24 May rides!!?!

[Trekhawk]

Heya Trekhawk!

Does your DH know you're out oogling the cute boy cyclists???? Ummmm, I'm tellin'

sorry, couldn't resist!

I'd so love to be up riding where you are... just jealous!

Trac'

LOL - he is in Hawaii (with work) probably oogling bikini clad babes so I think its only fair that I oogle too.

[salsabike]

30 miles on the Burke-Gilman/Sammamish River Trail today, half in sun, half in rain. Tailwind on the way home! I LOVE that. Great ride, got dirty, wet, and happy. Ate no bugs this time but probably inhaled a fair amount of cottonwood fluff. Roughage. Wiped my bike off per Denise Goldberg's advice, lubed chain too. Going again tomorrow! And in 10 days, doing a 54-mile tandem ride around Anglesey island, north of Wales. Okay, I'm a little excited about that.

[KSH]

My ride was a beat down.

1) It was 91F and the wind was gusting up to 25 mph.

2) My legs were sore from working with my running coach the day before. My hamstrings hurt so much, it hurt to walk and sit. I also found out that it hurt to pedal into headwind.

3) I just felt drained.

4) We got stuck on a road waiting for a train as it backed up and pulled forward... for about 15 minutes.

5) We got caught at every freaking red light.

6) My average for this ride is typically 17 mph. My average this time was 14 mph... yes, you can SEE how HORRIBLE it was.

7) 8 miles into the ride I seriously contemplated turning around. In the end though, I took a short cut and took 3 miles off the ride. Which worked out nicely for this poor lost soul from our group. He lost the main group and was wandering around. If we hadn't gone that route, who knows how long he would have been out there.


So, not a great ride. I should have read what my legs were telling me and just gone home to rest.

Oh well, one bad ride is not the end of the world. It will be better this weekend.

[Geonz]

Commuted to work, then rode to the Staff Picnic where I realized my bar-end light that I'd stuck in there that mornign was gone. I didn't have time to retrace my route (it had fallen out once before... I k new I shoulda hit it with the ductape!)
Then I had to do some driving (so, of course, it rained, as it is allowed to do if I am not riding). At least I haven't forgotten how...

[bikerz]

(a little late posting this but...)

Wed I rode a 20 mile loop affectionately called "the three bears" with a friend - started right away up one hill ("teddy bear"), then long very gentle climb, then mama bear (ouch), some downs and ups (baby bear?), then papa bear (ouch ouch), a wonderful descent, then one nasty short hill called Goldilocks, then five miles of headwind home. In fact, it felt like headwinds all the way around the loop - how can that be? Leaves were tumbling and blowing downhill much faster than I was going up!

But I felt like I was working hard, and it turned out I had the best average speed ever on this ride (10.4 mph). And I didn't cross-chain at all!

It was an incredibly beautiful evening - low bright sun, green hills, cows and horses in the meadows, redwing blackbirds on the fence posts, vultures circling...

I've started this little mental game with myself on the last 5 miles or so of a ride - I switch my computer overto the average speed read-out, and then work as hard as I can to increase that speed, or at least not let it fall, by the end of the ride. I can't always do it, depending on terrain, but it keeps me focussed so I don't poop out at the end.