October 6th Rides

[Fredwina]

The bad news: I forgot my camera cause I could have used it
rode over to the Coffee shop to do the club ride. While climbing up Benson in Upland, I got treated to a gorgeous view of snow on the San Gabriels Breathtakingly pretty.
had a mocha at the coffee shop, and took off to Devore. Unfortunately, we're having Santa Ana conditions, so it was a different kind of breathtaking (hills _ winds = "pain is weakness leaving the body" ) did a little bit of Old 66 in San berdoo, turned around at the little league park and stopped by REI on the way home Great day
Total 64.68

[sundial]

Fredwina, can you ride there tomorrow and take pics?

I had a nice ride this morning. It was overcast, cool(er), and saw a really nice sunrise. We rode about 24 miles or so.

[Zen]

http://picasaweb.google.com/zencentu...eTheDustyTrail

25 mile out and back on the C& O Canal from Point of Rocks, MB to Harpers Ferry, WV. Maryland Heights, actually because we didn't cross the river.

[HillSlugger]

My first ride outside since my 8/19 triathlon. Right afterwards I stopped riding to do knee PT. Easy pedaling on the flat Eastern Shore of MD, perfect place for a rehab ride. No knee pain; it was all good

17.25 miles at 16 mph.

[mimitabby]

Manastash Metric Century ride; from Ellensburg, Washington to Cle Elum Washington and back...

I agreed to do this ride because not only were a lot of our friends doing it, but my son and his buddy came along too.

The weather was supposed to be very bad in Seattle, and the forecast for eastern washington was better; this ride is famous for not having rain. THeir website is dryer-ride.org, and this was their 13th consecutive year of no rain (YAY!)

The first half of the ride was into a 20 mph headwind. It was absolutely brutal. Somehow I was able to ride 30 miles into that wind. Somehow I never turned around and said "scr3w it" Somehow I managed to ride 32 miles at 10.9 mph average. There were some hills too.
The hills were strange. I'm not fast on hills but i'm "good" so when we'd get to a hill, i'd get down into a nice hill gear and toodle up the hill. Then at the top, there was that $%#$% wind again and instead of a nice sail DOWN the hill, i'd have to struggle with holding my wheel and pedaling just as hard as i was going up the hill. There was no break except for a few big clumps of trees that silenced the wind for 50 yards at a time. My DH was very frustrated because I could not maintain a comfortable pace (for him) but he stayed with me for most of the ride.
We stopped in Cle Elum and had lunch; even though the cafe was heated, it felt cold in there. After I ate, I got up and my legs were screaming!
Walking was unpleasant, not only were my muscles sore; they were stiff too.
my arms(triceps), neck, and quads were all toast.
I got back onto my bike and headed back to Ellensburg, with the wind at my back. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. but each little hill now was painful. After about 15 miles, I stopped and took advil. Another member of our bike club suggested that the two of us Evade the nasty hill waiting for us (12% grade) and take a short cut (actually 2 miles shorter) so I did. I challenged Raleighdon to beat us back. He really deserved to ride at least partway at an enjoyable for him pace.
He and another very fit crazy man took off like rockets but I beat him back to the car by about 1 minute..
Came home had great leftovers and took a hot bath. AHHHHHHHHHHH

[Fredwina]

Fredwina, can you ride there tomorrow and take pics?

I had a nice ride this morning. It was overcast, cool(er), and saw a really nice sunrise. We rode about 24 miles or so.

I'm going too. no promises it was 75 here in the valley, I noticed that snow had melted off the top of Cucamonga Peak, so I fear it may be gone...

[michelem]

Did the Konocti Challenge 65-mile option. I hadn't been on the bike for three weeks and there is no way I could have completed the full century. Thankfully, I got back in to the the p/t on Thursday and he gave me some relief for the hip flexor strain AND gave me the okay to ride this weekend.

The morning started out clear and COLD - around 40 degrees. Despite my full-fingered gloves, my fingers were painfully cold for the first 10 miles or so. After that, it started to warm up and the weather was absolutely lovely for the remainder of the ride. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL. There were 7 rest stops total (for the century). We stopped at two. At both I ate about 1/2 banana some grapes and some trail mix. I was kind of leary about the trail mix, wondering how many guys just came out of the porta-potties and then stuck their hands in the trail mix . . . I ate it anyway though. Drank one large bottle of recovery drink and one smaller bottle of water throughout the ride. This was plenty of fuel for me.

Total climbing was somewhere around 3400 feet (the advertised 2200 feet of climbing was NOT accurate. I'm not saying that routeslip is completely accurate either, but in talking to the others that did the 65-miler, it seemed more accurate than what was advertised).

