Abracapocus: Cool pics! I probably know some of the folks in that crowd; I hang with some serious ubergeeks.

Went on what I thought was gonna be too much ride today - the Gainesville club "HighBees" did a 55miler, and like an idiot I signed up. Along with the miles too/from the ride start I got in 65 miles at an average 16.something. There were some stretches we were MOVING - double pacelines at 20 to 21 for mile after mile. I've learned an interesting thing: My legs are not the limiting factor, my *arms* are. Time to get out the curling bar on no-ride days!

Now if our new center could only settle down and GET the football to Brantley, everything would be wonderful.

Sunday 9/05/2010
31.0 miles today
140 miles this month
4688 miles this year
152 ride days LY vs. 151 ride days TY
2811 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 62.5% of my goal.
95 miles ahead of last year at this date

Motivation meter today 10.0 on a scale of 1-10

A little warmer today but still a perfect day to ride, light wind from the WNW (5-10 mph)and temps a little higher than yesterday low 80s to low 90s. I could have and should have done more, perhaps I will go out again later. Had the camera with me but did not see anything worth taking it out for.

This Week: dist 293.26 time 16:13:13 avg mph 18.080
Daily Averages: dist 44.61 time 2:28:03
This Month: dist 194.52 time 10:56:51 avg mph 17.768
Weekly Averages: dist 297.71 time 16:45:17
Daily Averages: dist 42.53 time 2:23:37
Last Month: dist 1,143.83 time 64:07:40 avg mph 17.837
This Year to Date: dist 7,590.5 time 422:54:43 avg mph 17.948

droobieinop, those are some serious numbers. good job.

Thanks, its the advantage of working in a shop that allows me the saddle time to surpass last year's recorded 7k in 8 months.

I had 50 planned this morning but, we got a late start and only did 30. Out the door at 7 in the morning for 75-80. Its a bianual, unsanctioned ride that happens on Memorial Day and Labor Day. This is the ride where two riders were stabbed in the parking lot we'd been allowed to use for staging, no more.

btw, the attacker has been in jail for 3 mths and in a plea bargin he'll serve 9 more, plus the usual other things.

Had a strange experience today. I was riding my usual 35 mile ride and at 10.89 miles my wireless computer (Planet Bike Protege 9.0 - wireless) stopped counting. I think it was still receiving from the transmitter because the display stayed on. When theres no output from the transmitter the display goes to sleep, but the display stayed on for the full 35 miles. About every 10 minutes the display would blink off for a second and then come back on. Same info displayed each time - 10.89 miles, same ride time, same average speed. The clock and the temperature display were working correctly. Tried new batteries but it didn't help. Guess its time for a new computer. I'm thinking of getting a Cateye Adventure.

Glad to hear that the guy will do some time. How did the 2 guys that were stabbed make out. I hope they recovered OK.

Our friend that got the worst of it is apparently doing well. He took 13th out of 45 in his Labor Day Weekend race today.

Yep I rode Sunday after Slo Spoke & abracapocus reminded me of my priorities .... Ride first...... Lawn care (NOT FIRST) ......

Rode from the trail head east of Keystone Heights up to Golds Head state park. Rode around in the park a bit too. I almost stopped before I turned north on SR21, I was NOT feeling very good. Then I got to thinking I can go home and not feel good (and feel bad that I didn't ride more)..... Or I can just keep going and not feel good. Climbed the first hill past Hardee's & the other fast food places and started to feel good. By the time I climbed all of the hills up to the park I was feeling really good.... Ended up riding 26.85 miles. VERY GLAD I decided to keep riding There was almost nobody on the trail or road, and not many people at the park.

1st pic... Just a cool looking branch that hangs really close to the ground. There is a really deep ravine behind the fence. I could hear running water at the bottom but could not see it through all of the trees. There is another spot where you can take some stairs down into the ravine... didn't think that would be fun hauling my bike down a bunch of stairs though.

2nd pic... Is a likeness of the moss man that haunts the park....


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https://connect.garmin.com/activity/47849317

My ride data for today, just under 60 miles, just under 3 hours with an average speed just under 20 mph.
I flatted about 12 miles in and rode with regular/friend from the shop the rest of the way, doing most of the work for the next 20+ miles. Then we met up with another small group for the last 20+ miles.

Oh, I did ride today, about 23-24 miles on an awesome trail. But I'm too beat to tell you about it right now. I'll fill you guys in tomorrow.

