droobieinop

The last couple of days I've been doing maintenance on my "race" bike. I've installed ceramic BB bearings, an Ultegra 10s 12-23 cassette and DA chain. Cleaned the frame and fork, I should polish it next. As well as a complete recable with fresh housings. Lowered my handlebars and shortened my steer tube. At one point it was naked frame with a seatpost and derailuers. I checked my fit and corrected my lever placement, and now only have to rewrap my bars. I've been riding the last two days with bare bars, but I've been riding.

42 miles total, 24 before work and 18 on the way home, 17 avg mph, 02:26+/-
that's both weds and thurs

abracapocus

kjc9640, gorgeous lake pictures!

Today, I commuted to work again. The ride in was fine, uneventful. The ride home was HOT, 94 degrees, 101 heat index and 47% humidity. Some forecasts were calling for 98, so I'm not complaining. Oh, we also had a bonus code orange smog alert.

So my plan was to take it easy. I wrapped some ice cubes in a bandanna and tied it around my neck. I took a quick water break in Piedmont Park, more for the picture than because I needed it.



The King of Pops popsicle cart was conveniently right about the half way point. Highly recommended if you're in the area. I had a green apple lemonade one. :-)



Here's where I parked in the shade to eat my popsicle. I also learned that your throat is so numb after eating a popsicle that when you go to squirt lukewarm water in it, you won't be able to feel it and you'll think that nothing came out of your water bottle until you start choking on said water and spit it everywhere. It was really graceful. Oh, and now my handlebars are sticky with popsicle juice.



And my final stop about 2 miles from home was the East Atlanta Farmer's Market. After checking out the offerings I grabbed a bunch of arugula.



When I got home, I was definitely hot and sweaty but didn't feel sick at all. So I think I survived the heat pretty well. If I can make it through these terrible summer months, the other 9 months of the year will be cake. Today's total: 19.5 miles.

kjc9640

abracapocus, I hope you are carrying more than the one water bottle that I see on your bike. You might give a thought to a camel back and put it in the freezer the night before your ride. I would think your office would have a frige that you could freeze it for your return trip home. My daughter got me one for christmas last year and it works great. With water bottles I never drank enough water but with the camel back I drink about 60oz during a 35/40 mile ride plus what I drink at my Panera Bread. It also helps keep your back cool for a while. I still have ice cold water for about 3 hours into my ride.

I would also suggest Hammer Endurolyts especially during the summer months. Always enjoy reading of your adventures.

just my .02 worth, stay hydrated.....

Velo Gator

Got out on the new baby for only 6 miles. It got dark quickly and I didn't even have reflectors on. It's going to be a weekend full of riding though :-D

zzOtherlandzz

Yep.... 24.68 miles.... On the MTB... Took off at about 5 pm with the camera mounted. Was going to ride the roads to the Florida Trail in Rice Creek ride that over to SR100 and loop back around to SR20 and home.. Didn't quite work out that way.... but had a nice ride anyway. The logging roads that are part of the trail were just cut and were nice to ride on. But I got back to the part of the trail that branches off and the weeds were above waist high... Didn't feel like riding through that with shorts on. Turned around and went to the other side of SR20 and rode the trail until the power lines... then rode the power line trail back to SR20. I think it was between 7 & 8 miles on the trails and the rest on the road..

Camera mount came apart with all of the bouncing around on the trail. So had to use some Bear Grylls ..... trail fix it... Stuffed some grass stalks into the 2 pieces that came apart and banged it back together with a stick... Held up for the rest of the ride LOL A bit of super glue will make it better than it was... because the 2 pieces were not stuck together very good.

Slo Spoke .... Did you notice what size the clothes were?? I could use some new duds.... lol

abracapocus .... Great pictures as always... Keep hanging in there, the temps will get cooler eventually..... I HOPE!!

ijen0311 .... Awesome bike.. Have fun with your new toy!!!

From upper left....

1st pic.... Is the entrance to the Florida Trail on the north side of SR20. 6.2 miles to the other side on SR100 including a 1100 foot boardwalk over a swamp.

2nd pic... Trail follows the fence for 1/3 of a mile or so before it curves north. Almost crashed along there today because of a BIG OLD SPIDER... Saw the spider and the web at the last second ... and did NOT want the spider on me. I grabbed the fence and pretty much stopped myself with the fence... Spider was ok.. and so was I because it was NOT on me.

3rd pic... This part of the trail is logging roads. Just cut, was nice to ride on. Saw some wild turkeys but they ran off before I could take a picture.

4th pic... The entrance to the trail on the south side of SR20...

5th pic... Nice trail on south side..

6th pic ... They do a bit of hunting when in season here.... DOH!!

7th pic ... If I go straight here I follow the Florida Trail. But as you can see does not look like anybody has went that way in a LONG TIME. A few years ago I rode that part all the way over to the Barge Canal south of Palatka..

