May flowers... and bike rides

[Crankin]

Sigh... had to cancel our ride this morning. Rain is predicted through noon time.
This is a pretty low stress ride for us to lead, despite being show and go. We may re-post it, but it would be limited to people who can do the faster speed, as our co-leaders doing the slower pace will be away on the days we could do it.
Anyway, we probably will do a short ride after lunch, as then DS and family are coming over later for an early Mother's Day, since we will be coming back from CA next Sunday.

[Crankin]

Ended up taking a 3 mile walk yesterday, as time got away. It was humid and sprinkling as we walked.
Did a low stress 20 mile ride today, mostly in Sudbury and Wayland. We ended up on a couple of main roads, which interestingly had the most climbing of the ride. DH commented that he can't believe he rode this rather longish hill home everyday, when he commuted from the last town we lived in. It was a 44 mile round trip commute, too. Well, he was younger .
It was breezy, but we had a tailwind on the way back. I actually was a bit too warm with what I wore, but, I dealt with it.
Probably will commute tomorrow and hoping the group ride Wednesday has a close start, as I have a hair cut/color appt. at 2:30.

[azfiddle]

May is flying by!

I have 4 commutes for the first week of May- and one that didn't happen due to a flat tire - 2 failed attempts to fix it and so much panic in having my husband drive me halfway i thought I left my regular glasses at home and ended up driving!

Friday-Saturday we did the Tucson Audubon birdathon by bike. Friday sunset at Lakeside park, then a mostly moonlit and peaceful ride to Saguaro N.P. to look for nightbirds. We had 30 species including one Elf Owl... then got up to leave at 5 am to hit the east side desert and a little oasis before going up Mt. Lemmon.

We did well with bird sightings but Chuck has been off his bike a lot this year and for unknown reasons, started feeling weak in the legs and a little light-headed just 5 miles up at Molino Basin. He made it to mile 7 and then we decided to turn around. Besides, the wind was starting and predicted to be sustained in the 20's with gusts to the 30's by noon, which is NOT good on the mountain. So we had already changed our original plan to go to the top and would only have gone to milepost 11.5 anyway.

69 species - not too bad, and we raised over $500.
Anyone who wants the full report, PM me with your email.

[kajero]

I've managed to get out and ride three times in May. The weather has been so beautiful. And I am getting my mph up there. I have 42.23 miles under my belt for May and a total 151.30 miles for this year. I am really trying for 800 miles this summer. I just wish Don were here to cheer me on.

[north woods gal]

We'll cheer you on, kajero. Keep riding, girl. You're doing great.

I'm still trying to break away for a few hours and do a long pavement ride, but it's just too easy to stay right at home, here, and hit the trails on our property for an hour of hard trail work. Does as much, if not more, in terms of aerobic and strength as three hours of road biking, but I do miss that steady, mesmerizing groove of road work.

[kajero]

We'll cheer you on, kajero. Keep riding, girl. You're doing great.

I'm still trying to break away for a few hours and do a long pavement ride, but it's just too easy to stay right at home, here, and hit the trails on our property for an hour of hard trail work. Does as much, if not more, in terms of aerobic and strength as three hours of road biking, but I do miss that steady, mesmerizing groove of road work.

All my rides are both flat and hilly. And I don't have to walk up any of the hills anymore. A couple hills took me forever to conquer but I did. Well, okay, I do have to walk up one. It's out at Fort Snelling and I don't think I will ever conquer that one.

[ny biker]

All my rides are both flat and hilly. And I don't have to walk up any of the hills anymore. A couple hills took me forever to conquer but I did. Well, okay, I do have to walk up one. It's out at Fort Snelling and I don't think I will ever conquer that one.

Well you never know! Glad you're getting in some good rides.

I did 36 miles on Sunday. It was supposed to be part of a big club ride on Saturday, but was postponed due to rain. I ended up as one of the ride leaders since some of the people who were going to lead on Saturday had other commitments for Sunday. It was breezy, 10-15 mph winds with 25 mph gusts according to the weather forecast, with a chance of pop-up showers. Temps in the 50s, more like March than May for us. I was worried that the wind would make it one of those un-fun rides where you just struggle the whole time, but once I agree to lead I was committed. It turned out to be a nice ride, only a few miles of struggling into a headwind. The turnout was not as good as it would have been the previous day but I still was able to catch up with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while.

Unfortunately I'm still having the saddle problem, even though I'd moved my saddle back to its original position. The lump came back and by the end of the ride it felt like I was sitting on a small marble. It's under the skin, not a cyst or boil, on top of the narrow bone in front of the sit bone. No soreness or bruised feeling like I had the previous week. No bruise or skin discoloration. So I guess I need a longer break from my road bike to let it go away completely. The saddle is a new Affinity RXL, which I bought because the old Affinity RXL was feeling a bit too squishy like the foam was breaking down. I still have the old one and might put it back on the bike for a while.