kjc9640

41 miles today, strong southeast wind gusting to 20 mph.

RonH

I did a short 18 miles yesterday. I had a flat (first one since 2010) so decided to head home. Good thing. I ran over something else on the way home. Turns out it caused a slow leak. The tire was flat a few hours after I got home.
First time I've ridden in Atlanta traffic since January. SCARY!!!!

zzOtherlandzz

Didn't really feel like riding.. And sometimes when I feel like that and ride anyway it ends up being a great ride.. NOT today. On the plus side I did save some gas by running some errands on the bike. Bank, post office.. Checked out a laptop for a customer. Just didn't feel "it" on the bike today.. whatever "it" really is. I think ride time was about 50 minutes by the time I got back.

Can't say it was a great ride..... but glad I went...

kjc9640

Four of us were having a good ride yesterday until about mile 35 when our best rider went down hard. Long story short 4 broken ribs and broken hip. Helmet cracked in about 4 places. He is having a pin placed in the hip as I type this post. He will not be riding for a while.

cycler39

Sorry to hear something like that! Hope that he makes a full recovery.

zzOtherlandzz

I second what cycler39 said. Hope he makes a speedy and full recovery.

zzOtherlandzz

Just got back from here -----> https://www.friendsofdunnscreek.org/ About 25 miles on the mountain bike (5 or 6 of those on the road). The rain waited for us to get done riding before it hit. Set out by myself because my 2 bum friends both decided they didn't want to go. But ended up riding with Dana (owner of Putnam Bicycles in Palatka) and a couple of other guys. Dana and the friends of the park have blazed about 5 or 6 miles of trails so far. But since the park isn't opened up to the public yet the trails aren't really well traveled. But they have a good start.. After we got done riding they even conned me into trying Bike Polo.. Wasn't really enough people to actually play but I got to mess around and try it. I even managed to hit the ball some of the time

Had fun!!!!!

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... Went out for a ride Monday... It was really windy but where I was riding was protected from the wind for the most part. Went to the PLB trail and rode the 4.5 miles to the forest did a loop in the forest and rode back the 4.5 miles on the paved trail. Ended up riding almost 17 miles... GREAT ride.. Perfect temp... Even saw 3 deer, a fox and a wild turkey.

There were lots of people out enjoying the trail today. Ohhh and they put up mile markers on the trail. The one closest to where I started my ride said mile 20, there isn't 20 miles of paved trail YET so I guess that particular marker is 20 miles from where the trail will eventually start in Palatka when they get it paved all the way there. At least they are looking ahead and at least have hopes of paving the whole thing ....

mrz80

Finally got out again Sunday afternoon. Did about 15 miles down through Jonesville and back in 39th Ave. The wind was blowing 10MPH out of the west; turning east at 39th Ave was WONDERFUL . Got a bad leg cramp going up The Wall on 39th over the Interstate, but still managed to surmount the hill without having to dismount the bicycle.

kjc9640

50 miles today with one of the group, then to the hospital to see how our other rider is doing. He was supposed to be transfered to rehab Saturday but some complications are keeping him in the hospital. Our group is getting smaller, one on vacation one in the hospital and another back up north for the summer. If this keeps up I will be riding by myself

RonH

I finally got off my back side and went out riding today. My climbing muscles are shot after riding in FL for 2 months and then laying around the house for the month of April. Rode to Stone Mtn and gulped down my Gatorade and then headed home. Only did 23 miles with just a little bit of climbing on the way out and back.

RonH

I posted this in the Atlanta/Decatur thread this morning.

I tried it and it was a flop. Since my climbing muscles are shot I managed a whopping 9.6 miles of rollers and climbing.
I guess I'll try another approach, like finding a "safer" route to Stone Mtn.

