Yes. Very hot in Iowa today. I rode 22.67 in 1 hr 36 min
​​
13 mph wind from the South. I felt it

I was able to get over on the smooth roads today and ride 23 miles up to Red Oak creek and back. I even saw a few other road bikers out and about.
Really a nice change of pace.

It's so nice feeling my fitness returning...https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...96520e677e.jpg

Always thankful to post this thread
 

Sometimes ‘ya just have to kick yerself in the butt and go. Been thinkin about flat 50, from a General thread. If trying to make it flat = make it easy too. Easy is all pavement, mostly smooth, cager-free where possible. Easy (under those conditions) is skinny tires -25mm- pumped hard and a custom endurance bike that also allows for a low position.

low 70s, full overcast muchly, sprinkles

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^^^ Out th door, down th hill, past the bog….

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^^^ Quiet for a weekday, and the bit of sun, a fool’s optimism. Short lived!

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^^^ Thru Issaquah
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^^^^ North along Lake Sammamish
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^^^ Marymoor Park offers some stops close to the half way point.

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^^ Preserving SOME naturally marshy lakeside areas, but still mostly developed with homes.

‘Back’ way thru Issaquah toward home.

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The schedule didn't permit a ride Sunday; Monday morning was spent taking Titus, our elderly hyper-thyroid kitty, to the vet to re-test his levels; tomorrow I will be spending the day with my wife celebrating my birthday - so that leaves today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get my mileage in for the week. I chose the longest variant of my usual loops, not wanting to venture too far out, but still picking a route that makes me work if I want to ride fixed. The first fifteen miles I just rode, not stopping, just loosening up and romping along.

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Titus


At the bottom of old Woodlawn Road I was struck by the gathering of horses within their fence at the intersection. I rolled down and spoke with them, and the one on the right said hello - I think. Are two stomps "hello," or "yes," or "we're all done here, now, thank you?"

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Anyway, I wished Mr. Ed and his companions a good morning and rolled on, pausing to look back up at Old Woodlawn, which is always a satisfying strip of road.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5995a41200.jpg

I must be getting back into better shape, as I stayed on the hoods for the long descent down Mill Road. Normally I get into the hooks to better manage the hamster on a wheel spin of longer drops, but more and more fixed descents are getting almost natural. I swept back around the long way to come home, making a second pass at the top of Woodlawn, where the energetic brown dog was waiting for me. By this point it's understood he is going to stay in the grassy shoulder on the other side of the road, no hostile intent, jut an enormous doggie grin at the sheer joy of running with someone, which is probably the canine version of me riding this battered old Gitane. We parted amicably and I headed for home.

Work day yesterday, so I rode my Kona the 3/4 mile to work. Was predicted to approach 95°F, I think it touched 91 sometime in the afternoon.

Popped my back out (old grade school injury coming back to haunt me) helping a customer with something early in the AM but stuck to the shift until about 5:15 then rode home... slowly.

It was HOT.

I doubt I'll be on the road bike again until this heat moves off, besides I'm scheduled to work again tomorrow and Friday.

Will let my back tell me if that's OK or not.

Yesterday's 40 mile ride with the usual cast. It was the last of the 7 or 8 days of low humidity and fall-like temps. Back to 90's and heat index warnings the rest of this week :(

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Got out early to beat the 100+ heat expected in the MidSouth today.

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Rode 17 this morning, different path. Felt sluggish and the new knees were barking a bit as well. Better for having done it but the climb back to getting in shape is certainly not linear.

It certainly isn't, but hang in there, it gets easier!

Took. The Cannondale quick cx out this morning with the new Hunt wheels,
15.2 mines this morning
took me a few miles to get used to the bike again, coming off my Cannondale Topstone Carbon.

Got out even earlier this morning so I could do a few more miles before work, started at 5:35ish. It was 67 degrees when I started and it was a little chilly. I'll take the chill over the 99 degree forecast! Last evening we didn't even walk the dog as it was still in the low 90s. But the weather is about to break so I can start riding in the evening again.

Yes. Rode 19 miles in Door County. I was 110 in Iowa when I left and it's 65 here

Grateful to post this thread
 

A really mixed surface and mixed weather ride. about 20mi.

