June rides, summer begins

[emily_in_nc]

We had been planning to ride today but didn't end up doing so. We're still at my mom's in NC, not great cycling, but the reason for not going today was that my DH had several lesions taken off at his dermatologist a few days ago, and he still has scabs and sensitive spots on his nose (2). He didn't want to risk the sun, even with sunscreen. Secretly, I didn't mind, as it is so hot and humid right now, and by the time we could have had breakfast, gotten ready, driven to Mom's, and gotten our bikes out and hit the road, it would have been 10 am. That's just too late to ride in this heat and full sunshine. In Florida, though it's hot and humid as well, there is a lot more shade where we ride, and more clouds in the sky too. The roads we have to ride on around Mom's have zero shade, as they are newer neighborhoods with smaller trees.

So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. We have so much to do here in the couple days before we start out on the road back to Florida on Thursday morning, that it looks like we won't get another ride in while we're here. So, a rather long hiatus as by the time we get to ride again, it will be two full weeks without riding. By then I'm hoping I'll be missing cycling so much that the heat and humidity won't sap my motivation!

NWG, that gal's crash (endo) sounds like mine (other than the reason for endo'ing). She is very lucky if she just got banged up but didn't break any bones -- or teeth. I hope she'll be okay. Glad you were able to get out and enjoy yourself a bit!

[north woods gal]

Looks like we're all in the same boat as far as doing what we can with the weather we have. Our recent heavy rains have pushed our lake level as high as I've ever seen it. My trails are still walkable, but lots of washouts and tree limbs, down. That will just have to wait, though, for any repair. For now, I'm content to just walk every day around the neighborhood out on the roads. Yeah, old trail warrior me is now very glad to have nice roads to walk and, eventually, bike, too. One thing in my favor is that I've never balked at riding my trail bikes, even my fat bikes, out on the road. Who says a road bike has to have skinny tires?

Been a crazy first month of summer, for sure.

[Crankin]

Well, I finally made it to the group ride, but I had to force myself! I rode to the start, 3.7 miles and off we went. This group uses human arrowing, so I volunteered at the third turn, unfortunately, right before 2 climbs, so I was playing catch up for awhile, as we had one really slow person with the sweep, and I had to wait. Thankfully, he stopped at the top of the second climb. Since we were still in Acton, I had to keep forcing myself not to turn around and go home, as my groin was killing me. But, I knew once we got to the next climb, it would be flatter after that, so I kept going. We stopped here, and someone went back a different way with the slow person. Then, we got a really nice road that its a scenic bikeway, which I don't ride too often anymore. We stopped at a pond to use the porta potty and I decided at this point, I would take the bike trail back to the point where I can quickly access roads to get me home, like I did a couple of weeks ago. I was not going to the lunch, it was getting hot and by this point my hamstrings were cramping. The trail is shady. Glad I made this choice, because otherwise the I would be riding through both town centers, totally unshaded, with added heat from cars at lunch time. I enjoyed the trail, although I had to slow a bit because of my hamstrings. When I got off of the trail and turned onto the first side street, I stopped and finished my Skratch Lab bottle, poured some water on my head, and then headed across the highway, which leads to a short, steep hill. When I got within about a mile of my house, after the last climb, I drank the last of the water. I never do that. It's only 80 out, but humid, and thankfully, partly cloudy.
I may need a massage! Enjoyed the ride, but I need to do more of these.
34.5 miles

[north woods gal]

Sounds like a hood workout, Crankin. Glad to hear you stuck it out and finished it the way you wanted.

My "substitute bicycling" (walking ) is going well. One week out from my accident and I am averaging two miles a day of ever more brisk walking. Can't say that I'm falling in love with walking again. In fact, it's kind of blah compared to my bicycling. It is so very necessary for me to be doing, now, so it will continue. All my neighbors encourage me when they see me, so that's nice.