zzOtherlandzz

Well.... I got invited for a ride with a guy I rode with last weekend (wish I woulda rode with Ron and Lookinup, now that I know its no big deal)... anyway.. We went here https://pwbt.weebly.com/ Its a 22 mile mountain bike trail in the Ocala National Forest. I had to get up at like 6am to get ready and make it down to the trail head by 9:30. If you read about my rides on here you KNOW i don't do morning rides... LOL There were 5 of us on the ride. I had 2 water bottles and hydrated on the drive to the trail (about 60 miles). I was doing really well .. the trails were great for the most part with a few sections of sand. I was in the middle of the pack and doing okay until we hit this on uphill section of sand. About half way up at about mile 15 or so.. BOTH of my quads cramped up bad.... I almost NEVER get cramps of any kind.... And never have had any in my quads before. When they hit it was all I could do to get off the bike and sit on the ground with my legs bent... <sigh>... At that point we were about 6 miles from where we had parked... Three of the guys took off to get my van and cut about 1.5 miles off by picking me up. I would ride for awhile...... and be okay until we hit some sand or an uphill where i had to exert more effort on the pedals and then my legs would cramp up again... Ended up riding about 21 miles ( I think... i forgot to look).... The trails were great for the most part... & I was having LOTS of fun.... until my legs cramped...

I guess part of my problem was ... I'm not used to riding at somebody else's pace.. I usually ride alone... or with my 2 friends that don't ride much.. So for the first 15 miles I may have overdid it a bit. Not sure....

LOL ... Dunno if i'll get invited again.... DOH!

pictures later!!

RonH

Yes, you should have.

Sorry you had a major problem with cramps.

goodhorse

New member... First post / reply.

Yes. A short ride of 14.2 miles in 50 minutes. Riding alone on a back country road. It was my first time riding with real bike shorts and it definitely made a difference. Thinking about joining up with a local bike shop group ride, but want to get my speed and endurance up a bit first.

. Steve L, Charleston, SC

zzOtherlandzz

Ahhh you found out early how much better it is to ride with bike shorts.... I found out after riding for about 6 years.... Now I can't stand to ride to the post office without bike shorts on.... Same goes for clipless pedals (although it only took me a couple of years to try those). It is plain weird to ride without being clipped in now.

Welcome to the forums..

zzOtherlandzz

Took a short ... really short ride today just to loosen my legs up a bit. Might try a real ride tomorrow. But Cam (the guy who invited me) called today to make sure I was okay.. So that was cool.... And actually said I'm still welcome to ride with them again.... Which was also cool..

goodhorse

Thanks for the welcome! I had been spinning for a few years at the gym and had bought clipless pedals so I did start with those. Next need to get some gloves!

zzOtherlandzz

Yep gloves are good too I'm thinking in a spin class you don't really need patches, tire levers & a pump... but the more and farther you ride you might want to have those on the bike. Maybe a few alen wrenches too..

svrider0021

I rode today for the first time in years. I just finished building my first road bike and took it out for the first time for a quick ride, probably about 7-9 miles. It was a very different experience coming from riding mountain bikes. It was very twitchy and I realized alot of things that need to be tweaked or changed for the next outing. Other than that, it was fun.

RonH

Did a short ride of 25 miles today on the Felt. Still not able to climb. I guess it will take a few weeks (or months) to get my climbing muscle built up again. Its tough to do at 67.

zzOtherlandzz

Yep.. The local bike shop has quite a few events planned this month (being national bike month). So they had a casual ride set up for today on the Palatka Lake Butler trail. They brought all of the goodies.. drinks, fruit, snacks... Had a great ride.. just a shade under 30 miles. As it turns out, I didn't have to worry about getting invited to ride again after Monday's fiasco in the woods. One of the guys from that ride called and asked if I was going to ride today.. LOL

Great ride.... had lots of fun.... Still can't con either of my 2 friends into going though...

Paved trail on the other side of the fence..

mrz80

Did 35 miles at about 17mph on Saturday with the club - good workout and "pre-burn" of calories for the massive spread of bbq chicken and pulled pork and tasty dessert items at the club picnic. "Ride to Eat!"

zzOtherlandzz

Yep.... Almost exactly 20 miles on the PLB trail... About 16 of them in the rain.... DOH!! Saw 1 other person on the trail ... Great ride though!!

RonH

I'm getting better. My average speed today was better than my last ride but slower than what is was before I spent two month riding on the flatlands of FL.
Did 27.3 miles.
The weather was gorgeous with a little breeze. Not sure where the summer weather went we had a few weeks ago (mid to hi 80S). Today was only lo to mid 70s.