June rides, summer begins

[north woods gal]

Cranking, that is a lot of walking! Sounds like you're having fun. Made it down to Navy Pier a time or two, myself.

Emily, yes, that is very similar to how I look right now, except it's confined to the left side of my face, mostly, and concentrated around my eyes and forehead. I'll need to buy foundation by the gallon if I expect to cover it all. Thanks for sharing the pic. It helps give me courage.

Rain and storms, today, so only got in a half mile of walking before another storm cut it short. Did walk at high speed, though, to beat the storm back to the house. My walking was out on the road, though, and Star was not a happy camper for being left behind. Just can't risk putting her on a leash and having her make a sudden lunge. She's very welcome behaved on a leash, but still ... Will take her for a walk on the trails, tomorrow.

On a positive note and one more bike related, I am thrilled that my husband insists that he continue his daily road ride around the neighborhood for the sake of exercise, even if he has to ride without me, for now. His fat bike needs some work and tuning, but I can't bend over to do that kind of work, right now, so we'll have to take it in to the shop. He is addicted to that fat bike of his and I'm good with that. Rides it on the road, year round. Fat bikes are as safe and stable as a bicycle can get, not to mention super comfortable.

[Crankin]

It is a hard call to decide when to go out, when one’s injuries might gross people out. But, you will find your comfort zone. I was in a car accident in high school and had 3 scars, a broken nose, with considerable bruising and blood vessels broken in one eye. When I went back to school, the eye was still a bit weird and some people were freaked out. The ones who were stoned handled it better!
At the airport waiting for our flight. I am exhausted from the heat and the walking. I hope I have enough sleep to get in a little ride tomorrow morning, before it goes up to 90.

[north woods gal]

Covered up with as much make-up as I could stand (I rarely use, any, now) and gave it a try for our breakfast outing. I did fine. Only people who commented were people that knew me, anyway.

Must be a bad week for wipe-outs. A neighbor saw me walking on the road this morning and asked me what happened, of course. He then told me about a young gal who was pumping hard on a tri bike, going the other way on one of our neighborhood roads, when he passed her in his truck, just this week. She was heading down a long hill at high speed. At the bottom of the hill, the county is in the process of putting in a new culvert. It is marked with a caution sign. For now, it's just covered with rough gravel and yet to be paved over. I know the spot. Rode over it a couple of times just before my accident.

The gal apparently knew the hazard, too, but remembered it too late. She jammed on both brakes and went too heavy on the front. Yup, did a nasty endo. My neighbor saw it all in his rear view mirror. He reversed, quickly, and gave her first aid. He said her face now looks like mine, but she got beat up in a lot of other places, too. Nothing broke, though. Called an ambulance and that's the last he heard of her. She's in my thoughts, whoever she is. As we all know, accidents happen with any kind of biking. Please be careful, everyone.

As for me, I almost made it to 2.5 miles on my walk, today (which I now call my substitute bicycling ). Hit 2.2 and called it good. Our neighborhood roads are all up and down, so very pleased. Very hot and humid, though. Bugs were bad and that was out on the road. Can't imagine how bad they would have been on my trails. Those are still too wet and slick for safe walking.

[Crankin]

I bet going out for breakfast was worth putting on the concealer! You are lucky your DH is also retired, so you have someone to talk to while you are recuperating.
Our flight was uneventful, but I read the whole flight, which woke me up a bit and then I could not fall asleep, despite being exhausted. It seemed like I fell asleep pretty close to dawn and woke up at 8:00. Couldn't get myself out to ride while it was still cool, though. I finally went out around noon and did a little 9 mile ride. Being it was 90 degrees and getting humid, I was surprised I could move at all. But, I achieved my goal of making myself feel better and more awake. My back, hip, and groin are screaming, though, because of all the walking, no foam roller and little stretching. I seriously need to get myself in better shape, as I am seeing changes in my body I do not like. It's not so much weight, though I could lose a couple of pounds, but rather gained inches in my hips, and some not so toned/muscular skin on my arms, abs, and back. It's not horrible, but if I don't do something now, I will pay. So, I told my DH I wanted a few months of personal training for my 65th birthday, which is in November. My instructor of my class is having a baby in August, so when she comes back, would be a good time to start. She gave up her business career to do full time training and teaching, and I trust her.

[north woods gal]

You're probably suffering from some jet lag, on top of everything else, Crankin. I really, really hate flying. It takes me several days to get back on track. Staying in shape for me is now a never ending battle. I'm in my 60s, too, and it does take longer to fight back and get in shape. I feel your pain. That's why being sidelined from biking biking, right now, has me a little nervous. Can't stand exercise for exercise sake, but the biking really isn't exercise for me. Just something I'd still do even if it wasn't good exercise. I'll figure out something, even if it's just vigorous walking. Only need something temporary till I can get back on the bike.

