Gentleperson's, your ride report pls :)

[Too Tall]

Sat. - In the Blue Ridge Mtns. A heavy front was coming through with fog so thick you could not see more than 10 feet. Sitting in my car waiting for it to let up when two d##ds appear from the mist. Both have that patina of freshness (to the sport) and trepidation...they are in over their heads. I ask about their destination which is about 60 miles away and all uphill. I'm wishing them courage and a safe route thinking "NOW THAT's what it's alllll about," So cool.

Sunday - Did my favorite 95 miler from the house ride...backwards. 6hrs.20mins and 2 espresso stops, 1800 cals. and 6 water bottles. Leaving at 6am I saw NOBODY for many many miles, I adore a quiet morning. Best quote of the day was from the fellow who takes your $$ on the car ferry crossing the Potomac River. (me) "So, quiet day?" ('imself) "Aw hell yeah, we'n don't neeeed the money, it's the peace and quiet yah want". So right my man so right.

Life is too good, watching my back.

And you?

[Dr. Doofus]

sat -- 2:00, and hour of tempo...still trying to get used to doing tempo at lower cadences (70-75)...but it sounds cool to say you did most of your ride in a 53x13...even if you were just grinding it around....


sun -- ahhh...the payoff from that kind of crap. finally got out of the little ring on a long ride. 3:30, all of the flat stuff in 53x17, 90-95.... its been a looong time since your narrator spent that much time in the big ring on a solo ride....

[Kevan]

just might turn into my favorite time to ride.

Three days last week I got out to do my 'round-the-block ride. Out the door by 6:00a.m., I can knock-off a quick 15 miler and be home, showered, dressed and be at the rock before the starting whistle blows.

Weekend's weather forecast played havoc with the typical weekend ride schedule. Saturday's morning rain meant haircuts and chores, an early afternoon siesta only to wake up to blue blue skies. Me and the bike were out for a 2 hour romp before a dinner engagement.

Sunday's ride was a club gathering up in the hiller county of Putnam. 55 miles of ups and downs and one freakish accident. One of our members was hit my a ricocheting deer that had been hit by a car coming up the road from the opposite direction. The odds of this happening have to be in the millions. Three other riders narrowly missed the fray as the rider came slamming down. Surprisingly, the guy was shaken, but not stirred, his steed however is meant for landfill.

You just can't make these things up...

[Elefantino]

She's 12. She's 5-7. And she is a huge cycling fan. (Where she gets that, I don't know.)

Anyway, we finally found a bike that fits her (all legs, no torso) on eBay. It came last week. She had a fashion show on Saturday, so we couldn't ride. Sunday, we rode as soon as the Tour was over. Did a nice 22 miles with her on a local bike trail. Even though she has flat pedals and sneakers (I'm letting her get used to the bike before she goes to Speedplays), she was able to crank up a good 22 mph sprint and average 15.

She is going to kick my butt some day on l'Alpe d'Huez or Mont Ventoux.

Mike, the proud dad :D

[jerk]

friday- best ride ever. coming back into boston from an early 40 miles the jerk caught a wheel in a damn trolly track. some how hopped out of it riding the toptube and stopped myself by grabbing some idiot's pick up truck. fight ensues as idiot claims the jerk broke his rear tail light.strangely enough said idiot knew exactly how much it would cost to replace his tail light. "this happens to you alot?" the jerk asked. the jerk grabbed the truck and the bike came no where near to hitting it....but rather than just ride off the jerk did give him all his info......

saturday- thirty miles in a torrential downpour because we could. the jerk has never wanted the uphills to end like this before but on the flats one couldn't see, on the descents one couldn't see and froze.....at least while climbing one could sort of see and was able to stay warm...this ride was worth it for the stares we got from all the other freaks out there doing somewhat more sensible things in monsoon like conditions.

sunday- the jerk is trying to get some leg strength back (yeah, like that will ever happen) so rode a really fast and hard 80miles without getting out of the big chainring...the bike with 180 cranks is fun for this....lots of riders out there in the usual spots so just spent the morning trying to real them in one at a time. for the first time in forever the jerk was able to ride his buddies off his wheel. i almost sort of felt like i could ride a bike again...
anyway,
jerk

