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  1. #61
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394

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    Hope your travels are good, Emily.
    Another group ride missed today. I guess my 3 days of riding and hiking in the pollen finally got to me. I did not feel so great last night, but went to bed, wishing for the best. Woke up with a scratchy throat, which is gone, but a low level sinus headache and achy-like feeling. Trying to be an adult, so I am not going. Been aggressively treating the allergies for a couple of weeks, so hopefully, this will subside. I am going on a walk with a friend, who walks at a slower pace and hoping this is not too much. Even though I have an easy week at work, as it's spring break here, the weather will not be cooperative. Saturday we have our club bike workshop, so unless I ride there and back, I have no idea when I can ride again, as Sunday looks kind of iffy.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  2. #62
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    I feel your pain, Crankin. Allergies have been an unwelcome lifelong companion for me, but the biggest improvement for me was getting out of farm country with all those weeds. Still have to deal with allergies in our north woods, but not as severe.

    Right now, though, the weather is less than ideal. The forecast can't make up its mind whether we will have snow or rain, tomorrow, or both, but that's how cold its been. Hasn't kept me from riding my trails, of course, but I would love to see some spring weather. It is spring, right?

  3. #63
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    1,973
    Hi everyone-

    Catching up on everyone's rides. Crankin sorry you're under the weather.

    I'm into my fourth week of commuting every day! So that's at least 19 miles a day, plus yesterday I added an extra 1.5 to stop by a park and look for birds. Saturday I rode up Mt. Lemmon to Molino Basin (that's at about 4400 feet, starting from an elevation of about 2400 feet). Saturday afternoon, my DH and I drove out to Willcox, 80 miles east of Tucson, and then rode 1.5 miles to Lake Cochise, a good place for migrating shorebirds and ducks. I wish I had a picture of us riding with a spotting scope balanced on the handlebars! Anyway, we saw a big diversity of birds.

    Spent our anniversary celebration night (32 years) in Sierra Vista, and in the morning we rode to Ramsey Canyon (22 miles roundtrip, a very special Nature Conservancy property in the Huachuca Mountains. We then hiked 3 miles up over a ridge and into a gorgeous canyon that I'd never been to before- and were rewarded with a sight of a Tufted Flycatcher, a bird from Mexico that has been seen in this canyon for a few years but I just never had a chance to look for it.

    Emily, I may have missed it, but where are you heading next?

    Helene- it didn't even register with me that everyone's location is on their posts!
    2016 Specialized Ruby Comp disc - Ruby Expert ti 155
    2010 Surly Long Haul Trucker - Jett 143

  4. #64
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    I am much better today and I commend myself for not going on that ride! We have more people signed up for our workshop Saturday, and it looks like Sunday will be fine for riding, as the rain will stay south of here.
    AZ, I want to sigh after reading your comments. There are so many places in AZ I never saw. Of course, when I moved back here,my DH was amazed at how many places in MA I had not been to. I finally finished that list, about 5 years ago, but I still have plenty in the rest of the New England states.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  5. #65
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    Been riding my trails on a daily basis and enjoying spring blooming all around me. Then, wake up, this morning, April 27th and, yup, it's snowing. Maybe up to 3", today. So what's a girl to do? Ha! I knew better than to put the fat bike with studded tires away for the summer. Look out snow, here I come.

  6. #66
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    Happy anniversary, AZ.

    I finally got out and rode again last night. I did a short, least-hills-possible version of my post-work hill route two weeks ago to test my ankle, and it was okay but I felt like I had to stay in a really easy gear. Then I went away for Easter weekend and we had a long rainy stretch, so no rides at all for two weeks. This was probably a good thing since it gave me a chance to strengthen the leg and ankle muscles after wearing the boot last month -- it's still been less than 4 weeks since I stopped wearing it. So last night I did a slightly longer version of the hill route with a little more climbing but no really steep hills. All went well and I was actually able to forget about the ankle, unlike my rides earlier this month. Of course everything else hurt from lack of saddle time -- my quads are like noodles, my sit bones are still not in riding shape and for some reason I was hunching my shoulders for the first half of the ride. And when I looked at my Garmin I found that I'd been riding slower than usual. But there was no pain and afterwards I felt at peace for the first time since I can't remember when.

