April 5 Rides

[BikeDutchess]

I am so sick of the stinkin' snow. But at least the roads were dry today & it was sunny so we got in a ride up Emigration Canyon. First time up that canyon this year and I was a bit sluggish but it was still fun. Very chilly going back down though - I was prepared with my thick gloves but my poor hubby was freezing going down.

[Jiffer]

No snow here. I did 45 miles with the club. I did NOT ride with the club yesterday, because it's too hard for me not to ride hard when I ride with them and I wanted to have something left for today. So I rode easy yesterday with my friend and ended up doing really well today. Woo hoo! My friend and I were the only women and we hung with the boys just fine, thank you. One of them commented on how if we keep riding this way, they won't be able to keep up! (I'm sure the guy in the front who races, and did a lot of the pulling was thinking ... "Yeah right, speak for yourself!"

Anyway, we're proud of ourselves and had a great ride. Great weather. (Until the stupid wind at the very end. )

[Crankin]

Did 20 almost flat miles late this afternoon. It's still very windy here, but the sun was out and it was about 58. There were so many cyclists out on both sides of the road, it was unbelievable. We purposely went very slowly, but pushed it near the end, where we were really warmed up and on a flat road. My legs are pretty used up from climbing yesterday, but tomorrow is a rest day. I am still getting used to my new red Sidis. They are the same model, but feel a little different. Today was better.
Right when we were going up a little hill that goes into a downhill before our driveway, our neighbor's dog came running out into the street and almost crashed into my husband. If he had not been climbing and had been just a few feet ahead on the downhill, it would have been a bad day... This is the same dog that almost crashed into me last summer. The guy came over later and apologized (there were witnesses who must have told him), but it won't stop. This dog runs out in front of cars, too. No leash law here, either.

[7rider]

No snow here, either. Flowers are in full bloom and most on the group ride got by with arm warmers and knee warmers today.

One of the local racers (and new dad), A, took on my friend Erica and me as his day's "project" for the ride. He convinced us we should go up Massachusetts Ave - which is the separation point for the B and C rides. The C ride goes straight, the B ride goes up the hill of Mass Ave. So, we did, and he spend most of the ride with us, barking out instructions of when to push and when to ease up....how to climb better...close the gap, etc. He wanted us to ride smarter, not just ride harder. We also did a bit of "cheating"...we took a short cut (a commonly known and used one) and we rode to the front of the pack when the group was stopped at a red light. That also allowed us to set the pace of the group until we hit the hill or some other place where we knew we'd get dropped.

He pointed out 2 bad habits I have that I really need to correct (I know about them already...they are MY habits, after all! ) - that is riding head down, and riding with my shoulders scrunched up. He would ride beside me...."Lift up your head....breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. You can't breathe with your head down! Drop your shoulders!"

So...staying relaxed and pushing in all the right places, I managed to hang with the B's today...much to the amazement of everyone...including my DH. I told A that he only got away with it BECAUSE I'm not married to him! He knows...his wife gets all angry when he tries to coach her (as I do when my DH tries to coach me!).

So...34 miles at an 18.2 mph average. Not bad for early April. And Jiffer...like you, I had fresh legs today (I didn't ride at all, yesterday), which was, I think, a large part of why I was able to hang with the group.

MDHillSlug....I am feeling better about Iron Girl already!

[sundial]

Had a whopper of a front blow in and my knee was very unhappy so had to cancel my ride.

BikeDutchess, I like that jacket.

[tctrek]

Didn't ride today, but we did about 30 very hilly miles yesterday. It was absolutely gorgeous weather and I inadvertently got my first sunburn of the season. We rode a route that usually has some bad bike-chasing dogs but thankfully they weren't out yesterday and we just had a beautiful ride. Was feeling it some today so just went to the gym and did some weight training as my recovery.

[redrhodie]

I had a great couple of hours on my white bike, which I haven't been on in maybe 2 weeks (been mostly commuting on my red bike, Puddin'). It was windy, but I felt really strong (thanks to Puddin's extra weight). Beautiful clear blue above, and dry pavement below. I won't even complain about the wind.

[pfunk12]

7Rider,

Do you do the 8:30 Bicycle Place ride?

[OakLeaf]

For some reason a whole bunch of out-of-towners showed up for our regular Sunday ride, and someone forgot to tell them it was supposed to be a 19-23 mph pace. Then halfway through we met up with the "A" group from the next town, and they decided to join us. So it turned into a hammer-fest, but happily they were content to let us lesser mortals suck wheel. We were rolling along at 27 mph for a while there. It was almost like motorpacing.

Honestly my legs have been more fried with the regular group when it's been smaller and we keep the rotation going, but this was a whole different kind of workout. 54 miles, counting to and from the start.

[7rider]

7Rider,

Do you do the 8:30 Bicycle Place ride?

I do.

Were you there?

[pfunk12]

I do.

Were you there?

I live up the street - a one minute walk away from the shop. Just bought my new bike there. But I haven't joined the Sunday ride yet. I'll be away next weekend but might join you the following Sunday. Would be nice to meet another TE member

[NbyNW]

Finally some nice weather in Seattle!

My lungs are still clearing out from the winter cold, so I was thankful for the balmy weather today. I think it got almost up to 70. Winter did a number on me, I'm in terrible shape.

Got DH to do a ride with me (finally), since I had a new drivetrain put on his bike last fall. A nice easy 7.5 miles each way from Log Boom Park to Red Hood Brewery and back. It was good to have a couple of pints at the midpoint of the ride!

I'm trying to get DH to do longer & longer rides with me . . . if I have to use beer as an incentive, so be it!

[7rider]

I live up the street - a one minute walk away from the shop. Just bought my new bike there. But I haven't joined the Sunday ride yet. I'll be away next weekend but might join you the following Sunday. Would be nice to meet another TE member

Excellent!!!! Welcome aboard and I'll look forward to seeing you there!

[papaver]

Did about 100 kms this weekend. 40 on Saturday the rest yesterday... and it was great! Beautiful scenery, great wheater, what more does a girl want?

[GLC1968]

We finally got out yesterday. It was over 70 degrees and sunny...so there was no way we were going to miss out, no matter how much else we had to do! Yesterday we had too many things to do, so we skipped a group ride that we wanted to join. Turns out, they ended up stopping by because one of the guys had wheel/spoke trouble so my H lent him a wheel. I watched them leave again from my driveway with longing... luckily I got my chance to ride on Sunday.

We did a little over 30 miles. We did this one ride that we've ridden before and really like but added a little jaunt at the end. We went around a ridge and up over it to get back home for some good climbing on already spent legs. No pain, no gain, right? Gorgeous views as a reward, too! I actually got a little sunburnt!

Unfortunately, it looks like I need to research saddles again. I have no idea why, but I was in PAIN yesterday. Pain in the girly parts...not the sit bones. Same bike, same saddle and same chamois that I've used countless times. I don't get it. I mean...I was lying in bed last night trying to fall asleep and the pain was keeping me awake. First time that's ever happened. What's up with that?