May Rides

[Lelani Carver]

I did the Chicago "Bike The Drive" Sunday with a few thousand other people, and rode 30 miles. DH and I met up with other members of Team Red (Tour de Cure) and had a great day despite drizzling rain. There was one jerk that yelled at me but I and others yelled back. I also did 22 miles Saturday on a friendly social ride organized by a wonderful woman through Meetup.com. Locally in Chicagoland the CBG Meetup rides are well run, safe, and teach good group ride etiquette.

[rebeccaC]

I did the Chicago "Bike The Drive" Sunday with a few thousand other people, and rode 30 miles.

Lelani… that sounds like a fun time…is that the ride where only bicycles are allowed on Lake Shore Drive for the day?

There is an organized ride over three passes in the California Sierra Nevada mountains each July with 15,000 feet of climbing and 130 miles. A small group of us are planning on doing it. I was originally planning on doing a one-day Seattle to Portland ride again but this ride is the same weekend and a different kind of challenge. Because of the driving time to where we stayed to begin the ride, this memorial day weekend was a good one to ride the two steepest of the passes on the route for a total of 92 miles and 12,000 ft of climbing. We started and ended in Markleeville Ca., which is also the start/end point for July’s ride. We rode the July rides route up both sides of Monitor Pass and then both sides of Ebbertts Pass. Coming down the east side of Monitor Pass to Topaz lake was just an incredible fast descent on good pavement but knowing I had to go back up it gave me pause. On the way back we rode 4 miles past Markleeville to Grover Hot Springs for a long relaxing soak. Such gorgeous country with a lot of breathtaking views…well when I had the breath to spare..

The ride gave me a good chance see how I would acclimate to the elevation and to gauge my hydration/nutrition and mental strategies. Good friends and a good challenging ride always makes for a good day

[Lelani Carver]

Yes, they have a closed loop with rest stops, food, and live music at the main starting point, but just until 11am. Your ride sounds epic!

[Crankin]

I did a little recovery ride on Sunday, 17 miles. Figured out that through my GPS meltdown the day before, some of the settings had been altered, like the one where you get to calculate your average only on actual riding time... I was a bit suspicious on Saturday, but I knew there were a lot of things wrong, when my speed was the same for like a half hour, no matter if I was climbing or descending! At the end of Sunday's ride, I looked at my stats, and I knew this setting was off, as it was a ride on local roads, where I am very good at judging a lot of stuff. That got fixed.
Yesterday I went for a short trail run, even though I should have rested. Today, just a commute and tomorrow I am forcing myself to do a group ride that is really lovely, in an area I don't ride in very often.

[Crankin]

Well, my last ride in May was yesterday, as it is raining on and off, fairly hard today. Despite getting up at an ungodly hour, I dawdled and it was raining when I went to get on the bike, after getting my bike clothes on. DH and I went for a planned short walk and were about 3/4 mile from home, when it started raining again. I had my rain jacket, but right when it was really starting to pour, our neighbor drove by and gave us a ride home.
Yesterday's ride was a test of a Thursday night ride we are leading in July. We rode to the start, about 5-6 miles and then carried on. It was hotter than hell when we went out, about 1:30 and I knew I'd be suffering, despite a lot of shade and drinking copious amounts of Skratch lemon lime. However, the ride took us through a neighborhood that was new to us, huge homes, with a hill and at least a mile of a false flat. At this point, my very good average went plummeting. After a very nice downhill, we headed home, instead of doing the last 2 miles of the ride, as, if we had ridden back to the start, and then home, it would have involved more climbing than I wanted to do. I did get my average within .1 mph of where it had been, but before I climbed my hill, I stopped and poured my water over my head and down my bra.

[Helene2013]

Wanted to ride yesterday but major storm warnings and too much heat prevented me from heading out. We have a 110km ride next weekend so I have to get one out before THE day.

Today we still had rain in the morning, very cold too (like 8c). No way to ride. So we took the dogs for a car ride (they love it) and went to check where our start will be next weekend. Find parking area, etc. Then early dinner as we only had toasts early today. As we were having dinner, the sky became clearer...so home we went to drop off the dogs, changed and hop on the bikes we went for a 40km ride, even with the winds. I'm so proud of me and all the training I did. Riding is so easy and no longer a fight.

Bring on June!