Sunday, July 10: How Was Your Ride?
 

I set out to do 60 today and ended up doing 86 miles, my longest ever. Not so proud of my average speed, but I did stop a bunch of times to adjust the saddle (new Fizik Arione, holding up well). Evidently I don't have things set up correctly, because I had a LOT of pain in my left knee for the last 25 miles or so. It got so bad at the end that I unclipped my left leg and did the last 3 miles just spinning my right foot. But otherwise it was a pretty ideal ride -- sunny day, low traffic, mild wind, and enough water.

How was your ride today?

Great ride today for another VA cyclist. Got out the door around 7:30 before it really heated up. Quiet country roads. Only went 32 miles, but they seemed to go by in about 15 minutes.

Got in 98 miles with 6500' of climbing this morning. I left at 5:40 and returned at 12:00. I explored some new areas today and was treated to a few new and steep climbs. I came within inches of hitting a dog that leaped out at me while going about 35 mph. It was a very nice day to be riding in Orange County.

Dennis the bike Nazi said "No Ride For You!!"

I worked the dayshift today, slept a few hours, to hot to do anything. Then at 23.30 I went out, did 7km on asphalt, 5 km tractor-paths through a forest, 10km very sandy road, and about 9 km asphalt home. Saw a moose coming back, even took a picture of it with my phone.

Don't know the total time, but about 1½ hours. My hybrid is a good little bike since I went clipless, really made it a lot better.

62.7 miles/ 18.66 mph average in a local ride for charity.

I hiked half dome on Saturday. I think it took me 4-4:30 hours to get to the top. Not really in the biking mood right now.

H O T

and then I get a flat as I finally feel like I'm warming up. Crappy ride... but I sat under a sprinkler waiting for the GF to come get me :)

Great, then turned into to crappy. Planned on 65 & went 60. Actually completely drained my Camelbak. Heat & 25 mph winds ate my lunch.

Good part, seen a cyclist ahead of me (very unusual for these parts). It was a loaded tourist from Philly heading to my town for the day. Rode with him for about 20 minutes,& felt sorry for him, as he was having saddle problems, & said he was headed to Oregon "if" he made it. Before he entered Kansas, he thought it was a state he could breeze right through.

Great ride! I tooled around VA just NW of the capital for about 52 miles. Awesome weather here. Hot but not humid and with a decent breeze, and plenty of sun and blue skies.

And I discovered lots of bike friendly new roads to ride on!

41 miles and my chain started making weird noises and fell apart. That was kinda weird. Never had that happen before. Tomorrow she goes in the shop and hopefully the weather will still be nice when she gets out. The distance I was able to ride was awesome though.

I got up early and brought my bike to a bike trail system in a nearby small city. I had just over 25 miles of very nice riding before the weather got hot and humid. During the ride, a doe ran into, then up, the trail for a ways right in front of me.

When I got back, I wanted to start over again. I figured it was getting too hot and I came home. Now, I wish I had stayed and repeated the ride.

Oh... it was my first day with my new Sidi shoes and clipless pedals. And yes, I did do the customary first-ride-with-clipless horizontal track stand. It was surprisingly painless and made me laugh.

Good riding,
desmobob

Met up with 45 or so other riders at Bear Brook State Park, NH for a body testing and body bashing ride that lasted over 4 hours. Then we went to the lake, cooled off, threw meat on the grill, salad in the bowls and popped a few brews and told lies to each other about how awesome we rode. I got my crash out of the way early on. Endoed into a rocky stream and did the full face plant. Bunged my knees and still managed to stay in sight of the medium fast crew the next 15 miles or so. Great Ride today! Not too much blood and very few mechanicals for a group as large as this one was.

I did about 20 miles. Got called into a 2cnd job that I cover for some extra cash. Was not able to complete the task as quick as I hoped. OH Well.

The worse in the near past. Ten miles into my ride, the RD sucked a packing bag and gears won't change. I had to ride back home on one speed (coincedentaly the hardest), being a spinner this is a gear that I don't remember the last time I had engaged. My legs hurts for now.

good, mostly... 141 km.

but there was one section that forced me to go along a bike path. i hate bike paths. on this day, it was pretty crowded, and i was going alowly -- <20 km/h -- and watching carefully. anyway, this big guy on a comfort bike signals a right turn [outstretched right arm] to turn into a picnic area [or so i thought].

so i carefull move to his left, expecting him to turn... and turn he does -- left. hard left [to go to a pathside ice cream vendor, i think]. i swerve hard to avoid hitting him, crash through the ice cream vendor's a-frame sign [what are those called?] and just miss doing a head-on with a tree. i hit it with my shoulder, and now i have a rather unattractive bark-patterned bruise on my shoulder.

i was livid. the other guy was saying "it was an accident..." and i got on my bike and rode off.

aside from that, it was a good ride.

60 miles, with flat handle bars, I still can't feel my left hand, also very hot.

GEEK