June rides, summer begins

[north woods gal]

Thought I would get the June rides thread going.

Nothing special to report, here, for rides. Just my daily mix of trail and pavement work. Did check in with my bike shop and, yippeee! The Log Lady has arrived. Now it needs to get assembled and modded the way I want. Since my bike guy - the owner - has given his main helper a long vacation, he's going mostly solo in running things, so it may be awhile before the Log Lady comes home. No problem.

While, there, I mentioned to him that I might want to sell or trade off some my aluminum bikes, specifically, my old Trek 8000 26" MTB. I rarely ride it, anymore, given that I've moved to the larger wheel stuff. He mentioned that we have a local club that helps find bikes for youngsters who want to learn the basics of MTB riding, but can't afford a good bike. Some of them have to settle for some really low end bikes, for now. Given how the market for old 26" MTBs has hit rock bottom, anyway, I figured I'd sell the Trek cheap or even donate it to the cause. Back in the day, I upgraded all the parts, so it would make some kid a great bike. Be nice to pass it on to the next generation.

[emily_in_nc]

I agree, nwg, nice to have a group to donate it to. My DH recently traded in a 26" MTB and only got $125 for it at the LBS, and it was a very nice Jamis Dakar, so the market has indeed tanked. He had also considered donation, but even that small amount helped offset the cost of the Townie he wanted for cruising around the campground.

We did our usual ride (roads and bike trail) yesterday for 35 hot and sticky miles. It was the most uncomfortable ride so far this year because of the humidity. Sultry! The weekend is for walking, laundry, and staying off the busy trail, then back to riding on Monday.

[north woods gal]

Glad you survived that kind of humidity. Last time I bicycled on a visit to Florida, I think that's what did me in the most when I bonked. We'll be going back to the same area, come September, but at least I know what I'm up against.

My hubby and the other neighborhood guys got together, this morning to work on repairing a community dock on the lake used only by members of our association. I got to help by hauling tools and gallon jugs filled with water with my Surly ECR. The ECR is designed to handle heavy loads, so I was eager to see how it handled the extra weight. Ha! Couldn't even tell the difference in the way the ECR handled. In fact, with the extra weight, it rode a bit nicer. I honestly think I could load all my camping gear on the ECR and disappear for months. After all, it was designed with that in mind.

[Crankin]

Our club bike rally was today, and our ride was a success. The forecast, as I mentioned earlier, was all over the place. It was 82 and humid/sultry when we left and rain/scattered thunderstorms predicted. We were scheduled to leave at 12:30. Before we left, DH and I figured out several bailout points, going back a shorter way, on a main, flat road, if I it either started raining hard or lightening. We had about 40 people, and then broke the group into 2 by speeds, so we ended up with about 20. The group was pretty good, with 2-3 people who stayed back behind me, as the sweep. DH seemed to speed up after we did the big climb, so I stayed with these people, until they told me to go ahead. I seriously was working hard to catch up with the next rider, whom I could barely see up ahead. At this point, we had sprinkles, it got cloudy, and was cooling down, thankfully. I was super hungry, too, even though I had a big breakfast and large snack right before we left. At one point, it was clear that it had rained quite heavily, about 5 miles from the end of the ride, with the street very wet and road spray hitting my shorts. But, we never got wet from the sky. I caught up to the last rider, who was struggling, stayed with him until the second to last turn, and then kept him in my rear view until I got back. I rolled in about 5 minutes after DH, so not bad compared to other years.
We had no incidents and no real azzholes in the group, which has not always been the case. We left to quickly drive home, shower and change, to go back for happy hour and dinner, at the local farm where we start. It's under a tent and they do a great job of catering. On the drive home (5 miles), we saw the slower half of our group returning; the sky opened up. They got soaked. But, when we returned, it was sunny, much drier, and cooler. Overall, a success, but I feel like I am on the edge of even being the sweep for this group.

[north woods gal]

You mean the stem was not aligned with the front tire, Sheila? If so, that can happen on its own, over time, with any bike. I have to redo the stems on all my MTBs I use for my trail riding, on a fairly regular basis, because he front ends on those bikes take a pounding, of course. Have had it happen with road bikes, too, but nowhere near as much of an issue. Something I check, now and then, though, with any bike.

Hope you get the pain issue solved. Been there. The worst of it is trying to figure out what caused it. Since you have other bikes, might see if it goes away when riding them. Best of luck.

Another good rain for us, last night, but very cool, today, only in the 50s. Our weather really is like a box of chocolates ... Will take a fattie out and see how the trails did, later in the day.