We did stop at one of our local shops, the one where we get most work done on our bikes. I discussed some projects and builds I want to do during my recovery period. It will be a good way to keep me busy and, hopefully, remove any temptation to get on a bike and ride before getting cleared by my doctor. Really is hard for me, though. Been riding so long it's almost like breathing. My husband, though, says he will get a huge chain and lock up my bikes if I try any riding before the doc says its okay.

A few days before my accident I had traded in a couple of aluminum bikes to finance a new steel bike. Was going to get a Salsa Marrakesh which is a very traditional 700x35 touring bike, but that same premonition that prompted me to get a new helmet for the sake of safety before my accident also prompted me to avoid going with a skinny tire bike for the same reason. This is what I got instead. Came in a few days after my accident, so all I get to do is drool on it for now. Doesn't get safer or more stable than a fat bike. This is the new edition of the Pugsley. This edition has been redesigned to now be more of a heavy duty, off road touring bike. Love the color.

[Crankin]

That is a cool looking bike, NWG.
I saw an article about the ultimate commuter bike, a custom 7. Just for fun, I read it. Sure, it's everything I want, but it costs just slightly less than my Silque, so that won't be happening!
I did my annual early AM summer solstice ride. I left at about 5:20 (not exactly sure). It was only 57, so I was wearing arm and knee warmers and a vest. Could have taken the knee warmers off near the end, though.
I did a different early morning ride than usual, as although I woke up feeling pretty good, I didn't want to stress my back/groin/hamstring by climbing, so I rode over to Concord Center and back, trying to recreate the rides I used to do, before I moved to my condo. This necessitated crossing the highway twice, and on the way there, I had to wait awhile for the light, as there were not too many cars to trigger it. But, the ride was fine and I was almost back home at the actual time of the solstice at 6:07. The ride was just over 10 miles, which is perfect for a ride this early in the AM.

[north woods gal]

Thanks for the reminder. Yes, Happy Solstice, everyone!

Sheila, I got the medium on the new Pugs. The new Pugs is a bit longer and taller than the original Pugs. A medium on the new Pugs is right between a medium and a large on the old Pugs. A large in the new Pugs is definitely larger than the large in the old Pugs.

My original Pugs is a large. Wouldn't have ordered it in that size, but I bought it used from a guy who had just gotten the bike and discovered he needed a medium. Got a great price on it and it was practically brand new. Couldn't pass it up. Anyway, I made the large work on the original Pugs by going to a shorter stem to get the correct reach, but my seat post is down about as far as it can go and the standover height is just doable on this original large Pugs. A large in the new Pugs would have been too large, in other words.

Fat bikes do make fabulous utility bikes, by the way. The ride is so stable and comfy, too. No such thing as a road you can't ride on a fattie. My husband discovered this, yesterday. His Specialized fat bike (which he rides every single day) started having issues with mis-shifts. Since I can't do any bending over to work on a bike, right now, we just loaded it up and took it into the bike shop for a complete tune. it needed it, anyway. That left him with his old 26" MTB with its skinny 2.2" tires to ride. He came back after half his usual ride and was not happy with it. Said it felt too twitchy and finicky about steering and not at all stable to ride. I'm going to set him up on my old Pugs to ride, today.

[Crankin]

I finally got to the Friday ride I sometimes help lead, meaning, I sweep. I really don't like to ride, other than utility riding, on a day I go to the gym and do boot camp, but it is so gorgeous out, I decided to just go. It was 72 when I got to the ride start, dry and clear blue skies. Of course, only, Jack, the other leader showed, and I knew this would work in my favor. Jack is a fast and strong rider, but is perfectly happy to ride at different speeds. So, off we went. I knew my legs were kind of dead, so as we approached a very hard and steep climb, I told him "no." We altered the route, so it was 25 miles, instead of 30, but there was enough climbing for me, even with this. We actually came back on the same road we went out on, and it is flat, with a bit of a false flat, near the last couple of miles, and we really pushed it, so my average was not that bad.
I am glad I went, but I am really tired. Somehow, I managed to get all my shopping done this afternoon, and am now awaiting the arrival of my granddaughter for the weekend. The weather is going to be kind of crappy, so I hope we get our hike in.