qcpmsame 

Why did y'all send those winds down here to NW Florida? What have we done to anger everyone? The surfers are having a ball with the Strong SE winds but it made the afternoon's ride interesting. I guess all those posts about warm winter weeks and riding while everyone was shoveling snow are catching up with me now. Pay backs are a bitc..............

Bill

JanMM

Today: Twenty miles being a Bike Commuter.
Yesterday: Ten miles after work.
Monday: Ten tandem miles with stoker.
Sunday: Twenty-five tandem miles with stoker.

Mort Canard

Bill,
Given what NOAA is predicting for the upcoming hurricane season I hope those Strong SE winds are the worst you have to put up with for the rest of the year.

bandroadman

First outdoor ride since early Feb. due to extreme shoulder (rotator cuff) surgery. Got run off the road by a couple of inattentive drivers and had a bad spill. Surgery and then rehab and finally released by the Dr. to ride and drive. Have done 1900+ miles on the stationary bike since the accident but it sure is not as good as being outside. Now that I am back on the bike, life is good!

Red Rider

Local time trial practice tonight, 10 mi. in 25:31. This is from my Garmin; I'm pleased with the official time. Just about right for this time of year.

Red Rider

Glad to see you're back and enjoying the rides.

Bikey Mikey

25 miles this AM.

az_cyclist

12.2 @ 20.2 ave this morning before work

Barrettscv 

I got in a nice 33 mile ride before work. Kept a good pace in spite of the wind. I'm riding my 1983 Trek full time now, It's a bit sluggish to accelerate due to it's heavier wheelset & tires, but can keep a 6-hour century pace. Now if only the motor was as willing :-)

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/320264111

More than 100 miles in the last 5 days. I need to keep this level of activity going.

John_V 

A very windy 35 miles this morning which ended just before the rains came. Should get more rain this afternoon, but I won't be riding.

berner

Best ride of the year today. 50 miles under blue skies, temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s, little traffic on already quiet roads, vivid colors in most peoples yards. Met and spoke with a man, while taking a break at the Westport Town Beach and having a bite, who had once ridden across the country and was happy to tell me about it. Later, on the return leg of my loop, I met two women from the Boston area who were scouting some new areas to ride. I offered some suggestions on roads and places to park their vehicle. A very successful day. I may write a song about it.

jimmuller 

Berner, your ride sounds great!

Yesterday we rode Acadia Natl Park's Park Loop Road in the rain on the tandem. Today I did it twice on the Bianchi, with a run up Cadillac Mountain in between. 38 miles, 3400 ft of climbing, spectacular riding! Pics from the ride must wait until we got home, but here are some from the other camera.

JanMM

Anticipated rain after work today but: No rain. Got in a lucky-13-mile ride. Some of it with favorable winds, which is always a good thing.

2manybikes

Were did you start?

I used to picnic in Wibors woods as young kid, coming back from Brigg's Beach with my parents It's private members only. Go in the wood some day unless you are using fragile road tires. Go around the little circular trail. It was a summer camp for the Wampanog Indians.

berner

Yo jimmuller, on second thought I may commission you to come up with a good ole Bluegrass piece with the appropriate energy.

2manybikes, I park at the commuter parking lot just off Rt. 24 on the Tiverton side of the Sakonnet river. I took a good look yesterday and the bike path across the new bridge is not finished yet. I do not like the idea of riding across the Mt. Hope bridge otherwise I'd be able to ride to Tiverton from home. The next best thing is a commuter parking lot on the Portsmouth side of the Sakonnet.

John_V 

Did a 37 mile ride today trying to beat the rain. Skies went from sunny and blue to overcast and dark. Rode 31 miles with my riding buddy and did the rest solo while riding back to the van. It never did rain and the sun is back out again. Go figure!

2manybikes

It looks to me that the Sakonette river bike path could be finished this year. The senior D.O.T. engineer says summer 2014.??
Hopefully I will get him down there on a bike soon, and we can look around. Maybe I'll get a better idea of what needs to be finished.

