4th of July Rides

[mimitabby]

for me it was INDEPENDENCE DAY! Independence from everyone else's plans. Also, a hope that I can be independent of our horrible government. But I digress.
The plan:
return books to library on bike. Then fly down Cheasty blvd, a winding tree lined road that takes you right to the heart of south eastern Seattle; usually a place I don't like to go even in a car because of traffic jams and road construction.
But it's early in the morning, on the 4th of July! I went straight down Martin Luther King, Junior Way like it was my driveway! There were hardly any other vehicles, and since it's all newly paved concrete, it was a beautiful ride.
Then I went back up the hill on Henderson, even more tree-lined than Cheasty, a lovely 2% grade all the way up to the top. 12.2 miles and i'm in for the rest of the day to do domestic things Independently.
(Raleighdon is doing a 200 k ride today)
!

[Kimmyt]

Today was independence day here too. Independence from men. A group of 7 girls I sometimes ride with got together. It wasn't on purpose, just turned out all the boys were busy. We rode down to Manayunk and had breakfast and then came back. 39 miles rt and 2 flats due to wet and gritty roads!

Now I'm gonna eat some chips and salsa with the boy and then take a ride with him out to a park nearby, maybe another 50 miles rt. It's a cycling day for me!

[pooks]

I'm puttering in the kitchen with my locally grown veggies, waiting for the sun to break through long enough to toss a couple of ribeyes on the grill.

I hope to get a longer ride in, but --

My big fun was seeing the storm clouds gathering and deciding I could beat the storm -- hopping on my bike to ride to the supermarket to buy prosciutto and melon and returning before it hit. I didn't go far, but I went fast!

[Kano]

A bit over 25 miles this morning -- up hill and down, up again and down with an around the corner look out for the gravel, and where the HECK did that head wind come from!

I don't remember riding into a wind like this one that wanted to push me around like this one before, so I decided to try something new for me -- I don't use my drops much yet, cuz unlike that svelte broad in the logo up top of the page, parts of me crowd other parts when I use the drops! So, I thought I'd experiment with that, and wow, what a nice difference that made! I think it was good for about three miles per hour, so I worked at staying there -- or at least going back to it often on this great stretch of road. Kind of rolling, long long stretch between any intersections, the gravel companies aren't driving their trucks today, so NO traffic at all! Well, no WONDER: we got to the end, and discovered the tow truck, the truck with the boat trailer, and the two sheriff cars, and the rolled pick up sitting on top of the tow truck's bed. (wheels down again) An abundance of people milling around too -- hopefully no serious injuries, and certainly not among the group standing around. We carefully cruised through the tail end of the clean up process....

Stopped for a bit under a shade tree to mess with the wheel DH broke a spoke on again, so we could finish the ride, then took a less direct route from that stop to the new favorite coffee shop, and then a pretty direct route home.

Chased by a chubby chihuahua on the home stretch, but he was no match for 18mph! Kind of exciting -- they usually go after DH, but he took a short cut and didn't get chased...

Now I need some lunch, and I should probably remind him that he needs to fix his wheel before long, or he'll be cussing before work tomorrow morning!

Karen in Boise

[Fredwina]

Well , I felt like Goldilocks
One part of the club was a full century to the beach in Orange County, Given my luck with Bicycling activities in the OC and that fact that it's 98 degrees at noon, I didn't want to do that. too far
Another group was doing Sunset Loop in Redlands 15 miles a loop with 2 loops - not far enough
And I had my RBA contact me last night about turn one of my permanent routes into a Brevet. The problem was I wanted to revise the route some more.
So I started off at 6Am and rode down to Azusa. Sure enough, found a better way to get my riders from point a to point b. came back up foothill through Glendora, Baseline, and 19th to Fontana. I then rode down the hill ,past Jiffer's house (Hi!) and the Rancho Cucamonga Adult Sports park and back home.
A Story, I like to have a chocolate milk after a long ride. I had meant to but one last night, so I stopped a C-Store about a mile from home and got one. By the time I got home it was already warm!

