Velocivixen

I just rode around.
My bike & I enjoying a field of daisies. Was 90 degrees!

jimmuller 

I took a different in and out on my commute today which used part of the Minuteman Bikeway. The MM is considerably more serene though it's a bit longer that way.

Took the same way back. Near Arlington Center I stopped to help a poor soul with a CF bike towing a trailer with a young son, but that bike wasn't going anywhere. He'd thrown the chain off the big cog and it had wedged itself between the cog and the spokes. He'd pulled it so hard one or two of the aero spokes were bent. We worked at it with a tire iron for 10 minutes, it wouldn't budge. A bike shop will probably have to pull the cassette apart or loosen those spokes, and the re-true the wheel of course. He ended up throwing the bike over his shoulder and pulling the trailer by hand. Fortunately he didn't have far to go. Tough way to end a ride though.

Roger M

I've been riding the same old local roads lately, trying to rack up some miles and prepare for the RAMROD in July.

Here's a shot of my son raising his arms in triumph after we conquered Foster Slough road on our tandem, a half mile climb that gains a couple hundred feet in elevation.



These pictures are from a couple of different rides around Snohomish County

otg 

Really nice pictures, Roger M, looks like a nice day. I got out this morning on the old Super Sport for about 25 miles. Stopped at a pond in (I think) Sterling, CT. call Hell Hollow Pond. Ended up riding the last 5 or 6 miles home in a fairly steady light rain.

WNG

I had a delightfully painful Friday morning group ride. A little play on the description, because it was delightful to get together with fellow Phoenix area Forumites once again. Painful, as I will reveal later.

Chris (cbresciani), Craig (Saguaro), John (OFG) and John's friend Barry had a 8:30 Paradise Valley ride arranged to beat the triple digit heat we're experiencing. Chris and John were on their gorgeous De Rosas, Craig had his latest Tommasini (which is even better looking in person) and Barry rode a custom seagreen Strong built in Montana.
I made it a quintet with my Bianchi Premio.

The ride is a popular route through Paradise Valley, which snakes through residential lanes of prime real estate, golf courses, resorts, with climbs and descents to keep it exciting and challenging. The views of Camelback Mountain are very nice. The same route was done during last year's first C&V Phoenix ride. I called it the Hell Froze Over Ride, because it started at 37 F and never got passed 43 F.

The ride started off with a comfortable 80F and a mild breeze. I hadn't ridden much since Austin, TX with exception for the Mother's Day outing. And my lack of miles showed. I also goofed up. I had a small breakfast, and didn't bring my power bars and fruit for the ride...left them on the kitchen counter while rushing out the door. :-P
This all combined to create the Perfect Storm of Pain to come.

Highlights of the ride included a personal best by making a tough short but steep climb without stopping, that kicked my butt last year.
And a fast paced rider on a modern CF Cervelo who intercepted our group. The fast men amongst us took on the chase. Not only did they match his pace, but also motored on past him. Must have been eye opening to be passed by three Italian steel bikes!
I wasn't able to generate much speed though, and was at the rear, and it was the first sign of things to come when I suffered a cramp in my left calf.

The guys regrouped and John passed me some Fig Newtons. I kept hydrated as the temps rose. But I was beginning to falter as the ride progressed. We refilled our bottles with water and ice, which was an improvement.
During each rest, the guys shared their bars and gels to keep me going. But I pulled another cramp, this time my right thigh. I got out of the saddle trying to get around an SUV making a left turn with me.
Around the 30 mile mark, I was consuming water far more than before and emptied my bottles. My legs were feeling heavy. Last few mild ascents took the last bit of reserve I had. I was beginning to feel light-headed with about 5 miles to go. 3 miles, both thighs were beginning to cramp. With 1-2 miles left, I was getting very light-headed and dizzy whenever I lifted my head up. Both legs kept on cramping, with me attempting to stretch each one. But I BONKED finally and had to stop and dismount. I could no longer keep the bike straight and had to sit down. I was in pain.

With only about a mile or less left, I hit the wall. I felt really bad for messing up the pace of the ride, and embarrassed too. I haven't had this happen in a long while. Not even during the steep rocky climbs on the mtb rides.
But the guys never gave up on me, didn't abandon me even when I wanted them go on without me. They got me hydrated and Craig offered me his last bar to get some energy and electrolytes into me. It helped, I was able to get to my feet and the dizziness subsided.

I made the last 1/2 mile to my car. My thighs cramped up again, and I chose to sit under a tree to rest and bring my heart rate down. I got another bottle of water and I rested there for 20 minutes till I was able to drive. I got a Gatorade and chugged it! My electrolyte level must have been really off today.

When I made into work and went to change into work clothes, I got to see that my blue jersey was stained white from salt, front and back. I must have sweated off a lot, which didn't help.

It was a heck of tough 39 mile ride today, learned to be prepared, and that these guys are truly the best. Made sure I was safe and could make it back. I hope to be in better condition next week, but I'll be buying the cold beer post ride no matter what!

Vonruden

For you schwinn fans

non-fixie 

First real evening spring ride this year.



Hey! Cows on the bike path.



Hey! A bike on the cow path!





New wetlands. Attract birds. Be glad there's no sound with this picture. What a racket!

jimmuller 

Nicer ride reports and pics, Vr and n-f. Great shots of NJ color.

