June 23 rides

[divingbiker]

Well, I guess I'm the first of the TE-DC group to be back home and on the computer. Today six of us did a bike tour of the memorials and monuments in DC. The weather is perfect today--cool and sunny in the morning, with the temperature in the 70s by the end.

It was great to meet two new people--bike4ever (formerly bikemom, visiting from St. Louis) and Sunnyside (a new TE member who hasn't posted yet). They and Regina, MDHillSlug, Kalidurga, and I started at Union Station and hit all the hot spots:

Supreme Court
Capitol
Washington Monument
World War 2 Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Korean War Memorial
Iwo Jima Memorial (in Arlington Cemetery)
FDR Memorial
the Awakening statue at Hains Point (soon to be moved, so we wanted to see it)

We planned to see the Jefferson Memorial and the White House but had a time constraint, so we rode about 15.3 miles (took a long time because we stopped to see the sights), then headed back to Union Station and stopped for lunch at the Capitol City Brewery before heading back home on the metro.

It was a fun ride. I think in the future we should do the ride when there are fewer tourists in town.

This is the Iwo Jima (Marine Corps) Memorial. This is the first time I've seen it, and it is very large and impressive.



Here we all are looking pathetic standing in line for food at the FDR memorial. Me, Kalidurga, Regina, MDHillSlug, Sunnyside, bike4ever (and our bronze friends)



Here's the group at the Awakening statue. This is a very large statue of a buried body with various body parts coming out from the ground. Sunnyside, Regina, bike4ever, Kalidurga, MDHillSlug



Here's our mess of bikes tied together with a bunch of locks front and back. We were worried about theft, this being DC and all, but we were successful at confounding any potential thieves with our tangled web of bikes and locks.

[RolliePollie]

Wow divingbiker (and group)!!! What great pictures! I'm jealous...I'd love to ride in a great city like DC! The Awakening statue sure looks impressive. I have only been to DC once, in 1990 I believe, but I'd love to come back again sometime.

I did one of my normal local loops today. Nothing spectacular, but it's a beautiful day and I always enjoy the scenery. One great thing happened on my ride, and I am pretty excited & proud of myself...I was able to ride 24 miles without resting because I have FINALLY met a huge and very important goal...I can actually get my water bottle out of the cage, drink, and put it back again! Geez, it only took me 4 months of riding to figure this out - I never thought I'd get my balance and coordination dialed in good enough. Yahoo!

[BikeDutchess]

Oh divingbiker, what a fun ride! We did something like that once through an organized tour (I think the outfit was Bike the Sites or something like that). Biking is such a great way to hit all those memorials and monuments, walking them all just takes so much more time.

I did a 55 mile ride in Utah County this morning with the BBTC club, it was part of the ULCER route. I had never biked that area, and it was beautiful! We went to the lake, and rode through lots of farm land. Hardly any traffic. The average pace was 15.4, that's a pretty high pace for me to maintain over that long of a ride, so I felt really good about it. We only stopped 3 times (2 breaks and 1 flat repair). I'm glad I wore my Camelback, I don't like wearing that thing but I do drink more when I do.

[Kano]

Maybe it's from having little boys in my life, but I don't know about seeing giant body parts coming out of the ground, even though it did look pretty cool in your picture!

My ride today was pretty neat -- we rode to a friend's house on the other side of town, then did a nice loop with him. Just before we parted company, I managed to drop my chain shifting down for a climb, but was lucky that it picked itself back up again, so I just had to give it a talking to, instead of getting grubby. DH wasn't so lucky when he dropped his in traffic at an intersection!

Soon after the chain incident on the hill, I was hearing an interesting sound from my tire, looked down and saw one of THOSE things.

This was a clean road: where the heck did the f-ing goathead come from?????

