zzOtherlandzz

Well...... I didn't end up doing the morning ride. I planned too, I loaded up the bike when I went to the flea market. I even pulled into the parking area at the park... but when I got out of the truck at about 11am ... It was tooooooooo HOT... I just didn't get moving fast enough this morning.

But I did do the Sunday evening ride. The group ride ended up being a solo endeavor though. Ended up riding a bit over 23 miles. The rain went through about an hour before I rode, cooled it off quite a bit. By the time I started riding the trail only had a few wet patches left on it. Great ride!!

RonH

I finally had a chance to ride today. First time since the cataract surgery (we've been busy). I was amazed how well I could see all the cars a block or so behind me. Before the surgery there were times when I couldn't see a car until it was 50-100 behind me.
Being/getting old is the pits. Since I haven't ridden in almost 2 weeks my stamina was way down. Plus I left late - around 10:30 - we had a home inspector/appraiser from the bank stop by. It was already getting hot when I left but I managed a paltry 22.5 miles.

RonH

My wife and I both had fasting blood tests early (8:15 am). Then we went to Chick-fil-A for breakfast.
Did better today. I managed 27.4 miles, including a lap around Stone Mtn.

RonH

It was dark and cloudy all day but it never rained. My wife was hoping my riding would be as good as a rain dance because we really need the rain.
I did my usual 27.5 mile ride. Didn't see many other cyclists. I guess they stayed home because of the dark skies or they were at the Covington Century.

zzOtherlandzz

Yep.... Rode Friday evening on the PLB trail, casual ride (not that any of my rides are anything other than that.. lol). We did about 20 miles on the trail with the last 5 or 6 in the dark. I'm kind of liking the night riding.... Not sure I would be out on a road riding but on the paved trail its pretty cool. (literally and figuratively).

Yep.. Rode this morning (not so casual ride for me) with a friend who is a stronger rider. So I know when I ride with him I will get a good workout. He is a good guy though he will ride at whatever pace I ride at (or if in a group whatever pace the group is riding at). I just tend to ride a bit faster when I'm with him... But its all good... had a great ride. It was overcast most of the ride with a few drops of rain here and there. We ended up riding a bit over 38 miles.....

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... rode Sunday evening... It had been raining for about an hour... But one guy said he was going.... I said .. I'm going too then. Next thing you know there are 4 of us at the trail head. So we took off and rode about 5 miles or so... Stopped looked like it was clearing up so called another friend told him looks like it is clearing up.. He decided to head out.. So on the way back to meet him at the trail head it started to lightly rain.. So we all set off again, light rain most of the ride. Rode the last few miles in the dark.. With hardly any bugs because of the rain.. It was a really fun ride.... I really don't want to do a rain ride every day.... but yeah... It was fun.... 32 miles...

RonH

It was another cloudy overcast day but I headed out anyway. No rain yet.
I did my usual 27.5 mile ride to Stone Mtn. My average speed was up from my last 4 or 5 rides.
When I got home and was putting the bike away my 74 year old brother (lives in Orlando) called. He always seems surprised that I was out riding. I guess he thinks cycling is just a passing fancy, even though I've been riding since 1999.
If the house sells and we move to FL maybe I can get him on a bike (I'm guessing a hybrid or trike).

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... One of those rides where somebody calls and says "wanna go for a ride".... I most likely would not have went if going solo, looked like rain. Decided to go ride out by his place about 35 miles away. This is Florida.... where it could be raining here... and not raining a mile down the road. Got the bike loaded up and about half way there it started raining pretty hard. 3/4 of the way there the sun was out.... Got there and it was raining (this is all in the span of 35 miles or so). Friend had to replace a tube... By the time he was done it had stopped raining. We didn't take off until after 6pm. Rode a bit over 21 miles and not a drop of rain, roads were wet but we didn't get rained on. Not 2 miles down the road on the way home it started raining.... and didn't let up the whole way home... Great ride on some roads I had never been on before... no traffic to speak of.... Cooler temps.... good stuff!!

