It's August! Riding through the heat.

[emily_in_nc]

So, DH rode today! He's been riding around on his cruiser bike, just little short rides, in the past few days, but this was his first ride on his roadie since his crash last Monday, nine days ago. I was so happy that he felt comfortable enough to head out. He still has a large band-aid on his left elbow and side of his knee, but none were in a place that bothers to ride.

We did our usual route but cut it a little short because of the layoff, and because he was using Eggbeaters pedals (from his MTB) and Keen sandals (that uses on his Bike Friday), since his Speedplay Zero cleat failure was what caused the crash. He threw out those ancient Sidi shoes after the crash, thank goodness. It was long overdue!

Got in 28 miles on a hot and sunny morning. We've had a brief dry period here in central Florida, after a very rainy July. I actually miss our afternoon/evening rains, as they cooled things off so much, and meant I didn't have to water my potted plants every single day. Ready for those to return, but this hot and sunny period is better than a hurricane!

[north woods gal]

Good for him, Emily. You and I both know what a big step it is to ride, again, after an accident. 28 miles for me, right now, though, would be a very long ride. Impressive, especially with that Florida heat.

Been averaging between 10 and 15 miles a day, now, with a mix of trail and pavement riding, but mostly pavement. My neck is doing okay, but long rides of over an hour tend to make it a bit sore, so gradually working my way into longer rides. It's not just my neck, really, it's also my shoulder area muscles around the base of my neck that need to build back up.

Been getting to know my single speed Log Lady a bit better. Really enjoying it for these hour long rides. Have tuned it to put me in a good upright position for pedaling out on the road and have gone with XC MTB racing tires with very low rolling resistance to make it easy to pedal. It's also geared low for trail work, though I'm not using it on the trails, now. Just using it as a hilly country pavement/gravel road bike. (Not going to use any bike, now, with less than 3" wide tires for trail riding, as per my resolution.) Without going all techno geeky about gearing and gear inches, I'll just tell you that when pedaling on flat and level pavement, the Log Lady maintains a measly 10 mph before I start to overspin. Definitely not a bike to pigeon the road miles. That's okay, though, because when I start to climb, I forgive it. The 27.5" tires and low gearing makes this little single speed climb like a monkey. It's a hoot! It's also a great bike for casual outings or just noodling around the neighborhood. (By contrast, my 29er Gunnar single speed is geared to maintain a very useable 13 mph on the flats, but, of course, I have to do a LOT more standing to pedal up our hills.)

As for my trail riding, I've discovered that dropping the tire pressure low on the fat bikes to my normal snow riding pressures makes them just comfortable enough for my neck to manage some trail riding if I stay on the smooth sections. I normally run the tire pressures up for summer riding to gain speed and agility, but I'm not concerned with those things, right now. Just being able to ride trails at all, even for a short ride, is progress.

[emily_in_nc]

As you say, nwg, you're riding different kinds of bikes on different sources (and with many more hills!) than we are. A 28-mile ride for me on a good day is just around two hours, with only gentle climbs. DH did 30 miles in the same time (while I took a break in the middle), so really not that long a ride on road bikes. We had a great tailwind on the way out so were able to maintain a pretty brisk pace. Coming back with a headwind (not too strong but noticeable) was a bit slower, but still faster than on your fatties.

So glad you're able to ride again, and that you're letting discomfort guide how long you should ride while rebuilding. My DH's crash was much less serious than yours, and he has healed up really fast. I'm so relieved about that as I'd initially thought he might be out of commission for weeks. He gets pretty cranky when he can't ride, so I wasn't looking forward to that! Riding keeps him sane.

[rebeccaC]

So glad you're able to ride again, and that you're letting discomfort guide how long you should ride while rebuilding.

+1 i can't find better words than those

He gets pretty cranky when he can't ride, so I wasn't looking forward to that! Riding keeps him sane.

[north woods gal]

Sheila, you're right to take it slow in that kind of heat and humidity. You'll get there, though. That, and fall is just around the corner, right?

Had a big day, today. I broke 20 miles of pavement in a single ride for the first time since my accident. Did 21.4 miles, to be exact and did it on the Gunnar single speed, to boot. Even included two of what I call my "killer leg burner hills" to make it challenging. My average speed was pathetic, but this was more about being able to go the distance than performance. Real confidence booster for me. Much needed.

My neck did okay. A bit stiff and just a twinge or soreness towards the end, but doable. One thing that helped was tweaking both single speeds, this week, to put me in a more upright riding position for riding on pavement. Just a matter of going to shorter stems, adjusting seat and handlebar positions. Have also noticed how sitting more upright allows me to turn my neck much easier and that's a big plus for safety. Really liking these single speed MTBs with their 2.25" wide tires as my road road bikes. Very practical in my area for that use. We get a lot of sand and gravel washing over our roads when it rains and the wide tires are a plus for safety. Also noticed some recent logging activity along the route, this morning, so the wider tires also let me bail out and ride the shoulder when I hear a log truck coming up from behind. And, of course, standard MTBs like these make great gravel road bikes and I love riding gravel.