[Crankin]

I don't usually get jet lag from just a one hour difference in time, though I suffer terribly when flying to California or Europe.
I got into bed at 7:45, and again, despite complete exhaustion, I didn't fall asleep for a long time. My alarm woke me at 4:50, the normal time I get up for my boot camp class. I did go, but I did not ride there. I could have slept another 3 hours. Thankfully, the class was more weights/strength today, because cardio stuff may have killed me. The 3 sets of burpees almost did.
I am going to rest tomorrow and I have a 35 mile ride on Wednesday.

[emily_in_nc]

We had been planning to ride today but didn't end up doing so. We're still at my mom's in NC, not great cycling, but the reason for not going today was that my DH had several lesions taken off at his dermatologist a few days ago, and he still has scabs and sensitive spots on his nose (2). He didn't want to risk the sun, even with sunscreen. Secretly, I didn't mind, as it is so hot and humid right now, and by the time we could have had breakfast, gotten ready, driven to Mom's, and gotten our bikes out and hit the road, it would have been 10 am. That's just too late to ride in this heat and full sunshine. In Florida, though it's hot and humid as well, there is a lot more shade where we ride, and more clouds in the sky too. The roads we have to ride on around Mom's have zero shade, as they are newer neighborhoods with smaller trees.

So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. We have so much to do here in the couple days before we start out on the road back to Florida on Thursday morning, that it looks like we won't get another ride in while we're here. So, a rather long hiatus as by the time we get to ride again, it will be two full weeks without riding. By then I'm hoping I'll be missing cycling so much that the heat and humidity won't sap my motivation!

NWG, that gal's crash (endo) sounds like mine (other than the reason for endo'ing). She is very lucky if she just got banged up but didn't break any bones -- or teeth. I hope she'll be okay. Glad you were able to get out and enjoy yourself a bit!

[north woods gal]

Looks like we're all in the same boat as far as doing what we can with the weather we have. Our recent heavy rains have pushed our lake level as high as I've ever seen it. My trails are still walkable, but lots of washouts and tree limbs, down. That will just have to wait, though, for any repair. For now, I'm content to just walk every day around the neighborhood out on the roads. Yeah, old trail warrior me is now very glad to have nice roads to walk and, eventually, bike, too. One thing in my favor is that I've never balked at riding my trail bikes, even my fat bikes, out on the road. Who says a road bike has to have skinny tires?

Been a crazy first month of summer, for sure.

[Crankin]

Well, I finally made it to the group ride, but I had to force myself! I rode to the start, 3.7 miles and off we went. This group uses human arrowing, so I volunteered at the third turn, unfortunately, right before 2 climbs, so I was playing catch up for awhile, as we had one really slow person with the sweep, and I had to wait. Thankfully, he stopped at the top of the second climb. Since we were still in Acton, I had to keep forcing myself not to turn around and go home, as my groin was killing me. But, I knew once we got to the next climb, it would be flatter after that, so I kept going. We stopped here, and someone went back a different way with the slow person. Then, we got a really nice road that its a scenic bikeway, which I don't ride too often anymore. We stopped at a pond to use the porta potty and I decided at this point, I would take the bike trail back to the point where I can quickly access roads to get me home, like I did a couple of weeks ago. I was not going to the lunch, it was getting hot and by this point my hamstrings were cramping. The trail is shady. Glad I made this choice, because otherwise the I would be riding through both town centers, totally unshaded, with added heat from cars at lunch time. I enjoyed the trail, although I had to slow a bit because of my hamstrings. When I got off of the trail and turned onto the first side street, I stopped and finished my Skratch Lab bottle, poured some water on my head, and then headed across the highway, which leads to a short, steep hill. When I got within about a mile of my house, after the last climb, I drank the last of the water. I never do that. It's only 80 out, but humid, and thankfully, partly cloudy.
I may need a massage! Enjoyed the ride, but I need to do more of these.
34.5 miles

[north woods gal]

Sounds like a hood workout, Crankin. Glad to hear you stuck it out and finished it the way you wanted.

My "substitute bicycling" (walking ) is going well. One week out from my accident and I am averaging two miles a day of ever more brisk walking. Can't say that I'm falling in love with walking again. In fact, it's kind of blah compared to my bicycling. It is so very necessary for me to be doing, now, so it will continue. All my neighbors encourage me when they see me, so that's nice.

We did stop at one of our local shops, the one where we get most work done on our bikes. I discussed some projects and builds I want to do during my recovery period. It will be a good way to keep me busy and, hopefully, remove any temptation to get on a bike and ride before getting cleared by my doctor. Really is hard for me, though. Been riding so long it's almost like breathing. My husband, though, says he will get a huge chain and lock up my bikes if I try any riding before the doc says its okay.

A few days before my accident I had traded in a couple of aluminum bikes to finance a new steel bike. Was going to get a Salsa Marrakesh which is a very traditional 700x35 touring bike, but that same premonition that prompted me to get a new helmet for the sake of safety before my accident also prompted me to avoid going with a skinny tire bike for the same reason. This is what I got instead. Came in a few days after my accident, so all I get to do is drool on it for now. Doesn't get safer or more stable than a fat bike. This is the new edition of the Pugsley. This edition has been redesigned to now be more of a heavy duty, off road touring bike. Love the color.

