June rides, summer begins

[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!

[north woods gal]

Nice to see you back, Sharon, and glad you're recovering. I've had my share of close calls and falls, but nothing in the same class as you and Emily have experienced. My accidents have all been road or trail induced, not collisions. I can appreciate, though, how it just takes a fraction of a second and how these collisions sometimes just can't be avoided. Hope you get a good summer of riding in.

Good to know you're safe and sound in N.C., Emily. Yup, any ride is better than not riding. Roads with no shoulders, though, not good. One thing about our area is that all roads have wide shoulders - not many paved, most are dirt - but always an option to head to the shoulder if need be. In fact, with the wide tire bikes, I often just ride the sand and gravel shoulders for fun when I get tired of riding pavement. (We have to have wide shoulders on our roads because of our heavy snowfall. No place to pile up the snow, otherwise.)

Got lucky and sold off two of the aluminum bikes at a reasonable price. Now have only steel bikes, with the exception of two of the fat bikes which are aluminum. I'm fine with aluminum on snow bikes or any bike that will be ridden a lot in the rain or mud. Probably more practical than steel, though I've ridden steel a lot in wet conditions, too

[Crankin]

Congrats on selling the bikes, NWG.
Despite my little ride yesterday, I woke up saying, "I am not going to the gym," (never happens) and after getting up and having coffee and breakfast, I had about 2 hours of well, let's call it extreme GI distress . So, I knew I wouldn't be doing a 30 mile hilly ride. In fact, I thought I might have to cancel my trip to my friends in Amherst. After 2 doses of Pepto, Zantac, Claritin, and Tylenol, I started feeling better. I drank a bottle with Nuun (see, not just for riding). It is so gorgeous out, at around 10:30, I put on some hiking clothes and walked to the nearest trail and did an out and back, which ends up being about 4 miles. Very calming and I feel like I worked. It was just about lunch time after I showered, so I ate a small lunch, as I am hungry! I still feel off a bit, but I'll be fine for the "warm up" ride we are helping our friends with tomorrow, which is 24 miles and flat. We are coming home right after the ride, so we can ride around here on Sunday.
Now I just hope my stomach is settled enough for the happy hour my friend is preparing and the Indian food we are having tonight!

[north woods gal]

Been so long since we've had Indian food. We're a long way from any Indian restaurant. Really miss it.

Well, of course, after selling two aluminum bikes, what's a gal to do? The place I sold the two aluminum bikes had a great sale on a very traditional steel touring bike in the Salsa Marrakesh and since they offer it in a flat bar Marrakesh version ... and since I don't have any skinny tire bikes (if you can call 700x40s, skinny) ... figured it would be a good investment. A steel touring bike is such a classic for us steel fans. This one even includes the Brooks saddle and rear rack. How's that for traditional? I went with the more conservative green color, not the blue. Other than changing the tires for something more gravel worthy, going to leave it stock and enjoy.