Back to the game: Your Riding Reports...

[Kevan]

I think it was Shirley Maclaine who used the perfect expression in the film "Terms of Endearment", I want to use here for the start of this thread. This long holiday weekend's riding was "fun-f**king fantastic!" The Weather has been a perfect 10 in the NY metropolitan area and the roadies were all out in bloom.

Thursday (I was off the week); I just went off for a soft ride. No big deal, no particular direction, no interest in burning 10,000 calories or building muscles on top of other muscles, I just went for a ride on my Outer Limits.

What's with SO's telling you, "Take as long as you want!", when I expected I'd only want to be out for an hour or so.

Well anyway, I found myself on a road that was in the process of repair and there was lots of pebbly scatter along the road's shoulder that was more annoying than anything to ride on so I moved myself over to the nearby bike trail, heading north, figuring it wouldn't be too busy and certainly free from the debris that was tinging the bottom side of my frame. Once on the trail, I caught up to a guy riding a beautiful orange Rambouillet and the two of us set out for the northern end of the trail up in Carmel NY. No big deal, very casual riding, but got to know this chap Don, talk bikes, and when we got to Carmel, I called home and reported I was taking her up on the offer and wouldn't be home for another 2 hours. Pace? Who knows? Certainly not fast, I think the conversation was the faster cadence. Got home just in time for going out to dinner.

Friday, chores to do, but decided I’d get back on the trail and head down to its southern end just so I could claim I completed the job (Entire length of the trail is only something like 40 miles… so please, no RAAM team requests.). Rode by myself again with Outer Limits and other than hitting a pothole that nearly twisted the bar from my grasp and almost dumped me unceremoniously on bike path doing...what... 12-14mph… that's all there was to report.

Saturday, club ride is scheduled, but my lack of regular attendance has me a bit unnerved so rather than hang off the back of that crowd, I decide again to ride on my own, this time with the Calfee and do some hill climbing and get some faster miles. My job was to reel-in anyone I saw in front of me and while honestly there weren't too many, they all got hauled in and dumped into the bucket. Generally, the longer rides I enjoy better with some company, but I was concentrating on my workout and my route and but for a few times never really felt so all alone. Finally, the average speed is kicked up to a respectable average which I can only estimate to be about 17+, what with the hills I had selected in my route and the mileage was better than 50.

Sunday, friend Greg and I get out for a casual ride together. We do a nice hilly 45 mile loop and catch up on each other's lives. The US Open and tennis, and a particularly attractive Russian player were the subjects of the ride.

Today, Monday, the club buddies noticed my absence (probably enjoying it!) and called me to come along with them today for their flat 40 mile recovery ride. Perfect capper to a long weekend! Why not??? Got my pal Greg to join in and off we went up to the town of Katonah (home of friend Mikemets and Sandy's bro, me thinks) for a bagel and the return trip.

When on the perfect ride, who cares about anything, but the wheel meeting the road? The morning was perfect, a little chilly even. The sky is beautifully clear and blue; the sense of season's change is in the air. Yup, this was one fun-f**king fantastic riding weekend.

[Ray]

Perfect weather here in the Philly exurbs as well. A little chilly in the morning and highs around 80. I'd been riding a lot, but hadn't done many long rides this year (not working means riding more often and, ironically, not as many long rides). So, in preparation for toughest century of the year yesterday, I took it REAL easy last week. 40 hardish miles on Monday, about 50 pretty relaxed miles on Thursday, and 15 or so on Saturday just to keep from developing actual rust.