8th pic.. Power line trail back to SR20... I'm most likely not supposed to be riding on it.... <shrugs> there are NO signs saying not to though.

9th & 10th pic... Power line gate.... I wonder if they have enough locks on it??

11th pic... Back to SR20 at the top of the hill...

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abracapocus

kjc9640, yes! there's another water bottle in the basket on back. I had stuffed some ice cubes in my main water bottle but they melted pretty fast. The neck ice actually lasted longer. I also tanked up on water before I left work. Electrolytes might be an issue though. I'm not currently doing anything about that. Googling for symptoms of electrolyte imbalance, it looks like the only one I could've had is muscle aches. And it was really mild. Still, I'm going to look into it.

ijen0311, lovely!

zzOtherlandzz, great pics! It is fun to see everyone else's scenery.

Today, I'm taking a break but will get in a little ride tomorrow to a class and then there's a ride afterwards so we'll see if I go on my first group ride. :-)

zzOtherlandzz

I usually freeze my clear water bottles solid. And when its about 95deg the last of the ice will melt at about 40 minutes or so. Although the one under the seat will melt a few minutes faster I guess because its more in the wind while the other one is protected a tiny amount.

kjc9640

Friday 8/06

36.9 miles today
174.1 miles this month
4291 miles this year
131 ride days LY vs. 136 ride days TY
3209 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 57% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
489 miles ahead of last year at this date

It looks as if I may be about 200 miles short of my goal (5000 miles) for the end of August.

Today was another great ride day except for the 3Hs (heat, humidity and a light head wind) I rode the SWT (Seminole Wekiva Trail) north for about 10 miles to my favorite Panera Bread where I stopped for my usual breakfast, this time it was a sesame bagel with veggie cream cheese and black coffee. With some fuel in the tank I then rode about 6 miles north through Heathrow instead of International Parkway. Heathrow is a very beautiful area with lots of shade over the road. I then turned west on Markham Woods Road and took it to SR 46. At SR 46 I turned into Foxspur which is a loop that the local clubs use as a turn around loop that brings one back to Markham Woods Rd again.

After a ride down Markham I spotted a very nice new gated community with the gate open so I decided to take a look. I have been watching this development for over a year but the gate has always been closed. The entire road system was paver bricks, and they had a beautiful wall all around the area and a very upscale entry system. At the back of the development was a very nice park area with the grounds very well kept. There wasn’t a house in the entire development; I guess it must be the economy.
About a mile further down the road I stopped at the Sylvan Lake Trail Head where I saw some wild turkeys but they moved off into the woods as I tried to get close enough for a picture. After the trail head I headed for Walgreens to get a Gatorade and refill my camel back.

The ride home was hot but the head wind was only 9mph, it was a good day with lots of friendly people.

Ozz, I went back to check on those cloths for you but they were gone

Photos 1-3 The ride through Heathrow (sand Hill Cranes on the golf course, my trusty steed and some birds on the lake)
Photos 4-5 The ride through Foxspur Those deer haven't moved in over 2 years but the birds were real
Photo 6 The development with no houses but real expensive streets
Photo 7 My Walgreen SAG stop

kjc9640

ijen0311, That is one fine looking bike...

droobieinop

Another 42 mile day, 27 this morning (1:30) and 15 this evening (0:50).

Finally more than two people on a ride, we had five today. The wind was harsh on the way home, it kept my cruising speed below 20.

this week 175 miles, time 10:01.42, 17.5 avg mph
this month "
ytd 6427 miles, time 357:51:54, 17.96 avg mph

zzOtherlandzz

Yep rode Friday (after midnight post again... uggg)... No pictures today... Same ole, same ole usual ride. Plus I didn't get any super glue to re-glue the camera mount so I could put it back on the road bike. Great tail wind on the 10 miles out.... NOT so great headwind on the 10 miles back.... The last couple of rides my left calf has started to feel like it is going to cramp, didn't actually cramp yet though. Of course this is after mentioning to slo spoke a couple of weeks ago that I hardy EVER get leg cramps.... DOH!!! Even now sitting here it feels tight..... Anyway 20.12 miles total today.... Temp was about 95 when I left and 89 when I got back. Ohhh and there was one very small piece of ice left in my front water bottle at 38.19 minutes into my ride. The ice had already melted in the other one.

Not sure where I want to ride tomorrow... But I do plan on riding......

Cool pics btw ... slo spoke...... I'm a bit bummed that I missed out on the clothes though...

droobieinop .... My cruising speed is always below 20... Into the wind, with the wind, down hill, falling off of a cliff it makes no difference... LOL I actually did manage 20mph for a couple of miles with the wind today... But that's not normal for me.

