It's August! Riding through the heat.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, Crankin, so sorry about your fall! There seems to be a lot of that going around lately. My DH is just about healed up from his (due to cleat failure). He is down to regular-sized Band-aids (from large bandages) on the side of his left elbow and knee, and the scabbed areas get smaller every day. We did our usual route yesterday -- the full length -- for the first time since his crash exactly two weeks earlier. My 35 miles put me at 3001 miles for the year! Pretty happy about that. We had a building headwind on the way back, on top of the usual heat and humidity (temp 85), so the last third or so of the ride was not so pleasant, but we got 'er done.

What tour company did you go with? We did a Bike Vermont tour many years ago in the Connecticut River Valley, so some of it was actually in New Hampshire (Hanover area). I still have such fond memories, but whew, the hills were tough. I can't imagine riding 50 miles in that kind of terrain these days, so I give you huge props!

[north woods gal]

Crankin, you are tough, no doubt about it. 130 miles in 4 days and a fall in the mix, to boot. Glad your fall wasn't worse. Road rash is the pits, though.

Congrats, Emily, on a great year of riding and it's not over, yet. I hope to try some biking when we're on our Florida visit in September, but I suspect it will be limited, given the heat and my current level of conditioning. Don't know when I'll get back into your league or Crankin's, but I know for sure it will be awhile. Not likely this year. It sometimes depresses me to think about how much I have lost as far as my physical conditioning, though, in truth, I'm actually in good shape. I'm just not in my former peak shape for riding. That always makes me nervous and tense, though. On things like this, patience is not my strong suit.

Stopped in at the bike shop, yesterday, to see how the guys were coming on changing the new Pugs over to better all around tires and setting them up tubeless, to boot. I know I'm one of the only fatties fans around here, so I'll just tell everyone that with these monster tires, tire design and going tubeless is very important. (Fat bike inner tubes weigh a ton.) Hope to bring the new Pugs home in the next couple of days and do some more trail riding with it. This winter, the fat bikes will all be my plowed road, road bikes, too. Have decided not to tear myself up trying to keep my trails open this winter like I did last winter. My snow riding will either be on the roads or local groomed trails and, yes, in snow bike country, we have groomed snow bike trails, same as we have groomed cross country ski trails.

[Crankin]

Emily, we are in Prince Edward County Ontario. Nothing like the terrain in Hanover, NH, where I have ridden. It’s flat to rolling in the truest sense, with very few real climbs. The wind and sun have been the biggest negatives. We used a Canadien tour company, that arranges semi supported trips. It’s called Randonne. The owner’s sister lives in this area.
The Nexcare bandage is a miracle! The cuts are healing so quickly, it’s mostly the bruising that hurts, but Arnica gel is helping that.i have a small bruise on the inside of my right knee, too, from the top tube and a teeny one on my elbow.
It rained last night and today is soupy and a real feel of 95. It was sunny this morning, but we are done. Both of us are tired. Shopped, had coffee, lunch, wine tasting. Now going to walk around the town of Picton and then we have dinner at our inn. We decided to drive out to an area where we can take a ferry to the road to Montreal, so we will see all of the county. It’s longer, but worth it.

[north woods gal]

My best day, yesterday, since my accident. No, not in total miles, though they were good. Did 14.4 miles of pavement in the morning on the Gunnar single speed, then followed it up, right away, with 3 miles of laps on our trails with a fat bike. Then did another 2 miles trails with a fat bike in the afternoon.

The real plus for me, though, was that for the first time since my accident, I felt a little bit like my old self as far as strength. Real confidence booster for me because I was beginning to wonder If I would ever get back to the old me as far as conditioning. Seems like it's taken forever, but I now have real confidence I can make a full recovery. Was actually able to ride the trails, aggressively, the way they need to be ridden to do them right. Also very pleased to report that I had ZERO interest in riding over boulders or hopping logs, as per my resolution to ride safer after my accident. In fact, I still cringe a bit when I bypass some of those obstacles. Also nice to know that I can still enjoy the trail riding and that it can still be challenging without taking unnecessary risks on the stunt stuff.

Picked up the Pugs 2 from the shop, now with its new fast rolling tires, set up tubeless. Turns this second edition Pugs into an even better dual purpose rough road and trail bike. Those big easy rolling 4.4" tires smooth out the roughest trails. Love them. Definitely a 12 months of the year bike, now. Have the same tires on another fat bike and they really do a great job in the snow, too.

[north woods gal]

Sheila, I've ridden a Muk and loved it. Very modern fat bike. Salsa has done a good job of continuously upgrading it to stay with current technology. For all my trail bikes, now, 1x is the only way to go.

[Crankin]

Glad your strength is returning, NWG.
I am glad weather, driving, and being in Montreal is keeping me from riding, so my crash stuff heals, although I am ready to ride. Not that I’ve been sitting on my butt.
We got here around 2 yesterday, and after some assistance from the hotel, parked our car; the whole street is closed in front of the hotel. We stored our bikes in a closet in the lobby and drank our welcome champagne. This place is lovely. We are staying in Old Town, so it is filled with tourists. Did some shopping and walked for a few miles and then had wine at the hotel bar until our 9 pm dinner at an outstanding gourmet pizza place.
This morning we caught an Uber to Mount Royal Park and hiked just under 4 miles. Glad we went at 9:30, it was mobbed when we finished. What a treasure in the middle of the city. We stayed on the wooded trails as much as possible, but when we were on the packed dirt roads, there were tons of cyclists. Sadly, most had their helmets hanging from their bars.
After getting back, we cleaned up and had lunch and walked more. We were both tired, so spent the past 2 hrs relaxing and reading before dinner. Tomorrow, we drive to Brattleboro, VT for one night. It’s going to be crappy weather, rain, so no more outdoor stuff. Our good friends in Amherst are coming to meet us for dinner, as it’s only about a half hr away. I expect we will be home by noon on Saturday.

[emily_in_nc]

It sounds like you are having a wonderful trip, Crankin, though I can't imagine eating dinner at 9pm. LOL! I am in my jammies and parked in front of the TV with my book by then. Not very cosmopolitan, this gal.

nwg, such a good feeling to be "back", isn't it? I am so happy for you. I am also relieved that you are not tempted by the boulders, logs, and other obstacles on the trails. Riding = good, crashing = bad. Right!?