I rode 44.6 miles today so that I could post 100 miles for the month in the Clydesdale forum.
Actually, 101.2 miles since Monday, added to the 26 miles on Sunday makes 127 for week so far.
Though I've been on a diet for 10 1/2 weeks and lost 32.4 pounds net, my speeds have been on the rise lately.
Today's 44.6 was done at an average speed or 18.12.

Well done Ronno, those are good numbers for your weight loss and mileage. A 44.6 mile ride is an accomplishment in most anyone's book. Where is Astor? I'm in Pensacola / Central Escambia County, western border with Alabama.

I had a good ride this afternoon, looked and sounded like the thunderstorms were here but never materialized. It was a fresh Easterly wind the entire time so those legs were a bit more work but, nothing to worry about. supposed to be a wet 4th here, I'll have to ride between showers, I suppose.

Bill

They have finally finished railing on the trail over the Memorial Bridge in Palatka. They still have to clean up the rest of the debris & stuff, but its looking good! We had a ride planned Tuesday night but the rain was rolling in and we called it and went to dinner.... :P We did have time to ride the bridge to check it out though..

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=327404

Glad they put in a railing you could see though, pretty nice view from the top.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=327405

Panorama shot from the top of the bridge.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=327406

Nice. :thumb:

Got out today. Rode north on the Suncoast from SR50. Did much better than my last trip north. Got to the barricade at stopped for a gel and finished off my first bottle of water. Sure wish there was a little shade there. :o Then rode south to Spring Hill Dr. It was starting to get hot so headed back to the car. When I got there, there were two young ladies getting their cruiser bikes off the back of the car. They asked about the trail (their first time riding it). I told them to head south -- north = hills, south = fairly flat once you get past the bump just south of SR50. I told them about the lack of watering holes, etc and they headed south, with no helmets or caps. It was almost 1PM and the sun was high in the sky and hot. Hope they made it back to their car without melting. ;)
Rode a total of 29.3 miles.
Stopped at the convenience store near the trailhead for a chocolate milk. :) Yum!!!

Took my 13 y/o grandson (from Chiefland) on a ride on the Withlacoochee Trail today. We rode from Inverness to the north end and back. Only took 4.5 hours to ride 33.5 miles. He had to stop at almost every bench to rest. We (he) ran out of food and snacks on the way back to the car so we stopped at the fruit market in Hernando. He got a chocolate milk and 2 plums. That held him until we got to the car. We got home and he ate 2 sandwiches and 2 large cookies. Then we went swimming for 2 hours.
I think he's finally tired. :o

Haven't ridden since last Monday. ^^^
My grandson left on Thursday so had to get out today. Did an easy ride on the Suncoast Trail from SR50 to SR52 and back. The temperature was quite comfortable compared to what its been lately. Did a total of 34.8 miles.

Took the Litespeed out today. Rode north on the Suncoast Trail from SR50 to just north of the 35 mile marker and turned around. Rode south to Lawless Rd. Then headed back to the car. Did a total of 34.7 miles.

Did the same ride again today. :)

Down at the inlaws' for the weekend with a dozen teenagers from the youth group. FUN! Got two rides in. Saturday I went up the Trail and across to Clearwater Beach and back. It wasn't Alpe D'Huez, but I did manage (barely) the Col d' Causeway twice. Thanks to the guy on the Litespeed up ahead of me touching off my "Must Chase!" reflex, or I'd have walked the bridge the second time.

This morning I went south to Park and across to Gulf Blvd. I was virtuous and did NOT stop for donuts at The Lighthouse, and came back across Walsingham and back up the trail. About 15 miles both days. Unfortunately I still have the tick-tick-tick noise in the crank. I think it's 'cause one of the chainring bolts doesn't tighten down enough. Need to replace it. Oh yeah, and I just found and ordered off eBay a NOS spindle for my old Ultegra BB; no more pitted races on the spindle! :)

Took the Litespeed out today. Rode north on the Suncoast from SR50 to the blockade on the north end of the trail. Turned around and rode south to Spring Hill Dr. and then back to the car. Total of 29.3 miles. :o

i hit a quick run to the LBS for a tube. then, later, i hit the grocery. maybe five miles today. gotta have a rest day :rolleyes:

Wow, three rides in less than a week. I'm onto something here. :thumb: Went out Millhopper Road and back in 39th Ave and up The Wall. 20 miles at an average 15.7. And only a little bit of leg cramp at the end. Excellent! Oh and my new BB spindle showed up in the mail today. Yay!

Rode the Felt north from SR50 on the Suncoast today. Got to Bailey Hill Rd (top of the first "small hill", next to the Black Bear Bike sign) and had to stop. I was having a hard time breathing and saw spots in front of my eyes for a good 5-6 minutes. I hate having a bad heart. :notamused: Of course the extra 10 pounds I've put on since we moved here doesn't help. After I felt sort of normal again (after about 15 minutes) I turned around and headed south. Rode to Crews Lake Rd. I can ride on flat to fairly flat terrain with no problems. Turned around at Crews Lake Rd and rode to Extreme Bicycles. The homemade "CLOSED" sign is still on the door. I saw what looked like a customer's bike inside near the door -- a white Specialized with aerobars and a pink computer.
Rode back to the car for a total of 39.1 miles.


