Scenic Diversions

Having the cx bike allows me to enjoy some scenic diversions from the paved bike routes like this short path to an overlook.

There is a little bridge over a deep, wave cut crevasse.

You get a great view of a beach from an outcropping of conglomerate rock.

X6 seemed to like the view too ;)

It's funny, from having the cx bike I've gotten used to just turning off the pavement on a whim and I did that last weekend...and then remembered I was on my road bike! Fortunately, I pedaled right across the stretch of grass and gravel, but I'll try not to do that to my skinny tires again.

Farms and Beaches, Sunday Group Ride

We met up with our newest group this morning for a 30 mile ride with midway coffee/snack stop. Here's part of the group climbing a hill by a beautiful farm.

This is Jeff pedaling past some potato fields that were harvested last weekend.

What I love about this beach is the way the cobbles are arranged in wave-like patterns.

Looking a little to the right from the last picture, you see this island and... standing stones? No, the druids didn't make it to New England! The stones are actually the ruins of a men's club that was washed away in the hurricane of '38.

10/20/07 Weekly Ride Report

Five days of riding this week and a total of 110.07 miles. It's been about a month since I last posted my chart of miles biked by week, so here's an updated version.

Still Wearing the Summer Kit in October!

Looking at the calendar, I would have thought it was time to put the shorts and tee shirts away for the winter, but we are having the strangest weather. The temperature was 70 degrees today during our late afternoon ride! We did one of our regular routes, a 21 mile loop. Jeff is still waiting for his back ordered 'cross bike, so he was on his CAAD8, but I rode my X6.

I snapped a few pics of Jeff riding along one of the foggy beaches. I am already comfortable enough on my X6 to take pictures while pedaling at about 20 mph!

This picture is almost the same as the one above with the better view of the water, but I had to post it as well because it shows off Jeff's muscled biker legs! (He's going to be embarrassed that I've posted that!)

It looks like we'll have a rest day tomorrow while some rain moves through the area, but then the weather looks warm and sunny for rides Saturday through Monday!

Sunday Group Ride Fueled by Coffee and Snacks

Jeff and I went on another group ride this morning and I remembered the camera this time! Although I still wish I'd had it yesterday so I could have shared scenes of everyone at the beach and all our bikes lined up along a stone wall. Due to a rather wild party the night before, only three others showed up to bike, though a couple more managed to drive to the coffee break spot!

The coffee spot is in an old barn surrounded by gnarled apple trees.

There are quaint old New England buildings all around and a view of the meeting house spire.

We lean our bikes on the trees, select our coffee and baked goods and gather at huge picnic tables arranged on the lawn. It's fun to see bikes everywhere you look!

Around the edges of the stone wall lined lawn are gardens with some last fall blooms like these dahlias.

A cold, slow bee was gathering some last pollen in the sunshine.

I'm not sure what these seed pods are called, but I loved the color and funny spiky look of them! Does anyone know?

We pedaled 25 miles in all and enjoyed slightly warmer temps than the day before!

10/13/07 Weekly Ride Report

Autumn has arrived with cooler temps and rain, so my total went down this week to just 95.29 miles spread over four days of riding. However, I have to say that every mile was especially fun this week. And that's saying a lot since I *really* like riding my bikes!

Sunday, I rode the cx bike while Jeff used his road bike. He wanted to see the X6 out rolling again for just the second time since I got it! Then, I did two solo cx rides incorporating some off pavement stretches and laps around a big field where I also practiced tightening up my turns around some trees in a corner of the field. I really have to convince myself to commit 100% to whatever I'm trying to do as it's when I hesitate that I run into trouble. Also, I have to remember to look out ahead of me on the turn to where I want to go rather than worrying about and fixating on the terrain immediately under my wheel (not so easy to do off road, but at least the field is relatively flat).

Later in the week, we were invited to join a group ride on Saturday morning. We'd heard about this group before, but had never ridden with them. Everyone was welcoming and friendly! A dozen riders showed up and we did a scenic 30 mile ride with a short coffee/scone break in the middle. It looks like this will become a regular group for us to ride with, in fact, we're meeting up again tomorrow!

Saturday's ride was our coldest of the season so far. The temperature was 48 degrees as we started out and 53 by the time we finished! It was a bit of a shock after the extended summer we had!

Here's another pic of my cx bike from a break on one of my solo rides. I always love places where the land meets the sky, in this case a field of shrubs for the wholesale nursery business.

Rainy Rest Day = Blog Reading

I've had 9 days in a row on the bike, so it's good that we're getting some rain to force me to take a rest day, but my legs are twitching and I've had waaayyy too much espresso for a day off the bike!

Well, a rain day is a perfect time to catch up on reading some great blogs. I've been following some cyclocross ones lately as that season is kicking into full gear and I have that new cx bike! I'm getting inspiration from these guys:

Belgium Knee Warmers
Mud and Cowbells
Official Website of Carl Buchanan

It's not cyclocross, but this endurance blog is amazing for the author's photography and determination to ride in all weather/all seasons...in Alaska.

Up In Alaska

If she can survive winter cycling in Alaska, surely I can ride through the winter in Rhode Island?!