RonH

Started out sunny today but turned dark and rumbly before I left Stone Mtn to head home. Guess I should have only done one lap around the mtn rather than two. Lots of lightning and thunder -- not good when you're on the bike -- and it started pouring when I was about 8 miles from home. Needless to say I got soaked and the Litespeed will definitely get a good cleaning and lube tomorrow.
Did 33 miles.

Juan Foote

Didn't ride yesterday due to that same storm, Ron. It would have been my sixth ride in seven days. Planning to head up to the Mobile Social tonight to fool around with a friend and cycle intown. My next long ride is scheduled tomorrow, heading down to Indian Springs.

RonH

It started out cloudy -- AGAIN -- but the sun came out when I was almost home. Not sure what's up with this weather. The first part of August has seemed more like early fall.
Lots of folks at the mtn today. I did 2 laps for a total of 33 miles.

michelinmike

Tampa, Florida Saturday August 11, 2012...Suncoast Trail geban at Lutz Lake Fern trailhead and rode 32 miles north up to and over the Cortez Boulevard overpass then up the trail another two or three miles. Very hot and humid. Stopped to eat a nectarine and wash up from my water stash and found I had company. A beautiful billy goat , a burro, and a beige cow were standing in a yard across the trail trying to get to the high grass on the side of the trail so I went over and fed them all grass which they really enjoyed. The goat was beautiful, grey, black and white and clean as a whistle. Nice teeth and pretty horns. Hooves were jet black. He was handsome with a beard. The ride back was torturous by comparison my legs gave out by mile 50 the next 14 were a trial but I made the ride in under 5 hours including stops so I averaged between 13 and 14 mph. Total miles 64 a record for me. Bike is a 1987 Schwinn Supersport Sugino cotterless cranks GranCompe brakes, Cyclone derailleur Tange double butted chromoly frame revamped to original condition Araya gold anodized rims and Continental 25x700 Gatorskins

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... Got out for the Sunday evening ride on the PLB trail. A couple of early birds were just finishing up their ride when I got there.. Rode 4 or 5 miles with them and then took off again with 2 friends. We did what we like to call... The Tri-County Loop. Ride to the end of the trail in Keystone and take a right on the paved road, and circle the lake back to the trail in Keystone. Including the trail part we actually go through 3 counties.... Only the 3 of us... Usually we have 8 or 9... But I guess people had other things to do. Great ride.. NO rain with some nice clouds to help cool us off a bit. 26 or 27 miles.... forgot to look....

RonH

I took the Felt to Florida. Went riding on the Withlacoochee on Thursday (8/16). Rode north from Inverness. The weather started out nice but began clouding up by the time I got to Holder. Started sprinkling about a mile later. I rode in the rain to the north end and turned around. Roda back to the car but really didn't mind the rain. My thoughts were: Why worry? Its not like riding on the road in Atlanta in the rain and worrying that some idiot will come up behind me and not see me because of the rain and run me down.
Got back to the house and the sun was out. Go figure. Hosed all the sand and dirt off the bike and lubed the chain for the next ride.
Roda a whopping 33 miles.


Rode again Sunday (8/19). Went to the Withlacoochee. Headed south this time. The weather was sunny and warm. It started clouding up by the time I was a few miles south of Floral City. Kept going and got just south of Lake Lindsay Rd.?? (the road to Nobleton) and saw the goats huddled under the tree. Do they know something I don't know? Continued south headed for Ridge Manor. Went another few miles and heard a loud rumble off to the west. Looked at the western sky and it was black as night. I decided to turn around because of the threatening sky and the thunder and lightning. Went less than a mile when the sky opened up. Ok well. It cooled me off. Rode for ~5 miles in the rain, then ~5 miles on wet pavement with puddles and dripping trees. After that point the trail had dried because the sun was out. When I got to the car and looked at the bike. It was covered with sand from the spray off the wheels. I went in the restrooms to change and I even had sand in my bibs. How did that happen?
Got back to the house and hosed off the bike.


Today I'll give the bike a proper bath with a cloth and bike cleaner and lots of lube.

RonH

Did my first ride to Stone Mtn in over a week. Maybe that should be "weak" because I could barely make it around the mtn one time. Managed a pathetic 27.5 miles and my average speed was down too.
Seems all the sitting in the car driving up and down the highway didn't help.

