July rides

[north woods gal]

Good for you, Emily. We gals can do, you with your riding in the heat and me with my riding in the cold.

Less than week to go, now, for my (hopefully) last doctor appointment to get the brace off and cleared for riding. Getting kind of nervous about it, though. Watching every step so that I don't trip and fall and have a setback, though at this point, I'm probably healed enough to survive it. Also a bit concerned/anxious about the new me and the type of bicycling that will work or not work as per my resolutions. Darn patience thing can be hard to come by, sometimes.

[Crankin]

You'll do it, NWG.
We did a 36 mile group ride (that we were not leading) where I felt like I was behind the whole time. No one came for the 50 miler, so the guy who was supposed to lead that, led out for the first 13 miles. He's notoriously uncaring about stated speed (the ride was listed as an average of 11-13 mph). When we got to the split, where some of the group decided follow him for a 45 mile ride, my average was above 14. My sit bone and SI joint were screaming, which was too bad, because this was in an area I have not ridden in, except for a couple of roads, a couple of times. Mostly rural, farms, ponds, and suburban roads, southwest of where I live. It started in a busier suburb, which quickly turned rural. Anyway, between mile 13 and 26 it was a bit better, though with some climbs. We stopped at a farm store for snacks and I was in a really bad mood because of all of this. Well, eating helped a little, but then we had a long shallow climb. I was not with the sweep, but I ended up being alone a lot of the time with 5 people in front of me and 3-4 behind. With 3.8 miles to go the leader's GPS/phone died, so DH led the end. I was very pissed with him, for just leaving me for most of the ride, yet his average was in my usual range, and mine was really on .5 of a mile slower. I think I just dislike group rides, unless I am in charge, and this is a group I like!
We got back to the start, at a commuter rail parking lot, and we used our "trailer park shower," to clean up and change in the car, for a barbecue at someone's house with a pool. I did not swim, but it was nice to sit. The people who did a shorter ride were already there.
At least the weather was perfect.

[rebeccaC]

glad you're feeling better emily!!!!

Spent the morning doing a ride from Brookings Or. to Cape Sebastian and back. With strong headwinds from the north, that gave me a good tailwind coming back. This section of the southern Or. coast highway has been one of my favorites to ride as it has some wonderful views and wide bike lanes. 42 miles with half being a slow, hard, into a headwind ride. I used taking a few photos as a respite going north.




Later this afternoon I did a hike into the wonderful Prairie Creek redwood forest.





and there was also this on my way south


it was a good day........

[north woods gal]

And I thought I had it bad with deer running out on the road in front of me. There is something so magical about the Oregon coast. Have visited a few times and fell in love with it.

[emily_in_nc]

Ah, the Oregon coast...so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your photos, Rebecca!

NWG, I hope you are cleared to ride at your doc appointment. I feel sure you'll be able to stick to your resolutions re. riding style. You are a very determined woman!

Crankin, I've had rides like that. In fact, when we used to ride frequently with a bike club in NC, I so often had to ride alone for much of the ride, as I was always in between the fast and slow riders in speed. DH was always up with the faster folks, and I didn't want to poke along with the slow riders in back. It can be demoralizing to get stuck in the middle that way and makes the miles go by a lot slower. Now that I am used to riding alone, I'm fine with my speed. DH rides with me at the beginning, middle, and end of our rides, but does longer loops in between, since he's faster than me by about 1.5-2 mph overall.

[Crankin]

When DH and I ride alone, we always ride together; he doesn't get it when I say "stay with me," on a group ride. He wants to be behind me when I say that, but then I feel the need to speed up. Sometimes he motivates me when I ride alone with him, and other times, we ride more slowly. But, it's not an issue. I am still too fast to be with the slower riders, but I cannot keep up with the faster ones on hilly rides over 20 miles. Some of this is from my back issues, but it particularly made me feel badly yesterday. I truly felt like those in front of me were averaging 16-18, when they all ended up with an average of 13.6-14.0. I don't usually care about my speed, but maybe because this ride felt very un-AMC like, I was bothered. And, even with my Garmin, I get anxious when I am riding in an area I am not familiar with. Being alone increases that.
Of course, I could surround myself with the riders slower than me, which would make me feel good, but I would be frustrated. I have friends I ride with occasionally, who do ride slower than me, and that's fine, because we are talking, etc. and I don't view that as the same kind of ride.
I have to get a new PT referral, as some of the back symptoms are different and may have nothing to do with my mild disc issues. As per my last post, I hate the idea of aging/slowing down, so I need to do all I can to keep myself feeling strong.

[emily_in_nc]

Hope you can get a handle on your back issues, Crankin. I hate it when my back is bugging me, as it was last week. I wake up with a sore lower back with some frequency, but it almost always goes away during the morning hours.

