It's August! Riding through the heat.

[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!?

[Crankin]

Emily, I can eat at 9 on vacation, as breakfast and lunch are later, punctuated by periods of outdoor activity and rest. Even on the days I am getting home at 6:15, I may not eat until 7, but I am still in bed by 9-10. I get up early!
There’s going to be bad storms here, shortly. We did have some rain on the way, down. We stopped in Montpelier for lunch, and went to a pizza place we’d been to before. However, the other times, it’s been like 10 degrees out!
Looking forward to dinner. Brattleboro is full of old hippies and unusual shops; spent some time in a gallery and an antique shop. I’ve already got 3 work related phone calls/texts about next wk. Back to reality.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, folks. Emily, not to worry, I've removed most of my dangerous stuff from the trails and/or blocked off the segments that contained them. That helps to remove the temptations to do stupid stuff. I've also taken a closer look at the trails and have been busy removing the smaller rocks and roots that I previously ignored. Overall, just trying to make the trails safer as far as any objects that might cause a crash. The trails still twist and tun and have the same steep ups and downs, so they're still demanding and fairly technical, but hopefully a bit safer.

We're having a good friend of mine for a visit. She's my age, but hasn't been riding in over a year. She was intrigued by the fat bikes, though, so we let her ride the old Pugsley on our morning neighborhood road ride. ound the big wheels hard to pedal, since she is out of shape.

[Crankin]

NWG, that's exactly why I am not getting a fat bike. There's only one made for someone as small as I am, and it costs a ton; all of the reading I've done spoke about how short/petite people are at a disadvantage with fat bikes because of the wheel size, which is the thing that makes them great for riding in the snow. While I am not out of shape, I found the type of strength I needed when I was mountain biking was harder for me to develop than for road biking. I've come to the conclusion I am just more of an endurance person, although I keep working on the strength at the gym.
Got home yesterday around noon. We had a great dinner with my friends on Friday night and an excellent breakfast at a place that specializes in quinoa based food, but Brattleboro was just a bit too full of weird people around my age! I've been to many other places in Vermont, and this was different. We did stop at a great farmers' market on the way out, but figured we didn't need to buy anything. We did, however, stop at a chocolate place that opened about a year ago, that we pass every time we go see our friends. Bought a few pieces of white and dark chocolate and DH bought chocolate covered pretzels, which I don't like. It didn't take us too long to get the laundry done, since it was mostly our bike/hiking clothes and get to the farm and grocery store for food. It was nice to eat at home.
Did a 15 mile ride around 11:30. My legs feel much stronger after riding in all of that wind and riding with a larger trunk bag, on a slightly heavier bike. Of course, it is predicted to rain on Wednesday, when I can ride. Tomorrow I go back to the gym. My instructor had her baby, so the class won't be as hard for the next couple of weeks!
The knee is healing well.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad you're healing up, Crankin, and I am with you on fat bikes. At my size (about the same as you), I am just not sure I could power one unless I had a tailwind!

Today is a usual off day for us for cycling, as the trail is too busy, but we needed to get some copies made at Staples and go to a couple of stores at the big shopping area in the south part of town, so we rode our cruiser bikes down on sidewalks and bike paths (different from our usual West Orange Trail, more urban) and got that done. Coupled with some loops around the campground we got in about 10 miles. When the wind was at our back, it was a blast, but the cruiser bike is tough to pedal into the wind, so I was happy to get done with it.

Tomorrow morning I have an orthodontist appointment, so no riding, but expect to get out for our usual ride on Tuesday. DH is healed up from his crash, thankfully, so we got in three longer rides last week (MWF). We're enjoying doing long rides three days a week instead of four, as we get a lot more done on that one additional off day and enjoy the days we do ride more, since none are back-to-back.

[north woods gal]

You're right, Crankin. Those big heavy fat bike tires are harder to pedal. I'm so used to pedaling them, that I hardly notice, anymore, unless I take one out for a 30 mile ride or something. My friend's visit and attempt to ride any form of trail bike, including the fat bikes, was a reminder that there are lot of people out there riding bicycles that really aren't comfortable with MTBs or even drop bar road bikes. Her other complaint about the fat bike was that it didn't allow her to sit upright. She felt very uncomfortable with her weight down on the handlebars.

Anyway, we had a great visit. Nothing like catching up with an old friend and just talking and sharing stories. Her visit meant a lot to me, what with me being so far away, up here in the woods.

We did solve her bike riding problem, by the way. After a try with the MTBs out on the road (no way was she ready to try trail riding) and her disappointment, I remembered I had recently bought a Specialized Roll Low Entry comfort bike as my indoor training bike while I recovering from my accident. Took the Specialized off the trainer and got it adjusted for he and then out on the road we went. She loved it! Remember, now, she hasn't been on a bike in over a year and even then, she's never been much for riding. She struggled on our neighborhood hills a bit, but she really enjoyed the riding, enough so that she wanted to do, more. In fact, she loved the Specialized so much, she decided to buy one for herself. I offered her mine, but she did not like the matte black color and can't say I blamed her.

We took her to one of my shops and they set her up with the slightly more advanced model with disc brakes, a triple crankset, and, most importantly, a nice color. And they made her a great price, to boot. She will be riding this around her neighborhood and town and using it to visit friends. She couldn't wait to drive back home and start riding.


I am so pleased that the bike industry has recently been addressing the need for people like my friend. It's long overdue, in my opinion. I've been trying to find her the right bike for years and trying to get her to get out and ride more, but with little success. I think we've finally found the right bike for her, though. I just loved seeing the smile on her face while she was riding her new bike.

[Crankin]

You've got me interested. Send me a private message here, or on FB.
That is a cool looking bike, NW. And what a nice story about your friend. I love to see people riding those kinds of bikes. Now that we have a trail close by, I see more of them, and I always compliment the bike. There *should* be a bike for everyone.
Eh, I don't want to go to work. Thoughts of quitting in my head, but I know I'd be bored to death, without DH around. I'll be fine once I get there.
Boot camp was harder than I thought it would be with the sub, although she is a woman around my age, a retired teacher, whom I really like. There were only 2 things I couldn't do, which involved kneeling, and I can't put that kind of pressure on my knee yet. The scab is almost gone...

[north woods gal]

Sheila, an encounter with someone who caused a decrease in your enjoyment of riding is a serious matter. I hope isn't a permanent thing. PM me if you think I can help.

Worked hard - as in some heavy labor - on a section of trail, yesterday, removing some rocks and nasty roots. My neck and body managed it, though I fell asleep in my chair, last night. It's all part of my ongoing project to make my trails safer and more comfy to ride. I'm hoping to be able to ride MTBs with standard width 2.25" tires with minimal risk on selected sections of my trail. That will still leave some sections that are really plus or fat bikes, only sections. I still enjoy a casual ride in the woods with the Log Lady single speed or other "skinny" tire bikes. Despite the recent heat, I'm already seeing signs of fall. That's a reminder that I will be going fat bike, only, for my riding soon enough. Oh, well, this will be a summer I will never forget.