It's August! Riding through the heat.

[Crankin]

So, we planned a shorter route today, since the tour company’s route covered some of what we did yesterday. After a couple of miles, we turned onto a trail more suited for my new bike! There was one point I had to put my foot down, as I wasn’t sure I could get around a large puddle, and my entire cleat on my shoe and pedal was so mud encrusted I could not clip in. Since these are SPD pedals, I tried kicking the mud out, but I had to stop. I did not want to be on this trail to begin with! After several squirts of the water bottle, we got back on the main road and decided to turn down a side street that ended up on a peninsula. It was beautiful and had some shade, with views of the water. On the way back to town, my chain dropped again. We stopped at the farmers market, bought sadwiches and ate by the water. Lovely! After cleaning up, took my bike to the LBS in the next town. The mechanic, a women was a riot. There is no obvious cause, but a weird thing that may be affecting it, that she needed to wait for the head guy to fix. We are going back to pick it up in about 30 minutes. What a pain. I truely do not remember what it is, but they seem competent. Since we won’t have our car until Monday, we need to be able to ride to our next inn tomorrow morning and to our final destination on Monday, where our car will be waiting.
The cab comes to get our suitcases at 9 am, so we will be leaving to our next stop around 10:30, after breakfast.

[Crankin]

Ok, my bike is fixed. This was DH’s fault! He put a new chain on the night before we left and he put it on wrong... Mr Genius mechanic. But, he was mortified in front of the mechanic, who told him to “own his sh!t.” She was hysterical. They did a couple of other minor things for me and charged us only 25.00.
I was able to enjoy my dinner!

[emily_in_nc]

Ok, my bike is fixed. This was DH’s fault! He put a new chain on the night before we left and he put it on wrong... Mr Genius mechanic. But, he was mortified in front of the mechanic, who told him to “own his sh!t.” She was hysterical.

Too funny!

No riding this weekend, as we leave the busy trails to the families, but we did other things. Today was a long walk to the parking garage downtown, stair and ramp climbing, then after a quick dip in the pool to cool down (felt glorious, and I had it all to myself!) I worked out in the gym. Looking forward to riding tomorrow, though. First day of school for the kiddos here, which means buses on the roads.

[Crankin]

We left Wellington around 10:30, after a memorable dinner last night and good conversation with the other guests at the inn, as well as the owners. The ride today took us in a more isolated area, through a provincial park on the lake. Needless to say, it was crazy busy getting close to there, but the route took us on a gravel path to avoid most of it. It was tricky to get the right path looking at the GPS, but after quite a few turn arounds, we got to the beach. We stopped and used the bathroom, and just took a look at the dunes/water. We both felt incredibly overheated, as there is no shade here, and we were getting close to our inn. After another short dirt section, we were on our way with 5 miles to go. We stopped once, in the shade so I could eat a Shot Block and drink copiously. I was starting to feel weird.
Ended up with 28.5 miles. We both cannot figure out why these rides with 240 ft of elevation feel so hard! The 2 factors are a relentless headwind and the sun. It was 80 when we got here; after a quick shower, we walked half a mile to a wonderul place for lunch, around 2. On the way back the wind had died and it was 85.
The inn does not have AC, but it is not bad. And it cools a lot at night. Since this place is in the middle of nowhere, we eat at the inn, a special thing for people on this tour.
Tomorrow we ride to our final riding destination. Seriously thinking of doing the shorter route, if it is not cloudy. Some cool things on the way. Weather still looks iffy for Tuesday. Neither of us want to risk t storms.

[north woods gal]

Love your bike mechanic, too. Sounds like a lovely area, Crankin. How's your bike do on the dirt/gravel? Hopefully, okay.

11 pavement miles this morning on the single speed Log lady, then did a little trail maintenance work. Much needed, since I couldn't do any work during my recovery. Whoa, I am still way out of shape for this kind of physical labor. 7 weeks of no lifting or physical work really weakened me. I'm going very slow and light, though. Little bit at a time. My goal is to smooth the trail as much as possible, removing roots or small rocks that might possibly cause a fall, but mostly just to make for a more comfy ride.

Still at something of a crossroads on the bikes and what I want to ride into the future. The fat bikes will always stay, but the plus bikes may get traded off at some point. They're kind of an in-between kind of bike. Not as good as a fat bike for gnarly trail riding and not as sweet and nimble as the light single speeds for pure road work. When I want to ride trail, I grab a fat bike. When I want to ride pavement, I grab a sweet and fast single speed. The 3" tire plus bikes don't get ridden much, now. The single speeds have kind of spoiled me for pavement and road work. Who knew?

[Crankin]

My Guru is ok on the gravel. Not great, but there were some packed sections, where I get a reprieve and it is flat. Also not going more than 10-11 mph. As long as there is no sand, I am ok. We did not know about the dirt parts!
Will be ordering the rest of the parts for my Ariel on Wednesday, so they will be there Saturday, when we get home. My plan is to ride it to work the first Mon or Tues I am back and then hit the Battle Road Trail in Minuteman National Park on Wednesday. It’s packed dirt.

[Crankin]

Sheila, I bought the Ariel Sport because it met all of my requirements for around town and commuting, plus it had the extra factors of front shocks and disc brakes. It was on sale and one of the few xsmall bikes in this category available. They make them, but most brands sell out so quickly, they are gone in a flash.

[north woods gal]

10 or 11 miles per hour is pretty normal on dirt and gravel, so you did good, there, Crankin. Packed dirt is actually better than gravel as long as it isn't too loose or rutted. My favorite kind of surface, unless it rains, of course.

95 degrees, Sheila? Wow! Glad you got out away from home to ride, though. It's good for the spirit, every now and then.

We have our last upper 80s day, today, then down into the 70s, tomorrow and the rest of the week. Got out early to beat the afternoon heat, then. After a couple of laps around the neighborhood with the hubby, struck out to do a bit more pavement riding for a humble 14.4 miles, total. It was on the single speed Gunnar, though, so all sprint and a very good workout. That's what I love about single speeding. I don't have to go as far to get the same workout. The single speeding has really improved my road technique. Have to maintain a much higher spin rate to maintain my speed, so lots more pedaling per mile. Better aerobic workout than with a standard geared bike, not to mention no shifting, needed. That's pretty cool, too.