DH will ride with me on our rides together if he's doing a recovery ride, but like you (and I) don't always enjoy staying with riders slower than us, it's not much fun for him to stay with me the entire time when he's feeling good, since he could go a lot faster than me. So, we start and finish together and have a place in the middle where we meet up at a park and ride a couple of laps along the road in and out. We touch base, exchange stories from the ride if anything interesting has happened, and then separate again for a bit. I take two breaks on this ride (one to pee and stretch, one to eat and stretch), and he takes none. So with the way we do it, he gets extra miles in, like he wants, and keeps his average in the 15-16 range like he likes, while I'm normally somewhere in the 13s somewhere.

Got back out on our usual route this morning after taking five days off (other than short cruiser bike rides around the campground) to recuperate from this virus. I felt great today and had no more aches and pains other than the usual old nagging injury stuff, but nothing new. Weather was gorgeous after a very stormy night, sun came out, fresh breeze, cooler; almost felt like fall in central Florida! Blustery headwind on the way back but my mood was too good being back on the bike and feeling like myself again after being sick, that nothing could bring me down. The pool at the end felt awesome as well -- the rain had cooled it down, so it was incredibly refreshing. A good day on the bike that reminded me why I ride!

[north woods gal]

Glad you're feeling better, Emily. I, too, love that feeling that I'm "baaacck" after being sick.

Today was a lazy day for me. Just sat around the yard and house, no morning walk or afternoon workout on the trainer. Was a good girl and wore my neck brace all day, but it now does more harm than good, since keeping my neck stuck in one position all day causes my neck muscles to cramp up. Taking the brace off and giving my neck more flexibility actually causes less discomfort, now. Oh, well, couple more days to go and it's over - I hope!

Did stop at the bike shop, though, to see how they're doing on the Log Lady single speed. Having new, faster rolling and more road worthy tires put on it because the road, paved or gravel, is the ONLY place I'll be riding it, now. Yeah, my road bikes are all flat bar bikes, now, and a skinny road tire for me is now 2.25". Ha! Go figure. I'm not the only wide tire freak, though. The owner of the shop told me he has another customer who has sworn off narrow tires for all of his trail work, too. He's riding only plus or fat tire bikes, now. Our trails really are on the rough side, up here. Wider tires are more forgiving of mistakes in technique and they are definitely more comfy, to boot.

Still nervous about doing any trail riding at this point, though. Will have to push myself into trying it, again. Mentally keep re-living the day I had my accident. Not sure if I can handle it. If all my riding from now on is road or rail-to-trail kind of riding, so be it.

[emily_in_nc]

Still nervous about doing any trail riding at this point, though. Will have to push myself into trying it, again. Mentally keep re-living the day I had my accident. Not sure if I can handle it. If all my riding from now on is road or rail-to-trail kind of riding, so be it.

I feel sure you'll eventually be back on trails as you become more comfortable again on the bike. After I had my crash in '05, I got into mountain biking and gravel road riding for awhile and would not ride on paved roads, as I was really nervous being out there in any situation where dogs might come into the road (which caused that crash). It took awhile, but once I started riding on the road again, I was fine. I always had my guard up for dogs -- but I had that guard up before, always, riding in the rural south, so I was only a bit more hyperalert than before. I have found, though, that this nervousness about loose dogs has made rural rides anywhere in the southeast much less fun for me. As a result, I tend to avoid them. I much prefer trails now (paved or unpaved) or riding in parts of the US where loose dogs are unlikely. The south is the worst for people letting their dogs run free, and that still freaks me out. We never run into that problem riding here in central Florida. With the traffic here, loose dogs wouldn't last a week.

[Crankin]

You are right Emily, the only time I have had a loose dog run out in the road by me was in a very rural (like you feel you're in Appalachia) part of central MA. That does not count the time my dumb azz neighbors couldn't control their dog in their own home and it ran out of the house into the street, right as I was going up the hill on my bike. In fact the dog problem in my town revolves around unleashed dogs on the trails. Dog owners insist their dogs are "under control" off leash, but that is not always so. The law has been changed so that dogs have to be on leash on most of the conservation land trails and the owners are so up in arms, it's constantly being contested. The law doesn't apply to them! I am one of those people who gets scared when a dog runs up to me on the trail; I don't know what it will do. These owners are extremely nasty if you say something to them.
I did my little early morning 13 mile ride this morning. I went out later than usual as I don't have to be at work until 11. So, leaving right before 6, there was more traffic and more riders, but still fine, since there's no school buses. The last time I did this route, the sun was blinding me going down a hill, but it was cloudy this morning. We're in the midst of a humid, semi-stormy week. I saw a big crack of lightning on my way home and it did spritz, but overall, just humid. There's scattered thunderstorms predicted for tomorrow, and the group is doing the Mt Wachusett climb tomorrow (will likely be cancelled), so I am going to a museum with my granddaughter and DIL. I still might ride, depending on the weather, though, either before or after they come here.

