Amazing but true weekend rides!

[emily_in_nc]

Nothing spectacular mileage-wise, but a huge plus was the temp being in the 70s both Sat/Sun mornings due to overcast skies and early-morning rain. What a change from the normal riding conditions here in the summer (80s-90s with sunshine). It was also overcast both days with an occasional spit of rain, so even with the post-rain humidity, was very tolerable.

Did 12 miles with DH yesterday to the markets, and 30.5 solo miles today. Last rides in NC for a long time, probably, as we move out of our apt. Saturday and will be very busy this week after work continuing to pack and organize for our move to Belize August 27. We'll be staying at my mom's the week before we leave, but our Bike Fridays will be packed in their suitcases for storage in her garage.

Hopefully our beach bikes will arrive in Belize soon after we do!

[trickycoolj]

Took out the mountain bike, got some new tires for it, and met my mom and some of her friends for a 22mi ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in Iron Horse State Park. It's the former Milwaukee railroad that was converted to a gravel/dirt trail that includes railroad trestles and a 2.3 mile train tunnel! The tunnel is not lighted so you have to strap on as many lights/headlamps/flashlights as you can. The grade is no more than 2.2% but since my mom's knees don't like the full round trip with the uphill we do a two car system and just ride the 22 miles downhill. There's a few picnic tables and back country camp sites mid-route that we stopped at for lunch. The weather was sunny and cool, maybe around 70? Hardly broke a sweat, threw the mtb in highest gear and was mostly spinning and coasting. Sometimes I'd be cold in the wind and would ride fast ahead of the group until the next sunny patch other times I'd fall back and ride with my mom.

Lots of people were out enjoying the ride this weekend, many scout troops on rag-tag bikes which looked fun. Nearly got taken out by one who had lost an entire crank arm somewhere along their journey and was sort of skateboarding his bike and swerving all over the place. #1 reason I keep a bell on my mtb!

First lengthy ride on the saddle I got for my mtb last year and I love it. Actually fits my sit bones and the cutout made all the difference post-ride! Sit bones are a tad sore from lack of practice, wrists/forearms from lack of bar ends for alternate positions and my shoulders/neck for carrying a pack of picnic snacks. Haven't done this ride in several years while the tunnel was closed for repair and I'm suddenly realizing in my late-20s that I'm approaching the age where I'm starting to "feel" things a lot more than I used to!

[MojoGrrl]

107 miles total this weekend: 43 on the tandem on Saturday, a very fast ride...preparing for Waves to Wine next month, and then 64 today - miserably hot and it was climbing the whole time, 5500 feet total, at elevation around 2500 feet. EXHAUSTED tonight...

[grey]

Wow Mojo! That's a lot of climbing!

Participated in my first metric century on Saturday. Met up with Kaybee but only actually rode with her & her husband for the first 10 miles or so - after that we got separated and never saw each other again, though it turns out we were all of 5 minutes apart at the finish. I learned a few things. One, I didn't pace myself enough at the start, and by mile 40 both my riding partner and I decided we'd better stick to the small cog or we might not make it. Had I done that sooner, I think I could ride 80! *facepalm*

Also around 40 miles my husband and brother caught up with us with the car and camera. My brother is a pretty good amateur photographer, they circled around us with that camera clicking away and I totally cracked up. At another point they were waiting for us and my husband held up a sign that said "You're kicking a__!"

The ride was very well organized, there were people stationed along the road handing out cold water along with the stops, which were stocked with everything from bananas to peanut butter sandwiches.

After the ride I had riders over for a post-ride meal, everybody brought something or a few somethings for us all to eat. Some of the folks that came are ones I knew rode, but never managed to meet up with/get email addresses for, etc., and others had moved away so it was good to see them again. And then I slept for four hours.

here's one of my brother's photos:

[IMG] Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

He took tons, some really neat ones of other riders but didn't manage to get many of the riders I know. In all, almost 400 people were in the Chattooga Century.

PS, hey ZoomZoom, does that jersey look familiar?

[maillotpois]

DD (15 years old and training for Waves to Wine) and friend and I did 38 miles. It was DD's longest ride to date on her own bike, with clipless pedals. Friend was wonderfully patient, but it was also her longest ride all year, even though she used to do double centuries with me (she has a 3 year old).

DD was all worked up about the one final climb on the route (back side of White's hill - way easier than the front side which was our first climb of the day), and it made her almost hysterical on the two preceding climbs (which were actually harder than the final one, but she hadn't done it on her own bike, so she didn't really know til she did it.) All ended well.

Congrats to all on some great rides this weekend!

[limewave]

50 miles on the road Friday. I did not feel great, but it was good to be out.

Saturday we kayaked for the first time in 3 years! Nothing like paddling out on Lake Michigan and watching the sunset.

Sunday we got out the mountain bikes and road about 30 miles on the NCT from Freesoil--one of our all time favorite sections of singletrack.

