July rides

[north woods gal]

You're so right, Crankin. Sometimes I just have to tell my brain to shut up and let my heart do the thinking. By the way, I'm like Emily. I can't ride on a full stomach at all. Makes me very uncomfortable.

Thanks, Emily. Hoping for the best, but if I have to fo for another month with the neck brace, doing all my riding, indoors, it won't be the end of the world. Been through worse. I'll get past this. Besides, those darn black flies and deer flies are making my walks just plain miserable. Have to douse myself in DEET not to get bitten. I may just stick to indoor riding for awhile. Get to listen to my music, too, when riding indoors. Something I don't do out on the road for the sake of safety.

[Crankin]

I can't ride on a full stomach, either, but when it is lunch time, I have to eat. My go to is either a half or whole turkey sandwich or veggie sandwich. If I have to make my own, it's almond butter and whole wheat bread. I have a "stock" breakfast or two I eat before a long ride, too. In retrospect, I was still feeling sick from whatever viral thing rolled through my body on Friday. When I get sick, it is always the same. In the winter, it's sinus/bronchitis. In the summer, it's stomach, aches, etc, sometimes mild sinus stuff. I've come to the conclusion that my body really doesn't like hot weather or the sun or really intense exercise (funny, since I lived in 2 sunbelt states for years) and as the cycling season goes on, I usually make through some big event or tour, and then this stuff starts. It's hard to keep a good mental attitude about riding, but since it's so much a part of my lifestyle, I've been trying to just get out there, with no thought of speed or length of ride. I really enjoy riding in the spring and fall a lot more. Still, I look at others who appear way more out of shape than I, and they seem like stronger riders. Well, I keep going! I feel much better, slept well last night and rode 13.2 miles at 5:30 AM. It felt almost cool, at 64 when I started, but after 5 miles, that stopped. I did a variation of the ride I did last week, over to the other side of town, but I will have to reverse one part of the loop, where I chose to go down a small hill, instead of climb. Today the sun was so much in my eyes on the downhill, it felt unsafe. I know the cars can see my blinkies, but if I can't see ahead, neither can they.

[north woods gal]

Crankin, sometimes our bodies are such a mystery as to what's going on with them. I think your attitude to just keep riding because it is a such a part of your lifestyle is so very relevant for me, right now. I'm down to just being able to ride my trainer, for now, but even that meager excuse for riding helps me so much, right now. I used to hate riding the trainer so, but now I'm grateful to the point of tears to be able to do it at all.

My riding during this recovery has been much on my mind, of course. I've already made some resolutions as to the changes I will make when I do start riding, again, but I suspect my accident has changed my attitude in ways that I cannot yet foresee. Maybe being forced to sit out and reflect on my riding will be a good thing. Funny about what I do and what I don't miss, right now, though. I find myself daydreaming about riding out on the road - paved, gravel, sand - or on paved bike trails or rails to trails setups or even logging and fire roads. Yup, roads and more roads. Even for my snow riding, I've been daydreaming about riding around the neighborhood on our plowed roads.

For all my trail riding that I've done these past few years, though, I don't daydream about that technical riding at all. This accident may have spooked me to the point where my techy trail riding days are over. I'm okay with that. I'll just have to try it and see. Just not missing it, at this point.

My taste in bikes remains very much the same, though. These last few years have been very much an odessy of riding plus bikes and fat bikes as distance bikes on roads of all kinds. Can't wait to get on the old Pugsley, again, and just ride out and take any kind of road this country can throw my way, even to playfully riding off on the shoulders and do a little exploring. Such are my dreams, right now.

[ny biker]

Dropping in for a quick catch-up -- did a 42 mile ride on July 4. It was hot but somehow felt better than the ride a few days earlier had been, despite similar conditions. It was sort of a club ride, but not really, since a friend and I decided to start earlier at a different place, ride to the official ride start to meet folks and go with them to the first rest stop, then take some shadier short cuts and finish on a shadier road than the posted route. Our ride start was closer to the last rest stop than the official one, so we finished earlier, too. All the changes were to avoid problems with the heat, and they worked.

