Humidity blew off around 7 and made for a nice short ride.

Crashed Monday, July 4, thanks to a guy who hung a U-turn just ahead of me after I announced 'on your left' - he had seen me; he didn't look back or signal before turning; nor did he stop his turn when he saw me on his left. He said he thought I was going to pass him on his right! My right hand and right side of the torso still hurt, but I was slowing down when the guy hit me, so the damage could have been worse.

25 miles today in absolutely beautiful weather - sunny, light wind, warm but not what I consider 80 anymore - mid 80s or less. No pain on the bike. I was faster than usual.

A pretty young woman initiated a conversation ... I don't think that would have happened 50 years ago.

My reaction time is down. The guy who did the U-turn looked like he was over 50, too, and his reactions were worse than mine. I have decided to ride a lot more defensively now....

When I started back on the bike I was terrified of cars. After 2 spills, it's people on the MUP.

Also, my defensive abilities are doo-doo on the last part of a ride. Trying to keep that in mind but as the joke goes;

Three things go when you get old, your vision, your hearing, and, umm, I can't remember the third thing.

Almost took an antler up the arse yesterday.
He had just hopped that fence in the shadows, saw me while in the air, landed, and made a U-turn.
I braked but kept a straight line not knowing which way he was going to turn.
All ended well for both of us and his flock of does.

Coming into the Sunrise parking lot at 6400'. Five of us did the 6200', 55 mile ride, first up to Chinook Pass, the "warmup", then down and up to Sunrise on Mt. Rainier. The backcountry is finally starting to melt out.

The regular local ride but hotter; 90 degrees.

Today at the mountain rest stop, I heard an explosion and knew right away it was a tire. I figured maybe somebody coming down from the Summit, but it was a parked e-bike, disc brakes, carbon rims, and tubeless tire. It was warm but not THAT hot - he was either running way too much pressure or the tire wasn't installed right.

At least I thought it was an ebike - maybe just some storage box near the BB.

My bike was parked right next to this one, fortunately none of that sealant mess got on my frame.

16 miles in rain and high winds.

Mike

40 miles, sunny, mid-high 80s, humid, light wind. Bonked after a rest stop at 22 miles. I usually eat some pickles and olives before riding but for got to do it today. Rough time from, say 25-30 miles while going through my memory for the closest store that could supply electrolytes. I was so messed up that I forgot the day - the closest store is closed on Monday. High 80s, maybe 90 and high winds for the next 3 days, then a gray Friday and a period of wet weather - at least that's how it looks now. I'm not happy with that, but I'm glad I did the 40 - it might be my longest ride since 2015.

Rode 27.66 miles with 1355 ft of climbing (that's a lot for central IA!) at 14.9 mph. It was a good ride followed by a picnic lunch at the Saylorville ranger station where I had started the ride. This is my favorite ride as it is a twisty winding bike path with remarkably few people and lots of great water views and tree cover. There are plenty of rest stops along the way so water is a non-issue. I rode my 1979 Trek 510 on the ride. I built the bike up around 2 years ago and it has become one of my favorite bikes.

1979 Trek 510 build

About 32 miles, sunny, mid 70s, wind 5-10 MPH. Looking at more great weather over the last 6 days of July.

Took this one out today. First ride on it since Feb. 2020. It's been all carbon road rides since then until today. lol
IMG_1338 by 2cam16, on Flickr

GREAT looking bike - RACEY! how did it feel after the Carbon wonders?

I got spoiled riding a "modern" bike.
Took awhile to get used to it. Narrow bars, smaller brake levers, friction shifting. My right fingers kept on looking for my brifter. On the other hand, the comfier steel frame felt nice for a change. Back to carbon.

Hahaha yeah. Nostalgia is sure nice to look at but modern technology is sure nice to use. I would still like a 74 Barracuda but it probably wouldn't be my first choice for a long distance drive!

South County, North County and Putnam Trailways.
Perfect weather, lovely ride. Except on the water crossings and a few places, the route has thick cool overstory.

Thought I should kinda test myself in full sun and hot (for us) temps with little shade. Savior was a bit of breeze for shady stops.

A hot 72 mile ride on the Capital Trail. Hit the wall about 68 miles. Rested on the shade and cooled off with water. Slowed down the rest of the way. Who’d have that 800 calories was not enough. Needed to take more pictures.

Kinda hot this morning.

I used to travel up that way (Katonah/Somers) for work. Just beautiful.

A day late, but yesterday I celebrated NBD with my first proper road ride in 30 years. Didn't realize how much I'd missed it. I'm too new for image upload, but it was a little over 30 miles out and back along the Ohio river. A few short 5% climbs and 17mph average.

13 or so miles with son and grandson, whom we see twice a year. Sunny, windy, cool, miles ... doesn't matter. I got to ride with son and grandson.

I'm posting this the next morning. Last night was a regular Tue/Thu club ride. Beyond that it stopped being typical. Coming out of the parking lot, someone yelled "car right" and all but three of us went anyway. When I caught them they were doing 24 mph. They were doing the typical surge-and-fall-back that you'd expect from people not really used to doing those speeds, and they eventually slowed to 18-20 mph, still with the surges though. At about 4 miles out, they led me into a pot hole field, and I lost my water bottle. Did they slow down? Not only no but HELL NO!!!

I finally caught them about a mile later, then promptly cranked it up to 27. The blinking dot in my mirror disappeared quickly, and I rode the rest of the 25-mile route alone. My GPS didn't start, so I didn't get a good recording, but going by my start and stop times I averaged a bit over 21 mph. The route had about 600 feet of climbing, so flat by some standards, but still enough to feel.

Yeah, too nice to stay indoors. Lower Sat traffic and a bit more relaxed on our 2 lanes



The local bog is no longer green. Sprinty little SL frame.

Blackberry season this year makes a roadside stop plumply pleasant. Shoulda cropped it down.

The community Response/fire dept is a good place to feel a bit red white blue.

Especially as LA84 was a blast!

Go Alexi G = 1st USA gold in road race. On a Pinarello painted similarly,.... forget the paint scheme name .

Got out with the wives!

We joined my buddy and his better half for a nice ride on the Harlem Valley Trail in Dutchess County, NY.