June 7 ride reports

[Lise]

(Isaac the cat is helping me eat my turkey/tomato/left over spinach & feta omlette sandwich. He's eating the turkey. What a pig! I'm letting him! What a wierd single woman in her 40s! )

uk elephant--sorry to hear about your crash. Be really gentle for a few days. You'll be more sore tomorrow. Hope the old guy is OK.
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Ran this morning...whoa, too soon after the puking weekend to do that. 2 miles of largely walking.

Rode to work anyways--riding is so much easier than running. 3+ miles to the clinic, then a few more miles north to an appt after work, then home, a winding route through a big park and various side streets. Even got to see a dachshund. I rode far around the pup and her owner, but doxies are so indignant! When she realized there was a bike in her vicinity, she jumped and woofed as if I had tried to grab her! Made me laugh. I had the same blessed tailwind as beta on the way home (I thought of you and hoped you were enjoying it, beta!)

I rode for about three blocks on a busy traffic-jammed street (Peterson). A verrrrry narrow strip of road between the cars and the curb. Some were closer to me than others. I made up a new magic protective song:

Todos se quedan a la izquierda hoy!
Todos se quedan a la izquierda hoy!
No salta nadie,
Nadie salte!
Todos se quedan a la izquierda hoy!

(Magic protective songs are more effective when sung in Spanish, for some reason) Tune? I made one up. It means:

Everybody stays left today! Everybody stays left! Nobody's jumping (right), nobody jump! Everybody stays to the left today!

This magically protects the space through which I'm riding, and keeps the drivers from twitching their wheels and lurching over at me. In England, it would be the opposite, I suppose.
Total mileage: 13.63

I'll be out of town (Akron, Ohio) Thurs to Sun, and most likely no internet access. Then I'll spend Sunday night getting caught up on the boards!

[limewave]

Today was such a horrible day at work! Thankfully, I knew I could ride tonight--that happy thought was what got me through the day.

Anyway, I rode 47 miles (yes, I was that stressed about work). I looped up and down Block House Hill twice (seriously, my day was THAT bad). By mile 30 I had hammered out most of the anger and was able to enjoy the rest of the ride. I averaged around 17.6 MPH. Top speed on the flats was 22 MPH. I got up to 38 MPH on the downhill (that was in the first 30 miles and I kind of had a death wish then).

All in all it was a good ride. I'd like to thank my wonderful mother-in-law for babysitting tonight. What would I do without you?!?!?!

[SandyGirl]

Pilates class and then an 8 mile ride. 1/2 in a horrid head wind. Thought I was going to die! BUT I pushed through it. Fortunately, I live in the rural world. My "route is two miles up, two miles back...twice! So..at least some relief when that head wind become my tail wind. Awesome evening to ride!! Tried out my $7.99 mirror from ****s Sports. It velcros to the handlebars and my hand is right on top of it..shifting it around the whole time as I shift, pedal, etc. Gave me a headache. Not sure the helmet/mirror will work..

After a week of rainy evenings, this was nice. Oh, I did the same ride Sunday evening too!

Sandy

[Duck on Wheels]

Ruby Slipperz is home in her new (for her) kitchen.
I rode Sedona the little work pony 4 miles to the lbs, then watched as they put the finishing touches on Ruby. I added a handlebar bag with map pocket, also bought a better lock than the cheapo one I got to tide me over til I get my good one back from Trek420 (it got left in her car). And I bought 10 packets of sport beans -- some for me, some for the renaming contest prize. Then I tootled around on the bike path near the lbs to check the brakes and shifters before taking off homewards. Took a roundabout route, including the uphill direction through the Arboretum -- 12 miles in all -- to get used to the shifters and get a feel for her. By 10 miles the space between my shoulder blades was telling me that this is not a "comfort bike", this is a bike where I need to use my core muscles and not just rest on my arms! So I put them to work and -- hey, I actually have some core muscles. Guess the PT work to build my core as part of the cure for the neck sprain is paying off double up.

Now to get some late supper (soup, raisin-walnut bread roll, and a cookie from the bakery across the street), then do the rest of today's PT exercizes. Won't want to skip those now that I have an extra reason for doing 'em.

[Barb]

The best sort of ride..straight to the ice cream shop!!! I had sorbet so it doesn't count right? no fat

The BF and son came along. That's the good part.

[Geonz]

Rode to work, then out to "show and go" and fortunately Richard was as promised on his ancient Schwinn COrvette (balloon tires, 3-speed, HEAVY)... but even he dropped me! Mike hung with me as the wind shifted on us (mostly a cross wind, but NOT with us except for the South part.)
44 miles on the day... on the Big Bike... and maybe even I do need to eat. Can't say taht I bonked, but I didn't feel like going any faster than 13 (which equals 16 or 17 on a regular bike, I think).
Trying for 1000 miles in June, with the help of GITAP...

UK El, take it ieasy! But get back on that bike... don't let it scare you. I spent most of today crafting a letter to our transportation planners trying to get the message across that "bike paths" are often more dangerous than riding on the road.

And I'm going to learn that song, it has a nice ring to it, even just chanting it! Spanish is the magic tongue :-) ..but remember, i before e, unless you're WEIRD :-) (or that thing about the weird sheik that has all the ei exceptions in it...)

[melissam]

UK Elephant, sorry to hear about your crash. Hope the guy and his bike are OK.

(Soon to be the forum participant formerly known as) Bikeless in WI, congrats on picking up the new steed!

My ride...Instead of braving the Baylands and its lovely headwinds, I decided to take the nice flat bike path away from the bay. Ummm, tailwinds are sure nice!! Unfortunately they turn into headwinds when you turn around.

It was a nice, easy spin, and my brain decided to take a nice vacation since it didn't need to participate in the ride. Here are some random things that come with a brain being on vacation:

Soundtrack: Looking East by Jackson Browne, as I was heading west looking into the setting sun.
Age of Aquarius -- I have NO idea why, and it was mostly the refrain that was stuck in my head.
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne -- the first side of the album.
I am Woman by Helen Reddy -- I liked the part where she says she's strong and invincible, and, everybody sing along -- I am WOMAN!!!

Thoughts: how come joggers always look like they're in tremendous pain as you pass them?

Why do people feel obligated to shatter their glass bottles into a gazillion pieces?

I sure wish people that used the path to walk their dogs would keep their dogs on leash, especially if the dog doesn't like bicycles. And by the way, how come the dog thinks this is his territory and needs to protect it -- it's a public path?

Pretty much the whole ride was taken up by random thoughts along this line.

Cool sights: two jack rabbits, sprinting along side by side. It looked like they were drag racing.

Anyway, tomorrow I take the day off. But since I feel pretty comfortable riding along for an hour, I'm thinking of joining a leisurely club ride on Saturday.

-- Melissa