[Climb01742]

friday...hottest day here in boston for quite a while...sweat pouring off actually felt good...two hours of pretty good tempo...riding on the big ring to get stronger seems to be a theme this weekend...with most of my biomechanical issues receding, the big ring is slowly becoming my friend...

saturday...unlike the good senor, i punked out during the morning monsoon...ran for an hour...got so wet, soap bubbles started squishing thru shoes from residual tide hiding im my socks...

sunday...2.5 hours on my CSi...steel at its finest...spent the ride trying to live up to kelly's creation...not sure i did.

monday...suffering from tour withdrawal... ;)

[davids]

Tuesday: 26 early-morning miles with my normal group. A couple nice climbs, a great 27 mph chase down a twisty road, and then a few fire-hydrant intervals. Great ride.

Thursday: 22 early-morning miles on my own. Sore legs from the intervals, and I feel slow. But I'm not, as I find out when I check my computer back home. Not bad!

Saturday: Rode in the same storm as the jerk, in a doomed attempt to beat the rain. Met my buddy at his door at 7:00, as the first drops began to fall. We promise to turn around if it gets bad. It gets bad when we're an hour out, and we ride through Dover in a complete downpour. Getting cold, we try to get some coffee in Dover center, and I end up shivering as I gulp down a cup of supermarket brew. It takes at least 10 hard minutes on the bike (back in the rain...) to begin feeling any warmth. My buddy claims that he's warmer riding in the spray from my tires - "The road must be warming it up." What were we thinking?

36 miles back to his door, as the rain lets up. By the time I get home 20 minutes later, the rain has stopped. :crap:

After cleaning myself up, out comes the seatpost, and several tablespoons of water. :crap: :crap: The Axiom hangs, upside down in front of a fan and a dehumidifier, for the next 24 hours.

Sunday: Clouds break, and I head off to the Minuteman Bikeway with my wife and daughter. A year ago, we rode half of it with her, and it was a big acheivement. Today, we ride the whole thing out and back, and she spends her time "racing" either me or my wife, getting lessons in spinning (she pushes a big gear...) and drafting (she can't keep herself from passing me after about 20 seconds.) Great fun. I see one guy on an Ottrot, twice. Can't help but wonder why he's weaving in and out of all these Sunday riders. :confused:

Today: Bike to work, my strategy for beating the DNC-created gridlock. The roads are quiet. Hey, where is everyone?

[scottcw]

Sat. - was planning on going to the NYCC all-class ride, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather on Friday night. Woke up to rain, started doing other things. Rain stopped mid-morning. Never got out because I was sure that it was going to start pouring again.

Sun. - 20+ miles in Prospect Park. Great ride, but I really hate riding short loops. Even Central Park drives me nuts. I am used to loops of 25, 25, 50, and 100 miles where I never see the same scenery twice. Ah, the joys of NYC.

[Kevan]

You owe it to yourself to ride upper Westchester county. :cool:

[Tom]

Saturday: 55 or so. Up to Lake Desolation and back. I like a tailwind on the way home. That was fun.
Sunday: You ever have one of those days where you know you're not going to enjoy the ride because you'll be thinking about all the things you need to get done at home? Didn't ride. Got things done. Now I can ride without one less voice in my head.
This morning: 35 or so. Up Crawford, down Musselbeck and up Ennis. I realized that to that point (20 miles, 2000' climbing) it's about one-fifth of the Highlander and I was already really beat. I put my tail between my legs and headed home. I'm beginning to wonder if I need to cut back for a few days or a week.

[Dekonick]

Had the last week off at the wife's request - first ride was yesterday and it was short. I sure hope that I can get back to a normal schedule soon!

[scottcw]

You owe it to yourself to ride upper Westchester county.

I'm sure, but getting there is the problem. I used to live at the foot of the Santa Cruz mountains. Out my door and on my bike. Still have not adjusted to traveling to and from a place to ride.