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Gravel ride at Cumberland State Forest yesterday. 48 miles.

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Did 19 miles on a path, felt better today than last ride. Beautiful late summer day high 60s, little cloudy and no humidity. Fairly light wind as well. Grateful for the ride.

Got out for a pre-work ride. It was only 74F this morning, so pretty nice compared to the mid-day mid-90s we've had lately. Kind of strange, isn't it, that at least around here, complaining about mid-90s is whining, but when the thermometer hits 100F on an arbitrary scale, that same complaining is an accurate observation of current conditions? FWIW, it hit 100 yesterday and is supposed to hit it again today. No whining here! :)

Anyhow, nice ride on quiet roads. Walkers were out in full force early, not so much 10 degrees and an hour and a half later. Only dog was out in the country, and he likes to come out to his ditch to say "howdy!"

Strangely quiet out in the county; the only birds I heard were some crows (of course) and a couple of woodpeckers. Passed one field where the corn was just about ready to harvest, and I thought, "That farmer is praying for another week of dry weather to harvest his corn." And a mile later, noticed cotton just starting to blossom, and I thought, "That farmer is praying for an inch of rain a week for the next month and a half, or he'll lose his crop!" Me, I'm with the cotton farmer, because the trees in my yard are getting stressed by the drought.

Back into town, and I was happy to get out of the mid-80s and into the nice air conditioning where I could turn on my computer and start working.

I got a later than usual start this morning, but at least I got out there. The temp was about 62 f degrees when I left the house this morning. But it so beats the humidity we have been having. I rode to the senior center, sat on a rocking chair on the porch, snacked and then got back on the bike to go home.

Road 15 miles this evening with my wife. Just picked up a couple Cannondale Synapses and this was our first ride together on the new bikes. Felt good on mainly flat MUP as we’re getting used to them. By far the nicest bike I’ve ever owned, although I haven’t owned that many bikes so my comparison list is small. Scheduled for a 40 mile ride on Saturday, so we’ll see how that goes.

Yes
 

Rode 27 miles in Door County today. Avg 15 mph so that was good.

I can't recommend Door County enough as a cycling destination. Great smooth roads with mostly low traffic and a lot of scenery
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...408aff7725.jpg

Grateful to post this thread
 

Sometimes ‘ya just gotta get out of your own backyard.
North Bend, WA. Not far from home but a good place to start some nice rides. About 4 hrs of saddle time today. On maybe not my best 4 hour saddle, :(, butt, we live on.

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Uncrowded on Thursday before Labor Day?
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The River - however I noticed some leaves going yellow.
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Mountains
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And trees

I haven't been riding much lately; life getting in the way. Last week my wife had minor surgery (she's doing well in her recovery). This past Tuesday morning our dog of 14 years passed away. It was relatively peaceful but he truly was the best dog and I miss him terribly.

I took Tuesday off from work and spent part of the day rebuilding the front wheel on my fixed gear bike. I got a wheelset from a friend who was selling off bike stuff when he moved to a beach house on the gulf to retire. The rear wheel was perfect but the front wheel was radial laced and I use my front brake quite a bit; it didn't work well with the radial lacing and things started to loosen up. So Tuesday I relaced it with new spokes in a 3-cross pattern. I think it came out well; I took it out for a 12 mile shakedown ride tonight and it felt great. Because the wheal was borked I hadn't ridden my fixie in almost a year. It was marvelous to ride fixed again.

Losing a dog friend is hard hard hard. For me at least.

Cycling can be a nice distraction at times.

My dad had a sign:

Every man in a lifetime
Deserves one good dog
And one good woman.

The sign started in the house, moved later to the garage, I don't know where it ended up, but it got him in the doghouse with my mom whenever he referred to the sign. She was a good woman.

Due to getting out at 7;30j am, a late start for me, I was only able to ride for 15 miles. The weather was nice at about 59 f degrees, the thing I noticed this morning was that my eyes were tearing up, a sure sign of cooler weather. I stayed on the bike path and it was a nice morning to be out riding.