Yesterday, 106 miles with somewhere between 7,000 and 9,000 feet of climbing, depending on whose altimeter is to be believed. Only a handfull of memorably difficult climbs, but constantly going up or down without a lot of flat except at the very beginning and very end. As usual, went too hard early staying with groups of riders who were only doing the shorter options - will I ever learn? :crap: Zillions of riders until the turnoffs for the 50 and 65 mile rides, then it thinned out and you started seeing the same people on the road and in the rest stops the rest of the way in with a much saner pace imposing itself. Always a tough ride, but stiff winds straight out of the north made the always difficult section from mile 45-68 particularly brutal. A lot of folks looking like death at the 68 mile rest stop, yours truly most definitely included. A few folks sagged in at that point, but most of us kept on trucking, wondering how our legs had another 30+ miles in them. After struggling for a while, I caught a second wind and actually felt pretty strong for about the last 20 miles or so, hammering on the flats and surviving on the hills. I only do 2-3 centuries most years and they still represent a big challenge for me, although I've never done one that wasn't at least fairly hilly. I always seem to hit a stretch that makes me wonder why I put myself through it, but then I usually recover enough to keep coming back for more. It's always real satisfying seeing the computer tick over the 100 mile point.

Rode real easy for about an hour around town in street clothes today, just to spin my legs a little bit and work some of the soreness out. I'll get a couple of rides in this week and then do another, slightly less challenging, century next Sunday.

I love this time of year :rolleyes:

-Ray

[Len J]

does the weather get any better than this?

I'm trying to get ready for the Civil War century next weekend, so decided to pile on some milage this weekend. (I only get to ride on weekends so this is it)

Saturday. Did 55 miles with two friends. We attacked every uphill and every headwindand really worked on strength/endurance. Came home exausted and happy.

Sunday: Decided I needed a long day. Left the house at 6:45, rode 25 miles reasonably hard and then met three friends for a 55 miler. Turned into a constant 3 hour, no break, hammerfest, entire 80 miles with warm up and cool down my avg speed while the front wheel was moving was 19.2 mph (That may s**k for some of you, but for me that's pretty good riding)........I honestly don't know if I could have done another mile. But ended with that "good feeling exaustion".

Monday: Met 2 friends for a couple of hour recovery ride. Did 2.5 hours, about 40 miles and never got above low zone two.....mostly zone 1. felt goood to stretch the legs and work out the stiffness.

3 days, 175 miles......not bad for a weekend rider.

Now for the hills........Anybody else doing the civil War?

Len

[Tom]

8/22-8/26 off the bike, in The Drunk One's fair city at a conference. At least the Indian food was better than at home, but the Italian food on Boylston Street would get laughed out of Old Dorp.

- Saturday past: 42 up to Mariaville and back. Not good.
- Sunday past: Time to do roads I am not familiar with... at least in that direction. 72 miles, not too much climbing but *** backwards to the wind up hills I normally come down. I discover why I can go so fast down a couple of stretches... they're bigger than they look.
- Monday 4:30pm it hits the fan at work. Two all nighters ensue. I'm getting too old for this ****.
- Tuesday: Ow. My head hurts when I don't sleep.
- Wednesday: Screw work. I sleep from 8 in the morning until 2pm, get up and ride a river loop. 32 miles. How come the 20-25 mile an hour south wind that pounded me went away when I turned back toward home?
- Thursday: 32 miles before work.
- Friday: Screw you all, I'm going home. 48 miles about 2 in the afternoon.
- Saturday: Crawford to Ennis to 159 to 30 to Amsterdam to home. Finally, out into the wind and chasing in front of it on the way home... hero road. 55 miles or so. Crawford and Ennis beat me up pretty good. Pulled right out of my cleat on Ennis and nearly fell off the bike.
- Sunday: Yup, I'm stupid. Hook up with the SCC boys, could have cut off early but noooo... 71 miles. G.L. really likes his new Concours!
- Monday: 32 miles, never left my little ring. I'm learning.
- Today: I'm writing this instead of riding.

Two more river loops, maybe three and then the local club century Sat., dunno about Sunday. Maybe the metric, maybe back to back centuries? We'll see...

[davids]

Let's go back to early August:

8/4 through 8/9: In Montreal. Lovely as usual, but my riding was limited to a morning on a tandem apparently designed for torture - My wife ended up with an extremely sore backside after 90 minutes in the saddle, so we returned the bike to the (cheap-@ss) rental shop in the Old City, and went back to walking...