The road along the beach in Island Park Portsmouth is free parking, and close to the path. I have left a car there all day long and well after sunset.

Steve Sawyer

Seems like we went from too-cold to ride to too-wet to ride coupled with too much damn work at the office to get out early enough to get in much of a ride in the evenings. Looked to be more of the same this weekend, even though I had a day off today. However, this morning was gorgeous, and my equally gorgeous wife encouraged me to go out and hit that route that I'd ginned up on Google maps.

Turned out to be 20 miles of just about perfect biking weather, followed by 20 miles of repeated cycles of gloomy overcast, drizzle and torrential rain!!

Managed to learn a few things:

1. Biking in the rain in warm weather (assuming the rain is not the icy high-altitude variety) isn't all that uncomfortable - after all, you're not wearing much more than a bathing suit
2. Biking in the rain without a set of fenders will completely trash you and your bike. I have about two hours of work ahead of me cleaning the bike, the car seats, my car floor, the trunk, the saddle bag, the saddle...
3. My ass isn't big enough to keep the rain off my Brooks saddle. Fortunately, it got just a bit wet, not the soaking that I understand can ruin it if you continue to ride on it.
4. Even if it's not raining, putting moisture-sensitive items in your jersey pockets isn't a good idea when it's warm and humid. Hafta remember to use ziploc bags for that stuff
5. When heading out unexpectedly for a long ride, think about what you've had for breakfast. Two bananas and a glass of skim milk is NOT enough for a 40 mile ride! I would have been smart to grab something portable as I headed out... Fortunately, there was a convenient coney island restaurant near my turn-around point. A large coke and a great Philly steak sandwich put some fuel back in the tank!

Mort Canard

18 miles on the local bike paths to finish out the month of May. Had a gentle 12 mph wind from the north and nice partly cloudy skies.

471 miles for the month of May and 1268 miles YTD.

Bikey Mikey

38 miles this morning.

John_V 

Only 17 of my scheduled 35 miles for today. I guess Mother Nature didn't check with the Weather Channel before she decided to make it rain. I hope she checks tomorrow as I have a nice 50+ mile ride scheduled.

jppe

That is great Red Rider! You should be pleased. I bet you'd take the gold for your age group in our TT series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

jppe

63+ miles with 3000'+ ft of climbing right at 3 hours. Organized ride, rode with groups of 3-20 for all but about 3-4 miles with no stops and two bottles of fluids. Very humid but hey, it's the South.......

Mort Canard

47 miles this morning with the early risers from the local bike shop. That includes the ride to and from the LBS. Northwest wind and almost a bit chilly when we started out.

apollored

60 mile ride today that began with about 14 riders and ended with 4.

Was supposed to be a birthday ride to the Middlewood Way for two riders which was supposed to include two cafe stops but the rider who had thought up the route and whose idea the ride was went past the turnoff so some riders decided that they wanted to go to that cafe never mind finish the rest of the ride.

So the majority of riders turned back and 4 of us carried on to find the MW which had been the objective of the ride but only one person knew exactly where it was and gave directions before turning back with the others.

We carried on through Marple and found the MW and had a pleasant ride on it in a sunny 15 C which was actually quite cool.

We found a pub and had a nice lunch and then headed back fairly fast.

On the way on the canal towpath I thought my front wheel was headed too close to the edge of the canal bank and turned it back onto the path but it skidded on some wet mud.

The wheel ended up facing backwards and I was thrown off over the handlebars ending up with even more painful knees than I have already but my right front brake lever was bent and the frame felt wrong.

Also as the ride progressed, I became aware of a knocking sound from my back wheel and we eventually noticed my rear wheel rim was split and was knocking against the brake pad.

I had to disconnect the rear brakes to stop it knocking as the split was getting bigger and my bike will be taking a holiday until I can buy it a new wheel (s)

Two other riders finished their ride near their home so two of us carried on to the end.

Some group ride