Then we grabbed some lunch and drove out to Ludington State Park (one of the best state parks ever) and did some hiking. Capped it off at the local brewery.

I lOVE Michigan. Especially in the summer.

Great weekend! The kids got to stay at my aunt's where they swam as much as they wanted and they even got to see a newborn calf.

[OakLeaf]

I did the club ride. Lately it's been splitting into two groups, which is a good thing. The bulk of the riders are sloooooooow, which is fine. Some of them are getting up there in years and do some serious yearly mileage and I don't mean to take anything away from them. And I'm not fast, but I just don't have the patience for a sub-10 mph average (counting a sit-down breakfast), and it's nice if I can have someone else to ride with, because normally the story of my life is too slow for the fast group, too fast for the slow group.

The posted route was 41 miles, I posted a post-meal variation that gave us 53. Two of us went off the front, finished our sandwiches just as the first of the other group were arriving, and got back to the start in the time it took about half of the 41-mile group to finish.

[Norse]

We are finally having nice weather here - temps in the upper 70's low 80's and more importantly, dewpoints in the 50 - low 60's. I had a bike-fitting follow-up appointment Sunday so I rode to that and it took longer than expected because he discovered the probable cause of may saddle sore problem: the left side of the saddle had warped ever so slightly so that it was lower than the right. I just bought this saddle this year so luckily it's still under warranty and a new one is on the way.

After that, I picked up the local Cedar Lake trail and rode to the Mississippi river where I sat on a bench enjoying my 1/2 of a peanut butter sandwich. Back home using the trail and nice wide bike lanes with a few finishing hills thrown in. Only 24 miles but a pleasant outing.

[smittykitty]

DH and I did our first "organized" ride. We rode the Mid-Valley Bike Club's Covered Bridge Tour out of Albany, Or. We did the Metric Century.

It was a great ride over 4 covered bridges in beautiful, Western Oregon's farm country. Lots of great food, drink and support. Lots of friendly people and the weather was good too (a little cool at first, but warmed up early).

My right leg (currently the weak link) gave me trouble all day. I think it was telling me it was time to get back to the gym and work on strengthening. My chest also was trying to explode on the many hills but I made it up all of them. I was very proud of myself.

I was ok with our avg. of 14 mph for the day since I noticed I inched over the crest of the steepest hill at 4 mph!

And thanks ladies for all your advice. Boobs to the tubes really works!! I scooted back in the saddle, hands forward, girls facing the pavement and up the hill we went. Sang a little song or counted. I think it really helped! The new Jett saddle was comfortable all day too.

It was a great first organized ride for us and fun to go to a new location.

[cosc]

Saturday was the 7th and last day of Candisc. Milage was 389 for the week with lots of hilly terriain. The scenery was awesome with all the fields in their prime, (sunflowers, wheat, soybeans and some flax).The many waterways poppin full of water creatures was beautiful. We had outstanding weather with only 1 day of rain toward the end of the day. I went by myself but met some great people.
I ride by myself at home but find out how slow I am during these tours.
Saturday was a magical day of riding being relatively flat, partial trailing wind, and my fastest ave. of the week- 14mph.

[Antaresia]

I didn't have any plans for Sunday, but my friend called me up "Hey, I got a free bike from my dad! Want to come to the LBS with me to buy gear and get the tire replaced?"

HECK YES.

So, we made our way down, shopped for a few hours. I told him to get lights, but he said he wasn't planning on doing night riding yet so I let it go. He wanted to go for a ride after, so we wend downtown and did a little micro-brew tour. By the time we ready to go home it was dark out, and I chewed him out for not getting lights when he had the chance

all the way home he moaned about how hard & painful it was, lol. I remember when I first started, it was hard. Good motivation to never stop riding, right there. And yesterday I get a text from him, saying "traffic is soooo slow and backed up I can't wait to start riding my bike to work"

IDK how many miles we did, but I can't think of a better more productive ride!

[Bike Writer]

50 miles on the road Friday. I did not feel great, but it was good to be out.

Saturday we kayaked for the first time in 3 years! Nothing like paddling out on Lake Michigan and watching the sunset.

Sunday we got out the mountain bikes and road about 30 miles on the NCT from Freesoil--one of our all time favorite sections of singletrack.

Then we grabbed some lunch and drove out to Ludington State Park (one of the best state parks ever) and did some hiking. Capped it off at the local brewery.

I lOVE Michigan. Especially in the summer.

Great weekend! The kids got to stay at my aunt's where they swam as much as they wanted and they even got to see a newborn calf.

I LOVE Michigan too! I was at Ludington State Park a couple of weeks ago, not to stay or for the day but on the way home from another trip and I was scouting it out for a trip next summer. You are right, it is one of the best State Parks ever! Miles and miles of sandy beaches and plenty of biking opportunities.