September rides, bringing in the fall.

[north woods gal]

Keep us updated, Emily and anyone else affected by the storm.

Back home, our lawn rake is getting a good workout on our trails, now that the leaves have started to fall. My main problem with the leaves is that they make the trail, ahead, hard to see and distinguish and that can be dangerous when doing a downhill run. Wet leaves are also notorious for causing wheels to slip, though this really doesn't affect fat bikes or plus bikes with their wider tires. Have been working hard, though, to make most of the trails safe and enjoyable to ride with standard MTB wide tires, now that I ride a couple of the single speed MTBs with standard 2.25" wide tires. Again, running these standard wheel MTBs on the trails is a very different experience than running the big heavy fat bikes. Nice to have the option to ride any of these bikes on the trail when I feel like one or the other.

Have definitely reverted back into more of a roadie, though, wether it's pavement, gravel, sand or smooth trails. In our low traffic area with decently wide roads, road biking is about as safe as road biking gets. Our MTB trails, though, can be very challenging.

A friend of my hubby is coming for a visit, today, and then my in-laws, next week, so lots of housework to do. Will get out and ride when I can.

[Crankin]

You are busy, NWG...

So, I did ride today, but only did 23/30 miles. It is still partly cloudy, a bit humid, but not too hot, about 75. I slathered myself with #50 SPF for babies, which is very thick, and #70 on my face, so as not to get the sunburn side effect from doxycycline. I also wore my LS Terry jersey that is UPF. It's very thin, and people say they wear it riding in the desert or FL, but I was sweating like crazy. Did not want a repeat of what happened last time. As usual, it was just Jack and I. He knows my capabilities and I generally have been feeling great riding, but not today. I think it was the meds and some Brussel sprouts making my tummy very unhappy! After just a couple of miles, I felt like my breakfast was coming up, and I did not eat anything unusual. This ride has climbing, but by the time we got to the super climb (steep, like 12% in one spot), I said no way, so we rerouted a nice way to long crazy downhill and then on to what used to be one of the worst pot holed roads in the area. It's all paved, yay! But, I knew after the climb at the end, again steep, but shorter, I was going to head back on the main road. The part of the ride that comes after this is kind of ugly, anyway (business park and bad roads).
My average never went below 14, was close to 15 for the first half, which is good for me, but I don't want to pay the price. Hope to do a longer ride with DH tomorrow and hope the sunblock works then. It's my last day on the meds.

[emily_in_nc]

Ugh, Crankin. I feel ya on med side effects. You were smart to detour away from the big, bad hill, if your tummy was feeling off. Can't blame you a bit!

NWG, I slipped and fell once in wet leaves on a MTB trail, so I know of what you speak! It was a very low-speed fall, so I didn't really hurt myself, but it happened so fast it kinda freaked me out. I normally don't ride if it's wet out, so it was a surprise.

Got in our normal quota of three 35-mile rides this week. Today's was the fastest and best. Conditions were good, with light winds, so in spots I felt like we had a tailwind -- turns out it was just absence of wind. What a concept! I still only averaged 13.8, but there is a lot of urban riding in this route, plus many road crossings, so I was happy with that. Most of the time, I'm riding at 14-16, but the urban stuff really impacts the overall speed. Not complaining, though. Just happy to be able to ride in shorts and short-sleeve jerseys. It felt just a tiny bit less humid this week, though still plenty warm. Today's high was 95, but that was well after we were done riding. And it certainly beats a hurricane.

I ticked over to 3500 miles on the cyclocomputer today, another plus!

[north woods gal]

Emily, those are great numbers! Congrats. Pretty hard for me to gauge my average speed with everyone else's because almost all our roads are gently rolling with some pretty steep hills thrown in. Very little in the way of actual flat country. Our daily neighborhood ride, for instance, has no flat sections at all. For me, I'm really happy of I can make 11 mph for an average speed.

Did 15 miles, today, all on the Log Lady. 12 miles of that was an early morning pavement ride, then followed it up with 3 miles of laps on my trails. Love that bike. Got it geared too low for long distance road work, but love the way it climbs those hills. I do have it geared for the trails, though, and it really flies. Yup, one gear really can do it all, as the old single speed saying goes.

[north woods gal]

Got a new (and long overdue) shorter stem for the Krampus. It's been wearing the too long 70mm factory stem since I got it. Should have changed it to a shorter stem, long ago, but never got around to it. Why I waited so long, I don't know, since changing to a shorter stem on these unisex sized bikes is standard procedure for me with my long legs and short torso. The new stem is a 55mm stem and I can't believe what a difference it makes, not only in the fit, but the way the bike handles, now. Finally, finally, have the the Krampus I always thought the Krampus should be. Going single speed on the Krampus also helped renew an interest in it, so now I have the Krampus setup just the way I want it.

[Crankin]

We rescheduled our dinner from last week, so given we have to be there at 5:30, decided to go out around 11:30 for a shortish ride. It was foggy earlier in the AM, and blessedly still cloudy and about 70 when we left. No wind, either. As we were leaving, we decided to switch our plan and did our favorite "flat ride," which is 20 miles. I really like this ride, because it makes me feel like I can ride fast, although there is one short hill at the end. I also like this ride in the spring and fall, because a good part of it is not shaded.
Nothing crazy, although I can tell I am finally at the time in the cycling season where I do not need to use my small ring for certain small hills like the one on this ride. There is a road at the turn around part of this ride that is a U, and is really lovely, going by some conservation land, teeny rollers, and shade. When it's really cold out, this road is freezing!
Tons of riders out today. We did one variation at the end, so we didn't have to stop at a light, and went across the highway by my office and through a parking lot of an office park to get back to West Concord.
Done with my antibiotics today, so no more worry about the sun. Thankfully, it was cloudy and rainy this week!
Tomorrow, I am going to visit an old friend from when I lived in AZ. She is from here, and still has her family home on the beach, south of Boston. We worked together at one point, and car pooled. Although we remained friends when we no longer worked together, we lost touch a couple of years after I moved. We recently reconnected on Facebook, so it will be cool to see someone I haven't seen for almost 30 years.

[north woods gal]

Sheila, got a Salsa Gide Trail stem in 50mm, not 55 as I posted, above. Got it from Jensen where I get a lot of parts.

Crankin, glad you're reconnecting with an old friend. That's always something worthwhile. Have fun.

We're still at summertime hot, today. 86 for a temp while riding my Gunnar single speed for 20.6 miles of pavement. Wonderful ride, though. The sun is at more of an angle this far north in September, so didn't feel as hot as it might in July. I really see this heat as a gift, since I know just how cold it will be getting, real soon. Beats having to bundle up when riding, that's for sure.