Velo Gator

Got out to the Baldwin Trail today, and even met a BFer

Went from Imeson to Baldwin and back... great ride. The new bike is fantastic, it's just a total blast.

FunkyStickman

Rode this morning with my rack and panniers on the MTB. I started out at 6:30, rode through cane fields on 311 for 6 miles, turned onto Bullrun Road for about 10 miles, stopped and chatted with some roadies at the corner store, then hit 6 miles back to the house. Felt good, and I brought 4 water bottles and 2 Cliff bars with me (love those things! All organic, too) so I decided to go double or nothing. Did the full loop again, only this time the sun came out and the wind picked up, and at points I was only turning 9 MPH into the wind. Finally turned onto highway 20 and had a tailwind back through the swamp, staying around 15MPH.

In the end, I made it, for a total of 43.5 miles. This is the longest I've ridden in one day since I did the MS tour last year.

zzOtherlandzz: I top out at about 16.5MPH on the mountain bike with a stiff tailwind. I usually average around 13. I'm jealous! It's all relative.

zzOtherlandzz

FunkyStickman ... zzOtherlandzz: I top out at about 16.5MPH on the mountain bike with a stiff tailwind. I usually average around 13. I'm jealous! It's all relative

I KNOW how it feels riding a mountain bike on the road. I put around 10k miles on my Tassajara before I got my road bike. I have a picture of 5k on the bike pc someplace and another one of 2.5k (after the batt went dead). I did have semi-slicks on it for most of the 10k though. That made a big difference for sure. What kind of tires are you running on yours? I wonder what kind of tires abracapocus has on her mountain bike??

Headed to town... its starting to rain and storm now.... but i'm taking my bike anyway.... JUST IN CASE!!

FunkyStickman

I'm currently running Kenda Kwest 1.5's on it, the 100PSI ones. They are pretty fast (for MTB tires) and fulfilled several of my primary requirements. They had to 1: fit the bike, and 2: be cheap, and 3: be cheap.

va_cyclist

32 miles this morning at 16.3 mph. The weather was pleasant, around 80 with moderate humidity, a nice change from the sweatbox we've been living in here for the past month and a half.

Big day for my bike today -- I'm installing a new compact crankset and bottom bracket. So far so good, everything went on OK, and seems to work great. I will be tweaking derailleur settings for a while until everything is perfect. Also got new tires that will go on tomorrow.

abracapocus

Saturday afternoon I took a Bike Basics for Women class at Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. It was a good class, but I could have used it a month ago before I got impatient and just got out there anyway.

The ride over there was HOT but shorter than my commute, about 6 miles each way. I didn't even check the temperature, but I left at 3:30pm. It was my first ride into downtown. I had a nice view of the capital building as I crested MLK, but didn't want to stop there for a picture. Another time. I did get a shot of my bike in front of the ABC offices before class:



The ride home was much easier at around 6pm. It had cooled slightly and there was less climbing.

Commuting has almost doubled my milage week to week, and I only rode in 2 days. I'm going to take today off and maybe try to ride in 3 days this week.

FunkyStickman & zzOtherlandzz: I've got Continental Travel Contacts on my mountain bike. I'm sure they're not the fastest tires I could get, but they sure will roll over just about anything without a problem. Glass, twigs, big rocks, etc. I don't have a bike computer so I rely on mapmyride for my stats. On early morning weekend rides I'm averaging around 11ish mph. It's a little slower during my commute. mapmyride doesn't ever pause when you stop though.

zzOtherlandzz

va_cyclist .. Nice upgrade.... I was thinking the other day (and today while riding a hilly road for Florida) that if I ever do decide to take a biking trip someplace I'm going to need a compact double or a triple. There is NO way I would be able to handle big hills otherwise. Let me know what you think of the compact double when you have a few miles on it. I have only ever ridden the double on my road bike.

FunkyStickman... You got me motivated to go for a 40 mile ride today.... I ended up riding 40.43 miles my longest ride in at least 3 years.

The wind was NOT my friend today.... every time I was getting close to changing directing and maybe hoping for a bit of a tail wind.... the wind would change direction. Ok i dunno if it was every time but it sure seemed like it DOH! Another observation there were clouds EVERYWHERE ... except over where i was riding... lol But I had a great ride... felt really strong until the last couple of miles, even with all of the hills on the ride... I rode past the van at 36 miles.... rode 2 more miles out and then the 2 back..

Rode the Palatka Lake Butler trail in Keystone Heights, then rode north past Golds Head state park and then back. They are coming along nicely on the 4 miles they are paving. They had the first layer of blacktop down, the layer that goes over the limestone. They even had sod down on both sides of the trail for about 2 miles. Looked like they had a layer of limestone down on the rest of the trail.... I can't hardly wait....

FunkyStickman

I'm flattered!! Glad you could push yourself, I'm very happy for you! I probably won't do another 40 miler for a few weeks, but I will definitely do another before the MS tour this year.

