October rides...

[rebeccaC]

On Sunday we welcomed Oct with a 63 mile ride…the first 26 miles of the first days ride of the upcoming Young Survival Coalition's Tour de Pink with a side ride into the northern Santa Monica Mountains. Some good climbs on the route and a harder climb into the SMM's. After a great descent to the Oxnard valley floor (knowing we needed to ride back up it took some of the fun away) we stopped at the CSU Channel Islands campus in Oxnard, where i do some grant work in bioinformatics with a few grad students, to take a nutrition break and stretch. A good ride and I now have a good feel for the hardest part of the first days ride. Some short rides with just moderate climbs left in my training plan and I’ll be ready for the tour. Looking forward to the hopefully full 3 days of riding and being with kindred spirits wanting to help fund services for young women going through breast cancer. The thought of doing this ride really helped in my working through my journey this year...glad it's finally almost here and i that i feel good enough to participate!!!!!

[ny biker]

That's great, Rebecca!

I rode about 18 miles last night. Started late again, somewhere between 9 and 9:30 pm. Finished around 11:00. I really like riding late when everyone is at home and the roads are empty except for a few dog walkers. Another ride in which I was deceived by the weather -- it seemed chilly at first so I started wearing a vest and arm warmers. Within a couple of miles I had to stop to remove them. It was in the low 60s but very humid, which made a big difference. Soon enough I will need to layers so I'm not complaining!

Emily, I think that rain you're expecting is from yet another tropical storm. And I think we might be seeing rain from it early next week. We haven't had any rain in quite a while, but I hope we don't get anything really heavy since that tends to cause flooding.

[Crankin]

NY, I have had the same experience with humidity. It's the same thing early in the morning, when I ride. The temperature is coolish, but the humidity makes it feel warm. It's the only reason I have ever arrived at work sweaty, when commuting, too.
We are experiencing early September like temperatures and rising humidity. I hate this. And we are getting that rain, too, on Monday and Tuesday.
I rested today. I have my bootcamp tomorrow; debating whether to ride there as my warm up, or ride to work, or both (or neither). Riding 2.3 miles to work is starting to feel like too much prep, for such a short ride. I always feel good, but... planning some long rides this weekend.

[Geonz]

Muggy in the Midwest, too. Okay, today it was actually raining No, those expensive LL Bean rain pants don't actually keep one dry above the knees, but I have them over my "quick dry" favorite pants (which I don't know enough about to replace - disadvantage of impulse online outlet orders...)

Now to swap out for the work pants... and to TRY TO FIND PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING. I know they're around here somewhere

[ny biker]

Muggy in the Midwest, too. Okay, today it was actually raining No, those expensive LL Bean rain pants don't actually keep one dry above the knees, but I have them over my "quick dry" favorite pants (which I don't know enough about to replace - disadvantage of impulse online outlet orders...)

Now to swap out for the work pants... and to TRY TO FIND PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING. I know they're around here somewhere

Let me know where you find the patience and understanding -- they do seem elusive.

I think there's been a fair amount of rain lately in the midwest; I haven't been paying really close attention but I see tweets from the National Weather Service office in Omaha (due to a relative living in that area) and it seems like they've been talking about rain a lot. Big contrast to our area. I had some old jugs of water that I wanted to get rid of the other day so I poured them out around my favorite tree near my home, and the ground was really hard and dry.

Again I'm not complaining since I prefer warm and humid to winter any day, and the rain will come soon enough.

[Crankin]

I rode to the gym. Nice way to warm up, plus I made sure I did all of my stretches before the class started, so no pain in my back.
The class today was so hard. I stand near a side door to the outside, which was partially opened, to let the 55 degree air in. Several class members were so overwrought, they stepped outside for a minute! I still think it's funny that these people who are fitter than me and younger, think riding my bike 1.3 miles there is some amazing thing. Anyway, it was definitely a degree or 2 cooler on the way home, which felt good, but I was kind of in a cold sweat. Thankfully, I had worn lightweight full fingered gloves.
In the past week, I've had lots of sneezing. Then the last 2 days I had a weird headache, on and off and Wednesday, I woke up with my nose hurting, like sinus pain in my nose. Used the saline rinse, but then after I showered, I just felt awful. First I thought I had really overdone it at the gym, but as the day went on, I realized I am just not feeling well. I felt freezing all day at work, achy, sinuses a bit off. I got home at 3, then went with DH to the store and now am getting ready to go out for dinner. I really don't feel like going out, but I don't feel like cooking, either.
Weather looks wonky for the weekend. Now tomorrow looks to be the better day for riding. Sunday, maybe ok in the early morning. I have Monday off for the holiday, and of course, 100% chance of rain.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, I think that rain you're expecting is from yet another tropical storm. And I think we might be seeing rain from it early next week. We haven't had any rain in quite a while, but I hope we don't get anything really heavy since that tends to cause flooding.

