October rides: put a little color into it.

[ny biker]

Very nice, NWG!

Good to hear from you, Rebecca. Best wishes to you and Alex on that different road!

I led a ride on Sunday in northern Maryland, 58 miles. It was summer in October, and most of us were less acclimated than we thought we'd be to sunshine, humidity and temps in the 80s. We ended up adding an extra rest stop for water and few minutes in air conditioning. Overall it was a great ride, very scenic with farmland, creeks and rivers. One person thought the route was too zig-zaggy but when I plan a route I go for narrow back roads over direct routes with traffic any day. Another person made a wrong turn and got pretty lost, but fortunately he passed a cyclist who was out riding alone and who helped get him back on track.

The new bike has been ordered, along with a new saddle and pedals. The free-gift bike to be traded in is also on order.

I have a Rivet Independence on my Madone and generally like it. It solved a lot of saddle problems for me. The only thing I would like to change on it is that it somewhat dome-shaped in back. I decided to order a Rivet Pearl to try on the new bike. It has a flatter profile. It's also 1 cm wider. The Indy is just barely wide enough for me, so I'm hoping that extra cm on the Pearl won't be too much.

It will probably be sometime next week before I am able to get fitted on the new bike. They didn't have one in my size to test when I went to the LBS the other day, but there was one that had been sold but not picked up yet that I was able to sit on quickly to check the reach. After comparing the geometry to my 54cm Madone, we had thought the 52 Checkpoint frame would probably work for me, but the fitter at the LBS thought I should try the 54. He measured my arm/shoulder angle on it and said I was right at the upper limit, so we will probably put a slightly shorter stem on it.

I have asked several friends for input re: tires for the bike. I will start out with the stock gravel tires which are 700x35, but I expect I will want something smoother and a bit narrower when I use it on mostly paved rides. I am finding that everyone has different and very strong opinions. So I'm still not sure if I'll want 32 or 28 for road rides. It looks like I will need to experiment with tire pressure, regardless of which one I go with. Also everyone wants me to give up on Gatorskins in favor of something with a smoother ride, no matter how much I tell them that I really really really do not want to be on a dark road at 10 pm wasting the last bit of headlight battery as I try to find the glass that caused a flat. Nor do I want to freeze my fingers off dealing with flats on a winter daytime ride. I'm already content with Gatorskins, I just am not sure which width to go with.

[north woods gal]

As you said, I think it's your call on the tires. I'm like you, though. I'll sacrifice some performance for durability and flat protection. I HAVE had a flat in the dark, riding home late at night, by myself, on a lonely road. One of those times I should not have been out at all, but it was a necessity and something I had to do. Ended up walking three miles instead of riding. Spooky experience. NOT good. I also like wider for comfort and safety on less than perfect roads, but 4mm one way or the other probably isn't going to be too significant. Had 28s on my old Domane that came with the bike and had no complaints at all. The reason I go so wide on my road bikes, up here, is that our paved roads don't get much maintenance or traffic, so lots of debris on the roads at times. That, and I like to go down the occasional dirt or gravel road. Also, I'm always riding solo, so I can take my time. No need to keep up the pace.

[rebeccaC]

thanks NY!!

nwg….here’s some bike path blue sky for you!

[north woods gal]

Oh, wow, wow, wow! Thanks, rebecca. I can almost feel that sun and that warmth. Much appreciated.

Heavy rains, last night and heavy rains, again, today. Lots of area flooding. Not likely I'll get out, today. Have a dentists's appointment, anyway. Turning colder, soon. Highs in the 30s for next week, already. Haven't had any nice weather at all to enjoy the fall color, yet. It's now past its peak, anyway. Leaves are coming down, fast. Lots of trail cleaning to do, soon.

Woke up with legs a bit stiff after my ride with the Nature Boy, yesterday. I think all the standing to pedal on those climbs, yesterday, are what got me a bit sore. Need more of that kind of work, I guess. May drop the gearing just a tad, but we'll see how it goes for a bit. One thing for sure, it gives me a nice workout, but not so much of a workout as to be dangerous or tear me, down. Cant afford to blow a knee or tear a tendon.

[Crankin]

I did a short ride this morning, before meeting a friend for lunch. Nothing special, except it was already 75 out and very humid. Please, I am done with summer, at least the new version of summer that is humid. Totally sopped through. So, short, but hilly, and my leg is feeling better, especially after a ride. Now I just need the giant bruise on the back/side of my forearm to go away. It never got blue, as I got Arnica on it, so I am hoping by Friday, when I go to the gym, it won't be noticeable!
That hurricane is getting my son in Columbus, GA; on the edge, though. But, his new house in Fayetteville looks like it will be a target again... they are already dealing with asking the seller to fix the damage from the last one. It wasn't huge damage, but enough.

[north woods gal]

Hope everyone survives this big storm. Not that our weather is anything to love, right now, but those monster hurricanes are terrifying.

We did get to do a short neighborhood ride, late afternoon, after heavy rain most of the day. Now the cold moves in. Temp at noon tomorrow is supposed to be only 36 degrees. Highs only in the 30s for the next week, some rain and snow, too. We're having November in October.

The good news is that I felt better on the new Nature Boy, today, on our short ride. I definitely felt stronger than yesterday. Had me worried that it would take awhile to get in good enough shape to enjoy the bike. I'm still going to very slightly drop the gearing down, though, just to be safe.

[Crankin]

That is good, Sheila. I will be talking to my son again tonight, but I think the storm may have been a little closer to Columbus than he thought, when I spoke to him yesterday afternoon.
I did a decent early AM ride this morning, as we are getting rain associated with the storm, starting around 1 PM, with local flooding predicted. It was already 67 degrees out and super humid, but I wore a super lightweight Soleil jersey with long sleeves, which was perfect, and although I had my vest on more for safety, it was fine. I rode across town, around the perimeter of Concord Center, and a bit north/west, then back, essentially on Main St, once I made the turn back. The part of the ride from Concord Center and north, through the turn around is part of the original route of this ride I used to do from my house on the other side of town. It's almost exactly the same mileage, but before, the beginning of the ride was deathly quiet and almost rural at 5:15 am. Now, I am on Main St as soon as I leave my street, with way too many cars heading for the highway east to Boston at that early hour. Seriously, the quietest part of my ride was when I was actually in Concord Center. On the way back, same thing. I rode through west Concord village, instead of staying on Main St., picking it back up after a 1.5 mile detour. It was crazy busy at 6:00 AM. People cut through, coming from places west of here, to avoid a notorious round a bout on the highway. This saddens me. I have another route of the same length, for early AM or short rides that goes west, but it is considerably hillier. Anyway, this route has one short climb, one I gauge my fitness on. Thought I might have to go to the small ring (usually don't have to at this time of year), but I didn't. When I got home, I was surprised to see my average was higher than my last few rides, but it was mostly flat. However, I think I go faster when I can't see my speed on the Garmin!