August Rides

[emily_in_nc]

NWG, I've been meaning to mention that DH and I were recently in a Trek bike shop in Park Rapids, MN to get some chammy butter, and I was looking at the fat bikes, just for fun. I commented to the guy working in the shop that I guessed they were super heavy, and he had me pick up a carbon one. Despite the humongus tires and rims, it was amazingly light! Wow. No, I didn't even ask how much it was!

[north woods gal]

Emily, I think the secret is the rims not being solid. Those vents help to keep weight down. Carbon helps, too, but I'm a bit leery about carbon on mountain bikes. With all the rocks and smashing up against objects, a beautiful carbon frame is going to take a beating. Love carbon on road bikes, but if you're afraid of banging up your frame, you are definitely not riding your MTB the way you need to ride it. At my MAYBE intermediate skill level, frame material isn't an issue. I have a very long way to go to justify the expense of a carbon frame on an MTB. Just not in that class.

[Crankin]

I would not get a carbon mtb or fat bike, either.
Today I planned to go to tabata class at the gym, as I was exhausted from riding in the heat yesterday. But, I rode there, a different way. It's only a mile the normal way, today was 1.5 miles, by leaving my street and riding through the neighborhood behind us and then taking a fire road that connects to the gym's parking lot. The neighborhood was nice and I am pretty good now with riding my road bike slowly over dirt and roots. But, there's gates at both ends and I am just not confident enough to ride through the small space where you can get through. I had to get off my bike to get on the trail and put my foot down on the other end.
Wearing road shoes didn't help here, either.

[Crankin]

DH and I went out with no particular route in mind. It's hot, but not humid. I am so sore from tabata yesterday, despite stretching, etc. I haven't been to one of these classes since May, although I do go to other stuff at the gym. Anyway, we were thankful it got cloudy every few minutes and we were sticking to a shady route, when we saw some ominous looking clouds. Looked at the weather and there was a small storm heading in our direction. We thought we'd be fine for maybe a 20-30 mile ride, and we did feel a couple of raindrops, but we started heading back, so we only did 15 miles. I've had a few too many times of getting caught in thunderstorms. I feel much better now, and I think it was best to view this as a recovery ride.
Think I am going to skip power lifting class tomorrow and just commute on Monday and Tuesday. Only a total of 10 miles for 2 days, but I kind of just feel like riding right now.

[Catrin]

Sounds like a nice ride Crankin! I think you are wise to listen to your body and be willing to change things as you feel like doing.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, I think the secret is the rims not being solid. Those vents help to keep weight down. Carbon helps, too, but I'm a bit leery about carbon on mountain bikes. With all the rocks and smashing up against objects, a beautiful carbon frame is going to take a beating. Love carbon on road bikes, but if you're afraid of banging up your frame, you are definitely not riding your MTB the way you need to ride it. At my MAYBE intermediate skill level, frame material isn't an issue. I have a very long way to go to justify the expense of a carbon frame on an MTB. Just not in that class.

Oh, I totally agree, I just thought it was interesting, since I expected to barely be able to lift the thing! And you are right about the rims not being solid; the bikeshop guy even pointed that out. A fat bike is not even in my future as it's just not needed for the type of riding I do 99% of the time (it would have been great in Belize, though!), and we don't have space to carry another bike, but I just think they are cool.

[ny biker]

I led a club ride today, 43 miles. A friend co-led at a different pace category, and there was a fair amount of intermingling. My goal was to average 14 mph, because that is the minimum speed of a ride I'm committed to leading next week, and lately with the super hot weather and periods of inactivity I've been averaging a bit slower than that. I had a couple of slow stretches, one where I slowed down to wait for someone who was off the back, and another when it got hilly. So my average dropped from almost 15 mph after 17 miles down to 13.6 after the hilly part, then in the last 10 miles I worked to get it back up to 14.1. My legs are tired now but the effort should pay off for next week and some harder rides that I hope to do over the next 6 weeks. Along the way I had a nice chance to chat with friends. The weather was darn near perfect.

[north woods gal]

NY, I admire your average speed. You've got me beat, for sure.

