July rides

[emily_in_nc]

That sounds like a lovely trip, Crankin! Do enjoy.

NWG, sorry that you didn't get released to ride, but glad that your healing process is going so well. I completely understand how you feel; very frustrating. Especially with your short summer season there, I hate that you have to miss it all. But on the plus side, you don't mind riding year-round, so all is not lost. There's always fall...and (shiver...) winter!

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Emily. You've been there, so your words are especially helpful, right now. Everyone's words are, in fact. The encouragement helps. Yes, have been thinking along those same lines, too. What's a few more weeks compared to a possible added injury that could put me out of bicycling for the rest of met life?

Funny you should mention the winter riding. Been on my mind a lot during this down time. No way am I going to beat myself up, again, trying to keep trails cleared all winter long like I did, last winter. That was just brutal. Great learning experience, but brutal. I'm hoping to confine my snow riding this next winter to riding out on our local paved roads after the snow plows have done their job. Yup, let the county do all the snow clearing for me. And, yeah, I'll probably do more indoor trainer riding, much as I hate it. Then, too, there's always my cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The trails won't go to waste.

[Crankin]

I’m a firm believer in doing other sports for a few weeks in the winter, NWG. I love x country skiing and snow shoeing.
So, our ride today was a new version of a ride we’ve done before. I wouldn’t call it epic, or even difficult, but for me, challenging because it had long, shallow climbs. This hurts my back and I feel like I can’t get in a rhythm. I need to go back to PT!
But it was so quiet and rural. We stopped at a general store around 11:15 and had popsicles, which revived me. Then, we rode to lunch at the food co op in Great Barrington. DH and I and the male half of our friend stayed on the route for the 6 miles back to the inn. Mostly climbing, but I did not want to be in the glaring sun on the main road.
I spent 30 min stretching when we got back, went in the pool and then had a little happy hr on the porch.
Mexican food tonight. The hordes from NYC have descended for the weekend. Bah.
Tomorrow’s ride is hard and 40 miles. It’s an official group ride, but we only have 2 others. Weather looks sketchy after 1, a bit concerned. Had one of the worst rain riding experiences of my life at the end of this ride.

[north woods gal]

Ha! Can't remember the last time I had a popsicle. Am I getting old or what?

One of the things I like about my solo riding is that I can relax and set my own pace. Not the it hurts to be pushed a bit by others, sometimes. When I ride with hubby, we adjust our riding to stay close. That's nice, too.

I am so in awe of you guys doing theses long rides, right now. Kind of hard in my present situation to believe I did those, too, back when. Gives me a goal to work for when I do get riding, again. Keep posting about them. It helps.

Hitting the trainer hard, now that I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Can go hours, now, walking and doing normal activities with the brace adjusted very loose - very little in the way of support, just there to keep me from twisting my neck in a bad way. My neck feels normal most of the time, now, especially when riding the trainer. I think the elevated heart rate while working the trainer is good for the healing. I suspect I'll be a bit nervous about not wearing the brace when the time comes, though. Going to have to regain some self-confidence.

[north woods gal]

Much prefer Shimano on that style of rim brake and that is my favorite style of rim brake on MTBs, by the way. My bike shop guy also prefers Shimano for brakes, in general, but especially on those brakes. Shimanos are easier to adjust and hold their adjustments the best. Well worth the upgrade.

[rebeccaC]

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

no wildfires or smoke from any far away fire.....just some clouds this morning and amazing visuals

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

Since I live and mostly ride at sea level, for a ride like Ebbetts I’ll adjust my diet (with some vitamin and iron supplements too) to help increase my red blood cell count which helps in getting more oxygen to my muscles. I scheduled some vo2 max intervals into my commutes home for a couple of weeks to help build the capacity of my lungs to more efficiently absorb oxygen. I also get into a deep breathing style on climbs that not only gets more oxygen into my lungs but helps in relaxing my body and mind. The moments of irrationality on the initial east side Ebbetts climb, that I wrote about, were eliminated by focusing on my breathing technique. I’ve usually used the lower elevation of the Santa Monica mountains to help build my climbing muscles, efficiency, and endurance. Those four things, for me, do help in dealing with the lower levels of oxygen at higher elevations.

Good to hear that your healing is going well…and like the Pema quote below I’m a big fan of focusing on and feeding the positives!!!! I think I’ve written before that….patience is a virtue.

[north woods gal]

Sheila, as a rule of thumb, with Shimano components, going higher in price is going lighter in weight, plus it gets you more durability and performance, to boot. You'll especially notice it on ease of adjustments and staying in adjustment. If she can get up to the Deore/XT level on the brakes, she won't regret it. Had those on some older bikes and they were as good as it gets with rim brakes. Not just a matter of status. The cheapo rim brakes used to drive me nuts keeping them in adjustment. Just can't see the point of trying to save a few bucks on something as essential as brakes. That's me, though.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, rebecca. That pic just floored me when it came up. Almost surreal. Hard to believe a place that beautiful actually exists.

I'm not going to be riding the high country anytime, soon, but good tips to store away if I ever do get back to that country. Thanks. Funny how after all these years in the north woods, I still get that closed in feeling. I really do miss those great wide open spaces. Lived there so long, it'll always be in my blood. Enjoy your high country ride. Send more pics if you can. Wow!

[Crankin]

Well, I made it through the big ride of our trip. There were 2 other AMC riders with us, one who I have met, and one who lives around here. The one I know rides about like me and the new guy was super strong! He dropped our friend who was leading on the 2 mile climb. Anyway, it started out cool and a little cloudy; then it got really hot and partly sunny, but cloudy again by the end of the ride. This ride has 4 parts. The first is flat and rolling for 6 miles. Very rural. Then we climb and descend for 10 miles. I have a love hate relationship with this road. It is gorgeous, but the ups felt very hard. I was getting nervous about the 2 mile climb up Lenox Mountain. We took a rest stop at the park in West Stockbridge, where we ran into a parade. I started up the climb and just kept a slow and steady pace. It does flatten out for awhile, after a bit of hard stuff and then is rolling, and then tips up at the end. We stopped for a group pic and then I was the last one down the descent, which ends at Kripalu Center. After this it’s a slog up the road by Tanglewood. Need I say more. Lots of tourist cars going to a concert, as well as the hoards of second home owners. This road finally descends into Stockbridge, where we ate lunch. Since the rain held off, we headed out for the last part of the ride. It’s about 15 miles and part of it was new to us. It’s really pretty, along a river, and then farms, but we made a wrong turn (we went ahead for a bit), and ended up doing a super steep climb. DH realized it, but decided to make me get up this. It wasn’t too long, but at least 10%. We got back about 5 miles after this.
I felt pretty good, but I need to do more big climbs! The ride was 40 miles, with 2,700 ft of climbing. It did rain tonight, and I don’t think we will be riding tomorrow, with 50% chance of thunderstorms.

[Crankin]

NWG, do not get on your bike! Please .
It was cloudy and extremely humid when we woke up in Great Barrington today. Some sprinkles and rain predicted for later. The 4 of us decided to call it a successful trip without riding today. We lounged after breakfast, packed up, and hit the road before the crowds got on the Turnpike. We were home by 11:40. It was sunny at home, but super humid and warm. Looking like rain now. I was happy to stay in the AC. Around 2:30, went out to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, with a scoop of mocha chip, and then went to the store for this week's food.
Summer is half over, but my favorite riding time is September. Rode almost 90 miles in 3 days.
Onward.