June rides, summer begins

[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.

[north woods gal]

NY, sounds like you got that heat that nailed us the last part of May. Broke all kinds of records, here. As for the old 26" MTB, the old 26ers will never die and they still do a great job, no matter how many new things the bike industry tries to sell us.

Well, here's the Log Lady.


Really is a beautiful steel frame, nicely done and well-designed. My only regret is that it doesn't say "Log Lady" anywhere on it. I can understand that All-City doesn't label their bikes with the models for the sake of sales, though. After all, they also make bikes like the Macho Man, Nature Boy, Electric Queen and Mr. Pink. Not sure I'd want to be tell people I ride a Macho Man.

Anyway, the Log Lady is a great trail bike and I've got the gearing set just right for my trails. Did a full 5 miles of trail riding, today, even though the trails were a bit squishy and slow after a rain, this morning. That's a complete set of laps that I usually ride and each lap has a strenuous climb. I'm going to feel it in the morning, but I did it.

Had the bike shop outfit the LL tubeless (highly recommend tubeless) with some very aggressive Continental 27.5x2.4" Trail Kings. I found out, just this morning, in fact, that climbing wet trails by standing on the pedals is a real plus with tires that have a good bite. From my snow riding experience, I know how much traction you lose when you get up off the seat. That's a big no no in the snow or real soft stuff. The Trail Kings are NOT fast rolling, but about as safe a tire as I can get when trail conditions are not at their best.

Talked to my bike guy at the shop. He used to race single speed MTB. He told me that almost all ss MTB racing is standing on the pedals. I can't imagine that. I'm NOT up to that, physically. Way beyond me. Oh, I can stand to pedal just enough to do my climbs, but no way could I manage it full time. Fortunately, I don't have to, with the way I geared the Log Lady. I can stay mostly seated when riding the flat sections. Still a heavy workout, but doable and that was my goal. Really is a trick to riding this single speed stuff, so it's been interesting and fun to learn. Kind of nice, too, to have handlebars with only brakes to operate. Hey, who needs shifters, anyway, right?

[Crankin]

I did a very short ride this morning, about 30 minutes. It was humid and 55 and I was a little overdressed.
Didn't feel great while riding, but feel better now. When allergies strike, it's better for me to move, less than usual and slower, but do something. Came home and did my nasal rinse, etc.
We are going to have a completely sunny weekend!

[Crankin]

Had a wonderful ride in the Pioneer Valley of western MA today, despite still feeling under the weather. In fact, it was perfect, since it was totally flat (381 ft). There is no way I could do a 24 mile flat ride around where I live. Now, there is plenty of difficult climbing where we were today, but you have a choice.
We got out there at around 5 yesterday, had a little happy hour with our friends at their house, and then went for Nepalese Indian food. Very good, indeed. We got to the ride start around 9:30 this morning, although the participants didn't have to be there until 10. Also, they were training a new leader, so we talked with her. Of course, there's always one outlier in any group, who comes late, is unprepared, bike not ready or even in good working order.
It was 70-82 during the ride, slightly overcast, but beautiful. We stopped at the "big tree" in Sunderland, which is a Dutch maple, dating from the 1600s. Another cyclist stopped and took a group pic for us, which I will try and post when I get it. Then we had a rest stop at the general store there, where there were tons of cyclists. People are generally friendlier than in the Boston area, out there, so we talked to a lot of them.
The ride was at a slower pace, and I stayed up front, as there were a couple of squirrelly riders, and this ride began and ended on a bike path, which is another set of worries for me! The end was kind of cool, and changed from when we did the ride last year. We rode through the U Mass Amherst campus and onto a bike path on campus, that used to be a sidewalk, but is now a bike path. Then, this connected back to the path where our cars were parked at. The university has grown, even since my son graduated in 2005.
Beautiful rural and semi-suburban roads, farms, and rivers today, and no nasty drivers. We ate lunch outside, at a farm market next to the bike path, headed back to our friends' and cleaned up. They headed out to the Berkshires for 2 nights and we headed to the local winery, bought some wine, then bought fresh strawberries at a farm, and finally had ice cream, before we headed home.

