riding into the heat of july

[Geonz]

Abnormally cool here, too. We're on four day workweeks for the summer so I could sneak out 8:00 for a 30 mile exploration on Friday for today's ride... and see construction that didn't apply today (don't know if we went past it or if they finished it Friday or...??) ... and then took my new cargo bike to the bike shop for its 30-day checkup (cables tightened, etc, and a little cleaning). Then took my Gazelle the 1.5 miles over to The Bike Project to discern that yes, the bike shop had been correct and it was time to retire it (part of the reason I got the new cargo bike). Too many places with deep rust in that frame... (it got me back home, just fine, but James agreed with the bike shop guy: "You have to stop riding this bike.")
Oh, but there was still a little shopping to do... so a 4-bike 47-mile day :-)

Saturday I led my "Level 1 Saunter" ride in the cool air and ... did an extra loop because otherwise I'd have had to try to do something productive. That and an errand run got me 47 miles, too
Sunday was the "Rain. All day." Still rode to church and then in a pause in the precipitation (the heavy rain was a little to the south)... ducked out to investigate a new brewery and tap room which is, in fact, accessible with a multi-use path, *and* theyhave decent bike parking! So... a 12 mile day...

Today we had our annual "perimeter" ride and ... we didn't take the short cut I usually do (mainly because the route determiner has a much higher tolerance for traffic and his route is on Leverett Road which is fast and busy) because it hadn't gone through on Friday's exploration... and Leverett Road wasn't busy at all!
... because *it* was closed. So we added 5 miles and finished at 45.6 miles -- so I rode a little longer way home to take it to 63.
It's the first metric I've done in over a year and yea, every year I get, you know, older... so it feels *very* good to only have a bit of an ache in my left shoulder (and a need for a hot shower since the rain held off for all but that extra 10 miles at the end...)
Lots of things have to "work out" to get in a 1000 mile month (esp. since I'll have a weekend of traveling), but, maybe... except like Helene , I come apart with heat, and ... I'm not going to be a slave to numbers. "No pain, sounds good!"

[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.

[rebeccaC]

Left work a little early to ride the beach bike path to Manhattan Beach for a gathering of friends.

Got an image of a cute boy...perhaps he thinks people need to know to use caution around his bicycling


off to France saturday to watch the TdF ride by the family house in Gordes next thursday on the Mont Ventoux stage.

..safe rides for all !!!!

[north woods gal]

He may be on to something.

Rain, rain, rain for me. That means boring old indoor work on the trainer, but at least I can safely use my iPod to listen to some music. The good news is that the rain will make some of my sandy road trails more rideable with less fishtailing. Will be experimenting to see just how narrow I can go with tires before things get too spooky. Getting off the pavement to experience the huge variety of trail surfaces is very educational and very fun, as always.

[azfiddle]

Rebecca- hope you will post some pics and descriptions of the ride past Mt. Ventoux. Wow- envious!

It's too hot to be riding later than 9 am- I went out Weds for about 13 miles after watching the end of the TdF stage. Skipped yesterday and rode 17 miles up to Saguaro NP and back.


I had to stop to take a quick pic of this little Mamillaria cactus blooming along side of the road near the park. There were half a dozen or so- all sparked into flowering with recent summer rains. A nice surprise.

Untitled by Sharon Goldwasser, on Flickr

[Crankin]

The cool, misty, humid weather has put me in a lazy mood! I so enjoy the break from the abnormal heat, but it's coming back Wednesday. I rode the one mile to and from the gym on Thursday, where I did my circuit training and yesterday I hiked 4 miles, followed by walking 3.5 miles to dinner and back. So, today, after lounging around, watching the Tour, we went out for an 18 mile flat ride that was very enjoyable, mostly because now, I don't have the steep climb to get home anymore! Almost every other ride I do has some climbing, but this doesn't, only 425 feet of elevation. It was 64 degrees and cloudy and I started out with arm warmers and a vest. I ditched the arm warmers at mile 9, and although I was cool at first, it was fine.
So, I even though I had to force myself out, I am glad I went.

[emily_in_nc]

I've been away for awhile because my laptop died. I am back now. :-) During the time I was off-line, I did several rides. One was a very hot, hilly ride in the rural Iowa countryside (near Elkhorn) where I think I bonked. We had a rest stop at the top of a hill (in full sunshine) near the end of the ride (which was only 30 miles total but difficult because of the hills). When I stopped, I felt faint and nauseous and had to sit down awhile. I couldn't eat anything but did get some water down.

After the ride, I felt really off for about an hour. I had to sit down in the shower, I felt so light-headed and nauseous. I have hardly ever had anything like this happen, so it was quite strange. I did manage to eat a good lunch and drink a lot of water, and an hour or two later, I felt perfectly normal. It was really unpleasant, though.

The last two rides have been more utilitarian. The first was to pick up my new laptop at Walmart, and the second was to take our clothes to a laundromat. We are staying in a lovely campground about 10 miles from town, and the way there is about half bike path, half road. Very beautiful area (southern Minnesota and northern Iowa). After getting through two nights of helacious thunderstorms with high winds (very scary!) we are now having cool, sunny, breezy, and low humidity days and downright chilly nights (to me, anyway, 50s!) You just can't ask for better in July!

Here are a couple of photos from recent rides.

This first one is of my DH on the ride I bonked on:
Attachment 18080

And he took this one right before I had to sit down because I felt faint and nauseous. The photo is kind of nice, though!


Here's part of the bike trail near our campground we've been riding on lately:

[north woods gal]

That's the way it works for me, sometimes, Crankin. I'll sit around, debating whether or not to ride or where to ride, but once I'm out on the bike, I wonder what took me so long.

Been having a great week going out of my way to find the nastiest gravel and/or sand backroads and testing my various bikes as to how they performed. Did a full 14 miles of gravel/sand with my standard 26" 2008 vintage Trek 8000 MTB and it did very well, though conditions were excellent, given that we had a nice rain, last night, and the sand was firmed up nice. Have to be very careful in dry sand, though, with this one. Definitely a lot more squirrelly in the dry stuff. When the sand is dry, I use other bikes. Great bike for typical hard surface MTB trails, though. Light, very quick and agile bike.

Did have 25 miles of pavement to get to these gavel/sand roads and back, so even though those old 26" wheels are slow by road bike standards, did okay on the pavement. (LOVE the way the front shock eats those road cracks!) Also used this bike for winter commuting while living in Chicago.