Only one mishap. We had a pretty good downhill and then an immediate WALL. I went to shift down my front chainring and it got stuck. I went down HARD on my right knee. I have a nice goose-egg on my kneecap now and it is stiff and SORE. Luckily I was able to finish the ride.

I would HIGHLY recommend this ride. It is beautiful and enjoyable. I just tried to upload some photos but got a message that the uploads failed.

[Kalidurga]

As Mo (ZenC) said, we did a nice early Autumn ride on one of the prettiest sections of the C&O Canal towpath. I kept wishing that the fog and clouds would burn off so we could have a beautiful sunny day, but that would have made it really hot.

ZenC and divingbiker, did you clean your bikes yet?

MDHillSlug: Congtatulations! I'm sure that ride felt reeeaaally good after spinning on the trainer the last week or so. Definitely looking forward to riding with you again on 11/3

[withm]

Well thanks to Hillslug I was able to do the Seagull Century. THis was my first Seagull, first "big ride" (~6,000 riders), and my longest ride to date -70miles.

This was the 19th year for the Seagull, and the first in many years where the weather didn't have a name. This weekend in October seems to have been fraught with the remnants of whatever hurricane was plying it way up the coast the last few years. Last year it rained so hard (yet many people still did the ride) that they were literally pouring water out of their seat tubes after the ride. And being so close the coast and with no hills, wind is a constant challenge here. Yesterday's forecast was for SSE winds in the 5-10kt range. Well of course the wind shifted so the last 15 miles or so were with a mild headwind, but not the 20-30mph winds that the Seagull riders normally have to fight.

I lucked out on a parking place early so at least I did not have to spend 1/2 hour cruising for safe or legal parking. I wore my AV jersey, buff, and arm warmers. Got a lot of comments like "Nice jersey" from passing riders, but did not see any others sporting the red and green. Thanks AV people! The weather was very foggy in for the first 3 hours or so and I was constantly wiping the condensation off my glasses and even off my computer so I could read it. But it finally burned off, and eventually the sun came out and it was time to switch to sunglasses.

I did the 65 mile ride. Both rides (65 & 100) ride the same course for the first 7 miles. It was like a peleton, with hundreds of riders in each group speeding by. Somehow we were in a pack of 100 milers, and missed the turn-off for the 65, and rode a few miles out of the way before doubling back and picking up the proper route. I saw one guy go down way off to the left. Don't know what happened to him but the roads were wet, and he could have just slipped or skidded to avoid an pinecone or something, and could not recover. Several people rushed to his aid, so I kept on going. Those 100 miler folks were FAST, and it was a real treat to be out of the fray once we got back on the 65 mile route.

There were 2 rest stops on the ride, each featuring a live band, and flush toilets. (OK, there was a line of portapotties at the 2nd stop, but they were too far away... lol) I'm sure the septic system at the 2nd stop got a workout with 2-3,000 flushes on Saturday! Food was plentiful and they even had pie and ice cream at the 2nd stop.

On the final leg, around mile 55 I hit the wall and my last 15 miles were hard. I stopped to apply more chamois butter which solved THAT problem (no pain today) and learned again what a difference GOOD shorts make. My PI Ultlrasensor shorts are quickly becoming my favorites. I probably needed more salt or sugar or something, but I finally made it back to the finish, and made a beeline for a coke, and then a BEER! By then it was pushing 85oF, and the "party" afterwards had only limited protection from the sun.

I only saw one person that I know there and rode with him a little bit, and of course my bike shop had a booth set up and were providing sag support and repairs, so I knew them.

Funny story, one of the guys from the shop did the 100 mile ride. Somewhere near Assateague a couple of deer popped out of the woods, one ran in front of a pack of riders, and another jumped over my friend! He said all he did was just duck and pray he would come out of this one alive. Yikes! No mishaps though. I did see a kamikaze squirrel dart out and fortunately do a quick turnaround - he would never have survived that crossing with a group of 50-100 fast riders blocking his path. I hate to think of the damage one squirrel could cause if the whole pack went down.

The ride was a lot of fun, and probably my fastest yet until I "died." Will I do it again? Yeah, I might but as usual, won't sign up till the last minute cause 65 miles in hurricane rain or winds just isn't for me.

Thanks Nicole for your generosity!
Martha

[sundial]

I went down HARD on my right knee. I have a nice goose-egg on my kneecap now and it is stiff and SORE. Luckily I was able to finish the ride.

OUCH!! Glad you were able to finish the ride. How's your knee this morning? Are you headed back to the ortho and/or PT?