    Oh and I almost forgot -- I start the ride at a community center. While I was in the parking lot getting ready, a class or activity for children must have ended because people started coming out to their cars. I heard a child talking to me and looked up. It was a little girl with Down Syndrome, dressed in a dance outfit. She was with a man, I assume her father, and their car was parked next to mine. Her speech actually wasn't very clear so I had trouble understanding her, but she was obviously very excited about something that that she wanted to tell me about. I was able to understand just enough words to make it seem like I understood -- something happening in July, getting braces and having her hair done. She was really sweet.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  7. #67
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Rode today for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Between some horrible viral thing, my back, and rain, it has not been good. But, I rode to work, my big 2.8 miles there, and 2.5 back. On Fridays, I am only there for a short time, so I wear regular clothing when I ride. At 9 am it was 60 and it had rained about an hour earlier. Cool, humid, but smelling beautiful. I was happy. Glad I changed my original plan of cycling in a dress with commuter knickers under, as the roads were still wet. I wore my commuter pants, which look like regular pants and a regular semi-lycra t shirt that is nicer than just a t shirt. I did wear my rain jacket, kind of unzipped, and it was perfect, as the tail of the jacket did get wet and spattered and it was cool enough to wear a jacket. The way home, oy, it was 78 degrees, bright sun, and humid. I was soaked with sweat when I got home, from just the 2.5 miles. But, it was nice.
    Going out to western MA tomorrow for 2 days of riding with our friends.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
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    2011 Guru Praemio
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  8. #68
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Traveling Nomad
    Posts
    6,763
    Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
    Going out to western MA tomorrow for 2 days of riding with our friends.
    Sounds like fun, Crankin, enjoy! Glad your commute went well.
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  9. #69
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Today we did a pre-ride of a ride our friends are leading in the Amherst area. It was the absolutely flattest 21 miles I've ever ridden. We started on the bike path in Hadley, for about 5 miles and then rode into Sunderland, a little bit in North Amherst, and back to Hadley. Uneventful, humid, but thankfully, cloudy and 80 degrees. Lots of farms and small town stuff until near the end of the ride, where we rode through some suburbia and behind the U Mass campus.
    Tomorrow we are doing a hilly ride up to a lookout on the Quabbin Reservoir. It will be cooler, a front is moving through now.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  10. #70
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Montreal, QC
    Posts
    764
    What a nice week (weatherwise) we had. Weather was very warm for time of year. But lots of rain too. So I enjoyed a few rides outside trying to get ready for my 2 upcoming 100km+ challenges.

    Friday afternoon I took time off and we rode 42km.... on strong winds. ouch. But I'm impressed by how well I did. The hard work of winter training paid off and it shows. It was not a long ride, but with the winds gusting at nearing 40km/h W, it was a good job of pushing against it. Today is so cold I think if it was raining, it would snow.
    Helene
    Riding a 2014 Specialized Amira LS4 Expert - aka The Zebra!
    2015 Specialized Crux e5 - aka Bora Bora bike

  11. #71
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    I had a great ride yesterday. It was a charity ride that is the first big event of the year for me and many bike club friends. Many planned to ride together. I opted to play it by ear rather than decide in advance on the route distance I wanted. I ended up getting started 10 minutes after the last group of friends left, but figured I might catch up with someone I knew at some point. Sure enough, I caught three friends who were doing 35 miles at roughly my pace, maybe a bit slower, but I was not trying to break any speed records. I rode with them to the end, had a great ride, and as a bonus got a great tip on a local foot and ankle doctor to see for a second opinion. At the post-ride picnic I saw other friends, though not as many as expected. It was 90 and humid so I guess many opted to ride a shorter route and thus finished ahead of me. With no plans for the day I hung out at the picnic to see a few folks who did the longest route at a relatively slow pace. They finished just in time to get food before the picnic closed down. On the way home I stopped at a small independent grocery store that we often use as a reststop and bought some strawberries from a nearby farm. Also bought a smalll picture of a sailboat made by a company on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. Supporting local businesses FTW.

    Overall my ankle felt okay as long as I don't use too high a gear. There is a twinge of pain if I push too hard.

