Wednesday, Nov. 5 Rides!

[RolliePollie]

Well, my ride can be summed up in one word today:

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I think the seasons have officially changed here. Rode 32.6 miles, fleece tights, two shirts, windbreaker, runny nose, frozen toes. Now I must go take a hot shower before my shivering turns into a full-blown seizure!

p.s. it's only 41 degrees (not really that cold) but it's cloudy and breezy and last week at this time it was in the 70's! A body needs some time to adjust!

[Biciclista]

We were forecast 4 days of straight rain. So this morning when we got up when there were stars in the sky, we decided to ride! It was 40 degrees and clear! so I rode to work, it was brisk, but a wonderful day to celebrate all the wonders of life, INCLUDING my son's 30th birthday!!! (imagine!!)
Returning home, it was a bit warmer, but the clouds are coming in, and soon the rain will return.

[redrhodie]

I rode about 50 miles today with my friend. I felt amazing! We averaged a speed on the high side of our usual, without putting in extra effort. I did my big hills, and they felt easy today. For some reason, I had a little extra pep. In hindsight, I'm guessing the wind was coming from a different direction. It was warm, too. What fun!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey Mimi, my older daughter is 30 too!

I didn't ride today, but I walked 3 miles and I washed both my bikes.

[makbike]

Our weather is simply unbelievable here for Nov. Today the skies were clear, a gentle breeze was blowing and the temps were in the mid 70's. I had tossed my bike in my car this morning with hopes of riding as soon as school let out for the day. I was out the door quickly this afternoon and on my bike in the blink of an eye. What a ride is all I can say. I was one with the bike, my legs felt incredibly strong and everything was clicking. I logged 18.6 miles. I covered this route in 1:01 giving me an average speed of 18.2 mph.

[OakLeaf]

Yes, we have one more day of Indian Summer here too (can I still say that?) so I'm trying to make the most of it. Tomorrow's probably the last time we'll see 70 degrees in Ohio until maybe the January thaw, and if not then, late April or May.

I celebrated my birthday with a 35 mile round trip to the courthouse to pick up my jacket, that I'd accidentally left in the jury room yesterday I wrapped my Xinglet around a lightweight backpack to give me a little bit of visibility on the road, and had a really nice solo ride. I made sure to take the toughest hills on the outbound leg, so that I wouldn't have even the extra weight of my jacket on my back

Six or seven miles from home, a nice looking buck crossed the road in front of me, and at about the same time a school bus passed me. A kid started yelling out the window something like "Get out of there!" Sounded like a middle school age kid. He kept going on. I couldn't tell if he was hollering at me, or the deer.

[mary9761]

After we got home from my husband's PT, I had the rest of the day off and it was a gorgeous day! Temps in the 70's (likely the last we'll see), sunny and I needed to get to The Bike Line to purchase a new floor pump. I'd had a pump that I purchased at Kmart or Walmart something like that in 2005 and it finally gave up the ghost Sunday blowing the hose apart at the pump head so I was going to get me a Wrench Force Air Daddy. I started towards town on my bike with what I knew were underinflated tires as the pump blew when I was trying to pump up the front tire. They've been working on the main street I take in to town and the lane I normally use was ground down and graded for work. Traffic has to take the left lane so I merge only to find that they have intermittant cut outs and grading on that lane. As I make my way to clearer pavement, I pray that my tires don't get a pinch flat from the uneven pavement I had to cross over. Thankfully I get through that and head on into town.
Since my LBS is a 20 mile ride and I want to make sure I don't ride any farther than I can avoid on the low tires, I hop on the bus as far north as I'm able and finish the trip via the Monon. I get to the shop and we air the tires up and I buy the pump. I visited with the guys for a short time and head back towards town trying to get as far as I could before it got dark. I start to head towards another of the streets I take back to town and went to stop in some traffic. I had no front brake suddenly. I pull over as quickly as I safely can and check, my front brake had opened somehow. I try to get it back together and secure and it keeps popping open. I make it to a bus stop and wait for the next bus to town and continue to work on the brake. Fortunately I made it home without any incidents, but I still can't get the brake to stay closed. It's too late to do anything with them now, but I may need to see if the guys at the shop can talk me through to see what may be going wrong, at this point, it's a long trip up there without front brakes to have them work on them.
This was my first long ride after getting hurt in the shower at the Hilly. 17 miles. I hope I can figure out what's going on with the brakes, I'd hate to be out with a mechanical now that I'm back on the bike again.

[Crankin]

I went on a group ride for the first time since my tour in August. Being a little tired from celebrating my birthday and the election with champagne and a lot of food, I wasn't really gung ho to go, but I was committed in my head!
I drove to the meeting place in Groton, about 14 miles away. We parked by the Nashua River Rail Trail, but headed out on the road. It was about 55 when we left and got up to about 64 during the day; probably the last ride I do in knickers and no heavy top. I felt a bit cool at first, but my regular LS jersey with a sleeveless Craft under and a wind vest was fine.
So, this group is a social ride group that is mostly comprised of "older" people. Every ride involves a restaurant and/or some cultural stop, although that doesn't happen so often. Some of these people ride an incredible amount and have done significant touring. Quite a few have done the PMC for years and many have run the Marathon more than once. They don't go fast, but they sure ride a lot! After we had gone about 4 miles, the leader pulled us over and said a woman had called the police because the group was taking up the whole road! Well, she was right. One of the reasons I stopped riding with this group is their poor riding etiquette. They just talk and talk. Once when my husband came with me, and a car was trying to pass us, he yelled, "Move right!" to a guy who was out in the lane. The guy got really mad and wouldn't move. Oy, this is why motorists hate us, especially when there is a line of 50 riders who won't cooperate. Anyway, one of the club leaders was really trying to reinforce the rules on this ride, so I guess they are fed up, too. I solve this problem by staying up front! The guys who ride in the front ride at my speed, which is rare. So, we rode through Groton, Townsend, and Shirley, on very rural roads with great scenery. I felt like I had been on some of these roads going the other way, on another one of these rides. It was mostly flat or rolling in the beginning. Then, we got into Hollis, NH, where i have a ride that I do a few times a year. It is very hilly, but we weren't on a road I recognized. Finally, we started a long 3-4 part hill which had some pretty steep parts. I fell back, but I was at the back of the front group. The pace of this climb felt kind of familiar and when we got to the top of the hill, I realized that this street parallels the one I usually climb in Hollis, and came out just a bit down the road. The road had the same amount and type of hills, but each were a bit less steep. After this, we rode about 5 more miles and got on the rail trail for the last 8 miles. The trail was empty, but covered with leaves, which made me nervous, but it was fine. I rode on a part of the trail I've never been on, which parallels the river and provided some excellent scenery.
I got back and put my bike in the car instead of on the rack, locked it, and walked across the street to a great find of a restaurant for the group lunch. It was a cafe in an antique store. Good food, great coffee, and pleasant conversation. I left at around 1:30 and once home, relaxed in a hot bath before commencing my reading.
31 miles. I met and passed my meager goal of 2500 miles this year. I hope I can eventually have another 3,000 mile year in the future!