Weekend Rides?

[GLC1968]

I managed my first ride in at least 3 months but likely more (I honestly can't remember my last outdoor ride!), yesterday.

10 miles on a local MUP. I was really stressed out the whole time, was clumsy and uncoordinated, couldn't stand on the pedals at all (had to try over large bumps), had my rear killing me after just 5 miles and generally had what should have been considered a lousy ride. But you know what? I was riding and outside, none-the-less! So it was awesome. I can't believe that little 10 mile ride took us an hour, too. I've got a LONG way to go...

[goldfinch]

Did the MS-150 this weekend from near Duluth to a northern Twin Cities burb. This was my 11th straight year. Except for the first year, which I naively did on a mountain bike this was the most brutal year ever. I thought the constant southerly headwind, which caused my first sub-15 mph average in forever for this ride, on Saturday was bad. That was a piece of cake compared to yesterday. It was AWFUL!!! Heat (90's) but worst of all - the WIND - the wicked CONSTANT 25-35 mph headwind with gusts over 40 that just about knocked me off my bike more than once and stopped riders dead in their tracks! I have never seen such misery on this ride or so many folks who liked like zombies. People were dropping by the trailside, sides of the road and just sitting, staring blankly. Everyone was joining up with drafting lines but nothing much helped.

On the bright side, riders raised $3 million for the local chapter of the Nat'l MS Society, and it was great training for my upcoming AIDS ride in mid-July - lots of heat training and, thanks to the awful headwind, what was the equivalent of hours and hours of hill climbing work.

I had a friend who did the first day and then didn't do the second. Now I see why! And man that is hot for Minnesota this time of year. I was going to do the ride but didn't get my ducks in a row. Now I am glad I didn't.

Congratulations on beating the wind and the heat.

[tulip]

22 quick miles with intervals, very flat. Much fun!

[Norse]

I had a friend who did the first day and then didn't do the second. Now I see why! And man that is hot for Minnesota this time of year. I was going to do the ride but didn't get my ducks in a row. Now I am glad I didn't.

Congratulations on beating the wind and the heat.

Thanks! Yes, if ever there was a year or day to miss, this was it!

[indysteel]

Wow, Norse. That sounds positively brutal. Good on you for sticking it out, and kudos for your efforts to raise money and awareness for MS.

[AppleTree]

Did the 45 miles loop of the Flying Wheels ride from Marymoor Park... ended up being "only" 41, but it was hilly too. But still I increased my average speed to.....drum roll.......12.6 mph!! Whoo hoo. I know that is nothing to most of you, but for me it is an achievement. Maybe it had something to do with the nice tailwind at the last stretch, but I will take it.

Met the most fabulous woman as we were grinding uphill and stopping to catch our breath together. An army major who was recovering from a disease that paralyzed her lower left leg...she had only been bicycling for three months and was doing this ride...with a brace and clipless pedals. I was so freaking impressed.

Sunday did a nice recovery ride from home, about 25 miles. Here is a photo of one of my favorite haunts, so beautiful and peaceful overlooking the marina and the Puget Sound in North Everett. Love it.

[Catrin]

I had wanted to get in a 35-40 mile ride this morning, but IT band started complaining at 26 miles so I sadly called it a morning. It was a great ride, though it was getting pretty warm. Tuesday was my last rest day (between riding and cross-training) so I knew I might be pushing it a bit to have a long ride today so it wasn't a real surprise that my legs started rebelling...but it was still a good ride and I whipped the butt of a mean short yet STEEP hill

Tomorrow I won't be able to ride until the heat of the day (92 is the expected high) so I am only planning on getting out and do some mountain bike drills - sort of an active rest day. True rest day Monday. Rest days are good, rest days are good...

[Kubla]

I finally broke out of my current 10-13 range and rode 18 miles today. <Yay> Stopped at 3 yard sales along the route, but managed not to buy anything. (I'd started out early, but guess I didn't pick the right ones to visit.)

All went well until I had to cross a busy road on my way home. Most drivers in my area do not seem to believe that pedestrians have the right of way. I almost always get off the bike and wait at the crosswalk on the worst roads.

An elderly gentleman stopped to let me cross, but traffic coming from the other direction ignored the stopped traffic. After several cars whizzed by, I signaled for him to go ahead; I didn't want to hold him up any longer and the line behind him was getting longer.

He again smiled and gestured for me to go. It was clear the next oncoming car was not going to stop. The driver in the vehicle behind him grew impatient and leaned on the horn. He in turn honked and shouted something at the offending oncoming car. I prayed I was not going to witness a full-blown road rage incident involving a well-meaning senior citizen. Finally, I was able to cross.

