zzOtherlandzz

Well I didn't buy a camera for the bike yet.... But I did spend an hour or so cleaning the bike today, that has to count for something.... LOL I think it was about 5 or so when I got dropped off at the pavement about a half mile from the house. Temp was 92 when I left and it looked like rain, LOTS of rain type clouds in the sky. I really didn't feel like riding today, I kind of had to talk myself into it. Decided I would at least ride 10 miles. I felt really bad for about 4 miles then I dunno.... just started feeling good. I ended up riding almost 10 miles out, sat down for a few minutes and started back. For about half the ride back I had a bit of a tail wind... always fun!! Ended up riding 19.86 miles. And decided to walk the 1/2 mile back to the house in the sand. Just as I'm walking up the steps to take the bike in the house it starts to rain.... That was at about 6:30 ... and now its 11:42 and its still raining... It always feels good when you go for a ride when you really don't feel like it.... and end up having a great ride.

abracapocus

I did, finally! It's pretty intimidating reading about everyone else's rides. I almost don't want to post my pokey little ride. But I'm going to because I can't be the only slow noob just trying to get off my butt and get going.

I was doing a loop by my house that has some crazy hills. Demotivating kind of hills. Then my front brakes broke, got new ones in, and it's taken me a while to get them on and adjusted. Things went smoother once I figured out I needed my old straddle cable because it's a bit longer than the one that came with the new brakes. Anyway, they still need a minor adjustment but that's all under control.

Oh, the ride. This morning I ventured out onto a busier road, through what we refer to as the intersection of doom: two different lights, 5 road branches and two gas station driveways. I hopped off and used the crosswalk. This route had nice rolling hills rather than omg I'm going to puke ones. Awesome! A dog on a leash wanted to chase me. Yay leash! I'd better get some pepper spray... The cars were all perfectly respectful. Saw two other cyclists out. They seemed to be casual riders like me. Bonus used condom in my path. Ew. And back by my house my neighbor's pitbull was off leash in his yard but surprisingly didn't eat me. He was really curious though and came into my yard to check me out. I'm glad he wasn't like my friend's pit that is greatly offended by people on wheels. My dog is just afraid of them.

So that's my pokey little ride. Hoping to double the distance this weekend. I think I can do it. After adjusting the seat and remembering to stand for road bumps I'm completely free of butthurt after this ride. Woohoo!

Distance: 3.41mi
Duration: 00:17:55
Avg Speed: 11.5mi/h

zzOtherlandzz

I did, finally! It's pretty intimidating reading about everyone else's rides. I almost don't want to post my pokey little ride. But I'm going to because I can't be the only slow noob just trying to get off my butt and get going.

Welcome aboard & don't feel intimidated in any way. Awhile ago I was posting my rides to the post office (about 6.5 miles I think .. total). I always say " A short ride is better than no ride".... Most everybody on here rides more distance than I do, it just helps keep me motivated. I actually enjoy sitting down for a few minutes every day and reading about everyone's ride.

I did get out for a ride today... I'll describe the ride in one word "WINDYandGUSTY" <----- that's my word for the day. I don't care if its a word or not.... its MY word for the day... LOL I went and started at the middle of the G.ville Hawthorne trail today. I went to the middle because I wanted the headwind on the out part of the out and back ride. NO way did I want to finish up the ride into the wind. I rode to the Hawthorne end and beyond a little bit and went back to the trail head and took a picture... My bike odometer read 4,000 miles... Had to get a shot of that. I have a 5K shot of the odometer on my old mountain bike (that I rode mostly on the roads before I got my road bike, I think the battery went dead 2 times on that bike. I remember taking a 5K shot and a 2.5k shot) I had the phone out so took a couple of other pics... One is of the parking lot and road at the Hawthorne end, The other is a shot of the start of the trail.

Great ride .... Lots of people out on the trail. I managed to avoid the rain ... I'm not sure how though.. 21.25 miles..

Parking.lot.Hawth.jpgStart.of.trail.fr.jpg4k.On.Road.Bike..jpg

Lindaosm

well, no riding this week. Hubby and I went away last weekend in our new RV with bikes in tow. Stayed in Perry, FL. Took bikes over to Keaton Beach and decided to ride around the island and down the road to explore the area. Only did about 10 miles but a nice ride. On Sunday we went to pick up our dog at the pet resort and I tripped and fell face first into the office. Now, I was already scheduled to see the ortho doc in a week or so to talk knee replacement surgery so it looks like it might be sooner than later. ( I fell directly on my left side and knee and I think I bruised a rib.) My side is feeling better this weekend and I tried to get on the bike but I'm really worried about falling again so decided to wait. I'm really nervous about gaining any weight back from not being able to ride ( Bike riding has helped me lose and keep off over 100 pounds in the last 2 years.) so I am feeling a little depressed. Can't wait to get back on the bike. I just got my new mb a few weeks ago and have only been able to ride it a few times.

abracapocus

Thanks, zzOtherlandzz! It's definitely motivating to be able to post improvements too.