We've been at my family reunion at a resort in Delavan, Wisconsin, just one town over from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It's in southern Wisconsin, just across the border from Illinois. The area has always been a resort area for Chicago folks. The resort is on Lake Delavan, itself.

Took my "any kind of road" road bike in my Salsa Fargo, but sure didn't need it. A standard road bike would have worked, but, even so, those big fat 29er 2.2" tires on the Fargo make for a very comfy ride and since you never know what you will encounter for roads in a new area, the Fargo is great insurance. Another plus for heavy traffic riding is how steady and straight the Fargo is when you have only a very narrow shoulder to ride. Much less twitchy than a 700x25 road bike AND if you ever have to take the bike off the pavement and hit the gravel on the shoulder in a hurry for safety's sake, no sweat. The Fargo rides in the gravel about as well as on pavement. About as safe a bike I've found, yet, to ride in traffic.


Rode the 13 miles around the lake several times. Easy ride, but some traffic in parts. Multi, multi million dollar homes all around the lake. Quite a change from my north woods, but very interesting.

On the last day, found a nice rail-to-trail called the White River Trail, which starts about 6.5 miles from the resort. It's 11 miles long, flat as a pancake and straight as an arrow. Fine crushed gravel surface. You could even use a road bike. Alternates between farm fields and wooded areas. Very pleasant to ride with lots of families out on their bikes. A one day trail pass costs $5, but it is worth it.

About 6 miles in from the western entrance is a small coffee shop called Cup and Pedal, right on the trail, that rents bikes and serves a great latte'. Super folks.

75 miles in 3 days. Not a lot, but about all I could spare between catching up with all my brothers and sisters and the extended family. All in all, brought back great memories of my younger days when all of my riding was in farm country. Love my north woods, but made me a little homesick, all the same. The open country and corn fields were nice.

[Crankin]

Stomach issues kept me off of the bike yesterday. In fact, I barely made it to work. I did commute today; it was 64 at 8 in the morning and just under 90 when I came home at 3:30 (I had an early day). It feels like AZ out there, and windy, too. It looks like a crappy week for riding, heat, increasing hellish humidity, and scattered storms for the next 3 days, and more chances of rain on the weekend. I may try to go out tomorrow, early AM, but I am not going to force it. At the least, I'll do some kind of short ride. I've got a hair appt. at 3, which precludes a lot, then there's the weather, and I want to go see the granddaughter, too.
Meh, I am just shy of 1,500 miles and usually I am hitting 2K by the end of August. I am going to be away a week in September and a long weekend in October, so I pray I get a burst of energy in between.
A whopping 5.3 miles.

[north woods gal]

Hope you're feeling better, Crankin. I know what it's like to commute when you aren't feeling too great. Hey, 5.3 miles is still 5.3 miles. I only did 2, yesterday, but, okay, I put in 4 hours of heavy labor in making MTB trails on our 7 acres of woods. It's paying off, though. I can now put in an hour of biking, doing loops on the trails I already have, right out my door. Some of it is moderately challenging with tight turns and some steep humps. All fun, though.

[rebeccaC]

Once more my after work before heading home from Oxnard favorite ride….Caryl rd.
I’ve seen wild geraniums bloom first, then wildflowers and now bougainvillea’s are adding their color to the ride. Perfect low 70’s and no wind. We haven’t done any longer rides lately but Sat. we are going to the Napa Valley to spend a few days of riding through the beautiful wine country, relaxing and just being together…..feeling blessed.



















and back down ending at the ocean and someones chair

[rebeccaC]

thanks nwg.....and yeah you should go for a ride

(friend killed by a drunk driver on a road that was less than a mile from my home) and then someone complained and the city threatened removal of the ghost bike.

had a friend who was hit and killed in a Venice alley last year. We first made the important contact with the family because they lived in the area and asked how they felt about our doing a ghostbike. then we also talked to the city. We were able to secure a ghostbike to a post by where the incident happened. The family removed it a month or so later and kept the bike. Before, during and after its presence i did and i now usually think of my friend when riding in that block of the alley.