July 22 ride

[mimitabby]

well, it was so HOT out last night (never cooled down!!) that we slept poorly so instead of leaving at 530 in the morning, we left a little after 7. We were so afraid it would be another scorcher that we decided to only ride around the south end of Lake Washington (about 20-25 miles) instead of the 65-70 we had originally planned.
12 miles into the ride we noticed that it wasn't clearing up. It turned out that we had a gentle cloud cover for the whole ride.. and it's 82 now and we just got back from a 44 mile ride. ALong the back roads that we usually take there was a man was in his car with all the windows down. He was about our age (I thought) and asked us if we knew what street we were on... We didn't. so we had to go up the hill about 1/4 of a mile to a street sign. as we rode we realized the man looked really scared, so we got the name of the street and went back down the hill. HE WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK! all that first aide/CPR training classes i've taken finally did someone some good. My husband and i comforted him and got 911 to find him (he had told them he was on the highway offramp.. not quite!! so if we hadn't come, they might nave never found him!!! he was in pain and hyperventilating.. I finally called 911 and asked why no one was there yet ...they were looking for him on the highway (405!) the lady asked me how old he was... I said, around 50... he pipes up "I'm 72!" We called his wife and his daughter and just kept him company while we waited...
Well, the ambulances and the police cars all came and bicyclists were passing left and right, all panicked because they saw our tandem down on the road by the car... they all thought WE were hurt.
When they had him safely in the aide car, and his car all locked up safe, we left and continued our ride, a little less cheerful, but comforted to know that we might have saved his life.
The sun just started to pop out a little in our last 4 miles (ascent) to home.
phew. glad that one's done!

[Geonz]

Wow!!!!
That's a ride. Glad you were paying attention and listening and (I bet that man's even gladder that you started late, etc!)

[KnottedYet]

Wow, Mimi, that's a doozy! Job well done!

I'm too hot to ride. Went to the bank (why is there always less money in my acct than I expect?) and to Recycled Cycles and then braved the horror that is REI.

I HAD to get more Clif electrolyte and a case of Bloks, but dang...

Maybe I'll ride later today. For now I'm languishing in the heat with a cold chai, cold lemon rice, and my wish list for my Soma build.

[SouthernBelle]

Mimitabby, that must have been frightening. That man was so fortunate that you and your DH were there.


Today I rode over 41 Miles!! That is a new personal best. The temps had dropped and overall were very pleasant. It was overcast as well. Ended up with a terible back and neckache which I haven't had for quite some time. I stopped and emptied my camelbak just to reduce the weight. Didn't see anything new and interesting. Just several possum suicides.

[EvilTwin]

We had the same oppressing (sp) heat last night also. The cloud cover here lasted through our ride , including some welcome sprinkles. So, 85 degrees and rain. Our ride was 42, but at mile 40 I developed... something. Nausea, dizzy, lightheaded, icky. Sent BF on to get the car and come back for me. Nibbled a power bar while waiting for him, but that and the gatorade only made me more nauseous. Wasn't overly hot, was still able to sweat and pee, so we don't think it was heat exhaustion or stroke, but weird none the less. Our ride up till then had been great with lots of rollers and some wicked hills. Came home to discover that I had left my car out with the top down and the rain came over and got the inside wet. I hate it when I do that. Could I just start today over???? We're going up to ride Mt. St. Helens tomorrow... wish me luck!

[bikerz]

It's really hot here in Oakland today! (97 degrees at my house outside, 88 degrees indoors!)

But, we went for a ride anyway - and oh how smart were we!

Trek420, Spazzdog, RSquare and I just got back from a very pleasant 24 mile ride along the Sab Francisco Bay Trail - this was Rebecca's 2nd ride ever, and she did great - we just need to get her chain cleaned and lubed (squeak, squeak!)

It was gorgeous down on the SF Bay - about 72 degrees, cool bay breeze - just lovely. We had a nice picnic out at the end of the trail midway through.