[Madship]

Friday:

For the first time this year I didn't feel like getting on the bike. But I had to let my friends dog out, so I got dressed and rode the 5 miles to his place. Played with Stanley for a few minutes then headed out and away from my place. Deciding I was just bored of the same old roads I turned nto Route 4 and headed into washington county. Wound and climbed my way up to route 40 between Greenwich and Argyle then headed south followng 40 to Scaghticock (sp). Ran into the most brutal headwind for 15 miles. Rt 40 is actually nice for a busy road. Great condition and a very geneorus shoulder Also found a bunch of roads to challenge myself with. Anyone know what the climb to Willard on Vly Mountain road is like? Got home after 48 very hard miles. Felt like I had been beaten wth a cane, but was happy I had gone out. I actually felt more tired after this than after last weeks century.

Saturday: Rode out to the state park to meet a club buddy and head out to Lake Desolation (What time were you there Tom? I think we hit it between 9 and 10) Riding up the hill I heard a yippy little dog bark once and lay chase. It must have been to much work to run up that hill and bark at the same time. I was maxxed and couldn't increase my effort so figured I'd let it do it's worse. He caught me, but wasn't much taller than my BB, barked once then started coughing from the effort. He hung out there for about 30 seconds waitng for Jim to pass the same spot and gave Jim a good barking at. Made it to the top for the first time without stopping Enjoyed the great decent headed to Porter Corners and home for a great 66 miles.

Sunday: No ride, went to Freedom Park to watch my wife play in the MCO.

[csb]

after training @ altitude for 10 days (fly fishing/backpacking in
yellowstone) i thought for sure ida feel crappy doing my usual
weekend mileage but jeese no, its like wow cool.

[Jack Brunk]

Saturday:

Did a hard 85 miler with 6500 ft of climbing through the Santa Monica Mountains. It was a good training ride for the upcoming first annual Mt. Tam double century up near San Francisco on August 7th. Really focused on maintaing high pedal cadence with my compact cranks.

Sunday:

Two hours of tempo training. followed by great food and wine at a local wine festival.

Jack

[Tom]

Looked up it. Decided nah. I was headed over to Arlington anyway. That little road from Schuylerville that heads SE generally had quite the little sneaky hill on it so I can imagine what heading up that way would be like.

I was up on Desolation after you came down it. I spent the morning doing a light overhaul on the bike. Now it's gonna rain for three days, catch it's breath and rain again. At least the sweat will rinse off.

[SteveE]

Saturday - Did the usual club ride "leader" thing on Saturday. This means taking up the rear and keeping the slower riders company. Our route took us up to Saratoga Gap. Half the group took the longer, easier way via Mt. Eden and Pierce Rd. to Hwy 9. The rest took the shorter, steeper Redwood Gulch route to Hwy 9. By the time the tail end of the group reached the CDF Fire Station the first arrivals had already gone. One young lady had sore knees and bailed out early with a couple of other riders. We ran into some heavy fog up on Skyline near Windy Hill. It finally cleared away as we headed north and we caught up with the pack at Skylonda. Had a great 3.5 mile descent (no cars slowing us down and no cars trying to pass). About 55 miles and 4000 ft of climbing.

Sunday - This is the faster, longer club ride day. A couple of local Pro's decided to join us. We went up King's Mtn. Rd where we must've been passed by nearly 50 motorcyclists (cough! cough!). I managed to keep the main field in view for the first third of the climb then decided to ride my own pace the rest of the way up. Headed north on Skyline and dropped down into Half Moon Bay. After re-group and refreshment, we turned south on Higgins-Purissima (more motorcycles), Verde, and Lobitos Cut-off, before climbing back up Tunitas. Another nice descent on King's Mtn. where two cars actually pulled off the road to let us fly by. About 80 miles and 6100 ft of climbing.

[scottcw]

[snip]via Mt. Eden and Pierce Rd. to Hwy 9. The rest took the shorter, steeper Redwood Gulch route to Hwy 9. [snip] About 55 miles and 4000 ft of climbing.

Sunday - [snip] We went up King's Mtn. Rd [snip] About 80 miles and 6100 ft of climbing.

I am so jealous. Why did I ever leave the Bay Area?

[SteveE]

I am so jealous. Why did I ever leave the Bay Area?It does make you question your sanity, doesn't it?
:)