October rides...

[emily_in_nc]

Emily have you looked at (mapmyride)? It can show bike paths and connecting roads in any area you want.

Yes, we use that frequently when traveling to a new area. But here we know the area and the bike trails very well; this is our third year in this area (winters only until this year). We know of all the road alternatives to getting to and from the trails, but there are so many different choices of neighborhood roads that it's mostly a matter of which ones have the least number of stop signs, stoplights, and bumpy brick road segments (historic area), and those are kinds of things you really just have to try for yourself to figure out. It seems like most who ride here drive to one of the many trailheads rather than riding to them; we're the oddballs who bike everywhere! We did try a better route back from the trail today and even have a third option we'll try on our next ride to compare.

Love your photos, as always!

[Crankin]

Yesterday I did an 11 mile ride, to see how my sciatica is healing. It was OK... got kind of humid just during the 45 minutes i was riding. It did rain overnight, but when I got up, it was a lovely 53 and dry. I went out at 5:15 AM and did a route I had done when I first moved to my condo. It's a little longer than most of my early morning rides, but I am sick of the ones I normally do. One part of the ride goes down a favorite road I used to commute on when I was still teaching and where I used to ride a lot, when I first started riding. When I first did this as an early AM ride, it must have been late spring or early summer, as it was not dark out. There is part of this road that has no homes, wooded on both side, which felt very creepy this morning! Although it is a well used road, it was early enough to not be busy. After that, I was back in suburbia, where I had one hill to climb, before a nice gradual downhill for the last 3 miles. There was actually a "traffic jam," where I had to wait behind 5 cars to make a turn, bout a mile from my house. Mostly pick ups full of mean looking guys, going to Dunkin Donuts. Well, this is Massachusetts...
13.5 miles. I was dressed correctly, but my new helmet was bothering me with a head cover under it. It either felt too tight or too loose when I adjusted the ratchet. It's not the first time I've worn a head cover with it, but now I have a headache!
Still unsure if my ride will go on Saturday. The forecast for the area we will be riding in is getting a bit better, but the decision is in someone else's hands.