Spazz and I did some sprinting - that was really fun -especially when she dropped her chain (almost!) and I pulled head! Woo hoo! I got another good tips about form - knees in! I'm going to add it to my running list: shoulders down, elbows in, back straight, upper body still... Maybe one day I can put it all together!

Thanks gals!

[denda]

We left at 7am. We had a break in the heat today in the Texas Panhandle! So it was nice and cool this morning. The high was only in the 80's today. We rode 55 miles. Also NO WIND!!!

[btchance]

I managed to get a ride in between storms. The heat finally broke and we had storms last night, I left this morning about 7 with clouds, started on my loop and heard a little bit of what I thought was thunder, but you can never tell for sure because part of my ride goes right next to the airport, and I sometimes confuse the sounds when they're at a distance. Turns out I was right, it was thunder, and less than 30min after I got home the storms started up again and have been going on all day. At least it's cool!!! and I got some riding in

[SadieKate]

Bubba and I are in Bend for a little fun in the dirt --

We've found a very few patches of fireweed today. We did see a badger but no pictures.


Me coming down Phil's trail


Just a bit further, down I found this nice guy.


Found him again at the famous Flaming Chicken roundy (Bend has traffic roundies with the first being decorated with a phoenix sculpture. Of course, the irreverent trail builders had to replicate it out in the forest).


What's for dinner after 27 miles of singletrack? Cajun Shrimp and dirty rice, err, toes

[Fredwina]

I started out to do a century(Santa Maria Windmills), but....
Things were going swimmingly until mile 30. I had been hear a thump on my tire, which I thought at some tar or bubblegum I ran over. After 10 miles, I pulled and noticed a bulge in my rear tire . The sag pulled in right behind me, and y=we soon en route to his house. I was given on of his used "tires" which was same was what I have on mine (he didn't like them). I was soon on the road , but about 10 miles down, I made a little side loop to gain back some time , and then proceeded to pull a Floyd on Wednesday in the 2 miles. I'll probably post some more in adventure stories.

[mimitabby]

I started out to do a century(Santa Maria Windmills), but....
Things were going swimmingly until mile 30. I had been hear a thump on my tire, which I thought at some tar or bubblegum I ran over. After 10 miles, I pulled and noticed a bulge in my rear tire . The sag pulled in right behind me, and y=we soon en route to his house. I was given on of his used "tires" which was same was what I have on mine (he didn't like them). I was soon on the road , but about 10 miles down, I made a little side loop to gain back some time , and then proceeded to pull a Floyd on Wednesday in the 2 miles. I'll probably post some more in adventure stories.

Fredwina,
what does pull a floyd on wednesday mean? oh, wait!!! you BURNED?
wha happened? was it hot, tell us. okay, i'll look in adventure stories!

[crazybikinchic]

Today, my new cycling partner and I went on a 27 mile ride. She is just coming back from a school induced cycling break, so this was her longest ride since. We went to my favorite loop, out in the country, not much traffic, just the sounds of the tires on the road, a moo from a cow here and there (you know, all the stuff that you don't hear in the city that are all so therapeutic).

Life is great on 2 wheels!

[Tiffanie]

Mimitabby, wow! So glad you guys were able to help - what a ride.

Sadiekate, that's a great picture of you. Looks beautiful there!

No ride for me today.

[Brandy]

HOT, HOT, HOT ride with the crew from Bike Forums. 62 miles...did I mention it was hot? We rode from Irvine to Solana Beach and planned to hop on a train and come back. Of course, the trains were delayed. Three hours later it finally happened. Ugh. That sucked!

[Fuji Girl]

Who did you ride with from BF Brandy?

I guess Chicago was the only place in the US that wasn't horribly hot. The rain finally let up and it was absolutely beautiful on Saturday. 75-80 degrees, light wind, sunny. I wish every day could be like that.

Oh yeah, the ride. I went out with some women from my local club, Chix on Bikes, and we did 50 miles in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, with occasional stops for food, water, and coffee. It was great. I've never done 50 miles before, so it was a personal first.