September rides

[north woods gal]

Yeah, welcome to life in the great wide open. When living in Nebraska, we used to joke about the 4 or 5 days a year we would get with no wind and how it would scare everyone. Actually some truth to it, given that it would amaze people.

For bike riding, AWAYS a factor.

[ny biker]

I rode 62 miles yesterday in St Mary's County, Maryland. It was cloudy and humid but cool. At one point we did have a strong headwind near the river, but mostly the breeze wasn't bad. There were 6 of us. Some of the roads were new to me. One of our stops was at a plantation that dates back to 1702; I'd like to visit there again and see more of it. My legs felt tired on every hill but it was fun.

[emily_in_nc]

Yeah, welcome to life in the great wide open. When living in Nebraska, we used to joke about the 4 or 5 days a year we would get with no wind and how it would scare everyone. Actually some truth to it, given that it would amaze people.

LOL! Today we were on the road, driving from NE Colorado into Nebraska, and the local news here reported 32 mph gusts this afternoon. I believe it -- we were getting blown all over the road; rather disconcerting in a 32' motorhome, especially for DH, the driver! We were really glad to pull into the campground and get off the road at 2:30 pm.

No riding today.

[north woods gal]

Not making this up, Emily, but when we lived in western Nebraska for a time, we actually had to dodge tumbleweeds getting blown across the road on windy days. Those things can flat out move when the wind gets them rolling.

Back home, tonight, to our north woods. Highs in the 50s, tomorrow with showers. After a week of sun and the humid 90s in Florida, not sure how I will adapt. I was actually adapting to the Florida weather, getting better each day. Ended up with 100 miles over four days. No great tally on the miles, but enough to tell me I could live down, there, and still bike on a regular basis. Kind of a confidence builder for me. The only thing I missed was some gravel roads and single track. Almost all of the roads had bike lanes and all the bike trails were paved. Very nice, but maybe just a bit too civilized for a country gal like me.

P.S. Lots of great birds and even saw some dolphins. No alligators or snakes, though. (I'm okay with that.)

[emily_in_nc]

Good luck re-adapting to the chilly weather, NWG! We too have dodged a few tumbleweeds over the past few years while traveling in various spots! They're still kind of cool to me, growing up in NC and never seeing one until a few years ago!

I think I could live in Florida half the year; not sure about the other half. To me the ideal would be Florida or Arizona for a third of the year (winter) and somewhere north (probably Oregon, Washington, or Minnesota) for a third (summer), then traveling the other third (shoulder seasons). We may well evolve to something like that in our RV rather than racing around quite as much as we have this first year. It's been fun, but I doubt we'll keep up this pace forever!

[north woods gal]

I understand, Emily. I think it would be fun to do all that traveling, day after day, but not sure I could keep up the pace. Sooner or later, my nesting instinct would get the best of me and I'd want to to settle in to an area a bit.

Woke up, this morning, to high winds, temps in the upper 40s and a very cold rain - Florida, this ain't. Looks like indoor riding on the trainer, today, but after traveling all day, yesterday via plane and car with no riding, I really NEED to ride. I find that riding helps me to regain my balance, so to speak, anytime I've had a break in my routine. Just one of many, many benefits of riding, of course.

[Sky King]

Tumbleweeds... Last year the DH got a flat tire when the tumbleweed caught in his spoke actually stabbed through the hole in the rabbit rims on his Surly Troll. Over labor day weekend we fought them for several stretches in the Jabridge desert but thankfully no flats.

This past weekend we finally had our first Owyhee Pedal Patrol trip. The Wilderness Ranger at the BLM office is a customer of the shop and he put together this great program of volunteers. We are all Leave no Trace certified and have up to date First Aid and CPR. This trip there was only 4 of us. We camped together Friday night and rode about 6 miles as a group on Saturday then we split into 2 groups to check out specific areas of the Owyhee Wilderness. The DH and I had an awesome camp site overlooking the river. We hiked down to filter water and even saw a fish. Happy to say we didn't see any people besides the two other riders we went with. Sunday we met up about 1:30 and then had the "joy" of climbing back up to the truck - about 4,000 foot elevation gain. We were really pooped. Had to laugh at the Ranger as he learned the valuable lesson of never passing up the opportunity to filter water and top off your supply. We all shared water and we knew there was a spring about 2 miles before we ended the ride. By the time we got there everyone was out of water. We saw Antelope, Deer, coyote and a rattlesnake and the other team saw some elk. Super fun but I am really tired today!
I put a bunch of photos on our facebook page so won't go wild here.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sky. Have always liked that area for its stark, rugged beauty and, of course, its isolation. I could be happy, there, rattlesnakes and all.

As for my riding, had planned to sit out the cold and rain, yesterday, my first day back from sunny Florida, but being trapped in a house always drives me nuts, so bundled up, put on the rain gear and just hit the trails around the house for an hour with the fat bike. Had to hose down the big Salsa to remove all the mud when I was done, but that's all part of the game when you ride in dirt on a rainy day. Yeah, send me some of that Owyhee dryness my way.