Magnificent or Mundane May Rides!

[Crankin]

It is always the dumb azz owners. Really, some people shouldn't have pets.
I am sure you will get comments about this, but I would have done the same thing. I am not that fond of dogs to begin with, but mix dogs and bikes, and it's more like I'm petrified. I've only had to deal with this once on my bike, and of course, with my next door neighbor's dog. They have to be the most clueless people in the world, and I feel sorry for their pet, who obviously is a rescue dog that needs special training/care. The dog has been recently roaming in our garden areas (we see it both in person and on our security camera), which leads me to believe the owners have no clue he is escaping or they let him out on purpose, without caring.

[azfiddle]

Colorisn't - The dog incident sounds pretty rotten- the rest of the ride sounds good.
Crankin' - totally sympathetic to the falling event. Glad you're ok

I've ridden every day this week- Monday, high cadence intervals (otherwise ho-hum, flat & hot), Tuesday up into the cool and green of Sabino Canyon with a friend, yesterday - my coach texted me to see if I wanted to do an "easy" ride with her. It was close to 100 out still, and I overheated, but I couldn't turn her down. Her "easy" was not hard for me, but definitely not a recovery ride pace. Today I took the Surly LHT out to try her after the fit and upgrades I got on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting shoes that fit because my thin-soled sneakers are just not good for 20+ miles.

[colorisnt]

It's always the owners. Even the best dogs can be spooked by a bike or have a herding instinct and lunge after a bike if they aren't used to being around them. 99% of the dog owners on the trails are excellent and very respectful, which I love. I love dogs so I am happy to see people out enjoying their animals. I also have a very well-behaved dog with pretty perfect recall. We've never once had an issue. However, I would never bring him out there without a leash on. Most importantly because it's the law and secondly because I don't want to put him in a position to fail with all that traffic. It's a shame some dogs have owners that either don't care or don't want to pay attention. I really don't relish kicking a dog but if it's my life and safety in question, I will do it. And the dog was fine when he left. He was more startled by it than anything, which was the point. A 50 lb dog vs. my limited range of motion while standing over my top tube stood a good chance.

[Jolt]

It's always the owners. Even the best dogs can be spooked by a bike or have a herding instinct and lunge after a bike if they aren't used to being around them. 99% of the dog owners on the trails are excellent and very respectful, which I love. I love dogs so I am happy to see people out enjoying their animals. I also have a very well-behaved dog with pretty perfect recall. We've never once had an issue. However, I would never bring him out there without a leash on. Most importantly because it's the law and secondly because I don't want to put him in a position to fail with all that traffic. It's a shame some dogs have owners that either don't care or don't want to pay attention. I really don't relish kicking a dog but if it's my life and safety in question, I will do it. And the dog was fine when he left. He was more startled by it than anything, which was the point. A 50 lb dog vs. my limited range of motion while standing over my top tube stood a good chance.

+1...I love dogs but hate it when owners are irresponsible like the incident you describe (if the owner had been paying attention, you wouldn't have been put in the rotten position of having to kick the dog--hope she realizes that). Getting back on the subject of rides, I tried out a different group ride this evening. We only went 15 miles (often they do 20 and I'd be happy to do more) but I definitely fit into this group better than the other one in terms of speed so will probably try to go semi-regularly even though it's a bit of a haul from where I live. It's nice being able to ride with a group and keep up...I even felt like I could have gone faster at certain points during the ride (mostly because there were times people were coasting when I would normally have kept pedaling). I also found out about another supposedly beginner/intermediate ride that is closer and happens on Wednesdays, so may check that one out. Next ride will be Sunday's 50 miler at the Bicycle Coalition of Maine women's ride; hopefully that goes well despite my not having gotten in as much mileage beforehand as I would have liked (weather has often been uncooperative).

[Crankin]

Got in a 19 mile ride with Hirakukibou this afternoon. Rain is supposed to start at 4:00, thunder/lightening, too. There were dark clouds hanging over us as we set out, and we adjusted our route shorter and shorter as we went. I did not want to be caught in a thunderstorm. When we got close to my turn off point, we decided to both go back to Concord center, for coffee. It started sprinkling as we were sitting outside, so we both took off. Of course, the sprinkles stopped, and we probably would have been OK with the original plan, but I am fine with some miles rather than no miles!

[colorisnt]

Crankin, yeah, I know the feeling. It's better to get some mileage in than none always!