Someone told us once, don't pull out the goatheads, they're keeping the air in. So I left it there. Panicked when it stopped "thumping" at me every revolution, and stopped at my next opportunity to inspect: thorn still there, air still there, it's all good. DH is cranky now: don't fuss with it, let's see if we can get home and you can fuss there, he said. (ten miles to go)

Three hills to go -- I've got a cold, and my gritty throat hated the first one, which was the biggest, but I made it, waited at the stop light at the top, and then took off to catch up to DH. Got through two thirds of the nasty interchange that followed with no problem, but took to the sidewalk for that last bit, cuz DH had gotten behind me and wrecked my backward vision again. He thinks he's being helpful and protective when he rides behind and left, but it just makes it impossible for me to see and feel safe, y'know?

Got past Costco, which is probably the scariest part of the ride -- lotsa people come and go from there, and they're always in a hurry!

Even did a first today and behaved like a car at our last stop light. This may have been my downfall: LOTS of road debris where we had to ride as we took off. NO way to avoid it. Next hill's not too big, but I struggled a little with it. It's a bit spooky too -- narrow street, not much shoulder, and the black top really falls away on the side.

Now we get a small down hill. The first of the last three was a climb up to a bench -- no down following it. Road is a bit wider for a little ways, then narrows over a bridge. I like to watch for traffic to settle down, then go like mad, since I have to take the lane, and besides, fast down hill is a great start for up the next and last one! I don't know what the heck DH was doing, but I had to BRAKE on the way down or ram him! (traffic picked up, no way around him)

Downshift to climb the last one -- and I can do this one, sometimes even at 9mph. Now remember tire has held up for 9.75 miles. 3/4 of the way up, legs screaming, gritty throat rasping, and I'm about convinced I'm going to have to get off and walk... Sheer force of will got me up that nasty hill -- I've gotten so I can beat the heck out of mountain goat husband on this one, dag-nabbit, and he's HOME already by the time I get to the top! (he rides a 40# comfort beast, don't think I even want to know what he's going to do on something nicer someday!)

Head hanging, shoulders sagging, feet out of pedals, I roll into the driveway and notice: tire's all but flat.

Boy did I feel better about that last hill!

Had to come down and tell the story, along with logging my miles on my spread sheet, while I cooled down. I had a new sound as I finished the ride -- I'm wondering what if anything I picked up in that debris down at the corner, cuz that goathead "plug" held up well -- something else must have done me in!

(DH was talking about going to the bike shop. Think I'm getting some armadillo tires: I'm tired of fixing flats!)

Karen in Boise

[SouthernBelle]

Meg & I did the same ride we did last week as she had somewhere to go. An out and back to Hartsville, 31.64 miles. It's a hilly route. We probably won't be able to ride it much longer. The next county does not clean up roadkill very often. I rode it last summer and had to turn and go home because it got so bad.

But today not so bad.

[7rider]

Geez. Remind me never to wear my headsweat when a camera is involved. I look like such a dork!

I uploaded some more pix of TE's D.C. group adventure in Washington D.C. to Photobucket.

I hope everyone had fun. I know I did.

With the ride to and from the Metro station, I got about 20 miles in for the day. I managed to make my appointment with no time to spare - my hair still wet, but clean!

Mike could have shown the Madone today, but...um...it wasn't back at the shop yet. Since there was little point in rushing it down there this afternoon when they close at 6, he said I could keep it overnight and ride it in the a.m. I'll return it after the shop ride. DH is now sleeping on the couch after doing 107 miles with a bunch of folks from the shop. Ugh. He said I would have hated it, and I don't doubt him!

[Kalidurga]

Janice, your shot of the Iwo Jima Memorial is great! Regina, you got several terrific shots, too. I love the close-up from the Korean War Memorial.

Today's DC Tour was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the next one. Post-Labor Day, perhaps, with a few more sites thrown in... If any fellow TE-er's are planning to visit DC anytime this summer/fall (as bike4ever did today), it'd be great to have you along!