[Crankin]

That is a cool looking bike, NWG.
I saw an article about the ultimate commuter bike, a custom 7. Just for fun, I read it. Sure, it's everything I want, but it costs just slightly less than my Silque, so that won't be happening!
I did my annual early AM summer solstice ride. I left at about 5:20 (not exactly sure). It was only 57, so I was wearing arm and knee warmers and a vest. Could have taken the knee warmers off near the end, though.
I did a different early morning ride than usual, as although I woke up feeling pretty good, I didn't want to stress my back/groin/hamstring by climbing, so I rode over to Concord Center and back, trying to recreate the rides I used to do, before I moved to my condo. This necessitated crossing the highway twice, and on the way there, I had to wait awhile for the light, as there were not too many cars to trigger it. But, the ride was fine and I was almost back home at the actual time of the solstice at 6:07. The ride was just over 10 miles, which is perfect for a ride this early in the AM.

[north woods gal]

Thanks for the reminder. Yes, Happy Solstice, everyone!

Sheila, I got the medium on the new Pugs. The new Pugs is a bit longer and taller than the original Pugs. A medium on the new Pugs is right between a medium and a large on the old Pugs. A large in the new Pugs is definitely larger than the large in the old Pugs.

My original Pugs is a large. Wouldn't have ordered it in that size, but I bought it used from a guy who had just gotten the bike and discovered he needed a medium. Got a great price on it and it was practically brand new. Couldn't pass it up. Anyway, I made the large work on the original Pugs by going to a shorter stem to get the correct reach, but my seat post is down about as far as it can go and the standover height is just doable on this original large Pugs. A large in the new Pugs would have been too large, in other words.

Fat bikes do make fabulous utility bikes, by the way. The ride is so stable and comfy, too. No such thing as a road you can't ride on a fattie. My husband discovered this, yesterday. His Specialized fat bike (which he rides every single day) started having issues with mis-shifts. Since I can't do any bending over to work on a bike, right now, we just loaded it up and took it into the bike shop for a complete tune. it needed it, anyway. That left him with his old 26" MTB with its skinny 2.2" tires to ride. He came back after half his usual ride and was not happy with it. Said it felt too twitchy and finicky about steering and not at all stable to ride. I'm going to set him up on my old Pugs to ride, today.

[Crankin]

I finally got to the Friday ride I sometimes help lead, meaning, I sweep. I really don't like to ride, other than utility riding, on a day I go to the gym and do boot camp, but it is so gorgeous out, I decided to just go. It was 72 when I got to the ride start, dry and clear blue skies. Of course, only, Jack, the other leader showed, and I knew this would work in my favor. Jack is a fast and strong rider, but is perfectly happy to ride at different speeds. So, off we went. I knew my legs were kind of dead, so as we approached a very hard and steep climb, I told him "no." We altered the route, so it was 25 miles, instead of 30, but there was enough climbing for me, even with this. We actually came back on the same road we went out on, and it is flat, with a bit of a false flat, near the last couple of miles, and we really pushed it, so my average was not that bad.
I am glad I went, but I am really tired. Somehow, I managed to get all my shopping done this afternoon, and am now awaiting the arrival of my granddaughter for the weekend. The weather is going to be kind of crappy, so I hope we get our hike in.

[ny biker]

Catching up... my parents were in town for a visit earlier this month, which meant I missed a ride that I had done every year since 2004 -- the Patuxent River Rural Legacy ride, which is a metric in southern Maryland with rest stops along the river. But I have gotten in a couple of good night rides after work in the past couple of weeks. There was a chance of rain for both of them, so I was prepared to take short cuts if needed. But I got lucky and was able to get in 20 miles last week and 19 miles last night.

Last weekend I did a bit of exploring. I joined a ride with a different club than the one I usually ride with, for a 30-mile ride around the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. I've ridden around that general area before but this particular route was new to me. I had really wanted to do a longer ride, especially since the ride start is quite far from my house, so I went up early and did a quick 13-mile loop on my own before the club ride began. Of course I was running late so I had to motor on my pre-ride to make sure I finished in time. It was the first time in a while that I really pushed myself on the bike. The weather was great, sunny and in the 80s but with reasonable humidity and no wind. Afterwards I drove around exploring some other roads that I will try to incorporate on future rides.

This weekend if the forecast holds I will ride on Sunday.

[Crankin]

We bought a Burley trailer for our granddaughter! We won't have it for a few days, but I think DH finally saw the light, in that if she is going to be here for the whole weekend, we want to be able to share some riding with her.
Taking her to the LBS today, for a cool helmet. Now, she just has to grow, so she can use the balance bike we have waiting. She tried to get on it last time, but, it's going to be a few months, or a year, she is so little.