10/6/07 Weekly Ride Report

I rode all 7 days this week, but only kept track of 6 days of riding. (One day was really just about fooling around on the new cx bike and not serious enough to bother keeping track of.) I did 3 rides on the road bike and 3 on the cx bike for 145.15 miles in all.

And here's yet another piccy of my new 'cross bike!!

Water Break with Fuzzy Company

Jeff and I couldn't resist stopping for a break by a herd of mini ponies and a donkey, all hardly bigger than our bikes! This first picture shows my road bike in the foreground.

This pony has a funny expression because he was backed up to the stone wall and rubbing his rear end on it.

He must be quite itchy because he also rubbed his neck on the wall!

So cute!

And very friendly!

We rode 32.64 miles in all and couldn't believe how warm the weather was. It was like a mid-summer day!

Thick Fog/Full Sun All in One Ride

Thinking it was a bright sunny day I set off for the beaches this morning for more practice riding on my new X6. The beaches were blanketed in fog! I rode over to see the Olympic Sailing Trials, but only a few boats were close enough to shore to be visible. It must be totally disorientating to be on the water in fog like that!

So I headed back uphill and was out of the fog again at about 100' above sea level. It felt quite hot out of the fog, so I headed for some shady lanes including this one.

I think this is the biggest tree of the bunch, but I'm not sure as there are quite a few really big ones!

When I got home, the latest Narragansett Bay Wheelmen Club newsletter was in the mail. Jeff and I are *sort of* pictured riding with a friend. (This is a picture I took of the newsletter page.)

Meet My DH, Jeff

We took the road bikes out for a 20 mile spin after work today. It was fairly bright in spots, but the fog was thick in others!

Jeff's road bike is a Cannondale CAAD8.

Today's Ride Pics

I rode 25 miles today in fog and drizzle (frizzle?) and got off the pavement when possible to ride my X6 on the terrain it's made for! It's so fun!

Here is a view of the shoreline access road. A lot of the green along the edges of the road is stinging nettle! Better not fall!

The road ends with a drop off to the beach, so you'd better have some good brakes!

Later in the ride I biked around some very large fields. It's generally pretty congested feeling around where I live, so it's thrilling to ride around some wide open space!

I paused to snap a pic of the manor house through the trees. It looks like Europe, but I'm really in New England!

This is a little wooded trail off the fields that I want to explore further!

New Bike Bliss

I rode 24 miles this morning and stopped for a picture by one of the beaches. I was able to ride along a bumpy beach road that I won't do on my road bike and just pedal through some sand that had drifted across the road. At another part of the ride, I turned down a partially washed out gravel shoreline access road for some off pavement fun.

After the first weekend rides, I went back to the shop Monday for a slightly shorter stem and now feel very comfortable with the reach. I don't think the first one was totally wrong, but I think my preference is to have the handlebar a little closer. I definitely feel more in control and feel like I can use the brakes/shifters more efficiently too.

Although I quite like the saddle, I will have to get one that lines up with my sit bones for longer rides. I think I can get a pretty similar version for women. When that arrives, I'll have the shop check fit once more, but I don't think it's going to need much fussing with.

The Candy SL pedals are working well for me now. I did have some trouble initially getting the left one to clip in, so I put the bike in the trainer and finally got it clipping in without having to push so hard on it. I think they just required a little breaking in.

September Wrap Up

I guess September always feels like the shortest month of the year to me, but this one seemed shorter than ever! This time of year, I feel compelled to ride as often as possible before the weather turns cold. I rode 21 days in all and 646.29 miles. (If one was to factor in all the test riding I did on the new 'cross bike it would be more, but I only count actual 'rides'.)

Since it amuses me to make charts from my data, here’s a miles by month chart. Hopefully with the new 'cross bike there will be a bit more winter riding in January and February '08 so I won’t feel weak by the time March arrives. I’ll try to use the trainer too, especially when it’s really rainy, like in April. I don’t really expect to ever increase my August riding by much as that hot, humid weather is so hard to exercise in. I feel content if I do at least 300 miles in a month, but I'm happier when I do 400 or more ;-)