Sunnyside, it was great to meet you today. Welcome to TE

Oh, and Janice, Regina & Nicole: I think today was a good indication that the three of you have definitely helped me overcome my road-riding trepidation from a year ago

[makbike]

I rode about 6 miles today albeit in my subdivision. I packed the bike and headed for Tennessee where it is raining. However, I shall not complain given both Tennessee and Kentucky need the rain - so let it rain and I'll try again tomorrow before I head home.

[emily_in_nc]

Had a great 23-mile ride with DH this morning to the post office, around on some gorgeous rural roads north of where we live, to the farmer's market for lettuce, squash, Swiss chard, and a Jacob's Coat plant (in DH's panniers!), then back home. Our longest ride of the year, and the first road ride I haven't had any hip pain on (from my pelvic fractures two years ago in a cycling accident). Neat!

I also got to help a 20-something roadie in full team kit, high-end racing bike, by lending him my hex wrench at the farmer's market. Neither he nor his biking partner had so much as a tiny wedge seat bag on their weight-weenie all-carbon steeds! Watching him tighten his seatpost, I felt like such a Fred on my Bike Friday fully equipped with racks, rack pack, air horn, "Halt" holder, etc., but hey, I had the hex wrench!!!

Emily

[Aggie_Ama]

We did 60 miles this afternoon. It was down right cool for a Texas summer. Now the neighborhood seems to be having a block party and DH wants to go. Guess we should be social even though I am exhausted!!

[HillSlugger]

It was a great ride. There's no better way to see the sites and the company was great. It was nice meeting bike4ever and Sunnyside. Thank you Janice for taking the lead.

Regina, I'm glad you made it to your appointment clean.

Kali, I was impressed by how cool you were with the traffic.

With the ride to and from the Metro station, I got about 20 miles in for the day. I managed to make my appointment with no time to spare - my hair still wet, but clean!

With my ride home from the Metro I logged 21.25 miles.

Edit to add: BTW my ankle is feeling pretty good, but my legs are sore!

[solobiker]

Had a nice ride this morning with a friend. We rode from Denver to Golden then up Lookout Mtn. Quite a little hill clmib. It was a blast coming down it, there were quite a few tight switch backs so I couldn't open up my speed. I was going between 26 and 31 mph. Round trip our distance was 40mph. I was proud of the fact that I did it on my mountain bike vs my road bike. My biking partner did it on a road bike. Very nice ride. Tomrrow I am off to go hiking up in the mountains with DH

[margo49]

It has been really hot here for a few days (40 deg C/ 105 deg F plus). But the SO had to check some irrigation in a dates grove about half an hours drive away up a Big Hill. So he said "I'll go early and we can put the bike in the back of the pick-up and you can ride down". So at 6.15 am we left home. It was a lovely rural road - not especially well-maintained which was nice. All down hill and nice curves, some of which I was able to do "apex to apex" in a straight line (just like Richard Virenque). Finished down at the Bee-eaters nesting colony so watched them for a while and listened to their beautiful soft trilling calls (and their squawking chicks from the nest-holes in the sandstone bank). Half hour later he turned up to put the bike in the back and drive back home.
Fitness it wasn't , but such a lovely ride in the early morning air with birdsong and wildflowers (caper bush and a huge purple thistle).

I felt like the Queen of Sheba - totally spoiled *and* Richard Virenque on an Alpine descent *simultaneously*

[Meg McKilty]

Meg & I did the same ride we did last week as she had somewhere to go. An out and back to Hartsville, 31.64 miles. It's a hilly route. We probably won't be able to ride it much longer. The next county does not clean up roadkill very often. I rode it last summer and had to turn and go home because it got so bad.

But today not so bad.

We have to start doing those Fitness Magazine leg workouts 'cause I can't keep doing that route and have mush-legs.

[Dr. Liz]

27 miles at a 17 mph average. My leg is still stiff (but getting better), and DH is really pushing for us to up our average speed (easier for him than for me, even though he leads out all the time - he's cruising, and I'm pressed). I think this is one of those things where it will take me a couple of weeks to adjust to the higher pace, and it will feel okay. It's just the next couple of weeks that will be tough...