This morning I left the house with the goal of reaching Grant Park. I didn't really think about how far it might be. I just figured it was further but not too far. Plus I could chill there for a few minutes then head back. This ride would also put me far enough on the road down to my neighborhood to encounter the "bike lane." Quotes are needed because it's pretty much unusable. It's full of plants growing in it, limbs from trees and bushes, glass, potholes, a couch, trenches dug up for sewer work and poorly covered up, etc. Oh well, at least there are share the road signs.

I didn't have a specific route in mind. I just started off how I'd go by car, then started cutting through some neighborhoods. As I was going through one neighborhood, the road just kept going down, down, down hill. Uh oh. Gonna have to climb out of that at some point. I found it when I got back on the main cut over road to the park. I climbed most of it but ended up pushing the last two blocks. Not too bad.

At the park, people were already setting up for their July 4th festivities. At 8:15am. Guess you need to get there early for a prime spot. I drank a little water, took a couple of pics and then headed back another way for different scenery. Still had a hill to contend with but it wasn't as bad and I was able to sit and spin my way up.

Didn't see many cyclists out. A pair of roads and another casual sort. It could've been the same guy from yesterday. It's surprising because it's cool by GA standards and the humidity is pretty low.

So today's ride was 7.57 miles, double yesterday's! Woo hoo! My butt is still in pretty good shape, but my hands got pretty cranky towards the end.

My bike at the park:



Me after half my ride:

Lindaosm

well, the knee was feeling pretty good this AM so decided to try to take the road bike out for a short ride just to try to get some exercise. We loaded up the bikes on the truck and headed over towards the airport to park and ride down where all the warehouses are. Figured there was less traffic there to deal with. At first I had a hard time getting any speed up but eventually after a mile or so was feeling pretty good. Just about the time I was feeling really good and deciding I would ride at least 10 miles, I realized I had a flat front tire. Luckily I had a spare in my bag but unfortunately, hubby forgot to put the pump in his back pack so he headed back to the truck and I waited for him to return. So, only 3.6 miles but it was great to just get back on my bike after a week. Tomorrow my plans are to head down to the Withlachochee and get some real miles in.

LindaN

kjc9640

7/4
46 miles today. Still playing with the camera mount. Tried making a video today and it worked out pretty good. Not much to see except the road in front of me but I know I can do it now. I need to work on the vibration even though it is not to bad.

78 miles this month
3558 miles this year
116 ride days LY vs 114 ride days TY
3941 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 47% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
208 miles ahead of last year at this date

WELCOME to the "did you ride forum" abracapocus, don't be afraid to put up your mileage everyone of us started at 0 at some time. When I first started I would have to take a nap after 5 miles, now I take a nap after 30 miles.

Gavush

30 mile ride with 3 neighbors last evening - had a stop at Sonic about midway through for some power aid and ice cream. Excellent ride, and interesting route having ran a regular one backwards. Got back a good bit after sunset, weather was beautiful.

Photo

kjc9640

7/6
38 miles today. Humidity was 90% when I left and 65% when I got back. Temp in the mid 70s to mid 80s and rain clouds were moving in.

116 miles this month
3596 miles this year
117 ride days LY vs 115 ride days TY
3903 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 48% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
218 miles ahead of last year at this date

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... I got out for a 27.45 mile ride today... First the wind kicked my butt for about 9 miles and then the sun came out and did the same for the last 10 miles of the ride. I was doing ok but going pretty slow against the wind then all of a sudden there was no cloud cover and uggggg I just lost all energy. Lucky I had a tail wind for the last 9 miles or I most likely would have called for a ride.. I'm glad I went for a ride.. makes me feel good... but not so sure I had a whole lot of fun while riding today... LOL

LindaN I was starting to wonder what happened to you. The last I read on here was you were excited to get your new bike and then you were gone... I thought maybe you just got on the new bike and kept riding. And then I read that you hurt your knee.... that is a BIG bummer. I hope the knee holds up so you can keep riding...