Put a new set of trail tires on my old Kona steel 26" MTB, yesterday and then proceeded to do some tuning on the rest of the bike. Almost forgot what a pain in the *&# those old center-pull brakes are! Disc brakes have spoiled me. Got it ready to ride the trails, though, and off we went. That old school steel Kona and I have a lot of history, together, so it was a nice ride down memory lane. Still the same old pal of a steel bike it's always been.

1995 Kona Kilauea. Steel bikes never go out of style for this gal

[Crankin]

Sheila, I am glad you found the cause of your pain, but sorry it took so long. I hope it resolves soon.
I woke up with my hip/back really hurting and my sinuses screaming. I rushed so much to get back back to the dinner last night, I neither stretched or did my saline nasal rinse. Upon waking, I did both, as well as take some Claritin, and I felt much better.
It was only 55 today, clear, dry, and breezy. We decided to do something different and took a 2 hour walking history tour of Somerville. It's a very cool, but rapidly gentrifying city, next to Cambridge. The change has been extremely fast and the young man who did the tour grew up there and is into social activism to help the different factions work together. So, not a sedentary day, as the tour was about 2 miles, including a couple of big hills. When we finished, we had wine and an app and then went across the street to the restaurant where my DIL is gen manager, but she had taken the day off. We didn't say who we were until we were paying the check, and we were surprised when the waiter knew both our son and granddaughter.
So, I am full of food and my legs kinda hurt from walking up big hills in the city and we are in for 2 days of cold rain. Gym tomorrow and rest Tuesday.

[north woods gal]

Our showers, yesterday, were supposed to quit by noon, but they had other ideas. Rained off and on all day and temps never got out of the 50s. Of course, I refused to quit, too, so just took the single speed out for about 15 miles on the local pavement. Had to dig out the leggings, again, and even added some light gloves, but it was worth it. The ride was quite comfy. Never got around to trail riding, but figured I might as well let things dry out a bit, anyway.

Warmer, but very windy, today. Hope to get back into my usual mix of road and trail, today.

Was reading about the famous Dirty Kanza 200 race, the brutal 200 mile gravel and dirt road race in Kansas which is ridden in one day, straight though. Learned there was a team of 5 gals from Chicago that competed, this year, in the single speed division. Way, way out of my league, but go girls, go. How cool is that?

[emily_in_nc]

After reading about the Dirty Kanza 200 , I have right to complain about my ride yesterday, but I will anyway.

OMG, the humidity was brutal! We really did have a nice spring here in Florida, but then the rains came for a couple of weeks, and now that we've dried out a bit, summer is here with a vengeance. Yesterday we were riding in the 80s up to about 92F, and the humidity had to have been about that high as well. DRENCHED! I stayed hydrated and had some yummy potatoes (with coconut oil, salt, pepper, mustard, and tumeric) for my snack, but it was still rough.

Today we are hitting the road for some time in NC visiting my family and a few doctor/dentist appointments. We'll take three days driving up in the motorhome. Probably won't get to do a lot of cycling in the next couple of weeks as I'll be doing stuff with and for the family, but I honestly don't mind missing during such a hot time of year. We'll be back here in Florida in the latter part of June and still have plenty of hot and humid rides ahead!

[north woods gal]

That was how that heat hit me in Florida, too. I do understand. That kind of heat and humidity combo is brutal. Hope you can escape some of it up in North Carolina. Ride when you can, of course. Have a great trip and visit.

We're doing fine, now, for our weather. Normal stuff for us in June. Cool enough i the morning for a light coat if I ride, then the coat comes off for the rest of the day.

[Crankin]

It did get up to 65 today, but, it rained half the day. Going to be 45 in the AM, with another chance of showers early, so I am meeting a friend for breakfast and will ride later. The group ride is a city ride, Cambridge and Boston, not for me! Not sure what I will do for my ride, but it should be 20-25 miles and I might ride Thursday morning, before work. I am no longer working on Fridays, so I finally have a chance to do the group ride, for the club I lead for. Not more than 4 have showed since my friend restarted it in May, but I get credit for co-leading if I go. We're heading out to western MA Friday afternoon, to help our friends lead a ride on Saturday. It's an easy ride we did last year, and then we will head home after the ride.
Hopefully, we can get through a weekend with no rain.
Have a good trip, Emily.

[north woods gal]

Finally, finally brought the Log Lady home, late, yesterday. Slapped some pedals on it and rode my trails till it got too dark to ride. That should tell you something about what I think of the bike. The most important thing I learned is that I got the gear ratio just right for my trails. All my calculations and experience with the other single speed paid off. Will report more, later. Unfortunately, looks like an all day rain, today, so riding may be a bit iffy. Cold, too. Of course, we all know how crazy I am.