I was close to home when a car abruptly pulled into a driveway in front of me. I had to stop a bit short.

A guy in his 30s jumped out of his car and called out to me. I couldn't imagine what he wanted. He then asked if I had a cell phone he could use "for a minute". (You're stopping a passing bicyclist to borrow a cell phone??) <RED FLAG>

I typically don't trust anyone and told him, "Sorry, I don't carry a phone." "You don't??" he said, surprised. "NOPE!" says I, pushing off to get away as quickly as I could. I did not go right home, just in case...but had a plan for stopping at a neighbor's if it turned out I was being followed. Thankfully, that was the end of the encounter. <Phew>

[lovelygamer]

Kubla, congrats on breaking that 13 mile barrier. I'm working on that one myself.

We went kayaking today instead of cycling. I will ride my bike tomorrow, probably in the 10-13 mile range.

I had a lot of fun in the kayak and did really well for a first timer. When I can, I'll put a picture or two up. We went for 1.5 hours and about three miles.

[MojoGrrl]

Attempted to do the Sierra Century in Plymouth, CA (106 miles, 7400 feet of climbing) today but it was already 100 degrees by about noon, so we cut it short and did the metric route (still 4400 feet of climbing) and I had a brief moment of glory when I took off on my racing bike for a few miles at speeds of 28-35 mph and left my far stronger and more experienced cyclist boyfriend in the dust. It was so hot that almost all of the full century and 200k riders ended up doing the metric. At least one person collapsed from heat exhaustion at the end of the ride, and I'm sure there were a few more casualties. I was pretty wiped out and miserable myself - where my burst of energy and speed came from I have no idea.

[Kubla]

Kubla, congrats on breaking that 13 mile barrier. I'm working on that one myself.

We went kayaking today instead of cycling. I will ride my bike tomorrow, probably in the 10-13 mile range.

I had a lot of fun in the kayak and did really well for a first timer. When I can, I'll put a picture or two up. We went for 1.5 hours and about three miles.

Glad to hear your first kayaking outing went well. I know you were a little apprehensive. It's a lot of fun, and you'll learn quickly.

[Crankin]

I rode 42 miles today, which included riding to our bike rally, leading a 15 mile ride, and riding home.
Weather was picture perfect. Leading the ride, not so much. We had every kind of issue, from people with borrowed, crappy bikes, people with no air in their tires, helmets on incorrectly, no bike skills, not knowing how to shift. We know that leading the shortest ride of the rally will get less experienced people, but this was the worst. One girl had her crank fall off, but DH fixed it... I ended up leading the last 5 miles when he did this and I had to sprint like hell to catch up to the others. Up a hill. At least I was able to leave the woman (she was with a guy) who was riding about 6-9 mph and couldn't get up any of the hills without walking. As the sweep, I had to stay with her, but her bf said it was OK for me to go ahead once they got back to the next to last road.
I found out the rally was put on Meet Up at the last minute and this is where some of these people came from. Granted, this is more of a social type of riding club than others, but . My ride report will have some choice words for the event planners.
We were exhausted on the way home, but we booked it and managed to get back, shower, and drive back to the site for the dinner and speaker in about an hour and a half.

[chatnoire]

Ugh, Crankin, that sounds brutal. I hate poorly planned events.

We did a ride today that was ~35 miles, average speed 12.6 mph, elevation gain 1000 feet. It was cool and breezy, and the last 10 miles were spent outracing a thunderstorm...which never actually made it to our side of town. *shrug* No biggie, the speeds on that half of the ride were good.

We're doing a "recovery ride" tomorrow, less than 10 miles - up to the farmers market, shopping, and riding back before tackling mountains of homework for both of us.

Oh, and of course, I fell again. Gah.

Here's a snap from our ride at the highest point, with the thunderclouds behind us:

[redrhodie]

I wasn't going to ride yesterday, but at 3 pm I made the mistake of pumping my tires. I guess I've trained myself to ride after pumping, because once it was done, I had to ride. Now, the reason this is bad is because at 3 pm on a Sat in June around here, traffic is mad. (And I mean both definitions of mad.)

So, I knew I was probably going to have a stressful ride, and it was. I only did my 18 mile loop, but it was plenty. I yelled at one driver, passed one tour bus in a high risk way because I was boxed in and it was my best option. I took some chances that I normally wouldn't, but nothing bad happened. I really need to reconsider riding at that time here. I know better. Just thanking my lucky stars it turned out fine.

[Crankin]

Same reason I won't ride through Concord center on a weekend, Red.
And add about 2,000 extra cyclists who all seem to start and finish their rides here. It becomes too much when combined with tour buses, people who don't know where they are going walking out into the middle of the street, and tons of regular people just out doing their weekend errands.