August Riding

[emily_in_nc]

I rode! I rode! I rode!

Pardon the excitement, but since I haven't ridden (other than a few trainer rides) since my crash on April 21, it was a big day for me. Very hot and humid since we're back in Florida, but there's a reasonable amount of shade on the bike path, and so long as I kept moving, the breeze I created made it tolerable, and plenty of cold water helped too. Had a great time, managed 24 miles (a bit more than I'd expected). Mentally, it was just great to get out again for both me and DH, who was going pretty crazy without riding.

This is a short stretch of busy road we have to ride to get back to the campground after riding the trail. Fortunately, there is a bike lane, and with the stoplights, sometimes you can get all the way without being passed if you time it right. I didn't quite manage that today, but almost! Cars are gaining on me here....


And back at our motorhome:


Thanks for all the support during this tough time, gals of TE. I really do appreciate it!

[Crankin]

Looking good, Emily. That's a very respectable amount of miles after coming back from injury!

[ny biker]

Congrats Emily!!!

[north woods gal]

Hey, Emily, that one made my day and it's just starting. Way to go, girl. So good to know you're back and riding, again, after that kind of injury. Very impressive.

Did some trail work with both of my vintage 26" MTBs, yesterday. I do this every now and then to keep them tuned and ready to go. Yeah, they are tooth rattlers compared fat tire bikes, but they are so quick and agile that it takes some adjustment to my timing through the turns and climbs. Quite different than the fat tire stuff. On sandy sections, yup, plenty of fishtailing with the slimmer tires, but just a matter of knowing how to deal with it, same as with any trail challenge.

One of the bikes is my hardtail aluminum Trek 8000 and the other is my older fully rigid steel Kona. Good side by side contrast between the feel aluminum and the feel of steel. Not that the aluminum was in any way nasty, but, even without a suspension fork, the steel felt like the sweeter ride, especially out on the pavement, which I also rode for the sake of comparison. Fun day with the old bikes.

[emily_in_nc]

Hey, Emily, that one made my day and it's just starting. Way to go, girl. So good to know you're back and riding, again, after that kind of injury. Very impressive.

Thanks! I actually thought of you as the heat and humidity here is rather overwhelming, even after being in NC this summer, which is no slouch on the heat and humidity front! I was surprised to see many other cyclists out on the bike path yesterday. We got out at 9 and finished up around 11, and I figured most riders would be done by 9. Guess we aren't the only ones who take our time getting going in the morning! Fortunately, as long as I kept moving, it was tolerable in the morning (wouldn't do it in the afternoon!), especially since much of the path is shaded...thank the gods!

Glad you're enjoying your various MTBs!

[azfiddle]

Yay Emily.

I've been absent a while, but riding lots. Near daily commutes- not today, but most days. I rode my 99th commute on Tuesday and hope to do #100 tomorrow.

I'll check in again soon.

Happy riding to all.

[rebeccaC]

I rode! I rode! I rode!

good on you!!!!.......i'm slower getting back than you but hey it's all part of our journeys

[salsabike]

Hello, rebeccaC.

[rebeccaC]

Hello, rebeccaC.

((HUG)) to you.......

[Crankin]

I rode +100 miles last week, did my early AM ride Monday and then proceeded to have a flare up of my stomach issues. I so wanted to do my group ride Wednesday, and it was a perfect weather day. But, I needed to chill. DH worked from home and we took a short, 2 mile walk.
So now, I am leading a ride tomorrow with another woman and we have been turning people away, after our limit of 10. Of course, it is going to rain from 3 AM through 1:00 pm. We will probably cancel tonight, as the ride starts at 10. Sigh...
The only exercise I've done beside the walk was my tabata class yesterday. I had planned to take a rest day today, so my legs are fresh for leading tomorrow, but I may ride this afternoon. And speaking of gyms, I am going back to the no-frills (i.e. cheap and not so clean) Gold's Gym next month, because my club is now cancelling any class that doesn't regularly get 8-10 people. They don't understand that at 5:30 in the morning, getting 3-5 people is good. So, my core and balance class is already gone and I am not sure tabata will make it. All they have is spin, and I abhor that, except in the dead of winter. I am going to Gold's for the 2X a week tabata/boot camp done by a very professional younger woman, who is now doing fitness stuff as her full time career. Gold's is 600.00 a year and right now we are paying 180.00 a month for both of us. It's not worth it, DH rarely goes to the gym and they are definitely catering to a different demographic. I think I was in that demographic when I belonged to this club 98-2009, but I am done.