[Crankin]

15 of some the most torturous miles I've done. The last couple times I've ridden my Kuota, it seemed like the brakes got stuck after I put it away, or in the process, I banged something. DH checked, fixed something, but today I didn't spin the wheel before we left. I really thought I had lost all power, on every little climb. I could maintain a pretty good speed on the flats, but no flat roads until the second half of the loop. We sat on the porch at Ferns so I could rest. Seriously, I was ready to throw in the towel on this ride and even if I feel like this in the beginning of a ride, by the middle of this loop, I'm usually fine. There was a headwind, too. So, I got home and checked, and sure enough, brakes rubbing. Not totally stuck, but enough that I notice. On this loop, I know exactly how fast I usually go on good days, bad days, and in between, so I am not going crazy. We figured out this has happened since we replaced the brake/shifters and cables about a month ago. DH tightened something again, but said this should not be happening every time I ride. Will go to the bike shop if necessary, but this is rarely necessary in this house.

[Catrin]

Glad you figured it out Crankin, and hope the two of you can figure out why it is happening again.

[Fredwina]

I had a nice big blister, so I took a few days off riding. I did 42 miles today.
The American Queen in port:

Tom Lee (http://www.tomleeamemphishero.webs.com/history.htm ) Park:


Looking Upriver:

[Jolt]

No ride for me today...getting ready for tomorrow's big (for me) ride...50 miles. Will be sure to post a ride report!

[Crankin]

Did a 46.7 very hilly ride to Bolton Orchards for lunch and back. It's supposed to be 50, but because of road construction and tiredness, we took a bit of a shorter way home.
It's the first real summer like day of riding; really nice, about 75-78 and not too humid. That's good, because ofter lunch, we have a 5 mile climb, which isn't steep, but feels relentless, because of the lack of shade. All of yesterday's issues with my brakes rubbing are fixed and I made myself take this bike, even though I'd normally take the other one, with 2 lower gears on this kind of ride. I feel really wiped, and several "parts" are hurting, but my speed was the normal for this kind of ride and the heat didn't get to me. I had 2 bottles of Skratch Lab lemon-lime, and a bottle of water, and two Shot Blocks, as well as a nice chicken wrap and baked chips for lunch. I guess it took me this long to realize I need to eat more on these kinds of rides.
We'll see if I commute tomorrow, especially since I will go to boot camp before work.

[Jolt]

50 mile ride done! It went well considering I had only gotten up to doing 25 or so at a time before today. The ride was very well organized and lots of people did it, so it was a fun atmosphere. It was interesting to look at what kinds of bikes everyone else was riding; mostly light, fast road bikes but there were a few other touring-type bikes and a few hybrids too. However, I surprisingly did not see any other Surlys (Truckers or otherwise). We couldn't have asked for nicer weather for the ride, and the roads were generally in good condition. I did learn a few things this ride: 1) Hanging around too long at rest stops, whether because of lines for the porta-potties or getting into a conversation with someone and wanting to be polite, is counterproductive--I found that particularly after the last rest stop, where I had someone talking my ear off and stayed longer than I should have, it was hard to get into a good groove again. 2) Chamois cream is helpful for long rides...I tried some "Hoo Ha Ride Glide" (still think this brand name is hilarious) and I think it prevented some discomfort. 3) Despite being small and lightweight, I am not very good at climbing...got passed by a ton of people while going uphill. Something to work on I guess. 4) I am not speedy and probably never will be, but I can go for quite a while at my slow pace. I might even try for a century later in the season. 5) How to pay attention to a cue sheet while riding...it helped that I got a map holder that attaches to my handlebars and stem so I could just open it up when I needed to see what was coming up. All in all, a good experience!

ETA: Oooops...this should go in a June rides thread!

[ny biker]

I did this metric yesterday:

http://ohbike.memberlodge.org/events...e=EventDetails

It's one of my favorite rides every year. I rode with several friends and saw others at the rest stops and picnic, since I'm a member of the club that organizes it. The weather was nearly perfect, with just a bit of a headwind towards the end. It was my first ride longer than 60 miles so far this year, so my legs feel a bit tired today, especially when walking up stairs.

I just dropped my bike off at the LBS so they can put on my new, narrower handlebars. I also picked out new bar tape. Bontrager calls the color "plum" but it looks more of a cherry red to me. If all goes as planned I should have the bike back on Tuesday. My neck and shoulders get pretty sore on long rides and I'm hoping the narrower bars will help.