September rides, bringing in the fall.

[emily_in_nc]

Have a safe and fun trip, Crankin, and happy b-day to your DH!

Did our usual road & trail ride yesterday and the day before for 70 miles total. Today is a day off the bike (although I will ride the cruiser bike to the vet later for some dog food - 2 miles each way). I will work out in the gym this morning.

Friday will be my last ride for awhile unless I have time to ride in NC. We are traveling north for a couple of reasons. One, my DH has a small squamous cell carcinoma in his sideburn area, which he'll have removed at his dermatologist on Oct. 5th. I'll have my regular mammogram that day too, since we'll be in Chapel Hill. Then we'll spend a little over a week visiting my parents in western NC. Several of those days, I'll be with them and my brother in the mountains. The days we're not in the mountains, my mother always has a list of small chores she needs help with, so not sure how much we'll be able to ride, if any. Don't particularly care for riding there anyway, as I've mentioned before, as the area where she lives just isn't very cycling friendly (no shoulders on roads, traffic, etc.)

We are leaving all our bikes (except for my cruiser bike) in their garage in NC because we're heading (flying) to Mexico on November 1 for six months or more. I'm giving my cruiser bike to a friend here in the RV park when we leave. We're trying a small beach town along the Yucatan gulf coast this time, in hopes that it will be much quieter than Playa del Carmen centro, where we spent two separate six-month periods before. We have an Airbnb house so won't have any shared walls or floors with neighbors, which we think will be better than when we were in Playa in apartments. We won't have bikes at first as we don't want to schlep the Bike Fridays down (we have enough to take as it is, including our dog). There are bike shops around, though, so once we scope out the area, there's a good chance we will buy bikes -- inexpensive beach cruisers or, if we think we'll stay there longer, we might spring for "real" bikes in Merida, where there are nice bike shops, not just cruiser bikes. We'll see. It's going to be fun to have another adventure once I finally get these braces off my teeth (Oct. 22nd - two months behind schedule). We are overdue for a change from Florida!

[north woods gal]

Emily, hope all turns out well with the health issues and, wow!, that is quite the change of scenery. Does sound like an adventure. Knowing you, I'll bet you'll end up doing some riding, down there, on a "real" bike, as you say. When in a new area, biking is always my preferred way to explore and get a feel for the area. Might be able to get a new bike cheaper down there, too, since this tariff war of Trump's might affect bike prices, up here, at some point. The dollar tends to buy more in Mexico, anyway. As far as bikes, I'd have no problem buying a new Tiagra equipped bike. Pretty solid group, now, at a very reasonable price.

Raim, rain and then, more rain and more drizzle for me. Yuk! Give me a break. Still riding, though, but mostly back in the woods where I stay a bit drier under all the trees and leaves. The color is starting to come on, strong, now, and the leaves are beginning to fall, so I'll soon be getting as wet on the trails as the roads. pretty, though, back in the woods, as always. That, and I always have some company when I ride the trails with Star, our Border Collie. She loves running the trails as much as I do.

Well, looks like I'll be getting another steel single speed in the All City Nature Boy. Worked out a trade in with my old Pugsley at my favorite shop. Still have my new 2nd edition Pugsley and like it better than the original, which was a large, and not a great fit for me, anyway. The new Nature Boy will be geared exclusively for road work and I'm going to be running 700x38 tires on it to negotiate some gravel road riding. Will try it with the factory drop bar setup, first, but it can be easily switched to a flat bar if that doesn't work for me. Hope to get a lot of road riding in with the new bike, yet this fall, before winter shuts me down to riding fat bikes, only. Yup, trading one green bike for another green bike. Fun!

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sheila. No, wanted to stay single speed on this one, so the Nature Boy was really the only option. The race version is not available, so no go on that one. I can convert the Nature Boy to flat bar pretty easily, since All City uses the same frame for their drop bar and flat bar single speed bikes. We'll see. Stopped at the shop, today, and the new Nature Boy had just arrived, but still in the box. Be a couple days before it is ready.

Rode the trails in the rain, again, this morning and they were pretty soggy. Used my Norco Sasquatch fat bike with its big tires and aluminum frame, so no damage to either the trails or the bike with all the water. Rain left, late afternoon, so hubby and I did a short neighborhood ride on the pavement, me riding the Log Lady, rather than the fat bike. Going fat on dry pavement is just more pedaling effort than I want to expend, anymore. I'll be using the fat bikes for road riding soon enough when the snow falls. It's really going to hurt not being able to ride my fast single speeds, this winter. Depresses me a bit thinking about it. Not sure how I'll handle it. Could be a very long winter for me. ):

[north woods gal]

Yes, I agree on the All City geometry. Their bikes are very traditional in their geometry. The Log Lady, for instance has XC MTN geometry for a fast ride with relatively steep head tube and seat tube angles, instead of the slack head tube and seat tube trail geometry that is so popular on trail bikes, now. That popular slack trail geometry is legit for handling obstacles in the trail, better, but since I'm no longer climbing boulders or log hopping, I don't really need it. XC MTB geometry is fast and very nimble and fun to ride for trails. Just need to keep off the trick stuff and keep both wheels firmly planted in the dirt. Happy to report that I still love trail riding without doing any of the trick stuff. My accident cured me of that for good.

Going to do some trail work, today, to clear leaves and trail litter. This is a safety thing for riding my standard MTB bikes like the Log lady with its 2.25" tires. Not needed so much for the fat bikes, but still a good idea for them, too.