[north woods gal]

Had some heavy storms, yesterday, but still squeezed in some trail work between storms. Nice to be able to check the local radar for windows of riding opportunities. What makes trail riding possible for me under these conditions is the luxury of having my own trails right in my backyard. Originally made the trails for a variety of practical reasons, but being able to still ride on stormy days like this has been an unexpected bene.

The other thing that makes my trail riding doable on these very wet and stormy days is the fat bike. The big wide tires really spread out my weight and leave very little in the way of a "footprint" on a soggy trail. Our pet deer actually leave a much deeper print in the soft stuff. Definitely a shallower print than any human footprint, especially a lugged sole with a hiking boot. Even Star, our Border Collie and constant trail companion, leaves a deeper foot print. I really like the environmentally friendly aspect of riding fat tire bikes out on the trail. Even ride across a small section of our lawn to link up between sections of the trail without any damage to the lawn. Pretty neat.

This one is my muddy day bike for trail riding. It's my Salsa Blackboro. It has the widest footprint of any of my fat bikes, thanks to also having the widest rims (rim width makes a difference on actual tire width) and those big 4.8" tires. For the same reason, it's also my most capable fattie for deep snow riding. The big Salsa is no speed demon on hard pack, but in rainy years like this one, sees a lot of year round use.

[emily_in_nc]

That's a cool looking bike, NWG! It's so strange to see a snow pic, but I know that's not from real time.

Did 25 miles yesterday -- bike path and road. It's so nice to be back on the bike! I'm a little slower than last spring but about the same as when I started riding down here last winter, so I don't think I've lost a ton of fitness. What helped was all the hills in our NC campground, especially once we moved our motorhome up a steep one. I hauled our laundry up that a few times, and every walk we took required hoofing it up, so I think my aerobic capacity stayed fairly stable.

[rebeccaC]

NY….Folding beads can stretch a bit after being ridden, which can make them a little easier to get off and on. At first they can be as hard to get on as wired though. If the leak location can be determined from just looking at the tire, with folding I can remove part of the tire, pull the tube out, patch and get back to riding quicker. That’s harder to do with a wire bead. I prefer carrying a folding spare tire when i feel the need although you can coil a wire bead into thirds. Folding tires are a little lighter too.

Perhaps getting a longer stem on the replacement tubes will help with the pump attachment....if you're using a screw on pump head depending on how hard you attach it that may loosen the stem core when you remove it as most cores loosen counter clockwise....and don't really tighten the stem cap for the same reason, i don't even use them.

[rebeccaC]

I've heard of people laying tires out in the sun to soften them before first installation. Never tried it, but maybe that would make it easier.

Sheila…possibly the rubber but I wouldn’t think aramid-fibers like the Kevlar beads in tires or wire beads are affected much if any by sun heat….actually I'm pretty sure aramid-fiber isn’t.

Did you ever find a good flat pedal shoe for your Krampus? I’m looking for my commuter.

[north woods gal]

I'm with Sheila on the shoes for flat pedals. One of the big plusses for flats is that you don't need special shoes. Just use what you're wearing, hop on the bike and go. As long as the soles of the shoe grab the pins on the pedal, you're set. I use standard street shoes, sandals, hiking boots, even felt lined pac boots in the winter. One thing I do add to my bikes that is helpful for use with flats is a QR seat clamp, since your inseam changes with different shoes.