[azfiddle]

Hi everyone- I've been MIA for quite a while- just had other stuff going on.

I was commuting at least 4 days a week for most of the spring. May 8, a kid on a scooter stepped off the curb, turned in front of me (perpendicular to my direction of travel) and I looked up with the realization that I was going to hit him. He was fine.... I'm 30 days out from the accident and finally feeling almost back to normal. The right side of my rear end hit the ground really hard and jarred my lower spine as well as doing some soft tissue damage. Things have calmed and I'm going to PT now, which is helping work on my core, stretching hamstrings and strengthen my back and gluteal muscles. I was actually worried it was worse than it was because it got worse before it got better, but I'm now back to riding on the mostly flat bike paths. Not back to climbing yet though.

Anyway- I'll try to check in again regularly. I've missed you guys.

Sharon

[emily_in_nc]

Sharon -- so sorry this happened to you! Sounds painful. Kind of reminds me of my endo over the tot on a bike last year (broken jaw to show for it). It's maddening when someone pulls out in front of you and there's no way to avoid them. And in both cases, sounds like we bore the brunt of it.

NWG, nice new ride! Glad you've already gotten to enjoy the new Log Lady. I would want the bike model on the frame as well!

Crankin, hope you're feeling better.

We made it to NC and have not ridden since Monday. I will be busy with my folks today and tomorrow but do plan to ride on Sunday, when the roads around their place are quieter. It's not a great place to ride, hilly with no shoulders on the roads, but at least the traffic should be light on a Sunday. If I can just get a couple of rides in while we're here, it's better than nothing!

[rebeccaC]

beautiful bike nwg....wishing you lots of enjoyable trail rides!!!!!.....glad to read you're getting better Sharon!!

.....too much going on for me and it's down to pilates/yoga and commutes for a few weeks.

[Railtrail]

Woah! Love the decals on that Surly!

I could have sworn I saw a Log Lady decal in a photo somewhere. I was a little disappointed when it arrived without such. However, I have found a fun alternative. It turns out there is a vast amount of Log Lady kitsch on Etsy. I picked up a Log Lady patch from a shop called blacklodgepress and sewed it to my seat bag.

I agree with you, NWG, it’s a lovely frame and I’ve really enjoyed it since my last post here. I think I’ve put in about 200 miles and it’s very hilly here. The hills have kept me away from ss before but I’m glad I switched things up. I’ve been really surprised by how well it climbs. I will say that I do stand to climb and have lost traction on the back several times on wet or sandy hills. I am running with the rocket rons, which I otherwise really love thus far. They are super quick.

The frame is really well made and has a unique ride quality, in my experience. I think the Log Lady really slid under the radar or perhaps All City may have missed the mark in marketing it. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I’m enjoying mine!

[rebeccaC]

Good grief ……Hoping the healing process is quicker than you anticipate (remember you ARE Wonder Woman!!!) ….and that you find satisfying things to replace your wanting to be back on your trails in the meantime.
On my late ride home tonight from the office I lit some incense at the Buddhist temple here (covering that base for you ) …with wishes for strength and seeing such obstacles as vehicles for learning about and strengthening the body, heart and mind...
…….you know…i know somehow we are related
((HUG))

[north woods gal]

Thank you so much, both. Love that you thought enough of me to light the incense, rebecca. I do feel we're all related, here. Can't tell you both how much your words mean to me, right now. I don't know which is worse, the pain or the depression. My whole lifestyle in the dumpster in a fraction of a second. I'm still in a state of shock. Not sure how I will deal with this, but I will find a way. I keep thinking of Emily and how she managed her accident and that's a real inspiration, right now.

My bicycling will never be the same, though, and that's a good thing. I have such a hard head, this is probably what I needed to make the necessary changes. I have a long time to think about it, for sure.