Since then, no rides. Instead, I am in the middle of a string of four Foo Fighters concerts -- two last weekend (Maryland and Philadelphia), then one this weekend and another next Monday, both in NY. (It's a long story, but basically I looked at the tour schedule and decided what the hell, they're always fun and I need fun.) Anyway I will be staying in NY for a while for a family visit related to parent health issues. Not bringing the bike with me, because I expect to be busy with other things. My exercise will be walks around my home town, which is actually quite scenic. And dancing for 3 hours per concert, which is actually a good leg workout.

I do have time to squeeze in a bike ride tonight... in fact I am leaving now...

[rebeccaC]

ny....foo fighters/fun/dancing are all the same thing aren't they

Just a few years ago I did the one day Tour of the California Alps in the Eastern Sierra’s (fondly also called the Death Ride). Riding up both the east and west sides of Monitor Pass and Ebbetts Pass and the east side of Carson Pass made for one of the hardest one day rides of my life. I don’t have the time to train for something like that anymore and I don’t have the climbing strength of body/mind I did then. Since it was on my route this work trip I planned a 58 mile ride up both sides of just Ebberts Pass. I did do a good climbing ride before I left so my mind said I could do it. I planned for a whole day and started in/returned to Markleeville Ca. which is just east of Ebberts.

Leaving early this morning the temps started in the low 60’s ’s and then got into the 90’s. There were a few moments of questioning my sanity…on a long very hot, very steep section going up the already steep east side I actually thought of what I could throw away, my camera included, to lighten the climb...common sense quickly prevailed though. On the west side of the pass, when I came down into the Hermit Valley, I took time to stop at a river site that was very private. I left my shoes/socks, shorts and jersey on a rock and just sat in shallow rapids and let the cold water flow over me. Just relaxing/stretching and refueling on a large flat rock in the heat helped in drying me some and my still wet sports bra actually helped in the heat on the ascent of the shorter but still steep west side. The almost pedal free descent on the smoothly paved east side was welcomed. There were quite a few other riders….some doing training rides for this year’s Death Ride which is this weekend. Very few cars, which also made me a happy woman. I felt good when I got back to Markleeville, mostly from just the pure satisfaction of finishing the ride. Oh yeah…and then just a 30-minute drive to a really good recovery massage (a BIG ftw!!!) at the hotel in south Lake Tahoe.

Alex is flying to meet me in Missoula Mt and we are taking a few days to hike and explore the wonders of Glacier National Park before she goes home and I drive to Oregon for a couple of days work on two projects with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory regarding both wind and biomass energy. This trip will also give me a chance to ride a couple of short sections on the southern Oregon coast on my way home.

Didn’t do much photography on the ride….but here are a few









Btw we now know that this fall Alex and I are welcoming a daughter into this world…

nwg…..i left this for you at a wonderful Vietnamese Buddhist temple and meditation center in the desert just north of Adelanto Ca.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, Rebecca, that looks like an epic ride. Kudos to you for completing it. I just can't imagine that kind of climbing after being in Florida for so long. I am not sure I have it in me to ride mountains any more -- not that I ever did too much of that anyway!

Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your daughter. I know you and Alex must be over the moon!

Enjoy Glacier! I know it is incredibly beautiful but hope there are no wildfires in the area. Smoky hiking = no muy bueno.

[north woods gal]

Again, just beautiful, rebecca. Question: do you find the altitude to be an issue? I suspect a flatlander like me would need some time to adjust.

As for me, had my four week progress check with the doctor, today. Was hoping for something a bit more definitive and conclusive, but all he did was take an X ray of my spine in the damaged area to see if it has been maintaining proper alignment while I heal. Also did all the reflexes, nerve and strength tests. Everything checked out, perfectly. I am grateful for the results, but I'm still to be in a brace for another few weeks, at least, and won't be released from the brace until that final check. Well, there goes my summer, as far as bicycling. I shouldn't be disappointed, but I am. Had hoped to be bicycling, sooner, but that's not going to happen. Oh, well.

Rain, today, but much needed rain, so no complaint, there. Probably won't go for a walk, then, but my heart just isn't in it, anyway. May do the trainer, later.

[north woods gal]

On a more upbeat note (don't mean to be such a grump), he liked my trainer setup. I'm good to go, there. More walking is good, too. Guess I'll just keep doing what I have been doing, for now.