July riding

[khg]

Whether rightly or not, I'm more freaked out by dogs than bears. Dogs are people-oriented, like to chase things, can be territorial, etc. Off the bike, I've had some bad run-ins with them (luckily nothing on the bike yet). Whereas the bears, since I was a little ways away, didn't care about me at all--I don't even know that they bothered to look at me. There were more interesting things going on for them, like yummy plant bits to nibble... Still, I was sure glad that I had noticed the mom coming out of the trees soon enough to stop when/where I did...

It has been a chunk of challenging stuff on my bike for me. It's been fun, and I'm also hoping I will get some strength and stamina gains out of pushing myself like this. But I know that strength gains come from the body's rebuilding during rest, so I'm typing this while lying on the couch--and no big rides for a few days!

Crankin, 15 miles at 5AM counts as tough in my book! I think if you told me that I had to do that tomorrow, I'd just curl up in the fetal position and cry

[rebeccaC]

Bear cubs are cute but a protective mother isn't something i want to deal with. If I rode in areas where bears are I would be carrying this

I do carry regular pepper gel in my handlebar bag mainly because i ride alone a lot on low traveled mountain roads and some of the more iffy areas of L.A.....thankfully i haven't ever needed to use it.

[steppink]

I carry pepper spray in my pocket also, for that " just in case dog or even worse the just in case person ", as I also ride alone, though it wouldn't help much against a bear

[Crankin]

I have only had one dog run in, on my street.

[kernowcyclist]

Seeing dogs off-leash by the roadside makes me very vigilant. I was knocked off my bike by one years ago on my way to work, on what was usually a busy road but luckily was clear at the time. The owner just casually strolled past as I untangled my legs and heaved the bike off , and called 'Allright?' then carried on. She seemed supremely unconcerned. I carried on to work, fuming, where I was overtaken by the shakes and my worried workmates plied me with sweet tea. No damage, just a bruise or two. I didn't see the woman or the dog on that route again though.

[marni]

Todays ride was a relaxed out and back on the shadiest route we could find. Fast enough to keep a steady cadence of 79 and slow enough to talk about things so a good combination of effort and therapy. Started and finished early enough that the heat wasn't too brutal. 26 miles in 1;45 for an average of 14.0. Thanks to riding buddy Mx for doing the ride with me.

[Crankin]

I helped lead an impromptu group ride. There were only 6 people, of varying speeds, so a lot of stopping and back and forth. But, a nice day, and good climbing. I've done this route before, so I was prepared. I was a little surprised they all knew my name, but I have no idea who these people are!
30.1 miles, with 1650 ft. of climbing. I am glad I didn't ride to the ride, as it would have made it just under 50 miles. Really slow, but, still fun.

[Crankin]

Yesterday, DH and I did a very short ride of 13 miles, including the steep hill I did on Friday. My knees were killing me after the ride Friday, and I really was trying to figure out why, since this is not a usual problem for me. Then, I realized that my early AM ride Thursday, I had shorts on, it was about 50, and I was definitely stiff when I started. I should have had knee warmers on, so learned my lesson, I cannot be like DH!
Today we explored some new streets in Sudbury. We rarely ride in this direction, although it's a very local ride. We ended up going up a climb of 11% grade. There are 2 charity rides going on today, going through Concord, so we wanted to avoid all of that. It's really hot and humid, too, but thankfully, the clouds mostly helped. I was just soaked through, when we stopped for a brunch sandwich, about 3.5 miles from home. We rode about 29 miles, very happy to be showered and in the AC.

[marni]

another hot and humid ride started early and kept it short and sweet, 33 miles in 2;30. Starting temp at 7:30 was 80, finishing temperature at 10:15 was 92 but feels like was triple digits 103 because of the humidity. Thankful for the group I ride with and for the occasional clouds and breezes.

[marni]

another day, another hot sweaty feels like triple digits ride back to back with yesterdays ' ride. It's a party!

[salsabike]

another day, another hot sweaty feels like triple digits ride back to back with yesterdays ' ride. It's a party!

You have all my respect for being able to do this.

