Magnificent or Mundane May Rides!

[emily_in_nc]

I haven't even ridden yet, just starting the thread! Planning to get out a little later this morning when it's warmer.

[Crankin]

My first ride in May was my commute today. It's really nice out, after 2-3 days of cold rain. It was about 52 when I left for work at 9, and really humid, as we actually had a thunderstorm about 10 PM last night. I did not sweat a bit on my way in. I left to come home at around 12:30-12:45 and it's about 65, with a wind that is kind of stiff at times. The sun is in and out. By the time I got to my street, before I went up the hill, I had the jersey and vest unzipped, and the arm warmers pushed down. Yet, I saw some wearing full winter gear. I don't like to be cold, but maybe it was the humidity that had me sweating. A big 10.4 miles, but I feel like I worked.

[Veronica]

I rode my bike in the trainer after work yesterday - Hillacious. It was about 93 degrees when I got off work, hard to head outside when it's that hot!

Veronica

[SheFly]

V - I am shaking my head. It's been SO COLD, and SO RAINY here, that I think I would take the 93 degrees!

Went out last night for a ride that ended up being beautiful in so many ways. First, I stopped to help a little boy who had his helmet on backwards. We turned it around, and he was SO EXCITED to let me know that he and his friend were racing, and when the got to the big puddle, they lifted their feet, and rode right through! Then, it was so beautiful out, I actually stripped my gloves and my arm warmers off. A bit further down the road, I bumped into a really good friend, and we stood and chatted for probably a good half hour. Her daughter committed suicide about a year and a half ago, so we chatted about that, and my brother (approaching the five year anniversary of his suicide). I left continuing on my ride, and instead of being sad or melancholy, I realized how happy I was - I thought of my brother and the good memories we had, I thought of my friend and her daughter, and both brought a smile to my face. As I passed daffodils and tulips finally in bloom after a long, cold, snowy winter, I smiled some more and thought of my beloved grandma.

Traffic was pleasant, other riders were waving back at me, the sun was out, and I really was just enjoying the ride. Later, I passed a farm and the smells reminded me of time spent on my aunt's farm, bringing more smiles. When I got home, I was so relaxed and happy. DH asked how my ride was, and my answer was - BEAUTIFUL.

I forget, with all of the training and racing, to sometimes just appreciate the beauty of the ride. Last night reminded me how important that was.

SheFly (who is just in from another glorious day of riding, but with a bit more purpose, as tomorrow is another race day)

[ny biker]

I rode my bike in the trainer after work yesterday - Hillacious. It was about 93 degrees when I got off work, hard to head outside when it's that hot!

Veronica

I love riding my bike after work when it's 93 degrees. I will rejoice when I finally get the chance to do it again.

Last night was weight training night for me, but I enjoyed the walk to the gym and back. Tomorrow I'll be leading a metric century on a multi-class club ride. I think I will probably want arm warmers to start, and maybe knee warmers, but at some point I should be down to just a short-sleeved jersey and shorts.

[Crankin]

I'm sad. DH went to replace the shifters on my Kuota and in the process, discovered my rear brake is shot. These brakes are pretty old and so I always think that when it feels less grippy than my Guru, it's because the Guru has a version that are 5 years newer. Then, DH went and checked his Kuota, and it's pretty much the same thing. Obviously, we do regular maintenance, replace pads, cables, etc. as we ride a good amount. DH broke down and is on the phone with the LBS to see if they have what we need, instead of ordering them on line. I really want to ride the Kuota tomorrow on a group ride for other leaders, as I just feel I have better skills in a group with this bike. Not that I haven't used the Guru on group rides, but's that's usually when big climbs are involved and tomorrow is not one of those. I think I said last week the Kuota is starting to show its age... not that I need a new carbon bike, but I need to spend some money here.
ETA: We bought the brakes, and they are installed on both Kuotas.Poor DH worked from about 3:30 PM to 8 PM on the shifters on my bike and both brakes. He has to miss the ride for leaders tomorrow because our dryer is dying and we are getting a new one (and a new washer) delivered between 4 and 6. He'll make the dinner, though.