Monday I was getting ready to go to BigLots and get a cheap $25 camera they had advertised, one to mount on the bike. That same morning an acquaintanceof mine called and said they needed to sell there camera.. ended up getting a pretty good used 10mp camera for $25... Instead of the cheap 5mp one from BigLots... Ordered a $5 handlebar mount for the bike... Just waiting for it to get here now :-)

Gavush

Got in about 5 miles after dinner last evening with the Mrs. Pulled the trailer w/ our 3 year old in it, who was asleep by the time we got home. (as usual)

kjc9640

7/7
39 miles today. Humidity was 95% when I left and 61% when I got back. Temp in the mid 70s to mid 80s. Just a light sprinkle of rain. Very good ride today

155 miles this month
3635 miles this year
117 ride days LY vs 116 ride days TY
3864 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 48% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
254 miles ahead of last year at this date

Lindaosm

"LindaN I was starting to wonder what happened to you. The last I read on here was you were excited to get your new bike and then you were gone... I thought maybe you just got on the new bike and kept riding. And then I read that you hurt your knee.... that is a BIG bummer. I hope the knee holds up so you can keep riding..."

thanks for thinking of me. I have an appt with ortho dr on Friday to schedule knee replacement surgery. One of my first questions is going to be "how long will it be before I can get back on my bike?" I've already told him that I ride and he encouraged me to continue as long as I could to build up the muscles. He said it will make my recovery easier. I sure hope so as I really miss being able to ride. I think I only got about 25 miles on my new mb.
Great idea on the camera. I think I might consider doing the same thing. By the time I try to get mine out of the bag, I've missed what I wanted to take. Good luck with it.

This weekend my husband and I are going camping in Silver River State Park. I understand they have about 15 miles of trails and I am hoping I can at least get a few miles in.

Lindan

zzOtherlandzz

Great idea on the camera. I think I might consider doing the same thing. By the time I try to get mine out of the bag, I've missed what I wanted to take. Good luck with it. ..... Wasn't my idea though.... slo spoke did it first ... Sometimes you just don't feel like stopping, getting off the bike, take the phone out from under the seat, take the phone (or camera) out of the ziplock bag that you had it in just in case it rained, take the pics... and put all back away...

My sister had major knee surgery years ago... and one of the fist things the doc told her to do was to get on a stationary bike and start riding. She never did of course and still has problems to this day with her knee. I'm always buggin people to go for a ride with me.... The nephew, sister and whoever else happens to be around ... They almost never go though.. LOL Now my one friend will go sometimes, he will be all fired up and want to ride everyday for a week..... Then wont want to ride for a month .... He is in the month period right now...

NO ride for me today (wed) .... Didn't sleep well the night before and had to work all day... actually just finished up a few mins ago....

Will figure out a way to get a ride in thrs though..... I HOPE!!!

Gavush

'bout 3 or 4 miles last night w/ the family. 1 year old, 3 year old in trailer, Mrs on her mtb, 8 year old on kids bike, 12 year old on small road bike - she didn't make it out of the subdivision, flatted on the front, had her walk it back home (she was in a foul mood anyway, I wouldn't let her wear her mp3 player on the ride) Mounted a wireless computer I got NIB at goodwill for $3 to the Mrs. bike last night so she can "See how slow she is going" and keep up with the miles on our rides.

kjc9640

7/8
36.6 miles today. Humidity was 94% when I left and 60% when I got back. Temp in the mid 70s to mid 80s. Glad the temps are not up in the 90 like they are in the northeast. Very good ride today

191.9 miles this month
3671 miles this year
118 ride days LY vs 117 ride days TY
3828 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 49% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
254 miles ahead of last year at this date

Below are some photos taken from the bike mounted camera today. Some are photos of the highway portion of my ride and the others are pictures of the bike bridge over I4 in Lake Mary. I haven't seen anything exciting to take pictures of yet but you never know when an opportunity will present its' self, I plan to do the Withlacoochee Rails To Trails ride in Oct. so I should get some good photos then. My daughter says that if I show up with that thing on the front of my bike she will not ride with me. I guess I will be riding alone that day.

zzOtherlandzz

Well I got home just in time to get a short rid in today... But like I say..... "A short ride is better than NO ride".... Took off at about 7:20 pm or so... Figured I would try for a 10 mile ride before it got too dark. Knowing it was going to be a short ride I pushed a bit harder than normal .... My personal time trial (fast for me, slow for real bike rider LOL)... There was almost NO wind today.

OHHHHHH and make sure your sitting down before you read the following!!! Somebody in a car actually said "thank you" to me.... Because I slowed down and let them over...

Short but great ride..... ended up being 11.41 miles...

slo spoke .... Tell your daughter its a security device for your bike or something..... Or better yet tell her its RADAR so you can see how fast other bike riders are going.. I'm sure that will work..... LOL Still waiting on my camera mount...

Gavush

did about 24 miles with the new county bike group, 13 riders, pretty flat out and back. I mostly pace-lined with three other guys and we had a 19mph average.. I pulled the last couple of miles. Always good to hear guys you see as strong riders compared to yourself say you "were trying to kill them" pulling the line. Photo (not terribly interesting)

BottleLeaf

Did my usual 10 mile commute to work today. Haven't had much time to ride otherwise lately on account of work. Ever since my old hardtail mtb got stolen (this damn city..) been riding an old POS hybrid that I saved from the dump and restored.. Still on the lookout for a good used road or tourer and trying to save up a bit of money.

