It's August! Riding through the heat.

[north woods gal]

August, already? Oh, my. Seems like my summer is just beginning since I'm just several days back into riding after my accident. Not complaining, though. Just glad to be back in the saddle, again.

Crankin, your weather sounds like ours. Been muggy by day, followed by thunderstorms. We have another big band of storms coming our way, so for my afternoon ride, I may actually hit the trainer. Not crazy about it, but that's what it's for.

No, never tried any creme or gels to speed up the healing from the bruising, but will keep that in mind if I ever get bruised, again. Thanks.

[emily_in_nc]

I actually remembered to say "rabbit rabbit" this morning before uttering any other words. I hope it brings me luck for this month!

DH is doing much better. He's fine with walking now, just a little slower than usual. Today we walked up to CVS, where we needed to buy a few things, and changed his bandages afterwards. One of his wounds (hip) has graduated to no bandage, and the others are all getting better daily. I would not be surprised if he's not ready to do a shorter than our usual ride next week. That would be awesome!

Since I had to do laundry today, I rode loops around the RV park on my cruiser bike while my clothes were washing in the park laundry room. And I also worked out in the gym. So I got a few miles in as well as light weights and some yoga + core work.

I noticed on bikerides.com, where I track my miles, that I only need 8.04 miles to achieve 2900 for the year so far, so I am thinking I might head out for an hour tomorrow. If I go out just 30 minutes one way, then turn around, the chances of anything happening are slim, and I'm still close enough to hoof it, if I had to. Will consider this. I am definitely missing the riding but want to stay close to home base until DH is able to join me again.

It's funny, I've been urging him for ages to throw out his ancient SIDI road shoes, and now that the cleat broke, he finally did it. As he said, end of an era. He has been riding in those shoes since he bought his Trek road bike in 2002! The heels were totally worn down, and he'd replaced the heel plates as well as other parts (buckles) more than once. They were good shoes, but still... 16 years is enough. Fortunately, he had good Crank Brothers pedals from the MTB he traded in, so he's now put them on his Trek and will ride in his Keen sandals for awhile. They are nearly brand-new. I love mine, especially for summer, so we'll be the dork twins: Trek road bikes and Keens!

[Crankin]

I cannot believe your DH had shoes that long, Emily. Even with repair, I am very hard on shoes, so 4-6 years is my limit. I am pretty sure no one around you will think anything of your shoe/pedal/bike combo!
Today is brutally humid and hot, so I left for work at 7:45, even though my first appointment was at 9. I took some shady roads off of Main St., just a little variation, since I do not ride there the way I drive. This brought my grand total commute this morning to 3.1 miles. I was sweaty, though and had to use all of my hygiene products. I rode in an Athleta sundress, which is wicking, with my commuter bike shorts under. They are long, so you could see them. I hate to ride looking like there's nothing under my dress!
The way home was not so nice. It has become partly cloudy, and it's breezy, but it feels like a humid day in Arizona, in July. My intention was to ride home the longer way, and I did start out on that route, but it was so uncomfortable, I was already past the point where I could easily get back to Main St. So, I turned on the next street, which is the way I ride there. It's pretty, but to make a left on the main road to get home from there is horrible. It's an incline with little line of sight, because there's an extended walk/block wall on the left side of the street. There is a crosswalk there, but on the right, and the only time cars seem to stop is when I have my granddaughter in the stroller. But, there's a dirt road right before the bad intersection that I can take for 1/4 a mile, that goes to the neighborhood next to mine. It gets wet with rain, and it's rutted, but it's cool and pretty. Not so great with 25 mm tires. I started cautiously and then I saw 2 Comcast trucks heading down there. I stopped, and finally, they backed out. By this time I was freaked out, there were patches of sand, so I kind of hoofed with one foot until the pavement. Then, I have to take another trail, very short, to my street. The beginning is rooty and not graded well, but most of it is maintained by our association.
I need a different bike to ride on these. DH is fine with it, but I am not. Still glad I rode, though.

[emily_in_nc]

LOL...yeah, Crankin, my DH is kinda crazy that way. He's very frugal. His road bike, a Trek 5200 (US Postal Service model) is also from 2002. He just keeps replacing components and doesn't feel a strong urge to spend thousands of dollars to replace it just yet. So the Sidis just kinda followed in that vein!

You are right, though. Even though there are some die-hard full-kit roadies even on the trail here, they are few and far between. We see some really interesting getups, especially people way overdressing in this heat and humidity. There is one lady we call the "caped crusader" who rides all over town on a cruiser bike. She always wears a white cape (lightweight fabric) and a white, wide-brimmed hat. She's about my age, I'd guess. Won't even look at you or speak as you ride or walk by the other way. Just one of the many cycling characters we encounter day-to-day around these parts!

I ended up not riding yesterday as I'd thought I might, because I woke up at 4:30 am and never could get back to sleep. As a result, I was really dragging. So, I ended up doing chores and errands instead and rode this morning, after a much better night of sleep. I got in 15 miles, as I didn't want to go too far from home with DH not able to come bail me out in a pinch. On the way back, I stopped at the vet to pick up refills for our dog's meds. So it was productive and also got me above 2900 miles on the year. It felt good to ride again, though it's kinda weird riding solo. Glad I don't have to do that too often, as I much prefer to ride with DH. Hopefully he'll be back in the saddle next week.

[Crankin]

Those cycling characters are unique and make it interesting! We have the "half naked crazy guy, playing an instrument," who rides up and down Main St. Sometimes he rides on the sidewalk, but not always. He is incredible. Rides no hands playing a guitar, holding a boombox, playing a trombone, holding a beachball. There was an article about him in the local paper. He lives in the next town, is open about his mental health challenges, and says riding helps him deal with getting divorced. He was out near the end of our club rally, and as sweep, he certainly helped the stragglers I was behind, giving them a good laugh, 5 miles from the end of the ride.

[emily_in_nc]

Good one, Crankin!

[Crankin]

I'm going to look at a Specialized Ariel Sport bike tomorrow; I've been searching for a commuter/hybrid/gravel ready bike with mounts, etc for months. This has hydraulic disc brakes and a front suspension fork, big tires. There are a few other bikes that meet my requirements, but they either do not come in an x-small size, or are out of stock in that size. Found a new 2017 one at Belmont Wheelworks... it was in their "kid's store!" So, tomorrow, when it's 92 out in the afternoon, I will go down there to test it. DH convinced me to look for something that would give me something different than my 2 road bikes, one of which has a rack, so the ability to go on dirt roads/double track was the thing that made this stand out. We actually have some dirt roads in surrounding towns.
I will report back tomorrow. We are going to ride early in the AM, to avoid the heat. Took a short, 2 mile walk around 9 AM, before the tornado/flash flood warnings started going off. We just had torrential rain, but there was a tornado west of here. Spent the rest of the day celebrating my granddaughter's 2nd birthday, with a family lunch, after which, we went to the local farm to see the chickens and goats.