[Crankin]

Cooler here today, and less humidity. Did my first group ride with the "other" club I ride with, not the one I lead for. This is an annual ride from a guy's house, in the next town, and then a lunch in his backyard. The last 2 years I have done this, it's been blazingly hot, and last year, I almost lost it, about 7 miles from the end. DH came with me today, too. Non-eventful, except for the major azzhole guy who kept trying to get ahead of me. I dropped him on every climb, and he passed me on the downhill. I had to make sure I was away from him on the flats. And, he ah, did not smell nice, either . I had it when after a climb on a busy road, he passed me on the downhill, drinking from his bottle, while a truck was passing us. I got angry, and picked up the pace for the rest of the ride. Near the end, he was behind me (I could tell he was tired), passed me and said, "It's terrible trying to draft you, you are so low down." It took all the reserve I had not to say, "Yes, because I am not a slovenly fat pig like you." Sure, I am short and small, but don't be mad at me for that.
Was glad we drove there, changed our clothes in the car, and had a good lunch. Now, getting ready to go to the airport and pick up my son, who is visiting from LA.
31 miles. My legs hurt, and we have a ride to lead tomorrow night, after work.

[azfiddle]

Back to work so my riding is a bit curtailed.... I commuted once last week and once this week (so far)- I plan to ride Friday again. Still my mileage total for July is up to 445 - which is a bit over my goal of 100 miles a week, and we still have a few more riding days available.

[Crankin]

How come, when we lead rides, there's always a story to tell? Tonight, we only had 2 guys show up. I was not really in the mood to ride, but we are committed, so...
One of the guys showed up on a 30 year old bike and it clearly was not in good condition. He was somewhat strange, couldn't really put my finger on it. He came back from using the rest room and he had cut himself, on his pedal, riding from the port-potty to where we were starting! It looked terrible. I had him rinse it with water and then blot it with kleenex, and then gave him a huge bandage I had in my supplies. It really needed 2, but it was good enough. Off we went. He was wobbling and every time he shifted with the down tube shifters, he was looking down. He wasn't weak, but more inconsistent. After about 5 miles, he says to me, "My bike is broken." Sometimes, people say that when they are tired, but his bike was really messed up. I rode ahead to get DH, who brough him over to where i had stopped with the other rider. So this guy starts screaming at DH that he was fixing the bike incorrectly (he wasn't), and DH had to tell him to be quiet and listen, that he had been a bike a mechanic for a racer (our son). He got the bike going, and we finished, but I was exhausted. I really don't like riding at 6:00 PM, but the rides are short and now I have enough leads to get a free jersey.

[Helene2013]

Wow Crankin...truly a good story. haha Liked it. I would not have traded places though. hihi

We're on vacation and brought our Crux bikes as the roads around here are not in great conditions with very damaged asphalts.

Well well well....they redid the paving for probably 30 miles. We also found a bikeway to use that is fully paved. If we've had known this, we'd have brought our road bikes. But riding on the Crux will make us stronger and when we get back on our road bikes, we'll fly. haha

I have not ridden for about 3 weeks. Too many good reasons: too hot and humid, stuff needed to be done at home before vacation (like staining deck, etc) but most of all, Montreal has been having too much rainy days lately and of course when it is nice, we work. Murphy's law.

So last night it is beautiful here near Boston. No wind, just cooler than the high humidex we had on Monday. We're walking the dogs and I say to hubby...either we go watch the band singing at campground or.... we go for a ride. Guess what he chose (cause he cycling in any condition but rain - not me. I'm too sissy).

So we got our bikes ready and left. OMG. It was soooo hard. Hills after hills. I'm normally not that bad but it shows I've slacked in my training and it totally showed last night. I did not wear my heart rate monitor but I'm sure for part of it heart rate was over 175-180 per minute. I was sooooo hot that we returned after 13km. When I got to campground, I felt like vomiting. I knew I had pushed too much but loved it anyway. Must be insane. haha So hubby told me to just stay in the motorhome so I could cool down some. It only took a few minutes and I regained my body. Went for a quick pool dipping and a soak in hotbut then cool showers. Slept well last night as temperatures were around 12c. That is nice.

We are getting ready for trying a bikeway in Rhode Island. Hoping it is not too hot as chances are I'm turning around. haha

I just can't wait for cooler weather (read: Fall and winter) to come around. I'm so not much a summer person. I prefer to stay in the air conditioning than lying beside a pool. Unbelievable how much I can ride when temperaturs are under 18c and as soon as it hits 22c....I'm out of it.