Been a good couple of days for wildlife spotting, too. Came around a curve and surprised two hen turkey and their young ones, yesterday. Today, stopped and helped two small turtles cross the road. Lots of deer, as always.

[north woods gal]

Yeah, just visited their website. My Krampus is the rather ho hum red color they had last year. Kind of like that purple.

Oh, I've been doing some road work with the Pugsley, but still not quite strong enough to push those big tires 20 miles down the road, yet. Have done 10, but that's about all I can handle, right now with a fat bike. It's been interesting to ride with my hubby on our daily neighborhood pavement rides. He only rides his Specialized fat bike with 4.6" tires. Hates anything else. Since I'm still recovering, I have a hard time keeping up with him when I ride one of my fat bikes. That will change in time. On the other hand, when riding the Gunnar with its custom built 29x2.25 wheels and custom frame, I beat him up pretty bad, especially up hills and riling down hills, too. I'm usually still coasting on the Gunnar and passing him while he's pedaling. Love those big fat bike tires, but out on pavement, they are at a big disadvantage for performance.

Actually hit 29 plus mph for a max speed on the Gunnar, today, coasting down one of my leg burner hills. The Gunnar had no problem at all at that speed. Have never been able to get any of the fat bikes to even come close to that speed coasting down that particular hill. They usually max out at about 20 or 21 mph coasting down that same hill. Two very different kinds of bikes, of course, but a good example of how easily different kinds of bikes can be to pedal and how easily they roll.

[Crankin]

Had our first full day in Wellington, on Lake Ontario. Got here yesterday around 4. This is a wonderful summer vacation area... Prince Edward County, Canada (not Prince Exward Island). No riding today, just beach, wine, eating, and walking. Doing a 40 mile loop tomorrow.

[Crankin]

Just got back from a 38 mile ride and I am exhausted. This is a ride DH planned, so he really was not sure of the elevation. We ended up doing 1,000 ft of climbing in a flat place. Basically rural farmland and at one point, we were seeing glimpses of another bay, not the lake. Not that beautiful, but nice. We stopped at an apple orchard for lunch and had soup and a muffin. After that, I realized my azz was hurting, but that’s because the saddle on the Guru is not broken in as much as on my Silque. About 20 miles to go, my chain fell off and I could not get it to go back by shifting it into the big ring. DH had to work for awhile to get it on and I had to stay in the small ring. That was ok, because the wind was relentless and so were the gradual climbs. DH will work on it later. After we drink the cider he stopped to buy one mile from our inn.
Going to stretch and shower and drink that cider. I earned my dinner tonight.

[emily_in_nc]

We rode again today, and once again cut it a little short. I think DH was up for doing our usual distance, but there were a lot of storm clouds looming, so we headed back. Ended up with just a bit over 28 miles. A good ride, though!

Crankin, sounds like a pretty tough ride. Enjoy your vacay and your dinner! I bet the area is gorgeous.

nwg, my max speed on our route is in almost always in the 19-21 mile range due to the flatter terrain here in Florida, so 29 mph sounds like fun!

[north woods gal]

Nice work, both of you.

Crankin, you might need a front derailleur adjustment if your chain popped off while shifting to a different chain ring. That's the usual culprit. 38 mile in new country is a very impressive ride, though. When I ride a new route, those miles seem to be much longer and more intimidating.

Emily, our weather has been very humid in the morning, this week, thanks to some overnight fog. Still, I don't think it compares with anything you have in Florida. I'm going to be in Florida, again, this September. Hubby has another conference in your area. Not sure whether I'll be able to do any biking, so will get back to you.

Did 13 miles on the ECR, yesterday, in the humid heat, to take a break from single speed riding. Yeah, that ECR is one of those bikes that could work as my only and my last bike, no matter where I lived or what the weather or roads. Could ride it in the snow, even, but just not in the same class as a fat bike for that riding. Definitely an apocalypse kind of bike I could load up with a ton of gear and live off it. Very comfy to ride and no road in our area can stop it (and that's saying something with our near wilderness roads in places).

Afternoon ride was with the Krampus for some trail work, after dropping the tire pressure way low for the sake of my neck comfort. Yup, another Surly steel bike, but different in character than the ECR. Pure trail bike, this one. Been experimenting with the gear ratios. Getting real close to converting it to a single speed. Not sure why I like riding single speed so much. Maybe it's because I've always been a minimalist as far as gear and love keeping things simple. Whatever. Single speed riding is just a good fit for me. Matches up with my "just get on the damn bike and ride" philosophy.

