Not too mention, my average was well over 15, which for me, at that time of day is a major accomplishment.