[Crankin]

Well, it was cold this morning, and gray, so I met a friend for breakfast at 7:30. As I was pulling into the lot of the restaurant, I felt a little "off," in a way that is usually a sign I am coming down with something, allergies, or a weird kind of headache that isn't throbbing. I got through the breakfast, thinking eating would make it better, but I felt worse when I got home. So, I sat down and did some work. By 11:30, I knew I shouldn't ride. Another wasted day off, but I have a lot of riding planned in the next few days.
DH is working from home, so we took a 2 mile walk at lunch time, after which, I took an allergy pill, which has helped some.
The plan is to do an early AM ride tomorrow, if I feel ok at 5 AM.

[ny biker]

So I've been busy with too many things lately, some good and some stupid wastes of time. I had led a 50-mile ride on May 20, which overall was nice except for it being a very hot day. There were two rest stops, the second one at a church that was having a strawberry festival. I was feeling the heat between the rest stops but after only 5 minutes in the air conditioned church I recovered. Others in the group were also suffering, however, and they chose to sit outside in the shade rather than go into the A/C. This made a difference in the last few miles, and we had to stop several times for one person to rest in the shade. The result was the last part of the ride lasting much longer than it should have, so the heat started to get to me again (it was 3 pm by then) and I ended up with a bad headache. So a day that was both good and bad.

Then I went out of town for 6 days including Memorial Day weekend. I was in the Chicago suburbs with my sister, visiting my nephew who just started a job with a minor league baseball team there. It was hot and sunny which was okay for the night games but not okay during the Sunday afternoon game. I nearly melted. It did occur to me that at least it was a step on the road to acclimating to the heat.

The first weekend in June I figured I'd be able to get in a good bike ride, but it rained. Heavy rain with lots of flooded roads. And I had to spend time cleaning and getting my apartment ready for my parents to visit -- they arrive tonight. So no bike rides this weekend.

Fortunately the rain finally ended and I was able to ride after work on Monday, 17 miles. We are having spring weather now, with temperatures more typical for April. It was in the 60s Monday night.

p.s. My mountain bike is an old Trek 26" hardtail and I'm happy with it. But then I'm not into particularly technical riding.

[north woods gal]

NY, sounds like you got that heat that nailed us the last part of May. Broke all kinds of records, here. As for the old 26" MTB, the old 26ers will never die and they still do a great job, no matter how many new things the bike industry tries to sell us.

Well, here's the Log Lady.


Really is a beautiful steel frame, nicely done and well-designed. My only regret is that it doesn't say "Log Lady" anywhere on it. I can understand that All-City doesn't label their bikes with the models for the sake of sales, though. After all, they also make bikes like the Macho Man, Nature Boy, Electric Queen and Mr. Pink. Not sure I'd want to be tell people I ride a Macho Man.

Anyway, the Log Lady is a great trail bike and I've got the gearing set just right for my trails. Did a full 5 miles of trail riding, today, even though the trails were a bit squishy and slow after a rain, this morning. That's a complete set of laps that I usually ride and each lap has a strenuous climb. I'm going to feel it in the morning, but I did it.

Had the bike shop outfit the LL tubeless (highly recommend tubeless) with some very aggressive Continental 27.5x2.4" Trail Kings. I found out, just this morning, in fact, that climbing wet trails by standing on the pedals is a real plus with tires that have a good bite. From my snow riding experience, I know how much traction you lose when you get up off the seat. That's a big no no in the snow or real soft stuff. The Trail Kings are NOT fast rolling, but about as safe a tire as I can get when trail conditions are not at their best.

Talked to my bike guy at the shop. He used to race single speed MTB. He told me that almost all ss MTB racing is standing on the pedals. I can't imagine that. I'm NOT up to that, physically. Way beyond me. Oh, I can stand to pedal just enough to do my climbs, but no way could I manage it full time. Fortunately, I don't have to, with the way I geared the Log Lady. I can stay mostly seated when riding the flat sections. Still a heavy workout, but doable and that was my goal. Really is a trick to riding this single speed stuff, so it's been interesting and fun to learn. Kind of nice, too, to have handlebars with only brakes to operate. Hey, who needs shifters, anyway, right?

[Crankin]

I did a very short ride this morning, about 30 minutes. It was humid and 55 and I was a little overdressed.
Didn't feel great while riding, but feel better now. When allergies strike, it's better for me to move, less than usual and slower, but do something. Came home and did my nasal rinse, etc.
We are going to have a completely sunny weekend!