October rides...

[north woods gal]

Well, looks like rain and snow in the forecast for mid-week. It's normal for us up this far north, but, still, I can't help but wonder where my summer went. I go through this every year, doing my best to prepare for winter, which I actually enjoy, but I always find it hard to say good-bye to biking in shorts and a sleeveless top on those warm summer days. Sometimes I think about having a winter home, down south, but hubby says, no way. Oh, well, on to snow biking.

Hard hour and a half on my MTB trials, today, despite showers and temps in the 40s. Hope everyone else is staying warm.

[rebeccaC]

I’ve learned to really like mild weather …….it’s wonderful you’re so well connected to the season’s there though nwg….

Worked all weekend. We did ride to the farmers market yesterday and alex dragged me out today for an ocean bike path ride south to have lunch with friends. Good way to change mindsets, get some exercise, be with alex and then also with good friends. We got so into riding and being together that we did some climbs in the palos verdes hills before heading home…….40+ miles, overcast skies, and low 70’s
….and we were blessed with some ocean tailwinds that came up on the way home!!!!!

[azfiddle]

I have a guest from France and today we rode up to Saguaro NP together, along with my son. She kept exclaiming out gorgeous the desert was. And really, it is, even in fall when the weather is still warm but everything looks pretty dry. No interesting wildlife today though. 25 miles altogether,

[north woods gal]

You girls are making me feel warmer in my mind, at least, with those posts. Keep 'em coming.

[emily_in_nc]

This is behind real-time, but in this blog post about our Columbus Day weekend I wrote about our ride in southwestern Ohio, partly on the Little Miami Scenic Trail and part on rural roads. You'll have to scroll by some campground and hiking stuff, but it's there at the bottom of the post!

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...e-park-in-ohio

No riding in the past few days as we've been traveling in Appalachians and doing some great hikes. Now we're visiting my folks and will head to the NC mountains tomorrow for a few days. I am so excited as my brother is joining us; I haven't seen him in almost three years! I'm not even taking my bike as my step-dad is driving all of us and doesn't have a car rack, and we will be loaded down with luggage and food. Maybe I'll finally get back on the bike next weekend after we return!

[north woods gal]

Good for you, Emily. Glad you got to visit family. Family visits are one thing we do miss. Had hoped family would want to visit more, once we retired up here in the woods, but pretty tough since we're so far of the beaten path.

Been doing quick repeats on stiff climbs I built into my MTB trails. Can now do four or five in a row on climbs I could barely manage, once, earlier in the summer. Kind of a Rocky Balboa thing. Yup, she's getting stronger.

[Sky King]

2 1/2 days, 70 miles of desert riding. I am a tired girl today. We volunteered for the BLM in the Owyhee Wilderness this last weekend and rode an area that was new to all of us along the South Fork of the Owyhee River. The roads were some of the best we've been on (keeping in mind where we were) More than enough of dropping in to the canyon and hike a bike back out - geeze. I said to one of our friends that he should send me all the photos he has of me pushing my bike and we could make a book - ha. We had to ford the river twice, up to my knees both times. I am not skilled nor strong enough to carry my bike across a river so I make two trips. One to carry my panniers and another to push my bike. This trip was in sage brush country - miles of sagebrush. Not much for wildlife. We did see a badger as we rolled into first nights camp. Saw some fresh cougar tracks the next morning! Couple of coyotes and chased some wild horses - those guys are really skittish. Once again, zero people. The downside was I made the mistake of eating a cliff bar before we started and had intense stomach cramps and you know what that follows - ugh. Not a great way to ride 20 miles, with nothing but sagebrush to squat behind. the guys were great, allowing me to lag behind but never out of their sight. Sapped my energy for the entire trip (couldn't be my age- ha) Made it back to the truck just as the rain started to fall. Today it is pouring. Just in case you aren't tired of wide open desert photos - here are a few.

[north woods gal]

Sky, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. When I think of adventure riding, riding such remote roads comes to mind. The closest thing we have, up here, are old logging and fire roads. I think such roads are the perfect blend of features for riding with an MTB - not super technical, but still challenging enough to be MTB, only and, above all, always interesting and true backcountry kind of remote. Really is my favorite kind of riding.

Nothing more tempting than this for me.


Get what you're saying about the digestion thing. Eating immediately before, or during, a long ride might work for some folks, but definitely not for me. Have learned this the hard way, more than once.

Keep those pics, coming.

[Sky King]

I would love to come and ride that. If my DD ends up a Mayo at least she'd be in the near area!