Actually, TS Nate is not an issue for us here in central Florida. But there's been a tropical wave and just general tropical disturbances off of the southeast coast of Florida that has been bringing us off and on showers to brief heavy downpours for the past couple of days.

Fortunately, this morning was simply overcast and super humid...drip drip drip! I was absolutely drenched after my 31.5 mile ride. However, the sweat was worth it as the rains and wind finally eased enough for my first ride since Monday, so I will take it. And due to the light winds, I managed my fastest speed ever for this route: 14.4 mph. Slow to some, but I will take it! Very enjoyable ride!

NY, I am in my jammies by 8 pm and in bed by 10pm, so your night rides are hard for me to wrap my head around. However, I can see how they would be more peaceful than riding during the busy times.

[north woods gal]

Speaking of night rides, had a passing thought about trying to ride our trails at night, using a good light. I know the trails by heart, so that's plus. Might be fun, though, I jump into my PJs right after dinner, too.

Lots of rain, overnight, and still raining, this morning. Not sure if I'll be able and/or willing to ride, today, so just doing some laundry and around the house things. Oh, well. Won't be long before that rain is snow.

[Crankin]

I rode 26 miles with DH today. Unplanned and we kind just decided on a direction to head out, and we went. Not very many cyclists out, which is weird, as it was 75 degrees out. But, schools are closed on Monday and a lot of people are away. Kind of humid, but a little cloudy, so not bad. We avoided apple orchards and big climbs, so I had a respectable for me, though not fast average, despite the fact that just before we started, my right glute started hurting. I have done nothing that would do this, thinking it's referred pain? Well, I've been stretching like crazy since I got home, massaged it with the shower head, foam roller, and ice.
I guess i have a pain in the azz!

[ny biker]

Years ago when I used to actually ride single track, I would join up with a group of people who rode at a local park at night. In some ways paved vs unpaved in the dark is pretty similar -- you need to be prepared for bumps in the terrain that you don't see. I always followed others when mountain biking in the dark so I don't know how hard it was to know when and which way to turn.

I have always been a night owl, never a morning person even during times when I had to get up early every day for many days in row; getting up early never gets easier with habit. When I was in college I would stay up until 4 and sleep until noon during holiday breaks. I could go to bed at 10 pm but wouldn't sleep for hours.

Yesterday I did a 46-mile club ride. Every year one of my friends leads a 60ish mile ride to Gettysburg that spends a fair amount of time meandering through the battlefield. This year I'm not in shape for that many miles, especially since it's a pretty hilly ride. So I and another friend started at a park in a town north of where the longer ride started and met up with that group at mile 8 on their route. It was another unusually warm and humid day, mid-60s to start and 88 when we finished. As we arrived at the battlefield we passed an observation tower where we climbed to the top to see the view. As I started to climb the steps I remembered that when I had gone up to the top of the same tower a few years ago I had cramps in my calves for the rest of the ride. Fortunately I didn't have cramps yesterday but my calves are sore today. So lesson learned: don't climb lots of steps in road shoes with cleats. I did come close to hamstring cramps after the ride and had to stretch a few times before starting the drive home, probably due to a combination of not being acclimated to the heat and not being in shape for riding steep hills. In spite of the discomforts, it was a fun ride. As I mentioned last month, Gettysburg and the surrounding area is a great place for cycling.

[Crankin]

No riding for me.... the little pull in my glute has morphed into something sciatica like.
I've had more injuries this year than all of the previous years combined. I know what caused this (not sport related), basically a missed step, followed by a jump like maneuver, where I probably twisted my right side. I have the day off, more time to heal, call the PT for tomorrow, and hope I can lead my ride on Saturday.