June rides, summer begins

[north woods gal]

Our showers, yesterday, were supposed to quit by noon, but they had other ideas. Rained off and on all day and temps never got out of the 50s. Of course, I refused to quit, too, so just took the single speed out for about 15 miles on the local pavement. Had to dig out the leggings, again, and even added some light gloves, but it was worth it. The ride was quite comfy. Never got around to trail riding, but figured I might as well let things dry out a bit, anyway.

Warmer, but very windy, today. Hope to get back into my usual mix of road and trail, today.

Was reading about the famous Dirty Kanza 200 race, the brutal 200 mile gravel and dirt road race in Kansas which is ridden in one day, straight though. Learned there was a team of 5 gals from Chicago that competed, this year, in the single speed division. Way, way out of my league, but go girls, go. How cool is that?

[emily_in_nc]

After reading about the Dirty Kanza 200 , I have right to complain about my ride yesterday, but I will anyway.

OMG, the humidity was brutal! We really did have a nice spring here in Florida, but then the rains came for a couple of weeks, and now that we've dried out a bit, summer is here with a vengeance. Yesterday we were riding in the 80s up to about 92F, and the humidity had to have been about that high as well. DRENCHED! I stayed hydrated and had some yummy potatoes (with coconut oil, salt, pepper, mustard, and tumeric) for my snack, but it was still rough.

Today we are hitting the road for some time in NC visiting my family and a few doctor/dentist appointments. We'll take three days driving up in the motorhome. Probably won't get to do a lot of cycling in the next couple of weeks as I'll be doing stuff with and for the family, but I honestly don't mind missing during such a hot time of year. We'll be back here in Florida in the latter part of June and still have plenty of hot and humid rides ahead!

[north woods gal]

That was how that heat hit me in Florida, too. I do understand. That kind of heat and humidity combo is brutal. Hope you can escape some of it up in North Carolina. Ride when you can, of course. Have a great trip and visit.

We're doing fine, now, for our weather. Normal stuff for us in June. Cool enough i the morning for a light coat if I ride, then the coat comes off for the rest of the day.

[Crankin]

It did get up to 65 today, but, it rained half the day. Going to be 45 in the AM, with another chance of showers early, so I am meeting a friend for breakfast and will ride later. The group ride is a city ride, Cambridge and Boston, not for me! Not sure what I will do for my ride, but it should be 20-25 miles and I might ride Thursday morning, before work. I am no longer working on Fridays, so I finally have a chance to do the group ride, for the club I lead for. Not more than 4 have showed since my friend restarted it in May, but I get credit for co-leading if I go. We're heading out to western MA Friday afternoon, to help our friends lead a ride on Saturday. It's an easy ride we did last year, and then we will head home after the ride.
Hopefully, we can get through a weekend with no rain.
Have a good trip, Emily.

[north woods gal]

Finally, finally brought the Log Lady home, late, yesterday. Slapped some pedals on it and rode my trails till it got too dark to ride. That should tell you something about what I think of the bike. The most important thing I learned is that I got the gear ratio just right for my trails. All my calculations and experience with the other single speed paid off. Will report more, later. Unfortunately, looks like an all day rain, today, so riding may be a bit iffy. Cold, too. Of course, we all know how crazy I am.

[Crankin]

Well, it was cold this morning, and gray, so I met a friend for breakfast at 7:30. As I was pulling into the lot of the restaurant, I felt a little "off," in a way that is usually a sign I am coming down with something, allergies, or a weird kind of headache that isn't throbbing. I got through the breakfast, thinking eating would make it better, but I felt worse when I got home. So, I sat down and did some work. By 11:30, I knew I shouldn't ride. Another wasted day off, but I have a lot of riding planned in the next few days.
DH is working from home, so we took a 2 mile walk at lunch time, after which, I took an allergy pill, which has helped some.
The plan is to do an early AM ride tomorrow, if I feel ok at 5 AM.

[ny biker]

So I've been busy with too many things lately, some good and some stupid wastes of time. I had led a 50-mile ride on May 20, which overall was nice except for it being a very hot day. There were two rest stops, the second one at a church that was having a strawberry festival. I was feeling the heat between the rest stops but after only 5 minutes in the air conditioned church I recovered. Others in the group were also suffering, however, and they chose to sit outside in the shade rather than go into the A/C. This made a difference in the last few miles, and we had to stop several times for one person to rest in the shade. The result was the last part of the ride lasting much longer than it should have, so the heat started to get to me again (it was 3 pm by then) and I ended up with a bad headache. So a day that was both good and bad.

Then I went out of town for 6 days including Memorial Day weekend. I was in the Chicago suburbs with my sister, visiting my nephew who just started a job with a minor league baseball team there. It was hot and sunny which was okay for the night games but not okay during the Sunday afternoon game. I nearly melted. It did occur to me that at least it was a step on the road to acclimating to the heat.

The first weekend in June I figured I'd be able to get in a good bike ride, but it rained. Heavy rain with lots of flooded roads. And I had to spend time cleaning and getting my apartment ready for my parents to visit -- they arrive tonight. So no bike rides this weekend.

Fortunately the rain finally ended and I was able to ride after work on Monday, 17 miles. We are having spring weather now, with temperatures more typical for April. It was in the 60s Monday night.

p.s. My mountain bike is an old Trek 26" hardtail and I'm happy with it. But then I'm not into particularly technical riding.