July rides

[Crankin]

Glad you are feeling better, Emily. I get this warning of illness in the same way! Like, I was ready to throw my bike down 2 Sundays ago, even though I had been sick Friday and my body was just telling me I wasn't really better. I think I willed it out of me so I was fine for the hard riding in the Berkshires, because I had a slight replay of it all when I rode Wednesday and Thursday. Slight, though. The gym was fine today and I will do a hard ride tomorrow.
You are smart to listen to your body. I did not do this in my 30s and 40s/early 50s and I think it set me up for a lot of stuff that was my own fault. I have a terrible fear of having to slow down (overall, not just my speed), but I am not in the mind set to do this in the foreseeable future. I think my upcoming birthday in the fall (65) is scaring me more than I like!
We went to the outing, ate our lunch, had half a beer, and left. DH had no desire to do any of the activities, either. Instead, we got our grocery shopping done and went to the local farm, so we can do a long ride tomorrow.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for the support, gals! I am feeling so much better. I am just very glad that I actually did get sick, because my mental attitude was really worrying me on Tuesday's ride. No worries, I would never give up cycling! But riding in Florida's heat and humidity does take a certain mental stubbornness (or insanity!) that can be hard to muster when the body is not well. I'm sure I will cope better on my Monday ride and do look forward to it. It was probably good to get an enforced break, since riding year-round in the same area can get stale without the occasional break.

[north woods gal]

Good for you, Emily. We gals can do, you with your riding in the heat and me with my riding in the cold.

Less than week to go, now, for my (hopefully) last doctor appointment to get the brace off and cleared for riding. Getting kind of nervous about it, though. Watching every step so that I don't trip and fall and have a setback, though at this point, I'm probably healed enough to survive it. Also a bit concerned/anxious about the new me and the type of bicycling that will work or not work as per my resolutions. Darn patience thing can be hard to come by, sometimes.

[Crankin]

You'll do it, NWG.
We did a 36 mile group ride (that we were not leading) where I felt like I was behind the whole time. No one came for the 50 miler, so the guy who was supposed to lead that, led out for the first 13 miles. He's notoriously uncaring about stated speed (the ride was listed as an average of 11-13 mph). When we got to the split, where some of the group decided follow him for a 45 mile ride, my average was above 14. My sit bone and SI joint were screaming, which was too bad, because this was in an area I have not ridden in, except for a couple of roads, a couple of times. Mostly rural, farms, ponds, and suburban roads, southwest of where I live. It started in a busier suburb, which quickly turned rural. Anyway, between mile 13 and 26 it was a bit better, though with some climbs. We stopped at a farm store for snacks and I was in a really bad mood because of all of this. Well, eating helped a little, but then we had a long shallow climb. I was not with the sweep, but I ended up being alone a lot of the time with 5 people in front of me and 3-4 behind. With 3.8 miles to go the leader's GPS/phone died, so DH led the end. I was very pissed with him, for just leaving me for most of the ride, yet his average was in my usual range, and mine was really on .5 of a mile slower. I think I just dislike group rides, unless I am in charge, and this is a group I like!
We got back to the start, at a commuter rail parking lot, and we used our "trailer park shower," to clean up and change in the car, for a barbecue at someone's house with a pool. I did not swim, but it was nice to sit. The people who did a shorter ride were already there.
At least the weather was perfect.

[rebeccaC]

glad you're feeling better emily!!!!

Spent the morning doing a ride from Brookings Or. to Cape Sebastian and back. With strong headwinds from the north, that gave me a good tailwind coming back. This section of the southern Or. coast highway has been one of my favorites to ride as it has some wonderful views and wide bike lanes. 42 miles with half being a slow, hard, into a headwind ride. I used taking a few photos as a respite going north.




Later this afternoon I did a hike into the wonderful Prairie Creek redwood forest.





and there was also this on my way south


it was a good day........

[north woods gal]

And I thought I had it bad with deer running out on the road in front of me. There is something so magical about the Oregon coast. Have visited a few times and fell in love with it.

[emily_in_nc]

Ah, the Oregon coast...so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your photos, Rebecca!

NWG, I hope you are cleared to ride at your doc appointment. I feel sure you'll be able to stick to your resolutions re. riding style. You are a very determined woman!

Crankin, I've had rides like that. In fact, when we used to ride frequently with a bike club in NC, I so often had to ride alone for much of the ride, as I was always in between the fast and slow riders in speed. DH was always up with the faster folks, and I didn't want to poke along with the slow riders in back. It can be demoralizing to get stuck in the middle that way and makes the miles go by a lot slower. Now that I am used to riding alone, I'm fine with my speed. DH rides with me at the beginning, middle, and end of our rides, but does longer loops in between, since he's faster than me by about 1.5-2 mph overall.