I was Slackasaurus Rex today, slept in till 8:00!! Oh the horror...

mrz80

We've been trying to get the family on a semi-regular schedule, and one of the bennies of that is Daddy gets Tuesday and Thursday evenings for Bike Time , along with the odd club ride or sponsored ride on Saturdays. This'll be the third week of the new routine and while I'm sore as all get-out, and it's murderously hot and humid, I'm loving every minute of it (more or less ). Highlight was Saturday's club ride. Between the ride itself and riding to/from, I got just under 40 miles in and felt much better than I thought I was going to. Even managed to take off on one short sprint, though doing so BEFORE coming back up the hills on Millhopper Road was something of a mistake. Looking forward to getting back on again tomorrow. W00t!

zzOtherlandzz

No ride today...... .... But I did re-tape my bars and fix the camera mount. Also put a new faucet on the kitchen sink... after the hot water handle just blew off spraying HOT water all over... Of course that happened just before my usual ride time. No ride today because of the kitchen catastrophe but will try again tomorrow...

mrz80 .... Welcome to the "did you ride today" thread.... I have never ridden down Millhopper, but I used to ride down 39th from about 13th towards I75 back when my nephew had a orthodontist appointments every month. There are some pretty good hills there for sure. Now about the only riding I do towards G.ville way is on the G.ville Hawthorne trail.

FunkyStickman

Ugh, more excuses, more slacking... the fog is really bad this morning, and I don't have the lights set up on my bike yet. Not gonna risk riding and not being seen. Maybe I'll ride this evening after I get home.

zzOtherlandzz

FunkyStickman ... Maybe you and I should start a "Why I didn't ride today" thread.... In a way that could be just as motivating as this one ...

abracapocus

No ride Sunday or Monday. Sunday I was busy and Monday I felt crappy. Crappy plus first day school is back seemed like a bad mix. Got better sleep last night so rode in to work today. I pass by a couple of schools and the traffic was much heavier around them. Other than being more to watch out for, the extra traffic was fine. Except this one stupid bus. Here, I made you guys an illustration:



So I'm going straight through that light up ahead and into the park. Grady High School is on the right. I'm riding about 3 ft. into the lane away from the parked cars on the right. The bus comes up from behind me, starts passing me, sticks on its blinker and turns right. I did not pull up next to the bus, it pulled up next to me. Assuming the worst, I went ahead and braked which was a good thing since it was going whether I was there or not. Grr. It also made me miss the light of course. Sadly, I didn't get any identifying info off the bus. I surely will next time though. I've got front and rear blinkers, it was light out and I was riding in a predictable straight line. No excuse for that crap.

At the class I took Saturday, one woman mentioned that Peachtree St. actually wasn't bad to ride. I'd been avoiding it using Piedmont instead but that stretch was a little awkward. Lots of lanes, busy, and I had to bust across them to make a left turn. Then climb through a hilly neighborhood to get to the office. So I tried Peachtree this morning and it was much better. I had to climb from the park to get to it, but then it was flat-ish the rest of the way. It worked like a cool down because once I got to the office I wasn't nearly as sweaty. The cars have a lane they can pass me in and it's a right turn to the office. Oh, and it cut a half mile off the commute. Works for me!

It'll be 92 when I leave this afternoon which is a few degrees cooler than they were predicting. Good! Where's fall, I'm ready!

zzOtherlandzz

abracapocus ... Your illustration made me smile, what it was illustrating didn't I have had the same thing happen to me more times than I really want to think about over the years. Just keep doing what your doing, stay alert and be predictable. Lately what I have been noticing is all of the casual riders that seem to break all of the rules that the rest of us try to follow. Like the other day I'm driving down a 2 lane busy highway that has NO bike shoulder and on the other side of the road is a guy on a bike IN THE ROAD riding against traffic while talking to somebody that is walking on the side of the road. (run on sentence).... Anyway he did NOT move one bit when traffic was coming. All the while I'm thinking of the bad rap he is giving the rest of us that ride. And then you read about what happened to Wolfpack's friend..... <sigh>..

Got out for a ride today IN THE WIND!! It was a bit cooler when I took off around 1:30 pm about 87 deg. Rode the 10 miles into the wind and rode around a bit more. The website I use to check the weather said the wind was 13mph .... It sure felt like it only with gusts that were higher. On the plus side.... Had a nice tail wind on the way home. Ended up riding 24.20 miles... Was a great ride.... I treated the wind as a challenge today instead of a burden... Made the difference I think.

Pic 1... Wind at the eagles club.....
Pic 2... Working on the sidewalk but blocking it & the bike lane... They didn't need to block the whole bike lane......
pic 3... Wind...... view from the "resting rock"...
pic 4... Wind...... another view from the resting rock.. A nice looking small neighborhood.

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