I have not been on here in over a year and just got back into cycling again. Today was only the third ride of the year for me - started up again about a week ago.

Only about 8 miles today, but almost exactly 1/2 the trip is incline and pulling about 70 lbs worth of dog, groceries, and crap in my trailer. Tough enough when you're 54 and over-weight!

I forgot how much I love to ride though! :thumb:

Another very hot one, and felt kinda bonkish near the end of a 45 mile ride. I fell behind the hydration curve once again. I'm gonna need more than two large bottles on board for these kind of rides.

Would the two large bottles plus a Camelback be an option?
The only other thing I can think of would be add a rack with either Panniers, trunk, or both with extra water.

JUst starting out...rode 2 miles on my new ride! Lol! Hey...it is a start!
Sandy

One month in and going strong
 

I did 15 miles to day, 57 for the week. My goal was 50. I've noticed that my appetite has increased, but I have lost 6 lbs.

55 miles on a beautiful warm day. Met a woman, who was a little lost, had ridden down from Vancouver Washington, 150+ miles over a 4,400' pass on the way to the Tetons she said. Pulling a trailer and two panniers. She said she was 77 years old. She's heading across the dessert here, it's going to be 90° tomorrow, and 98° Sunday. She said she had lot of water. Said she was an experienced tourer, I helped her as much as I could. I was and still am a little concerned for her safety.

Sounds like she's doing pretty well. You did what you could. Any more might seem condescending or insulting to someone who still values independence. And she almost certainly understands the risks and rewards.

My mom is 78 and some days can't navigate between her apartment and mailbox or the store down the street without getting lost. Mom never understood or accepted the value of even the most moderate exercise to keep oxygenated blood flowing to the brain, and her quality of life has been pretty poor for more than a decade. She knows she's more alert, better oriented and capable if she'll just get up and walk and move around, but most days she'd rather sit or sleep all day, rarely moving a muscle.

Did a very quick 6.65 miles around the neighborhood side streets, just to get my C&V '85 Fuji out for a spin. I assume everyone must have already ridden earlier when it was cooler out, possibly at sunrise. It is already 86° here in Virginia at 10:00am with humidity to boot. Ick... I should have gone out earlier as soon as I woke up. *sigh* live and learn... :o

Getting ready to go. Then again, look close - Oops... I had forgotten my water bottle, and ran back in the house to get it.
Edit: It's okay - The old Fuji is not scratching my wife's Chevy Cobalt. The left handlebar is gently resting on the hood, and the front tire & rim are just barely touching the fender and wheel well.
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps4bp0z4uq.jpg


Funny story from the quick ride: While I was out, I came up on a turtle in the road, so being a good samaritan, I stopped, picked him up and moved him into the grass on the other side of the road. After I continued on, I started chuckling to myself (being the somewhat goofball that I am), thinking that I should have spoken to the turtle when I picked him up, and said (imitating "Crush" - the sea turtle character from that old animated kids movie "Finding Nemo") ---- "Dude, whoa, like, you'll get run over, man!" :lol: :)

Another hot, energy draining, 40 mile ride with my two riding buddies. I have a 60 mile ride scheduled for tomorrow but I'm not sure that I'll be able to finish it if it's as hot as it was today.

20.8 miles (33.5k). 74° to start (8:30) and 89° at 11:30, lotza sunshine.
No ride yesterday, spent the day with my left hand/wrist on fire in a long steel lined brace from knuckles to half-way to elbow at the VA getting critical meds they hadn't yet sent. This RA is the worst pain I've ever felt, most regular pain meds (IBU, Tylenol, Naproxen, Vicodin) doesn't help much. Got a one week supply (8 pills) while I'm waiting for delivery of the regular order. Getting old is NOT for the faint of heart.
Had the big brace on today (getting the riding glove on over it was a challenge) and just downshifted using the Big Chain Ring (it works). There aren't any super-hills on my regular route.

2017: 2,569m (4,135k)♂Total: 17,558m (28,256k)


Someone once told me, "Don't get old—there's no future in it."

Still climbing the ladder in conditioning. Rode a 16mi personal speed route. With hills and headwinds it's always a goal to finish under an hour. Today, dealing with that stiff headwind on the first half was a real hoot. :)

Monsoons yesterday but dry and sunny today. 27 solo miles, mostly in Morgan and Johnson counties.
Saw this roadkill not far from home that didn't meet the Loudon Wainwright III test. (Dead skunk? Yes. Middle of the road? No. Stinkin' to high heaven? Not so much.)
City getting ready to put a fresh smooth layer of asphalt on this particular stretch of road near me.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...nMM/skunk1.jpg

45 miles with the club this AM. We left at 7:30 and beat most of the heat.