Can't wait to get off this 40lb death trap...

kjc9640

I guess I could give that a try, I don't have anything to loose...

What camera mount did you get?

abracapocus

Whew! I worked from home today and decided to try a mid day ride. I've been sticking to early morning weekend/holiday roads so far to avoid traffic and heat. But since we've easily got another two months of this, I decided to try dealing with more traffic and heat. It'll open up more riding times for me. Which means more riding. Yay!

I've been pleasantly surprised with the 4-wheelers. Still being respectful, giving me space. Maybe one piggish comment, but I didn't really pay attention. It was 95 degrees F with close to 40% humidity. A bit warmer than I can appreciate. I did close to the same ride as last time. 7.64 miles total. The way to the park was no problem. I found another route that broke up the big hill into 2 pieces so I was able to take the whole thing. My chain popped off during the ride, so I did have to stop briefly to handle that. I rested briefly at the park and drank a bunch of water. The way back was hard though. Not enough shade. It felt like the sun was cooking me. I slathered with sunscreen, so no burn, but still. I'd rather not color at all but it's pretty much unavoidable.

But hey, I made it! I was pretty wrecked when I got home, but recovered within 15 minutes except for the sweating. ;-)

zzOtherlandzz

Hang in there abracapocus!! Before long if you keep at it, the rides your taking now will seem short to you. Especially this fall when it cools down.

Slo Spoke... I got a camera mount similar to this one here... https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT I actually got it in the mail today but didn't have time to get it on the bike. I took it with me but just ran out of time again. The story of my life the last couple of days..... DOH!! Should have it mounted and take some test shots tomorrow on my ride.... I cant seem to find a setting on the camera to keep it on more that 5 minutes without it shutting off. Its weird.... I can shut power saving mode off.... but then it still has the 5 minute thing.. I'm going to have to mess with it a bit.

Another short ride today 10.25 miles.. After taking my mom to a doc appointment in town I rode home (all I really had time to do today)... About 9.5 of that into a pretty steady headwind... OHHHH it was kickin my butt up the hill into the wind... wasn't going very fast at the top of the hill for sure... Started off at about 2:30 in the afternoon..... it was HOT!!! The headwind and the heat really got the best of me today... Even if I would have had more time.... I honestly don't think I would have ridden any further today... Glad I got out for a ride though :-)

abracapocus

Thanks for the encouragement zzOtherlandzz! Each time I head out is a learning experience. This is so much better than going to the gym.

This morning before heading out, I browsed routes on mapmyride.com to get ideas. One appealed to me and also surprised me that it wasn't all that far milage wise. By car it would take me 15-20 minutes to do what took me 30 minutes on the bike. The route was almost all neighborhoods, with a couple of short portions on more main roads.

One of my favorite things when I used to ride a motorcycle was all the smells. Well, most of the smells. :-) Yesterday was garbage day so the smells weren't so nice on my ride. Today someone was baking chocolate chip cookies! And I passed a garden full of lavender. Lovely!

I chose Dellwood Park for the end point of my ride. Look at these giant trees!



It was overcast this morning, about 78 degrees with around 80% humidity. No recovery needed even though I went further, 10.2 miles total. So the sun and heat really kicks my butt!

Just for grins, here's what today's elevation looked like:

zzOtherlandzz

Well for me the smells are good & bad. When I ride the trail on the weekends there is always somebody BBQ'ing something ..... so even if i'm NOT hungry, I get hungry when I ride by them. But it sure does smell good!!!

I'm always trying to change up my rides a bit.... even if its only a little bit. I just get bored riding the same path or route everyday. Like right now I'm thinking I need to get on the Mountain bike and go ride someplace this weekend. I haven't been on the mountain bike in over a week or more..

kjc9640

7/9 No ride day
7/10 Yes
36.4 miles today. Humidity was 85% when I left and 61% when I got back. Temp in the mid 70s to mid 80s. It was a beautiful day in sunny Florida. Very good ride today

228.3 miles this month
3608 miles this year
119 ride days LY vs 118 ride days TY
3791 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 49% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
260 miles ahead of last year at this date

Today's ride as seen thru the eyes of my bike reading from left to right:
1. Some new homes that are being built along my way prices starting at a1/2 a million, any takers?
2. This is the back of a horse ranch called Painted Dreams at the intersection of Lake Sylvan Rd and lake Markum Rd. Photos do not do this place justice.
3. This the front of the horse ranch called Painted Dreams. I have no idea the price of this place but it is way, way more than a 1/2 a million.
4 & 5. Some of the Painted Dreams horses.
6. This is a group that passed me on Lake Sylvan Rd at about the speed of sound, but I caught them at the next intersection.
7. It didn't take long for them to drop me again. (I think they had to be doping so I am claiming foul)