Velo Vol 

A couple miles into the ride last night I realize my rear tire has a leak, so I terminated the ride.

Last year I had zero tire problems, and this is already the third issue I've had this year. Argh.

Gavush

24 miles this morning. I had to work at 9am so I got up at my usual time and stopped by the 'trace on my way to work... having watched the radar all morning I had concluded I had about an hour and a half before the next front came through. I parked at the loveless cafe which gave me a 3 mile climb onto the trace to warm up with. About 30min in it started to pour, so I turned around at the 8 mile mark. Funny thing was as I passed the parking lot I noticed about 6 cars and folks were unloading to go ride. Passed a couple of riders who seemed to be enjoying themselves. As I got back to the loveless cafe I noticed a large group of cyclists heading out in the opposite direction I decided I was already wet, the rain had actually tapered off quite a bit, and I and still had 45min to kill so I caught up with the rearmost guy to find out where they were going. Turns out it was the saturday morning ride group for the bike shop that's next to the cafe (Trace bikes) and the group I had caught up with was going to do a 32 mile deal. I followed them until I had to turn around to go to work... caught a bit more rain on the way back.

Velo Vol 

37 miles in Knox and Loudon Counties. I felt good, except for a curious foot cramp that surfaced a couple times.

Summer evening riding rocks!

Gavush

I prefer summer butt-crack of dawn myself... left at 6am, did a 46.6 mile loop from my house, down hwy 70 to the natchez trace and back via 100 and 96. avg was 16.2 which = 2.52.12 - it was an awesome ride... only complaint was that the first half was in very dense fog and I had issues seeing due to the condensation on my glasses.

here's a map of the ride: https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...f/481433522043

happy fathers day! I got an allowance to finally get some shoes for my look pedals. (done 330 miles so far in tennis shoes & clips)

DieselDan

22 miles in the central part of the county. I even rode some roads I've never gone down before. On the way back, I lead out a touring group of four.

cruzinator

Couldn't get a ride in today, but did yesterday. I got in a nice 44.7 mile ride yesterday to the lake and the nuke plant at 17.3. I started early so it was still cool and I avoided the dreaded leg cramps. Today I had to do the trainer since it was too wet in the morning and I had family stuff to do later today.

jaxgtr

30 miles on a group ride that cranked along at 20 mph. Maintained the 20 for the first 13 miles but I had to dial it back to my normal range of 17 and the heat was starting to get to me.

knatchwa

funny thing I did ride but I do not know the approximate mileage, but most of it was uphill on dirt paths over interesting terrain.

I try and ride every day, because consistency can be a good thing.

wolfpack 

i have ridden the last 2 days on my mtb. no computer either.

approximately 12mi of trails each day at Umstead.

Gavush

yeah, no computer on my mtb.. only reason I know the mileage is b/c I did the race loop, which is part of the reason I do it.

after work, 6pm... 8.5 miles of mtb trails. took 30min longer than last time... first off, I forgot my cell phone so I had no time device (or communication device, for the matter) - at about 10% into the ride my bottle cage / pump went flying off.. apparently the bolts got loose... had to track everything down and re-secure it. At about 20% of the way in I come upon pair of boys waiting for their parents to catch up, whom I met shortly down the trail pushing their bikes (all dept store type, but hey.. good for them for riding, w/ helmets even) - the husband was pushing the wife's bike and I asked if I could help out with anything.. he said it works but something was wrong with the gears... he was content with pushing it but I parked my bike and got it down to the smallest chain ring and put it in 3rd so he could ride it back out. The wife said something along the lines of "I just want to get out of here, feels like I've been riding around in circles" - Then, about 40% in I was going around a corner I ran over a golf ball sized rock with my front tire which caused me to wash out and go down pretty hard... going to have a nice piece of bacon on my left arm.. (almost a whole strip...the wide kind) and a silver dollar sized piece by my left knee. Had to straighten out my bar end and adjust my left front brake pad which got moved into the tire... Then, about 50% into the ride I noticed the ride getting rougher in the rear and looked back to find a 1/2 flat tire... went to just pump it up but I found the leak right near where my hand... patched the tube. At about 60% I passed a section that runs right next to the highway and actually went to go bail out and ride back to my car on the pavement but decided to stick to it. Good thing I had an hour and 40 of sunlight to do my "quick, 1 hour ride"

skiffrun

Got out of shape during the cold months, and so far this year I cannot make the bike go. So decided some hill routes were called for:

Yesterday, Jun-17, 34.1 miles, ~ 1780 ft climbing (according to veloroutes), 2:08, 15.9 avg in-motion mph.

Today, Jun-18, 35.5 miles, ~ 2160 ft climbing (according to veloroutes), 2:17, 15.5 avg in-motion mph.

Two great, early morning, shaded, and cool temp rides.

Road Bike Guy

Got in a moderate 18 miles tonight after work on one of my regular routes. Will be doing some gap riding this weekend!

skiffrun

6:27 am start: 35.2 miles, ~ 1990+ ft climbing, 2:12 in-motion. Excellent ride.

wolfpack 

nice. not very far ride for me today...4.5mi on blue ridge parkway, up to waterrock knob. then back down.