[Crankin]

So, we planned a shorter route today, since the tour company’s route covered some of what we did yesterday. After a couple of miles, we turned onto a trail more suited for my new bike! There was one point I had to put my foot down, as I wasn’t sure I could get around a large puddle, and my entire cleat on my shoe and pedal was so mud encrusted I could not clip in. Since these are SPD pedals, I tried kicking the mud out, but I had to stop. I did not want to be on this trail to begin with! After several squirts of the water bottle, we got back on the main road and decided to turn down a side street that ended up on a peninsula. It was beautiful and had some shade, with views of the water. On the way back to town, my chain dropped again. We stopped at the farmers market, bought sadwiches and ate by the water. Lovely! After cleaning up, took my bike to the LBS in the next town. The mechanic, a women was a riot. There is no obvious cause, but a weird thing that may be affecting it, that she needed to wait for the head guy to fix. We are going back to pick it up in about 30 minutes. What a pain. I truely do not remember what it is, but they seem competent. Since we won’t have our car until Monday, we need to be able to ride to our next inn tomorrow morning and to our final destination on Monday, where our car will be waiting.
The cab comes to get our suitcases at 9 am, so we will be leaving to our next stop around 10:30, after breakfast.

[Crankin]

Ok, my bike is fixed. This was DH’s fault! He put a new chain on the night before we left and he put it on wrong... Mr Genius mechanic. But, he was mortified in front of the mechanic, who told him to “own his sh!t.” She was hysterical. They did a couple of other minor things for me and charged us only 25.00.
I was able to enjoy my dinner!

[emily_in_nc]

Ok, my bike is fixed. This was DH’s fault! He put a new chain on the night before we left and he put it on wrong... Mr Genius mechanic. But, he was mortified in front of the mechanic, who told him to “own his sh!t.” She was hysterical.

Too funny!

No riding this weekend, as we leave the busy trails to the families, but we did other things. Today was a long walk to the parking garage downtown, stair and ramp climbing, then after a quick dip in the pool to cool down (felt glorious, and I had it all to myself!) I worked out in the gym. Looking forward to riding tomorrow, though. First day of school for the kiddos here, which means buses on the roads.

[Crankin]

We left Wellington around 10:30, after a memorable dinner last night and good conversation with the other guests at the inn, as well as the owners. The ride today took us in a more isolated area, through a provincial park on the lake. Needless to say, it was crazy busy getting close to there, but the route took us on a gravel path to avoid most of it. It was tricky to get the right path looking at the GPS, but after quite a few turn arounds, we got to the beach. We stopped and used the bathroom, and just took a look at the dunes/water. We both felt incredibly overheated, as there is no shade here, and we were getting close to our inn. After another short dirt section, we were on our way with 5 miles to go. We stopped once, in the shade so I could eat a Shot Block and drink copiously. I was starting to feel weird.
Ended up with 28.5 miles. We both cannot figure out why these rides with 240 ft of elevation feel so hard! The 2 factors are a relentless headwind and the sun. It was 80 when we got here; after a quick shower, we walked half a mile to a wonderul place for lunch, around 2. On the way back the wind had died and it was 85.
The inn does not have AC, but it is not bad. And it cools a lot at night. Since this place is in the middle of nowhere, we eat at the inn, a special thing for people on this tour.
Tomorrow we ride to our final riding destination. Seriously thinking of doing the shorter route, if it is not cloudy. Some cool things on the way. Weather still looks iffy for Tuesday. Neither of us want to risk t storms.

[north woods gal]

Love your bike mechanic, too. Sounds like a lovely area, Crankin. How's your bike do on the dirt/gravel? Hopefully, okay.

11 pavement miles this morning on the single speed Log lady, then did a little trail maintenance work. Much needed, since I couldn't do any work during my recovery. Whoa, I am still way out of shape for this kind of physical labor. 7 weeks of no lifting or physical work really weakened me. I'm going very slow and light, though. Little bit at a time. My goal is to smooth the trail as much as possible, removing roots or small rocks that might possibly cause a fall, but mostly just to make for a more comfy ride.

Still at something of a crossroads on the bikes and what I want to ride into the future. The fat bikes will always stay, but the plus bikes may get traded off at some point. They're kind of an in-between kind of bike. Not as good as a fat bike for gnarly trail riding and not as sweet and nimble as the light single speeds for pure road work. When I want to ride trail, I grab a fat bike. When I want to ride pavement, I grab a sweet and fast single speed. The 3" tire plus bikes don't get ridden much, now. The single speeds have kind of spoiled me for pavement and road work. Who knew?