[Crankin]

First day I had time to ride after getting back from my hiking trip. I had a lot to do on my day off, before I leave shortly for the hair salon...
Just a little ride, but my first cold weather one of the season. It was 46, not bad, but partly cloudy and breezy. My extremeties were dressed correctly, but I should have either wore a short sleeved base layer and not LS, or a lighter jersey. Jacket was fine, too.
My quads are still just a little jacked from the hiking, so I've been vigorous with the stretching, foam roller, lacrosse ball.

[rebeccaC]

Luv the feelings those desert photo’s give me Sky. It really does help me find moments of calm/peace when I’m in that landscape. Your challenges on the ride help reinforce the being in the moment feelings too, even the physical ones….well, not the stomach cramps….hoping you work out a solution for the next time.

That’s a great back roads image nwg….the softness of it takes me there in a very fall overcast sky way. Looks like part of a wonderful days ride!!!

On my ride home tonight I came across a homeless woman who was having a serious mental episode. She ran after the bicyclist in front of me and pushed him over, yelling at him that he stole her clothes. I stopped, he landed in the sand by the side of the path and wasn’t hurt so I turned my attention to her and talked to/comforted her. She had definitely distanced herself from reality but I was able to calm her. I called a friend who works with the homeless and the issues around it. She showed up in a short time to offer her assistance to the woman and they walked off together. Made me feel good about having the friends I do.

[Sky King]

Luv the feelings those desert photo’s give me Sky. It really does help me find moments of calm/peace when I’m in that landscape. Your challenges on the ride help reinforce the being in the moment feelings too, even the physical ones….well, not the stomach cramps….hoping you work out a solution for the next time.

That’s a great back roads image nwg….the softness of it takes me there in a very fall overcast sky way. Looks like part of a wonderful days ride!!!

On my ride home tonight I came across a homeless woman who was having a serious mental episode. She ran after the bicyclist in front of me and pushed him over, yelling at him that he stole her clothes. I stopped, he landed in the sand by the side of the path and wasn’t hurt so I turned my attention to her and talked to/comforted her. She had definitely distanced herself from reality but I was able to calm her. I called a friend who works with the homeless and the issues around it. She showed up in a short time to offer her assistance to the woman and they walked off together. Made me feel good about having the friends I do.

rebeccaC - thanks for showing such compassion. Sometimes we hesitate to reach out to the mentally unstable due to safety reasons. Congrats on being able to help her push pause. Hugs

[north woods gal]

Plus one on your compassion to the homeless woman, Rebecca. We have a friend who is homeless, not because of money issues, but because of mental issues and despite all our attempts to help her, she refuses to find a permanent home (she lives in her car, even during our winters) and refuses to seek mental help. Very frustrating and very sad. So many of these people fall though the cracks in what passes for mental health care in this country.

On a more positive note, changed out to a raised stem and wider handlebars on my Giant Trance full suspension bike and it worked like a charm. Not to get too techno, but the Trance is very typical of the current breed of trail bikes with a very slack front end, meaning the front wheel is way out there in front of the handlebars as with a chopper motorcycle. (The MTB bike scene is very trendy. Slack geometry is currently "in".) Makes for very twitchy steering and a bike that is hard to keep on a straight track when on a steep climb. Was seriously thinking of selling the bike, but will keep it, now. So excited about the "new" improved Trance, that I rode for an hour in the cold rain (some flakes of snow mixed in), yesterday.

[north woods gal]

Still riding, up here, on a daily basis and will continue to do so, even when the snow starts to fall (fat bikes are snow bikes and we even have groomed trails for them in the winter.) Most of my riding has been MTB, but hope to get out for some road work before the snow falls. Been waiting for a sunny day to take some of the chill off, but sunshine is NOT what this country has in abundance. In fact, it's pretty darn rare in the winter. The snow and the cold I can take, but it's the long month of gloom that get to me.

[rebeccaC]

Not a lot of miles this weekend (netflix’s first season of Doctor Foster and the 3rd of The Fall were to blame yesterday ….but we needed and just enjoyed the snuggling and downtime for a change). We did do a ride to the farmers market today for veggies, fruits and cheese. We also did a late afternoon ride to Venice's Día de los Muertos celebration which is a wonderfully colorful event with an altar and tree of life built by local elementary school students, Aztec drumming,dancing and ceremonies, lots of celebrants, art and good food. Not many miles but lots of sharing a relaxing time together made more important cuz i leave for a few days tomorrow for work.