September riding

[ny biker]

Sounds like an adventure, Crankin.

I had a great ride yesterday, the 50 mile version of my favorite annual century. I was going to meet up with bike club friends who were doing the metric -- the additional miles on their route were all at the start, so it would have been easy to meet them by starting about an hour after they did. But I got too a late start; my ankle was hurting when I woke up so before leaving home I took the time to ice it and plot a bailout route if it continued to hurt. So I rode by myself, which was great because I had the freedom to take detours and stop to take photos. After the first few miles I saw two women who were confused about where to turn, so I rode with them until our route joined the metric and there were more cyclists on the road. Then I stopped at an old bridge for photos, then stopped again to photograph a nice house with an interesting arrangement of gourds on a bench in front, then went off course a bit to photograph a nice barn and church, then rode for a while, went off course again to go around a steep hill, rode up the next hill which was unavoidable and stopped at the top where I always like to photograph the apple trees in an orchard, then finally reached the first rest stop. Had a tomato sandwich and a bunch of peach slices, giant peach slices from giant locally-grown peaches. So good. Finally got back on the road, my ankle felt okay so I opted not to take the shortcut I had planned. Instead I stayed on course for a while, stopped to take pictures at a covered bridge, then went off course again in Gettysburg to take some quieter roads than the ones used for the official route, which took me to the next rest stop where I ate more giant peach slices.

After that I stayed on course and only took a few more photos. Along the way I was texting my friends who had finished long before me; the husband of one was driving SAG and they were waiting at the picnic for him to finish. As it turned out his shift ended just before I got there, but they waited for me to get back and had a bite to eat with me before they hit the road for home. Some other bike club friends stopped to chat after doing the full century, and one hung around while I got some ice cream. By the time we left the picnic was winding down. Before heading home I drove to a nearby park where we sometimes start rides so I could check out a different parking area than the one we usually use, then stopped at a grocery store to look for something for dinner, didn't find anything interesting there so stopped at a restaurant instead. It was pretty late by the time I got home, with the upside of having to deal with less traffic on the highway.

Since I do this ride every year, and the route usually does not change much, I had reached a point a few years ago where it was starting to feel a bit dull. Since then I've done club rides in the area, borrowed from those cue sheets and made up some of my own routes to explore different roads. As a result I was able to see some of the roads on yesterday's ride with fresh eyes and really appreciate how nice they are.

We really got lucky with the weather. It was in the 50s overnight, up into the 60s by the time I started and in the 70s when I finished. It was warm in the sun but cool in the shade, which made it somewhat hard to dress for. I started wearing a long sleeved base layer, short sleeved jersey, vest and arm coolers on top of the long sleeves. After a while I took off the vest and arm coolers, and at the last rest stop took off the base layer and put the vest and arm coolers back on. A month from now the same conditions would feel cooler but for now the sun is still pretty strong and warm.

[rebeccaC]

NY..pickles and pickle juice ftw and for a good electrolyte boost!!!!

We rode north on the pacific coast highway to point muga beach. The long gradual climbs on the route were good for me. Feeling more confident about climbing again. The desire to go into the santa monica mountains was there as we passed a number of the roads I’ve used for riding into them on…..but I’m not quite back to my voluntary suffering ways yet and I’m still a little reluctant to do those climbs until I’ve done some more mileage and gradual climbs like todays.

We had a little bit of a head wind going north. Storm clouds and winds came as we were coming back south but since it gave us a good tailwind we were happy to have it. In the 70’s the whole ride and 68 miles with some beautiful ocean views…..and of course a great french macaroon ice cream sandwich (pistachio macaroons and strawberry ice cream) and a chocolate croissant at malibu’s le café de la plage on the way back as the ride reward.

We walked to the beach after dinner for the end of the sunset

[Crankin]

NY, your ride sounds lovely. I would love to ride in that area someday.
We found the ride we *wanted* to do yesterday. I knew it was on a cooler day, probably right after e moved to the condo. Well, it was 3 months after, but a cool day for June. DH keeps a log of his rides in Ride With GPS, so it was easy to look for. It did have some of the same roads as yesterday, but without the horrible crossing and part of Sawyer Hill Rd (which was not that bad). It was 40 miles, and I definitely want to do it again, but it does go through that road closure place, which I would rather not repeat. It didin't look like it will be done anytime soon.

[emily_in_nc]

Sound like some great rides, ladies! NY, is that the Seagull Century? If so, DH and I did it (the full century) many years ago on a tandem. Unfortunately, we had a cold rain for most of the ride, just miserable. We were freezing! Don't remember any good food like what you describe, but it's been awhile. I do remember hot chocolate and coffee at the last rest stop because it was so cold. DH's lips were turning blue, and for the first and possibly only time ever, I had to coach him through the last 20 miles or so as he was really having difficulty in the cold (not enough body fat!)

Anywho, we are in our evacuation spot in Mississippi and have been enjoying some excellent rides on the Longleaf Trace. I took today off, but before that had ridden three days straight: 32, 20, and 35 miles. The Trace itself is flat to gently climbing and descending, since it's a rail trail, but the connector trail from our campground to get onto the Trace is very hilly, with marked grades up to 15%. That's only 2 miles at the beginning and end of each ride but does get your attention!

We've had the Trace almost to ourselves, even on the weekend; a real surprise. We're here until at least Thursday morning before we attempt to head back to Florida, so I hope to get a couple more rides in. It might rain tomorrow (remnants of Irma), so we'll see.

[Crankin]

You think you'll be back that soon? It looks like power will be out for weeks!

[emily_in_nc]

You think you'll be back that soon? It looks like power will be out for weeks!