[Crankin]

Did a 53.4 mile ride today (longest this year). It actually was most of the route of a charity ride i did 3 weeks ago, but we started at our house and met friends at a different start point than the original ride. The first 2 towns we went through were having 10k races this morning, so lots of runners and traffic and people on foot. In fact, there was more traffic than I thought there would be, probably like a Saturday. It was hot and humid for the first half, but the sun did go in and it is now cloudy, breezy, and great for riding. We stopped in Weston Center to refill on Gatorade and eat a Clif bar. Then we went through a bit of Waltham, into Lincoln, where we did the only really steep climb of the ride. Then on through Hanscom AFB, back into Concord. I have never seen so many bikes there! We ate lunch on the grass by the visitor's center and I was moaning that I was 4 miles from my house, but we had only ridden 35 miles, so on we went. The rest of the ride was on regular roads that I ride, so it was fun.
When we got back, I downed some choc. milk and hummus and pita. Now I have to stretch and get ready for our BBQ.

[East Hill]

Today's ride was nothing special--just a chance to get out of the house essentially, because it's too hot to do much of anything energetic. So, I went to Big Soos Creek, and saw a huge crowd out there--more people than I've ever seen before.

Now, I've seen muskrats, river otters, mink, etc. down there. But I'd never seen a beaver--until today! I rode by this poor creature and did a double take:



The hat is in there for reference. It's not much more than a kit, but it confirms that there are indeed beavers down there. Now if only I could spot a live one .

East Hill

[mimitabby]

Today's ride was nothing special--just a chance to get out of the house essentially, because it's too hot to do much of anything energetic. So, I went to Big Soos Creek, and saw a huge crowd out there--more people than I've ever seen before.

Now, I've seen muskrats, river otters, mink, etc. down there. But I'd never seen a beaver--until today! I rode by this poor creature and did a double take:



The hat is in there for reference. It's not much more than a kit, but it confirms that there are indeed beavers down there. Now if only I could spot a live one .

East Hill

good thing it wasn't a skunk!!!

[East Hill]

I smell skunks every once in a while, but I have NEVER encountered a live one. That's probably a good thing .

East Hill

[BikerJen]

In preparation for a mountain bike race, I went and rode the course. 8.2 miles - I'm racing beginner class again. Was a very nice ride. This particular route is primarily fireroad with a smattering of singletrack. There is a difficult climb about 5.5 miles in to the race. I couldn't climb all the up without stopping today. I think I've only made it up without stopping one time! Oh well, the way I figure it, I rode the route about 3-5 minutes faster than my race time last year, so hopefully I will better my finishing time from last year!

HAPPY 4TH!!!!

[mimitabby]

I went within 10 feet of one on the green river trail. He did his thing i did mine

[im4smiley]

Today I decided to sleep in, I got up at 6 a.m. I put on my red, white and blue cyling socks and went out for my ride around 7. I started out to do a 25 mile ride but I felt pretty good, there was not much traffic and it was so beautiful out I ended up going 40 miles. It was a nice ride and I was glad I went.

[Meg McKilty]

SouthernBelle and I went with a group this morning, but got dropped in the first 2 miles (they were something fast, I'll say!) so we ended up doing our own original route and it was so much more pleasant.

Stopped by my house on the way. Saw a deer run into a chainlink fence and SB forgot her bandana so I gave her mine. Very good ride.

[oxysback]

There's nothing like a small town parade on the 4th of July!

Our sleepy little neighboring town, St. Paul, has a population of under 400. However, during the first 4 days of July the population explodes to about 40,000! St. Paul has one of the top 20 largest rodeos in the US that really brings in the crowds. We attended last night...always a good time. And I discovered that there is another use for my biking butt. I sat on a hard grandstand seat for 3 hours without a thought! Normally, I'm wriggling around trying to find a comfy spot after about an hour...but not last night!

Anyway, every 4th of July, St. Paul puts on a great parade. Since it's only about 10 miles from my town of Newberg, we usually bike out, and today was no exception.

There are all sorts of entries in the parade...from the rodeo queens and their horses, to the mounted sherriff's posse, to kids on their ponies. Lets not forget all the tractors and farm equipment, antique cars, fire trucks, boy scout groups, a band that plays marches on the back of a flat-bed truck, and even a group of caballeros on their fine looking Friesians and Andalusians.

The parade only lasts about an hour-and-a-half, but it's fun to ride out and not have to worry about parking.

We took a scenic route on our way home for a total of 23 easy miles!

Happy 4th, everyone!

[Chile Pepper]

I took my bike to the bike spa today. She's getting a full manicure, complete with new handlebar tape. We leave for California on Friday. Bring on the summer!