[Dragonfly5]

The husband and I rode just shy of ten miles today. I wanted to ride a little further but the sky got really dark and we had a few passing sprinkles and the wind picked up. Of course, by the time we got home the sun came back out (and then a little later clouded up and rained again - gotta love Maine weather) It felt great to be out and I finally got up the courage to ride over the railroad tracks with the road bike. I know it's a silly thing, but I'm slowly gaining confidence in my abilities

[emily_in_nc]

I got my 32.5 miles in today (on the DOT!) to make my 2000 miles for the year so far. Yay! But more than that, it was a glorious day, sunny, bright, and (of course) breezy, and we tried a different route today that we regretted not trying sooner. It was gorgeous, with rolling hills, and fewer stoplights/stop signs than most of our rides here. The houses, yards, flowers, trees, were all so pretty, and the grass so green. Truly a wonderful day to be alive! Here's just a bit of what I saw along Lee Blvd. in Leawood, KS, where we rode today....

Attachment 17070 Attachment 17071
Attachment 17072 Attachment 17073

[Dragonfly5]

Looks like a beautiful ride Emily

[Fredwina]

I did ten yesterday and thirty today. wonderful weather.

The City Of New Orleans

Beale St. Music festival:

The Peabody Hotel:

Need a guitar? or tickets to game 7 tonight?

Civil Rights Pioneer:

Underpass on Barksdale street, near where my grandparent's house was:

[TrekDianna]

I commuted twice last week on the new Salsa Vaya 3 and I love it. I took it out today on a 15 mile ride (had to get something in before the downpour and chores took over the rest of the day.) I am happy with it. it's actually pretty zippy for the weight.

[emily_in_nc]

Today we did two rides. First was just up to the farmer's market before breakfast -- < 7 miles round trip. After a big pancake breakfast back at the ranch, we did a long road ride. It was finally shorts and SS jersey weather, and for the first time this spring, I think, there was hardly ANY wind. Beautiful day! I got in 47.8 miles on that ride. And just to show that eastern KS is not flat, here's a sign we saw after climbing one of the monster hills just west of the KC area...

Attachment 17075

Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday! I'm thinking a recovery ride tomorrow will be in order...trying to think of a flatter route to do!

[colorisnt]

I have friends that run in KC all the time and my "in laws" run there quite a bit. They have all said "NOT FLAT". It's like here. Everyone thinks MO is flat but CoMo is anything but. Jeff is worse!

We rode about 41 and some miles today! Yay for us. I got injured in softball last night. I took a ball to the jaw and am BRUISED. Thankfully it's hide-able or else everyone would think my mild-mannered SO was abusing me. I was bleeding yesterday night but I still played and got a run! Yay! I'm hopeless but I hit well last night. We decided to get a big breakfast and TRY to ride. What a beautiful day! We got to our destination, ate a corndog, and then rode back. Tried to stop at the new microbrewery on the way home but it was nothing but frat boys. So annoying and they were taking tables without using them which is just stupid behavior. We turned home and I ended up with a Lagunitas limited release Cappuccinno Stout. So fun. We paced slow today (between 13 and 14) on purpose because the trail was BUSY and I was injured.

I was glad I sucked it up and did it, though, because I had an awesome ride.

[Boudicca]

Got very wet, even on a short ride. It wasn't raining when we started, and then it drizzled, and then it really rained. Practice for tomorrow's group ride, perhaps. I am taking the Friday, because it's the only bike I've got with fenders. I figure the extra workout won't do me any harm, and it has more gears than the other bikes anyway.

I'll actually be riding the same route as a few weeks back, so I'm curious whether there is a difference in the speed between the two bikes.

[Crankin]

My ride today was crazy. This was for leaders, and there were supposed to be 2 rides, a 20 and 30 mile ride. There were only 10 people, so we set out to do 26. It was lightly raining when we left, had my Showers Pass jacket on. We stopped, so we could take jackets off, etc. and when I unzipped my jacket, the zipper pull disappeared. I mean it's gone. Since the zipper on one of the pit zips is stuck in open, this jacket is going in the trash. It will cost more to fix it than to get a new one on a discount site. Boo. There was a mix of abilities, but it was really nice out and pleasant, until halfway, when right when we went up the only bigger hill of the ride, one guy said he was struggling, recovering from bronchitis. The leader is a super experienced guy, but he has a bad sense of direction, even with a gps... he missed 2 turns before this. Anyway, I told him a slightly shorter, flatter way to get back to his own house, and I started leading. I turned off of a main road to take a short cut to another main road, and somehow he missed us. Anyway, we all got back, in a couple of different groups, but I ended up a little more sweaty than I planned.
The food was good at the party afterwards. DH joined me for the dinner, as he had to stay home to await our new washer and dryer. I think it was about 25 miles... I took the gps off the course and I pressed so many things on that screen, I don't even know what I did.