[rebeccaC]

Feels sooooo good to be back home and with Alex!!! Back to just commutes for, again, a while….. but with some good rides during this work trip in my memory bank!!!

it's not much fun for him to stay with me the entire time when he's feeling good, since he could go a lot faster than me.

I’m grateful that Alex and I are equal in our riding and we actually like challenging each other especially on climbs. With her pregnancy she’s now focused on swimming/water aerobics, prenatal yoga and just the occasional bike path ride…..i’ve really missed her on my recent long rides/climbs! I am thankful for our beach walks together and helping her stay strong and happy!!!

If all my riding from now on is road or rail-to-trail kind of riding, so be it.

Thinking we are entering a new phase that will include much less of our past kind of riding but is more than balanced by being blessed with the new journey of raising a child…..and when the time is right, starting with a jogging stroller ftw!!! i'll be happy to just go with what the future holds....even if it's mostly commutes.

[north woods gal]

Dogs are not much of a problem, up here, even though we are very rural. Our game department gets very nasty about dogs running loose and chasing deer or other game and will issue citations for it. Have lived in farm country, though, and farm dogs in some areas that see few bicyclists or even vehicle traffic tend to be very protective of their home. Those have been the worst, in my experience. More than once, I've had to get off the bike and use it as a shield. Was bad enough in some areas, that I changed my bicycle routes. Up, here, though, it's deer popping out in front of you with no warning.

Going to go over the bikes and start getting them ready for riding - again- just in case I get cleared to ride on Thursday. Ot maybe I'll just ride, no matter what. Naughty me.

[Crankin]

The weather here feels tropical, like after a hurricane or tropical storm has come through. I slept late (6:30) for me and woke up feeling groggy from an extra hour of sleep. To my surprise, the sun was out. I was considering going to the gym, taking a walk, or a short ride. I decided to do the walk, so I ate breakfast, and then DH said, "It's raining." I hate this. But, the rain ended by the time I was ready to leave, and I had a nice breezy and humid 3 mile walk. The group ride was cancelled as I knew it would be, as it's already stormy out by where it was going.
I am going to have what I call a "normal person" day, on my day off. Rest day tomorrow, and Friday I am skipping the gym to co-lead the regular Friday ride I hardly ever get to. Sunday we are doing a hilly 31 mile ride in western MA with our friends, in an area I have never ridden in.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, I can't imagine loose dogs on trails, Crankin. We have ridden trails (paved and unpaved) all over the country and have only a couple of times encountered a loose dog. That's one reason I really like trails these days. When we were traveling in our RV around the southeast, anytime we'd ride outside the campground, seems like we'd get chased by ornery country dogs. Had to turn around several times and cut our rides short for that reason. DH is wonderful, though. He knows how much I fear dogs when I am riding (I love them under other conditions!) and always puts himself between me and the dog(s), or stays back until he's sure I'm safely past, stuff like that. In the south, it is usually the houses/farms that have multiple dogs that are a problem, as there is always a leader who seems to egg the other dogs on.

We have decided to cut back to riding three times a week instead of our usual four, for a couple of reasons. One, DH has had more aches and pains and, at 64, he really feels that too much intense riding is beating up his body a bit too much. He's not the type who can go out and ride "easy", unless he's riding his Townie. But once he's on his Trek, he has to go fast and furious, so three times a week of that (40 miles each time) is enough. The other thing, more for me than for him, is the weather. The heat and humidity are just really tough here, and cutting back by one ride is one less day to have to deal with that. We can take a shorter walk or go to the gym but just don't need to be out in that for 3+ hours. Especially since there's always dog walking, errand running, laundry, and other things to do that put us outside.

So, we took a nice hour-long walk yesterday instead of riding. Today we were back on the trail, and we ended up having to cut the ride short as storms threatened. It looked terrible, but when we got back, it ended up not raining. Seems like storms have been going just east or just west of us all day, but we haven't been hit with rain yet, just a couple rumbles of thunder and some wind. It was super humid on the ride today, though -- whew! Got in 27.5 miles instead of my usual 35, but I will take it.

Good luck tomorrow, nwg! I'll be thinking about you and crossing my fingers and toes you get cleared to ride!

[Crankin]

Yes, good luck, NWG. Cannot wait to hear the results of your appointment.
Emily, when I say trails, I mean trails in the woods. Places where you would hike, trail run, or mountain bike. Every town around here has conservation land, and at least 3/4 of this land has trails. We are blessed with this beauty, but the dog owners in my town are like people who do not believe in vaccinating your kids, if you get my drift. If a dog park is proposed, they go nuts and say it's "not natural." I have been to dog parks in 2 states with my younger son and his dog, and the dog seemed to love it perfectly well.
Your husband is right, we do need more active rest as we age. I generally only take one full day off a week, but today, I did that 3 mile walk and then ran around for 4 hours with my granddaughter at a museum. I feel tired, just like from mild exercise.
When DIL mentioned the phrase, "we'll have fun," granddaughter ran to the basement door and started yelling "bicycle, bicycle... trailer."