Amazingly, the power never went out at our RV park there! We got a report today from a friend who lives in Winter Garden. The Orlando area, not being on either coast, did not suffer as badly from Irma as coastal areas. So, we got lucky! The main criteria for us will be that there is gas available and that the roads are not clogged with returning evacuees. We can avoid I-75 (which tends to be the most clogged) and travel smaller highways if needed. We have good apps to let us know about gas and road conditions, so once all looks good, we'll be heading back. If not this week, then next.

[ny biker]

Sound like some great rides, ladies! NY, is that the Seagull Century? If so, DH and I did it (the full century) many years ago on a tandem. Unfortunately, we had a cold rain for most of the ride, just miserable. We were freezing! Don't remember any good food like what you describe, but it's been awhile. I do remember hot chocolate and coffee at the last rest stop because it was so cold. DH's lips were turning blue, and for the first and possibly only time ever, I had to coach him through the last 20 miles or so as he was really having difficulty in the cold (not enough body fat!)

Anywho, we are in our evacuation spot in Mississippi and have been enjoying some excellent rides on the Longleaf Trace. I took today off, but before that had ridden three days straight: 32, 20, and 35 miles. The Trace itself is flat to gently climbing and descending, since it's a rail trail, but the connector trail from our campground to get onto the Trace is very hilly, with marked grades up to 15%. That's only 2 miles at the beginning and end of each ride but does get your attention!

We've had the Trace almost to ourselves, even on the weekend; a real surprise. We're here until at least Thursday morning before we attempt to head back to Florida, so I hope to get a couple more rides in. It might rain tomorrow (remnants of Irma), so we'll see.

I've done the Seagull twice and will never do it again. Rainy and windy both times, the second time it was a nor'easter with heavy rain and strong wind. The awfulness began on the drive down to Salisbury the night before with a 10-mile backup to the Bay Bridge causing me to miss the dinner I had prepaid for. At the start of the ride we still had heavy rain, my shoes filled up with water and my feet went squish-squish with each pedal stroke. Then the rain ended and the wind got worse. This is flat farmland with wide open spaces, a terrible place to ride when it's windy. They do have good weather some years, but I've decided I really don't like the eastern shore very much, because although I'm slow on hills I still prefer varied terrain to flat, flat, flat. And it's far enough away to require a hotel stay, which adds to the cost. So no more Seagulls for me. Also an important lesson learned: no matter how much you prepaid for a bike ride, just say no to riding in a nor'easter.

The ride I did on Saturday was the Civil War Century. Highly recommended. Frederick County MD is a great place for cycling. The route I did went through the Gettysburg battlefield; the longer routes go up into the Catoctin Mountains and also go through Antietam and one other battlefield, South Mountain I think. None of the routes really tour the battlefields, they just go through them for a brief visit. But I will say that the Gettysburg battlefield park is a great place to tour by bicycle. Just make sure you get a good map and are prepared to make a few wrong turns, since they don't have typical street signs at intersections. I think Antietam can be toured by bike, too, though I have only ever been there once a long time ago.

In fairness to the Seagull I should add that the CWC has seen its share of extreme weather -- last year extremely hot, the year before rain all day, a couple of years before that was somewhat hot with bad thunderstorms in the afternoon. One year they had to postpone it a day due to a tropical storm. I've done it in all kinds of weather, though the year it rained all day I bailed after the first rest stop and then spent the day at the picnic eating yummy food and waiting for friends to finish. To me the big differences are -- I prefer the scenery and terrain of northern MD to the eastern shore, and the CWC has shorter route options in case of bad weather. Plus I have learned the roads up there well enough to make my own short cuts if needed.

[Crankin]

Rode with my friend Jack today, since the club ride was in NH/Maine seacoast. Beautiful, but too long to drive there, with risk of traffic on the way home.
32.5 miles, on a ride called the rooster ride, because the route looks like a rooster head (kind of). Nothing special, just Bedford through Concord, Carlisle, Westford, S Chelmsford, and back. We did ride through my old neighborhood, but we did not go up the hill. It felt quite warm, although it was only 76 when we got back; humidity from Irma is seeping in and we should be getting some rain from the remnants on Thursday night/Friday. I just got used to cooler, dry weather, so I hope it's temporary.

[emily_in_nc]

NY, thanks for elaborating on the century. I have always heard that the Seagull seemed to be cursed with bad weather. We drove up from NC for it and stayed in a hotel so were especially disappointed with the weather the year we did it -- probably 2004, as that was our big year for centuries before I had my crash in spring '05 and fractured my pelvis. A few years prior to that, we bought a tandem bike in Frederick, MD, and took some test rides in that area. Seemed really nice.

Today was our last day here in Mississippi, so DH and I decided to go for the gusto and reprise a ride we did in May of 2016. From the campground to the town of Sumrall is 50 miles round-trip, and that is what we did. Other than the hilly connector trail (about five small hills with grades 9-15%) from the campground to the Longleaf Trace, the ride was typical rail-trail fare, with gentle grades, so it's a good one to do as a longer ride. But today my old aches from my pelvic fracture mentioned above were really barking at me (lower back/upper buttock on the right side), so I had to take extra stops to stretch. Still, it was a good ride overall, and with the Conti Gatorskin tires DH just installed on my Trek, I was 1/2 mph faster than my usual average speed on similar trails -- and 1.3 mph faster than my first couple Florida rides coming back from my jaw fracture. So, that was nice, and it was my first 50+ mile ride since last October. It's a longer distance than I really enjoy, but every now and then I do like to push myself a bit. Should make my more typical 30 miler feel pretty easy when we get back to Florida.