    The only problem was saddle-related. I am experimenting with saddle position a bit to try to alleviate some chafing. But, yesterday before the ride I noticed a small lump below the skin in front of one sit bone. It felt like a bruise, with pain when I touched it. But no discoloration of the skin. After the ride I think it was a little bigger. I wasn't really uncomfortable for most of the ride, it basically felt like a normal early season thing where your butt is still adjusting. I'm declaring the saddle position experiment a failure and putting it back where it was before. I've iced the lump a few times but that didn't help. Not sure what to do next. It's on the right side, on the thin bone that's in front of the sit bone and to the left (closer to the crease).
    Last edited by ny biker; 04-30-2017 at 03:23 PM.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  12. #72
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    I'm glad to hear that so many are out and riding and enjoying some warm weather. Emily, hang in, there. I'm praying that you will be there, soon.

    As for me, we still have some snow showers in the forecast for the upcoming week, but, yup, still ride, no matter what. Some years it seems we just skip spring, altogether, and go from winter and right into summer. This could be one of those years. Been very wet, too. Looks like we'll be more than double our normal April precipitation. My trail conditions are holding up pretty well, though, with the exception of some boggy spots. Ever grateful for the fat bikes, though. They keep me riding, no matter what, and they don't chew up the trail the way skinny bikes do.

  13. #73
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    I had a great ride today, with an ending that could have been awful, but ended up OK.
    We rode from Belchertown, MA (thankfully, we drove to a parking lot and did not start from our friends' house, this was important later) through a couple of other towns, to one of the entrances to the Quabbin Reservoir. Although there is an entrance quite near our friends' home, we took the long route. Sometimes I cannot believe this is the same state I live in. Beautiful rural, roads, a couple of steep climbs, farms, ramshackle trailers and log homes, then RT. 9 and the entrance to the reservoir. Our goal was to climb to the tower, about 1.8 miles, almost 3/4 of it a 5-6% grade climb. I usually don't do these types of climbs, more like steep and short. So, the day started out, about 52 and sunny. I was dressed appropriately, knickers, a sleeveless base layer, vest and arm warmers. Wool socks. However, I was the only who seemed to be a bit concerned there was rain predicted anytime after 1. We got to the climb around 12? I did the climb at about 6 mph, no stress. Turned the corner to the parking area, and up again to the tower. As we sat on a bench overlooking the view, DH's phone went off. Oh, oh weather alert.. rain to begin in 20 minutes. We descended, with no rain, and as soon as we turned onto Rt. 9, it began. We had 4 miles left... first mile, not so bad. The rest, cold rain, picking up, but not torrential. There was a decent shoulder and some downhills, but at least 2 ups. I fell behind DH a little, and I was working hard. Glad I had my base layer and wool socks on. I thought we had longer, and then our friend came up behind me and said, turn here, and voila, we were back at the car. If we had started from their house, it would have been 5 miles of serious climbs in cold, heavy rain.
    No hypothermia, I didn't even feel that wet for some reason.
    Came back, showered and left to go home around 2:45. A really nice and relaxing weekend.
    Here's a pic from the top of the climb:
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    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  14. #74
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Traveling Nomad
    Posts
    6,763
    Quote Originally Posted by north woods gal View Post
    Emily, hang in, there. I'm praying that you will be there, soon.
    Thanks so much, NWG! Very kind of you. It's going to be awhile. I think my thumb fracture is going to keep me off the bike longer than my jaw, even though the injury to my jaw is more significant. But I have to wait until I can shift. It's on the left hand, so not as bad as if it were on the right. If I do a ride in the middle chainring only, I should be fine. But we'd have to get a flatter area for that, first! We're back in NC, and even if I were in shape to ride, I'd need to be able to use all my chainrings with the hills here. I guess since I got to ride all winter, I really can't complain, other than the fact that I hate being injured! Bleh.

    Glad others are able to get out, though! Leave it to me to mess myself up right before the best of the riding season. I fractured my pelvis 12 years ago almost to the day in April and messed up that riding season as well!
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  15. #75
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Emily, keep focused on your recovery. You will be able to walk and do some light hiking before you can ride. Make sure you are eating to promote healing and get lots of sleep!
    I predict you will be riding before the end of the summer. Your thumb will heal; you might be able to figure out a way to splint it, in a couple of weeks.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

 

 

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