We got out on the tandem for 30.5 delightful and unexpected miles.

Chelmsford Center, a classic New England scene.


The signalman in Chelmsford for the old RR line, now the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.

Vonruden

Friggin awesome!!!

jimmuller 

Wow, WNG. That sounds like a real ordeal. Fun ride but tough way to end. You do have some good folks out there, but then I'd expect most any cyclists to stick by their compatriots. It's good to hear you made it back in one piece. When you start getting dizzy it's time to get off the bike!

I've had a few rides where I felt worn out at the start and just couldn't get going no matter how much I ate or drank. Not sure why, but I suspect sleep and food/water consumption the day before had something to do with it. Or just a jumpy stomach from something I had eaten, or a latent virus waiting to pounce.

Checklist...large but easily digested breakfast, helmet, gloves, tire irons, tube & patch kit, pump, FOOD, water bottle WITH WATER, wallet with money to buy food/water, cell phone. Oh, and the bike!

Vonruden

Nice pics..nice bike as well

Velocivixen

@ Vonruden - thanks! Was a great day for a ride. That bike is my most recent acquisition. I actually really like it - the colors, the rapidfire shifters, really fun.

WNG

@non-fixie
That's a great blue-hour evening photo, tranquil water. And the cows put a smile on my face!
@jimmuller
Yes, I think I was having one of those days. Interesting, since I hadn't been sleeping well lately. It was also my first ride in high temps. I haven't acclimated yet, need to put more miles in the saddle...as John put it, must HTFU . Need to compensate for electrolyte loss too in this heat out here, wasn't fun feeling so light-headed. (more than I usually am. )
Over did it Friday. Rest day today. Hopefully I'll do better Sunday morning. Expected to reach 104 F.

Lamplight

Intended to just go for a very short spin this evening, and wound up going 23 miles on some unfamiliar roads. I also crashed for the first time in at least a decade!

thinktubes 

I love this!!!! Do you know who the artist is?

jbchybridrider 

I rode today along the Torrens River then up Gorge road where I use to ride before my back op. Beautiful Autumn trees but overcast sky's.



The bike path also follows the O'barn express way. It's the only one outside Germany, buses can travel at 110kph from the city to the outer suburbs then do there pickup and drop off's by road.



I wish I had my wide lens sometimes.



I stopped when it got steep, it's to early in my rehab for this.







A great days riding, can't wait for more.

Velocivixen

Just riding around local parks. My Hardrock apparently likes to frolic in the tall grass!

jimmuller 

Very nice. Your bike seems to be enjoying itself! That's a good thing. So many of us are curmudgeons.

My sweetie and I got out for 40.1 on the tandem today. The weather was spectacular. In fact the whole weekend has been great, especially after rain had been predicted. There were 4,692,347 bikes out today. Some sort of fund raiser (Brain Tumor Ride, 40mi and metric century, not sure who was sponsoring that one). We also met and spoke with a group from Nashoba Valley Pedalers when we stopped for lunch at Great Brook Farm State Forest. Plus there were all those other folks. Most of the roads we did today had more bikes than cars.

The "parking lot" are Fern's General Store in Carlisle was full:

DVC45

Nice bike. Nice pics too.

otg 

I got out for a 30 miler today, real fine day here in New England. Stopped for some lunch at the boat launch to Wyassup Lake in North Stonington, then on the way home decided to take the gravel road through Pachaug Forest as a shortcut. The old Schwinn (and its old rider) had no problems, other than the mosquitos.

djkashuba 

Organic farm for beets...

Beets. Ostrich Bag. by djk762, on Flickr

...and met this fellow on the way home.

url=https://flic.kr/p/nEfYt1][/url]Rattle Snake by djk762, on Flickr

-D

Hoss Cartright

Rode the 1972 Mercian Vincitore 42 miles with the WRCC @ 15.3mph avg. ~ Northeast of West Lafayette Indiana, out to a German bakery, back along the Tippecanoe river. Some hills, not steep but long. (Northwestern Indiana hills are not that big of a deal) And it wasn't windy today which is unusual.

I was worried this morning when they said 42 miles, as I didn't ride for about four months because of our brutal winter, and this spring has not been riding weather with persistent very cold temperatures, rain and high winds. This was only my third time out with the club this year, and twice the distance. Haven't ridden 40+ miles in one day since last fall. So, it seems that I was not as "out of shape" as I expected. No idea why? But I'll take that!

jimmuller 

I have no idea. I have not noticed a credit on the carving itself, but I haven't looked either. Next time we're up there I'll check the base of the carving. A quick perusal of various BFRT or Chelmsford websites shows nothing. The thing is, carving trunks into statues like that is a reasonably common skill here in New England, though probably more so in Maine than Massachusetts. It may be and may remain an unknown artist.

Vonruden

hit the trails on the Moots today.

JTTDF

An easy ride through lovely Long Beach today


Lots of folks enjoying the nice weather on the beach bike path


Two old girls made from British Steel back in the day.


City Hall is a Stalinesque Brutalist nightmare but at least this is on the wall by the main entrance.


Designated bike lane downtown. We even get our own signals.

]
Yesterday I did a quick 40 miles on the Ciocc along the SGRT. Well the ride north was quick at a steady 53x15. Coming home into the wind was a grind at 42x19 most of the way. At least the wind has turned around and is blowing off the water and the fire danger has receded for now.


Back home!