I told my wife about the scare I had and said I'm getting serious about losing weight. No more desserts for me when we go out, etc.
My cardiologist told me to lose 20-25 pounds before I left Atlanta. Now I guess we're talking 30+ pounds. :o

My wife thought about my predicament (see above) last night and said she thought it was from the heat. How can that be? I'd only gone ~5 miles to the north where there's a lot more shade and it was only 10:30 in the morning. I rode south to the sunny part of the trail and the temps only got hotter but I didn't have any problems.
I hope she's right.

Ron, it could've been heat anyway. Going from your air conditioned house and car out into 90 degree heat is an immediate systemic shock. You don't have to be in the heat for hours, nor do you have to be in the sun. If you're susceptible to such things, it's not a bad idea to drive to the ride with your air off and windows down.

It could also have been sudden drop in blood sugar OR a silent heart attack. Regardless, I'd go get checked out. If you get to the doc within 48 hours or so, there are cardiac enzymes still detectable in your blood that will tell you one way or the other if it's a heart issue.

I don't think it was a heart attack. I was watching my HR on the bike computer and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
I had my annual physical a few weeks ago and my doc said everything looked great. He said my cholesterol, BP, blood sugar, triglycerides, etc. were excellent and better than his numbers. Go figure. :rolleyes:

Funny I've never had this problem before and I usually leave for my rides around the same time.

Anyway, I'll try what you suggested to see if it helps. Thanks.

You're probably right about that ... primarily because even a silent heart attack is usually accompanied with some amount of chest pain and you didn't report any of that. But not only am I not a doctor, I don't even play one on TV! :lol:

Ron, hope you are ok. I haven't been posting or even reading much but have been riding, although usually just on the weekends. Several months back I started having issues as well. Chest pains and really out of breath. Funny though as after the first several miles I was fine. But, sometimes it would take up to 5 miles. I attributed it to putting on weight as well and not getting as much exercise as I have in the past. Even though it's after tax season, I've still been really busy and not to the gym or biking as much. I've kept riding but typically less than 20 miles at a time. Well, after several weeks (actually months) of this feeling, decided to get it checked out. Just had some tests and I'm supposed to get the results this coming week. Doc seemed to think that if I was recovering like I told him, that it isn't serious but just wanted to make sure. But, he told me to take it easy. We've been trying to get out early to ride before the heat and normally try to finish before late morning. Glad to hear your test results were good. I'm hoping mine will be as well.

Wow good to see everybody out riding!!

I had not rode in 5 days.... <sigh> until today... Just one of those busy weeks along with rainy weather... Got out for a ride Sunday though. Took both bikes with me and headed to the Palatka Lake Butler trail. Thought I would go for a mountain bike ride in Etoniah Creek State Forest & then meet up with friends a bit later on, on the paved trail. I only ended up with about 5 miles in the woods before the first friend showed up.. Met him and we rode the new section of trail east of Holloway road (not officially open yet, but we ride it on the weekends when we aren't in the workers way). It's looking good, they have most of it paved but are still working on the bridge over a creek. Met up with more friends in Florahome and rode the same section again ... LOL... Had lots-o-fun ..... and the weather turned out awesome!! Ended up riding 39 miles on the pavement ... and about 5 in the woods on the mountain bike... GREAT way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening....

Linda -- I hope your doc gives you some good news.
As soon as he gives you the ok I expect to see regular ride posts from you. ;)

I followed Bill's advice and had no problems riding the Litespeed from SR50 to the blockade on the Suncoast Trail. Turned around and headed south to Spring Hill Dr. Then headed back to the car, but stopped at Extreme Bicycles first. Saw this. Very sad. :cry:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=332006

Rode the Felt from SR50 to the blockade on the north end of the Suncoast Trail. On my way south a briefly saw (maybe 5 seconds) a young coyote. He ran out of the woods and headed south on the trail. He heard me and looked back. His tail dropped and he took off. He ran about 20 feet and then shot back into the woods. Other than that my ride to Anderson Snow park was uneventful. Didn't see any other riders. Too hot?? Rested for a bit at Anderson Snow but decided it was time to go when it started rumbling off to the west. Got to the car about 30 seconds before the rain started.
Rode a total of 34.3 miles.

Decided to ride on the Withlacoochee Trail today. Rode the Litespeed from Inverness to the north end. On my way back to the car I stopped at the farmers market in Hernando and picked up a snack.
No rain, just wet sections where the rain had already passed thru. :beer:
Not many people out riding. Too hot for them???
Did a total of 32.5 miles.

Well, we finally got a ride in on Sunday on the Withlachoochee. Got out early and rode from Holder to Hernando and back so only about 11 miles. Like Ron says, wet trails but we managed to stay dry. Monday 8 miles on the spinner at the gym. Today when I got home we took the mountain bikes out and rode around the dirt roads in the neighborhood. Only about 5 miles but 5 miles on yucky dirt.