Planned on a 12:01AM departure but didn't make it until 12:08AM. The temperature was 82F and 5 minutes after I started so did the rains. Roads were drying nicely so at 20 miles I stopped back for a dry kit change. Tooled around under clearing skies and made it back home after 92 miles for another kit change only this time it was due to perspiration not precipitation. Got back out to join the LBS gang and totaled out at 152 miles for the morning.

The LBS 60 miler was on the borrowed 2017 Roubaix Expert and I have to admit that there must be motors hidden some where. The bike ROCKED!!!!

12 mile comfy hybrid cruise around the neighborhood to try out the freshly waxed chain. I may become a waxed chain convert. It's dead quiet and didn't pick up any grit or schmutz from splashing through puddles and mud.

Lovely cool evening after a long night of thunderstorms and rainy morning. Sure beats yesterday's 106F temp. Even made it worth the hassle of having no electricity most of the day after a transformer blew.

I may try wax instead of oil on the Centurion's Suntour chain next. Those chains are hard to find now and expensive when you can find 'em. And the Suntour GPX drivetrain seems unusually noisy no matter how much I tweak it.

Woo-hoo! I just got back from my longest bicycle ride - EVER - and I'm fine, legs are a little tired, but I'm okay. This was awesome! I rode way out past the Manakin Sabot area, west of Richmond, Virginia, and veered off onto a country road where there was nobody around, no traffic, etc.. and I just kept going and going, losing all sense of time, no worries or concerns, just a peaceful country road and my bicycle. I could have stayed out for hours and hours, you know? But I eventually found my way back around, back towards Manakin Rd again and rode back home. I charged up some batteries for my old ancient Garmin eTrex GPS (surprisingly enough - it still works!) and clipped it onto the handlebars. The photos below tell the story... :thumb:

First, here's the map layout of my 39 mile ride from MapMyRide app.
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...psn9clnitz.jpg


I stopped along Miller Rd (mile 14 on the map) to take a big swig from my water bottle, and snap a photo of the quiet country road.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...psmalx6xtx.jpg


Here's a really cool perspective... You are on Shallow Well Rd at mile 18.6 (on the GPS), and makes it look like you are sitting on
my classic '85 Fuji Del Rey road bike! :)

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps04bfumci.jpg


Just pulled into the driveway, 2 hours and 49 minutes later for a grand total of 39 miles... What a great ride!! :D

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...psxylroo2t.jpg

23.7 miles (38.1k) on the Roubaix. Left hand/wrist is still wrapped up in a smaller brace, riding in the upper chain ring (50T) and downshifting to 3rd or 2nd when necessary. It's working. 75° to start (8:00)—93° to finish (11:00). Time was 1:36:50, not too shabby for a Grumpy Old Man.

2017: 2,593m (4,173k)♂Total: 17,581m (28,295k)


For every person on earth, there are roughly 170 million insects.
(and they target cyclists!)

61 miles in the sauna. Winds were between 2-4 mph, not enough to keep you cool in 90º+ temps. Kept the speed between 14-16 mph to keep from overheating. No wind in the summer is a big problem for those of us that don't perspire.

19+ miles on what might have been the last good day for a while. Nice long hill going out, nice long glide coming back.

24 tandem miles with my favorite stoker. Warm but not hot, and dry, weather. Some mild hills, but several of them involved rollers, which is always a good thing on a tandem or a recumbent, or a tandem recumbent.

52.5 miles yesterday and 35 today. Not bad considering last year at this time I was being released from rehab after pelvic surgery to correct a malunion of a fracture which necessitated a revision of a total hip replacement. Finally starting to feel like my old self on the bike (emphasis on OLD)

Saturday -- Rowan and I cycled what was probably the most difficult / challenging 200 km randonnee (long distance cycling event ) I've ever done. 210 km with 2700 metres of climbing in a heat we haven't experienced since we were in Queensland at Easter in 2016.

Rowan was all right in the heat. He is usually the one who struggles with hot temperatures. But this time it was me. By about the half way point I knew I was battling heat exhaustion. I think May's surgery put a dent in my fitness level.

Nevertheless we finished the ride within the time limit ... with 30 min to spare! Our total time was 13 hours.

And then went for a 2-3 km walk to find dinner!

18 miles on what was supposed to be a rest day. But the bike was just sitting there... and the road was out there... and I had an hour or so to spare... and it was a lovely warm but not muggy evening...

41 miles today, it was pretty hot, 104°F but I know where the irrigation canals are and stop to soak my jersey and sun sleeves, some times my shorts too. Cools me right down. An hour after I got home the winds picked up to over 40 MPH, blowing dust and everything else with it for 20 minutes. I'm very glad I was home before that.

No riding today... Just got a call from an older buddy of mine, and we're hitting the golf course soon. Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but, if I could only figure out that gentle little pitch shot up onto the green, and have the ball stop 2 ft from the cup, I'd be ready for the PGA tour! :lol:
Granted, I easily out-drive my buddy (I'm one of those guys who can hit the ball a country mile off the tee..) but he always wins in the end.