I didn't ride at all this weekend, I overhauled the bike instead. Everything is working, getting ready to do the weekday commute thing tomorrow. I need to do some more long ride soon... the MS150 is coming up fast!

mrz80, oh, I'm surrounded by nerds too. I've never actually been to Dragoncon though, mostly because I'm not a fangirl and I hate crowds.

zzOtherlandzz, sometimes you can work though the ick. I was feeling crappy Sunday. Maybe I should've tried to work in a ride. :-)

Yes, regular commute to work this morning. But I owe you guys pics from Monday's ride.

A friend and I threw the bikes on his car and headed to the Arabia Mountain Trail. We hopped on at the "top" on the map which is about 15-20 minutes from my house. It's kind of weird because you start in a mall parking lot. It's hard to see where the trail starts, but there were other folks there to follow.

We were definitely an interesting pair on the trail. My friend's bike is a fixie and weighs half mine. And, well, you know mine, 34lbs of mountain bike, bags and basket. Although I have to say it feels lighter when it isn't loaded up with all my work crap. The trail was hilly but the elevation change was about the same as my work commute, if one is to believe mapmyride. I felt bad for my friend on the hills. A few were a little rough. Speaking of mapmyride, I think I've found the upper limit of its usefulness, about 23ish miles. At the end I was at 10% battery life and it ate the second leg of the trip. Grr. Anyway, I guess it's time for a cheap bike computer.

This trail is gorgeous. Nice surface pretty clean of debris. Winding through the woods, rolling hills, over creeks and a river, then it ends at a lake. Other than lizards, I didn't really see any wildlife. There was definitely evidence of deer (poop.) As we rode by one section I got the strong smell of livestock. It was a pretty wooded area so it might've been some deer. There were a good number of people on the trail biking, walking dogs, jogging, but not too many. Enough people around though that I might feel comfortable biking it alone.

Enough yappin', here are the pics:

Resting at the end of the trail on the map, but we went a little further and ended up at a lake.



The woods:



The lake at the end:



A guy fishing on the lake:



Bridge over the river:



Small covered bridge:



I definitely see myself going back here. I wonder if they clean the path of debris? It's mostly in the trees and it could easily be taken over by pine needles, acorns, etc. It could be pretty hazardous on some of the downhills.

Tuesday 9/07/2010
25.0 miles today
165 miles this month
4713 miles this year
153 ride days LY vs. 152 ride days TY
2786 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 62.8% of my goal.
97 miles ahead of last year at this date

Motivation meter today 8.50 on a scale of 1-10

My daughter came over from St Pete last night to spend some time with me, so we got out late today and managed to get in 25 as the storm clouds gathered. The temps were in the mid 70s to mid 80s and only a light wind. We hope to get a better ride in tomorrow. Had the camera with me but saw nothing worth photographing.

abracapocus, great parade photos

abracapocus WHOA that first shot of the lake is GORGEOUS. Looks like a nice trail; is it all paved? Might have to cart bikes to Atlanta next time the job sends me up that way! Gotta ride to afford the calorie budget for Intermezzo.

Just did my usual Tuesday ride - about 19-1/2 miles at 15.8mph up to Hague and back. Got dark quick. Glad I got those cheap little mondo bright LED lights (SPOK by Planet Bike). Cooldown/recovery didn't take long at all; I must be getting in shape or something similar.

Anyone planning on doing the Tour de Tow over in Bartow on the 18th? I'm thinking of dragging my Jeanne Longo wannabe 13yo down with me for the 35 mile loop.

mrz80, totally paved the whole way. Well marked, but it helps to print off the pdf from their website. Highly recommended!

Yep.... 20.33 miles, just the normal usual ride. I almost quit after riding about 5 miles into the 12-15mph headwind, but decided not to wuss out and kept going. The ride back was pretty nice, even averaged 20mph for a couple of miles (with the tailwind).

abracapocus .... The picture below was as close to ... photogenic wildlife. :-) ... that I could get ... ..... (not a very good picture, facing the sun & moving at about 17mph).... But I tried lol

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37 miles today, late start, cafe stop, and a couple of flats. I coulda stayed in bed for all that.
131 miles this week and working towards the NFBC Endless Summer Watermelon ride in St Augustine sunday. It'll go up SR 13 and then back down A1A and across the Vilano bridge after about 93 miles, then over the bridge of lions and back to the ampitheatre.

zzOtherlandzz, hey, horses count! Heck, I haven't even had my camera accessible the last two rides in to work.

