August 20 & 21 rides

[pll]

Nobody had started the thread, so here it goes...

Rode 42.5 miles, with the last 14 miles in pouring rain. The first part of the storm was with thunders, it was dark and windy, so I took shelter at a train station. The trains would not carry bikes this weekend because of the silly air show in downtown Chicago (never mind the trains were at less than 50% capacity). After failing to get a cab, I rode the remaining 10 miles home -- no thunders any more, but downpours on and off. Water sloshing in my shoes, I was dripping once I got home. Below is a snapshot of the sky as the storm was gathering strength.

[CyborgQueen]

Scary!

I'll chime in. I did 47.7 miles in Vegas weather (in other words, hot, dry, sunny). It's been 1 1/2 years since I did 40+ miles. 3 1/2 bottles of electrolytes. Did not feel hungry, actually I felt a little full. So that was perfect. Now I'm sporting cyclist tan. Off to see Penn and Teller for my birthday.

Hope everyone else had a good long ride! Any achievements?

[azfiddle]

About 32 miles- sunny, warm and humid for Tucson. DH was supposed to ride, changed his mind and decided not to go, then changed it again and came with me. But he was irritable and the first 10 miles was him "expressing his opinion" on a problem that recurs between us every few months. More of a rant than a conversation... But when he is stressed or anxious, exercise helps him get rid of it- and eventually we moved on (wouldn't say there was true resolution).

We rode further than the 20 miles I was thinking about doing today- but as he put it: "a tired dog is a good dog" and he did some extra intervals while I just plugged along at an unimpressive 14 mph overall rate. He took a nap and seems to be considerably calmer and more pleasant tempered now- wagging his tail again.

[goldfinch]

Today I did only 11 miles, slogging along a rather rough paved road along the south shore of Lake Superior, running northeast of Ontonagon. Long slow uphills and gusty winds. Hard ride for me at only a 9.7mph; I am still a wimp.

Yesterday though I had a fun 25 mile ride. The spouse dropped me off at lake of the clouds in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan. I rode from there to Ontonagon, Michigan. The first eight miles I flew down hill. The rest of the way I had a major tail wind. I had a taste of what it is like to really move on a bicycle. What fun! And pretty too.

[redrhodie]

I did the shop ride. By the end of the ride, Jay and I had dropped everyone. Our heads got so big by our amazing speed. Turns out they all had flats. (who were we kidding ) One guy had 3! I was all cocky, and rode off before they got back to the shop, and then proceeded to flat myself 2 miles from work. Serves me right.

The good thing about tubulars is you can ride on a flat for a couple of miles. This was good since I was so close to work, and I didn't want to mess with putting on my spare. Now the wheel is in the shop, where they're trying to inject the tire with some sealant to repair it. Otherwise, I'll be learning to repair a sew up. Doesn't seem out of my realm... or is it?

38 miles or so.

[nscrbug]

pll...We got caught up in those storms, too! We headed out a little after 6am, and got lucky for about the first 4 hours (rode out to the Plainfield/Bolingbrook area). At around 10am, we were in Woodridge making our way back and the sky was black and ominous to the north, with just a few drops of rain here and there. By the time we hit Western Springs, it was a steady but light rain. I was pretty much soaked by this time. When we got to Brookfield, it started to really come down. I felt bad for my riding buddy, as he lives in Oak Park...but I'm in Riverside so I was nearly home. The lightning is what scared me...a few of those lightning strikes seemed like they were right on top of us. Plus it was just SO eerily dark out. Shortly after I got home, it was a steady downpour. I'm sure my riding buddy was cussing the whole way home. All things considered, I got 75 miles in.

What train station was that?

Linda

[trbl_mkr]

century ride, club preview for the organized ride next weekend. Average for first 60 miles was way too fast (for me!) at about 17 mph... Then split off with two other riders to finish at a more leisurely pace (avg 15). I went out intending to only do the metric, but decided to go whole hog... will pay for it tomorrow, but feeling pretty good about my first century of the year! Weather was great, high of 85, no real wind, overcast.

[pll]

Linda: That was the Metra station at downtown Highland Park.

[nscrbug]

Linda: That was the Metra station at downtown Highland Park.

Ahhh, yes...the skies did look much darker up north. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and pleasant, so I'm looking forward to not getting wet.

[pll]

Ahhh, yes...the skies did look much darker up north. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and pleasant, so I'm looking forward to not getting wet.

Ditto.

I nearly didn't stop at the station, but one more close thunder "suggested" I should seek shelter. Within a couple of minutes, it got so dark the street lights turned themselves on, and it got very windy.

[Roadtrip]

Ended up doing 14 miles at the local trail. I won't get into the details as I've already posted in the newbie area, but had a "challanging" ride that ended in some road rash and bruses. Will have to see how much stiffness I have tomorrow.

Shannon

[Crankin]

Did about 20 miles in the later afternoon, when it was already hot and humid. I had my peer consultation group at the house from 10:30-1:30, then had to clean up. A nothing special ride; we did our Westford/Chelmsford/Carlisle route. It has a couple of hills, is mostly shady, and one of the roads is a designated scenic bike route. We went back a slightly different way, which I think made the ride a mile shorter.
Wednesday I rode 47.5 miles with the male half of our cycling friends, who is taking the month of August off. Well, I rode with keeping him in sight... I rode to their house (4 miles) and then we went up Oak Hill, up to the Fruitlands, and up Bolton Rd. in Harvard, to a rest stop in Bolton. I know I can't keep up with him, but I was trying a little harder than usual. After the rest stop, we were on flat roads for quite awhile and we were going along at 21-24, staying together. I was determined to keep up. I was so tired, I made the decision to go home a different way, that required less climbing, but added about 6 extra miles. I was shocked when I got home to see that my average was about 2 mph faster than usual for this very hilly kind of ride. I was absolutely dead for the rest of the day and took Thursday off. Friday, I rode 10 whole miles at 5:30 AM.

[indysteel]

I got nothin'. Yesterday was a work day at the ol' homestead. We had our drivewau repaved two weeks ago. To get the work done, DH had to move some of our landscaping pavers, as well as a mound of dirt. It was time to put all of that back. In the middle of that work, something went wonky with our overhead garage door, so we had a repairman come out for that. I mostly stayed inside and cleaned. Good times.

DH is making some changes today to my mountain bike and we'd like to hit the trails later today. He's kind of spent from yesterday though, so we'll see. When you own a home that needs some TLC, riding sometimes takes a backseat.

[goride]

I was happy to be back on my bike this weekend after being off for a week and a half with bronchitis and a sinus infection.

Friday did 27 miles, just a basic route with some miles on paved trail and some road miles with some nice hills.

Saturday rode 43 miles, the last 18 miles in rain. Great rural ride with some challenging hills, a few small towns, and a group of cycling friends. We did this same course the beginning of summer, and it was interesting to compare yesterday's ride to the ride early in the season. Definitely feeling stronger and faster.

After a nice hot shower, the sun came out, so I took the bike out in the yard and gave it a good cleaning and lubing. It needed it after the rain.

[Chile Pepper]

First ride of spring today! I rode just under 40 km at a decent pace considering I've been off for two months. Gorgeous day, with an impossibly blue sky, snow-capped mountains, egrets and swallows--I felt like I was in a Chinese painting.