As much as I am enjoying the trail riding, though, I'm still doing more road riding and enjoying it, more. Will even be doing more road riding this winter, than trail riding. Not going to kill myself to groom and keep my trails open with the snow. That nearly wiped me out, last winter. Will let the county plow the snow off our roads, first, then I'll be riding them with the fat bikes.

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds like good plans for future riding, nwg. Glad you are still enjoying trail riding in a safer way since your accident. And road riding as well! It's nice to have a variety of different kinds of rides, I think, as it keeps things fresh.

Congrats on the bike trade. I have never known anyone to have or trade more bikes than you. What fun, though! I am kinda stodgy and keep my bikes forever these days (used to trade them much more frequently), but that's one reason I am excited about the possibilities in Mexico, since I'll surely end up with some kind of new bike, whatever it ends up being. I am really attracted to the idea of a recumbent these days, to see if it helps the pain I have from my roadie in my lower back on the right side - this is where I fractured my pelvis back in 2005, and it still gives me problems in a roadie position. More upright is better, but harder to do longer rides really upright since so much weight is on the saddle area. Plus, since I have fallen a few times, I like the idea of being closer to the ground. I would really like a recumbent trike, I think. I know they are slow on hills, but we will be in a flat area...unfortunately, there is wind, which is like a virtual hill. So, we'll see. I don't even know if they sell recumbents there or if we'll find roads where we can do longer rides, so we may end up with beach cruisers. I'll certainly keep y'all updated!

My last ride on the West Orange Trail today was pretty good. It had rained cats and dogs last night, so the trail was very wet, with lots of tree debris down. The day was nice, though hot and humid, of course, but with the brilliant blue sky, and believe it or not, a slight amount of fall color here and there, it was still a very pleasant ride. Hard to believe I may never ride this trail that I've ridden 100s of times over the past few years again -- but never say never. I've learned that!

[Crankin]

Excited to hear about your plans, Emily. My first real international trip was to Merida, when I was a senior in high school. I loved that city and now I realize it was more like Spain, than other parts of Mexico.
We are having a good visit with my som amd family. They are dealing with a bit of hassle with buying their house in Fayetville, with just a little damage from Florence. We will not see them or the new baby, until later December, when they visit in Philadelphia with her family, so we will go down there. The baby is due in the beginning of November, then they will move.

[north woods gal]

Emily, I've considered going recumbent a time or two, myself, and I have done test rides on a two wheel version and enjoyed it. This was back when my riding was almost exclusively on a drop bar road bike and I was developing a pinched nerve in my back from riding in the same position, hour after hour. Had a friend that rode a recumbent and he swore by it. I could usually beat him up hills, but he would usually beat me down the hills. On the level sections, it was a draw. Those things are a lot faster than they look when you ride side by side with one.

The only reason I didn't go recumbent was that I was living in Chicago, at the time, with its horrible traffic. Just couldn't bring myself to get down that low and lose visibility, though I probably could have adapted. For me the cure for the pinched nerve was to switch to a standard 26" MTB in a more upright position, but, yeah, it was slower. A recumbent would not work for my trail riding, but I am keeping it as an option for my road riding if my back starts to act up, again. After all, the idea is to keep riding and any type of bike that keeps us riding is a good thing. Recumbents are pricey, though, since most recumbents are made by small shop operations, especially the trike versions. The trike versions, though, could make great utility bikes for hauling stuff. Hope you find one that works for you.

Crankin, glad you got to see you're having a good visit with family. My two sisters-in-law just left from a visit with us, up here, and hated to see them go.They really are sisters to me, not sisters-in-law.

Miserable day, yesterday, as far as the weather and riding. Headed out three times after the rain stopped, only to have to head right back indoors due to sudden, quick, heavy downpours. Made 5 miles out of three attempts and called it good. Hate to say it, but it did prompt me to put the comfort bike back on the trainer, though I still couldn't bring myself to ride it. That'll be coming soon, enough, and, yes, I will break down and ride, indoors, if need be, this winter. Not going to beat myself up like I did last winter. Maybe that knock to my head knocked some sense into me.

P.S. Seeing a lot of birds migrating though our area, now, so fall is definitely, here. Trees are turning color and got below freezing, last night. Good-by to summer. It will be mossed.

[emily_in_nc]

Excited to hear about your plans, Emily. My first real international trip was to Merida, when I was a senior in high school. I loved that city and now I realize it was more like Spain, than other parts of Mexico.
We are having a good visit with my som amd family. They are dealing with a bit of hassle with buying their house in Fayetville, with just a little damage from Florence. We will not see them or the new baby, until later December, when they visit in Philadelphia with her family, so we will go down there. The baby is due in the beginning of November, then they will move.

I haven't been to Spain, but I can imagine that. Merida is a very international city, quite cultured and upscale, with some lovely restaurants and many cultural events. Lots of expats from the US, Canada, and beyond are choosing it as a place to settle, because it is quite safe and the cost of living is so much less than where they are from. It's very hot, though, being inland, and there's little green space, which led us to choose living much closer to the beach, at least for now. A large part of that is because the Airbnb house we found has a private, fully walled courtyard with grass, packed sand, foliage, and shade trees, perfect for our dog. Many of the houses in Merida have courtyards, but they are usually concrete ground only, not good for a dog to do her business, so we'd have to walk her on the hot sidewalks. With her heart condition, that wouldn't be ideal. However, once it's just the two of us, I can see the possibility of moving to Merida since there is a lot more going on there and better shopping, restaurants, etc.

Glad you're enjoying your family visit!