July rides

[emily_in_nc]

Emily - yup, we got invited back to New Smyrna by a couple of friends so we’re spending the month of July at the beach.

That's great, although not sure I would choose July to come to Florida. But a free place to say is a free place to stay, right?!

[Crankin]

Our first experience with the Burley went fine! I rode ahead of DH, who has the trailer on his Guru, so I waited after I turned onto the street with park. She was perfect. There were others at the park with trailers, too... lots of young parents my kids' age, I seriously don't know how they can afford a house in my town. We stayed for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and then she promptly fell asleep in the ten minutes it takes to ride home. My son had to wake her up when they got here an hour later, and she was not happy. But, the experience was a success. Next time, we will ride on the bike trail, although we probably will drive to the beginning.
Later, DH and I went out and did our shortish 18 mile flat loop. It is just perfect out, 78 degrees and dry. It was kind of fast, but, I handled it. Hope to do a long ride tomorrow. We leave for the Berkshires on Thursday, and I have not ridden more than 36 miles on one ride, although, I've climbed enough.

[north woods gal]

Love the pic and really, really glad to see the helmet. Thank-you.

[rebeccaC]

well we have some heat (for here) for the weekend....90's here at the beach and 100's not far inland, back to the 70's next week though. since i'm planning a hard ride next week i did a 64 mile ride into the santa monica mountains with two friends for the climbs. Lots of water/fuel/taking breaks in the shade and thankful for the help the ocean breeze gave on the last 9 miles home on the bike path. my first climbing in too long felt good!

[Crankin]

NWG, she loves the helmet. Given how tiny she is, this one will fit for awhile. It even has a ratchet!
My son told me they were very nervous about her going in the trailer, but they survived. When my DIL dropped her off, we showed her everything, and that helped a lot.

[Crankin]

Note to self. Do not eat cranberry walnut chicken salad in the middle of a ride, on a hot day.
I survived, but that semi-ruined a really nice ride I have done twice with a group, in an area I don't ride in often. It starts in the town my DH works in, about 22 miles northeast of here, in a park that has tons of parking and bathrooms . The first part is a bit hilly, goes through some suburban semi-rural roads and developments and then through part of a state park. We stopped at a farm at mile 15 or so, and while the stop here on the group ride is more of a rest/snack stop, we were ready to eat. There wasn't much in the cool food section, so I thought the chicken salad would be healthier than a huge muffin or cider donut. I shared with DH, ate my Lara Bar and also shared an ice coffee. So, I didn't eat too much, and I actually felt a bit energized right after we took off, at least enough to get up the last big hill. There's a lot of downhill and rollers, more rural riding in the second half, until you get about 5 miles from the end. I was fighting barfing, which is not something I do more than every 10-15 years. Stopped twice to drink long drinks of my Skratch bottle, and 1.5miles from the end, I wet my head with water.
OK, I was feeling a bit off at the start, but nothing that could have caused nausea. It was between 80 and 83, no humidity, and the ride was very shady most of the time. So, I attribute this to the food, and the fact although I've been riding 4 days a week, most of it has been short rides. This was 35 miles... hope the heat (85 degrees) predicted for our trip this week does not have the same effect.
Still, glad I went.

[north woods gal]

Glad you survived, Crankin. Could it be that the salad or chicken was bad? Has happened to me. That might explain it, too.

Four days to go till my follow up X ray on my neck and I'm really, really sweating it. All the worst case scenario stuff keeps floating through my head. I so desperately want to ride, again, but I know it's up to the doctors, not me. Oh,how I wish I could go back in time and get a do over, but life doesn't work that way. Time to keep the faith. In the meantime, I just keep on walking.