May rides, may they all be wonderful

[north woods gal]

Been another strange weather year, for sure. 70s for us is actually summer weather, not typical early May weather. We could still get snow. Have seen it, before.

I'm hoping to get out and do more road miles, this week, to give the trails a chance to dry a bit. Just wanted to ride a bit on the newly opened trails. One of my goals for this summer is to strike more of a balance between trail riding and road riding. I think both types of riding have their health benefits. I'm really more of an all around bicyclist at heart, anyway. Love all kinds of riding. Especially looking for more more gravel roads in the area to ride to add to the fun. Certainly have the bikes for them. Might sound crazy to you gals that have no choice but to ride in congested areas, but I also want to ride into our little town for some riding and shopping, maybe stop for a coffee, just noodling around. Be a nice change of pace to be around people and, yes, even some traffic, too, compared to my usual solo rides back in the woods or out on our lightly traveled rural roads where it's uncommon to see another bicyclist. Don't laugh, but I do get lonely out there on some of those rural roads. Sometimes a little spooked, too. Just me.

[emily_in_nc]

I get this, nwg. Although I relish light traffic days on the roads and bike paths, I also know what riding on deserted roads feels like. It can be a bit eerie at times, and as a woman, I remember a few rural solo rides where I felt a bit nervous when a pickup truck with a yahoo or two passed me. Only once I was harrassed, but it is a rather vulnerable feeling on occasion. Aside from that, sometimes it's just fun to see other cyclists out enjoying the same activity you are; there's a sense of camraderie. I always wave and/or say "good morning" to other riders here and notice that only about half reciprocate. But the friendly ones always leave me pedaling along with a smile on my face!

Our ride today will be a short one -- taking our Boston Terrier, Paisley, for a re-check at the vet in a few minutes. Did laundry all morning. Back to our usual longer rides tomorrow.

[Crankin]

I have experienced that scary, rural road feeling, too. We used to do a ride named the "Chicken Ride," as it went by a chicken farm. The ride starts on the edge of western MA, about an hour and 10 minutes from here. It's a really, really hard ride, but near the end, you are a road that is pretty flat to rolling and it feels like you are in the Deep South or Appalachia. Surprisingly, once you get just a little bit west of where I live, Massachusetts is very rural, punctuated by some small, older, industrial cities, or larger small towns, often around colleges or vacation areas. We were riding with our friends, and of course DH and the male half of our friend couple were ahead. I could not see them. My friend was far behind me. This was way before GPS; I had a cue sheet, andI knew they would wait at turns, but I got really freaked out when 2 guys in a pick up (of course) bearing right wing stickers and a gun rack pulled out of a ramshackle house, scaring me. They slowed when they got beside me and yelled all kinds of stuff. All I remember is when they yelled, "Nice azz!" When I got to the turn where DH was waiting, I told him, and it turned out they had yelled the same thing to DH and our friend! This was in 2005, so they may not have ever seen lycra. We still joke about this today.
Jealous of all of your riding. It's going to be 87 here today, but I had my colonoscopy this morning, so no riding today, or yesterday. Just starting to feel human, and I may go for a walk, before dinner. I will be out doing an early AM ride, when it will be in the 60s at 5:30 AM!

[north woods gal]

87 degrees, already? That's just nuts. Oh, I can handle 87 if I have time to adjust, but we just had a major snowstorm only a couple weeks, ago. Right now 60s feels hot.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with being harassed and your feelings about riding solo in remote places. It does make me feel better to know that I'm not being too sensitive. I do think a woman traveling solo in a remote area is vulnerable. A few years, back, when I was getting back into trail riding, I did a lot of trail riding back in a remote area not too far from us. Honestly, I could travel miles down logging roads, far from access roads, that hadn't seen a footprint in years. Just finding me if I ran into trouble would have been a challenge. Exciting and neat to be in such unspoiled places, but than I would stop and ask myself what an old gal like me was doing all alone in such places. Really not smart. It also violated one of the basic rules of wilderness travel about never traveling alone. Finally got to me and I called it quits on those kinds of rides. Wonder Woman I am not.

My solution was to build my own trails right at home on our property. Not as "adventurous, to be sure, but so much safer. Would love to go back to those remote places, but not going to do it solo if I do.

[rebeccaC]

nwg....no no....you are a wonder woman!!!....i thought we settled that already...
I’m picky about the rural roads I ride and my favorite long isolated ones just have a way of making me happy even when alone. I prepare well for personal safety and communication issues but I’ve haven’t needed it so far, mostly cuz of the roads i can pick...well maybe some faith as a backup too. I had more initial worry about biking and photographing in south central and east L.A. but found in that kind riding just stopping and interacting with people in an open and honest way is a big asset. I can also understand the reluctance of others too though....now getting nasty stuff said from a vehicle and once a breast grab has only happened to me in very urban riding.


Shelia, hoping something simple like exercises for and massaging your trapezius muscles helps.....in anycase it’s good for supporting the neck/head when riding.

Still solely on the fixie and just urban riding. Having the pedalling imperative focusing attention on fluid and smooth leg movements, especially on downhills, will help in my climbing too....plus track stands are easier now

Too many work and volunteer commitments have ended weekend riding for a couple more weeks.

[Crankin]

I had a wonderful very early AM ride this morning. Went to bed early (even early for me) and DH and I were out the door by 5:15 am. It was actually still a bit dark. I usually do these rides alone, so it was nice to have company. We chose a route that would take us across the highway that splits my town, around the perimeter of Concord Center, and back through West Concord. Only 10 miles, but flat except for a small hill in there beginning. This is sort of like the first early AM rides I did from my house on the other side of town, without the added thrill of having to climb the 10-13% grade to get home! It was a fast pace for me, especially at that time day, but I felt better we we returned. Pollen counts through the roof and the air quality is a bit off, too. I took my inhaler, as a precaution.
It's going to thunder/rain this afternoon, so I won't commute. Tomorrow, probably ride to the gym and to work, because it's going to be a repeat of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I won't be able to ride when I get home at noon.
North Woods, 87 is about 15-20 degrees above normal for this time of year. We took the cover off of the AC compressor when we got home, so it will be cool when I get home from work. It's really humid, today, also, and was already 70 when we got home from our ride around 6 AM.

[emily_in_nc]

Just heard on the Weather Channel that NYC was 90F yesterday. Much hotter than here in Florida; we were something like 82! So, I can see why you're getting such above-normal temps, Crankin. I suspect they won't last for long in New England.

We are supposed to hit 90 here in central Florida for the first time this year tomorrow. I am not looking forward to it. We've had really nice weather for the past month-ish. Still not too humid or hot, but that is about to change. It's May now, so not at all unexpected. This is the latest we have stayed in this area (due to my orthodontia), and I'm not really looking forward to it, but hopefully I'll be acclimated. And at least there's a very nice pool for cooling down after rides!