Wednesday, 8/10: Back home, and anxious for a good ride before work. Alas, the ride was not good. About nine miles into it, I get out of the saddle to drive up a short hill as I come around a sharp right hand turn. I press down on the pedal and, next thing I know, I'm sliding down the road on my side. :crap: Fortunately, the driver behind me had given me some space (he even stopped to ask if I was OK!) I was OK, but barely. I picked some gravel out of the wounds on my forearm, and headed home to clean up. Total damage to me: 8" of scrapes on my right arm, a pancake-sized abrasion on my right hip (with matching bruise underneath) and a small wound on my knee. Ouch. Fortunately, the bike came through completely unscathed. First time I've gone down in 15 years...

Friday, 8/12: I return to the scene of the crime, looking for clues to the cause of my fall. I don't see a thing. I'm guessing it was a combination of cornering, accelerating, and hitting some road oil. I do 25 miles, trying not to tense up as I corner.

Saturday, 8/13: 35 hot, humid miles. I'm soaking with sweat and dragging. Ick. I clean up the Seven and put it away for a week. I get the Klein off the rack, lube the chain and pump up the tires for a week in Maine.

Sunday 8/14 - Saturday 8/20: Family camp in Maine. I do all sorts of riding, including 90 minutes on the road (on my full-suspension Klein :rolleyes: ) with some friends, a too-tough-for-me circuit of the NORBA course at the Camden Snowbowl, a really fun ride with another friend through the Camden State Park, and a on-road/off-road circuit of the lake we're staying on. But mostly, I want to scull - I first tried rowing the previous summer, and I've graduated to a true racing shell. I spend most of my afternoons in an Alden Star, working on my form and technique, and trying not to run into anything. Big, big fun, and great cross-training! :)

Sunday, 8/21: Back on the road, and feeling strong. My computer dies, but I think I road about 35 miles, roaming southwest of Boston.

Tuesday, 8/23: Back to work, so back to my 25 mile morning ride. I'm still working on relaxing when I ride past the spot where I fell!

Thursday, 8/25: 25 miles in the morning. The last of my scabs are gone. Woo-hoo!

Sunday, 8/28: We've spent the weekend preparing for the coming schoolyear and fall. I manage to escape for another decent ride, around 40 miles.

Thursday, 9/1: The weather hasn't cooperated for the last few days (including rain and winds from what had been Katrina...), but Thursday begins a run of spectacular weather for New England. I ride 25 miles before work, wishing I could have kept going. My computer, finally re-animated, tells me I averaged 17.5 mph.

Friday, 9/2: Another morning ride, this time concentrating on climbing. 22 miles at 17.2.

Sunday, 9/4: I go mountain biking in the Blue Hills for the first time since December! I join three friends, and we have a complete blast for two hours. The weather was perfect, the trails (with a few exceptions) even better than I remember. A glorious start to a great day!

Monday, 9/5: Still tired from a very full day on Sunday, I promise myself an easy ride. Ha. Despite a strong headwind coming home, I keep pushing for 35 miles, and end up averaging 17.5 again. I'm feeling more relaxed in the corners, and generally loving the ride.

School (and chauffeuring my daughter) starts next Monday, and when it does, my morning rides are going to be limited to Friday. The summer's ending on a high note!

[spiderman]

have been very different:
3 weeks ago: i rode with ben serotta, phil liggett and the phinneys...
2 weeks ago: i rode with my best friend 100+ miles across minnesota
from the pallisades state park near sioux falls home to
spirit lake iowa
this last saturday: i rode 10 miles with my 6 year old nephew
...bought him some biking gloves and an expedition co. cycling jersey!
oh, and wednesday last week
i did a 15 mile paddle in the kayak
followed by a 50 mile bike ride
circumnavigating the iowa great lakes!