Gavush

got in my 6am ride... came out to 47.24 - not sure where I picked up the extra half a mile. 2.51.36 - skiffrun, thanks for mentioning veloroutes... had not seen that one yet. The tools aren't as nice as mapmyride but the elevation difference is cool... it says this loop has 2856 ft. ( https://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=14512 ) - last sunday when I rode it I pushed a little harder the first half and suffered a bit the second. This time I tried to take it easier on the first half (ie, 19 on the flats rather than 22) but when I got to the 3/4 markI was running behind and pushed hard the last 40min, especially on white bluff road (quite a few small climbs) and managed to shave 30 seconds off last time. I did -not- want it to take longer than last time... especially considering last time I had 24 mile ride the day before, and today I haven't ridden since monday!

jaxgtr

Did 42 today. Fricking humid would be the adjective to describe todays ride. I left at 8 am and it was already 80 but felt like 89. I was doing fine until I hit about 33 miles and then the heat started coming on and then it got Hot an Fricking Humid. Some nasty storms are moments away, so glad I got my ride in.

skiffrun

Aah, that "White Bluff" route I saw on the "recent routes list" (when I went to check on the route I did this am) must be yours, then.

"Veloroutes" prob doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of some of the other sites, but it is free, the hobby of the guy who created it, and it does not mess up my computer or mess itself up by turning the "navigate south" button into a useless <bleep> thing, which that <bleep> "mapmyride" always does.

Oh, yeah, the elevation(s) and gain on "veloroutes" are based on the local / state DOT data. I find that, compared to GPS feedback, the veloroutes elevation "climbed" will likely be 5 to 10 % understated. The DOT does not get EVERY local minimum and EVERY local maximum elevation. I am familiar with one spot on a route I ride occasionally where one cannot see the next road / turn only 150+ yards from where one turns onto the state highway because there is a 10-15 foot "bump" in that 150+ yards; yet NCDOT data (the source for veloroutes) indicates FLAT.

But I figure the elevation profiles from all sources are really best thought of as indicative of the geography one will encounter on the route. If one wants great detail, get your own GPS.

skiffrun

I had willingly done three hill workouts this week as I expected to be out of town this weekend, but got a reprieve. But, given the slight fatigue I felt in the legs, decided to avoid my usual riding partners and go solo for a less hilly ride than I would usually do on Saturday morning.

Made my 2nd-to-last turn of the ride at the 26.5 mile mark, and was surprised that a south breeze / wind had popped up since the start of my ride. So I had 19.2 miles straight into the surprise breeze/wind. I found that some of the downslopes and flats were tougher riding than the three uphills and even some of the upslopes; the flats and downslopes tended to be completely unprotected from the wind, whereas the geography and some well-placed woods seemed to be protecting the uphill sections

But good result: 48.2 miles, 2:56 in-motion, 16.3 mph avg. First time this year I have managed to hang onto 16 mph for a ride over 30 miles. ('Course, I should note that I also didn't finish with the three usual hill suspects that I usually finish on.) I prefer to chalk it up to perhaps the cadence practice on the hill rides during the week are already having a positive impact.

Lookout "wolkpack" and usual riding partners: I am almost b-a-c-k.

Gavush

The one thing I really wish it did was zoom in or out with the mouse scroll.

skiffrun

How quickly we become dependent upon new tech.

I wish the "more" "link" at the bottom of the page actually worked. But I'm confident Matt will fix ... one day.

Matt has advised that there is a "nasty glitch" in the elevation profile generation for long rides (e.g., > 100 miles). Can be gotten around by getting the Excel download and creating one's own profile graph.

ken cummings

Not at 98 degrees. I leave todays' ride, The Terrible Two, to people who enjoy 208 miles with 16,000 feet of climbing.

wolfpack 

25miles, 2500' climbing on mtb.

Gavush

46.93 - 6am loop except I did it backwards... I thought it would lessen the hill climbs, which it did but there are several very long gradual uphill sections you don't notice in the other way but it knocks a couple of mph off in the opposite direction... add in my somewhat tired legs from yesterday and it took 2.55.12 Also, I got about 8 miles out and went to take a drink and found I had forgotten my water bottles on the kitchen counter. Rather than sacrifice the ride (didn't have time to go back and start over) I stopped at a store at the halfway point and picked up some sports drink to make do.

cyclezealot

Its not as hot here as the South East, but it was near 90. I wuss out much over 87. And still we did a 1200 foot climb. For me over 87, I deserve a self inflicted pat on the back. This time I took my hydropak, so I did not again suffer heat exhaustion. Our mileage goal was a metric century.

cruzinator

Did a 34-mile group ride today and a 45-mile solo ride yesterday. Temperatures both days were comfortable and winds light so the pace ended up edging up a bit. One strange thing was that we saw a fox sniffing around at the Volvo dealer (in town) beside the bike shop today. That's a first.