Tuesday was shlepp day. Not only did I ride to work and take all the regular crap that goes with that, I had 3 ebay items to mail off. So after work I rode to the post office and dealt with that. My 2nd time locking up! That seems silly considering how much riding I've been doing, but I'm either doing loops or taking my bike inside.

Wednesday I decided to travel a bit lighter and left my laptop at home. Even leaving that one thing off was noticeable. The weather man was a liar and I got rained on pretty good for about 10 minutes. Enough that I pulled over and bagged my electronics. So about 19 miles Tue and 18 on Wed. I was going to push through and ride to work today too, but my body says it wants a break. I'm sure I'll regret it all day. :-)

Also, still obsessively watching Craigslist for road bike possibilities.

Taking it easy for a few days before the NFBC Endless Summer Watermelon Ride in St Augustine on Sunday. So far, since being back on the bike, the century rides I've done have been mostly solo efforts. Most of the local racers don't go the full 100 and take the next shorter option, usually 70-80 miles. I'm still not quite strong enough to stay on with them but, the 20 avg mph that I feel like I can just about do all day, is too fast for most of the recreational riders that are out for the social distance and frequent SAG stops.

Casual ride today.
Time: 01:17:03
Distance: 22.05 mi
Avg Speed: 17.2 mph
Avg Temperature: 79.8 °F
Avg HR: 109 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 79 rpm

This Week: 153.21 mi
This Month: 347.73 mi
Last Month: 1143.83 mi
This YTD: 7743.71 mi

Predictions;
This Week: 297.11 mi
This Month: 1168.92 mi
This Year: 11,801.88 mi

Thursday 9/09/2010
33.10 miles today
198.8 miles this month
4746 miles this year
155 ride days LY vs. 153 ride days TY
2753 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 63% of my goal.
44 miles ahead of last year at this date

Motivation meter today 10.0 on a scale of 1-10

Good solo ride today. Temps in the mid 70s to mid 80s. However the humidity was very high but no wind to contend with. I did my usual ride on the Seminole Wekiva Trail to Panera Bread for breakfast then did a loop through Mandarin Estates to add on some mileage. There is some elevation change in Mandarin so if you stay in the smaller gears on the back you can make the quads burn a little bit. The roads are wide and there is little traffic for about six miles.

Just got in from my Thursday ride. Kept it short and tried to keep it faster than usual, and succeeded. 16-1/2 miles at 16-1/2 mph. Yay! Ran up 441 and down 43rd Street. Just cooling down before dinner, playing around on the radio. Heh, need to figure out a lightweight 2m rig for th' bike.

Yep got out for a ride today. Dark haired friend with boots decided to go today, provided I ride my mountain bike LOL Decided to go check out the progress on the Palatka Lake Butler trail. It was after 5pm so we figured the workers would be off the trail..... Yep we figured WRONG they were still working. Passed a woman in a hard hat that said we had to get off the trail because they were paving ahead & there would be dump trucks. We we exited the trail and rode on SR100 for a bit and got back on the trail. ALREADY PAVED!! I would say 2/3 of the 4 mile section is paved. So in another couple of weeks they will have it done

Anyway... My friend every time we get to a hill he will just hammer it as hard as he can to the top. So by the time we are about 7 miles out he says "I don't think I'm going to make it back especially up those hills on the road (see pic). I'm like there is such a thing as pacing yourself... We laugh and he says "but its fun to hammer up the hills".... I'm like yes it is but when your out riding by yourself you have to make it back to the car.... LOL He made it all the way back to the van though.... And yep hammered up all but the last hill.. Fun ride 14.97 for me .... a bit over 15 for him he had to go back and pick up his hat.. LOL

1st & 2nd pic....... Just pics of the trial with pavement on it....

3rd pic..... Not a very good pic, but its a pic of the last hill to the van....

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That trail is starting to look good. I dream of a day when our major cities are connected by rails to trails greenways.

Last weekend friends and I rode to Grandin where the paving starts. And while waiting for our ride we talked to a guy that lives right next to the trail. He was telling us that the next section another 3 to 4 miles through Florahome is supposed to be paved by 2013... I don't know if that's true or not, but I hope so. When they get the current section done It will be a nice ride for me starting in Granding to Keystone & then up to Golds Head. And If I get stronger as a rider there is lots more miles to be had going further up SR21.