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... I rode Friday... First time in about 9 days..... doh!! Took the mountain bike and the road bike to the trail. Rode 13 miles on the mountain bike about 5 in the woods. Rode back to the truck and hopped on the road bike and rode 17 miles on it. I had planned a longer ride but ran out of gas in the legs... Guess from not riding for 9 days... doh!! Good ride though.. GREAT weather..

RonH

Rode out to Stone Mtn and did 2 laps. Total of 32.1 miles. I wish I could figure out why ride distance is different on almost every ride. Same route every time but the mileage varies between 32.1 and 33.5 miles.

After the ride I went to my first adult archery class. I was the oldest person there. Imagine that.
Can't wait until next week. Now I need to decide on a new bow. What to get?

zzOtherlandzz

Well..... Sorta got a ride in today. Met a friend in town (he was already out riding)... Took of and did a 10 mile loop that we sometimes do on Tuesday with the bike shop. Got back to town and was going to ride with him towards his place for a while (so i could get a few more miles in). Yesterday I guess I forgot to turn the presta valve closed so it was SLOWLY leaking air. Didn't know this until I went to put some air in in. I guess I got a bit too rough and tore the base of the valve stem. End of ride... LOL... Walked a few blocks back to the truck and thus ended my ride for the day. Only about 10 miles.....

FunkyStickman

Well, folks, I've been busy, just not riding as much as I'd like. Started a new job 4 months ago, so now I get up at 4:30 and get home whenever they say I'm done. The pay is better, though, so it's all good.

I still am riding, I've done a couple of group rides, but mostly I just ride around by myself or with a friend at slow pace. I'm fully recovered from my accident last year (was hit by a car, had full femur reconstruction) so it's just a matter of me being too busy to ride.

I built this bike to ride the local dirt trails:


It's mostly aluminum, only weighs 28 pounds. And I've put some mileage on it since it was finished last week, did 22 miles on the road with it. One of the ladies I was riding with hadn't used her bike in a while, and the tires had dry-rotted. One of them came apart, and we ended up putting 3 boots in it and using 5-6 strips of duct tape to hold the outside of the tire together. It was great fun, she made it back okay, but was just a good time, great ride.

I'll try to post more often, but you know... life gets in the way!

Ron: you want a compound, or recurve bow?

zzOtherlandzz

That bike kind of sort of reminds me of the repack bikes that Gary Fisher and those guys started out on... Kind of retro.. very cool!! Did you ever finish the trike you had started building after your accident?

Good to know your fully recovered from the accident, almost posted a few times to ask.... But I seem to get sidetracked a lot while messing round on here....

FunkyStickman

It is indeed modeled after the "Klunkers" those guys used... the likeness was intentional! And thanks. I love it.

I started working on it again, I have one of the front wheels built, now I can start welding up the front suspension.

You're not the only one! It's all good, I haven't even checked in to BF for a couple of months. Just had too much on my plate, and never seemed like I had time. It's good to check in every now and then!

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... got out for a ride on Sunday.... Went a bit early and met up with somebody we did the usual "Tri-County Loop". Figured we would get back the the trail head and see if anybody else had decided to go ride. Lo and behold about 2 miles from the trail head we meet up with 6 others. So we turned around and rode with them awhile and then we all headed back. At the time we were just starting to get hit by some of the outer bands of the storm. So it would rain for 10 or 15 minutes... Sun would come out.... and then repeat. Had a great ride... a bit wet but a nice ride. I think a bit over 28 miles on the mountain bike (no spare tube for the road bike)...

mrz80

Well, after about a month and a half of excuses, laziness and really hot/humid weather, I finally man-upped and stuck the sitzbones to the Selle Italia. Managed about 10-1/2 miles is all, though as mitigating factors I plead one flat tire and one constant 18MPH headwind!

zzOtherlandzz

YEP.... there has been some wind the last few days for sure!!

Lindaosm

yep, hubby and I rode the Withlachochee Bay Trail yesterday. On the way out I hit 21 mph...trouble is...on the way back I was lucky to hit 9!