Blew up the trail today with my trusty Shiksa and the ever valiant Brent and Stephanie. Averaged 17.0 mph through the end of the trail section and had a great time getting in the aero position and just kickin' it. Did a little pulling which was reciprocated by some nice pulls by Stephanie and Brent. And that little bit of rain was actually a welcome addition as it helped to cool us down. Great riding! And 23 PRs, including some QOMs and 2nd and 3rd overalls! Wow!
Had a great ride on the Peach Tree Loop today. Tim, my trusty buddy, pulled me along for a good portion of the ride. And the big news is that I conquered my nemesis, that nasty, tripartate hill going up off of Montevideo. I've never made it up that second, horribly steep, obnoxious part of the hill and my cranks didn't want to turn but I made them, even with cars coming back down the hill so there was no opportunity to make switchbacks. I just had to grind it out and try to yell encouragement at myself to will it to happen. By the time I got to the third part of the hill, I was spent, but I made it up and tried to recover on the relatively flat portion that followed. I still don't like hills but I'm finally making some headway on improving my climbing. And we had another nice surprise: some young girls had set up a lemonade stand in Poolesville close to our designated rest stop. It was so enjoyable to have a nice cold glass of lemonade AND a chocolate chip cookie, all for a dollar. Those kids made out like bandits with us! Of course, a nice "ride after the ride" at Potomac Pizza rounded out the day. Woo hoo! Can't wait to kick those hills' asses again next time.
The weather threatened but didn't bother us on a really nice after work ride to Ft Hunt. Did a couple of nice laps and Brent did a nice job pulling for me during the first lap. And the "ride after the ride" was quite enjoyable on the veranda of Indigo Landing providing us with a nice sunset. I needed this!
What an absolutely, fantabulous, friggin' unbelievable bike ride to celebrate Gary's (and Rick's) birthday. Started in Ocean City and toured around Berlin and Libertytown before proceeding to Assateague Island. Tim was the man and pulled me almost all the way, challenging this fat girl to an epic ride. Plus, Tim's really the man for saving my butt by picking up the purse I left at Best Buns in Shirlington yesterday, which I didn't notice until I was already 2/3 of the way to Ocean City and said "Oh shit!" Tim gets to drink all he wants for free for that...and for pulling me...and for just being an all-around good guy. Now the real birthday celebrating begins. Hope my liver can take it!
Needed a good recovery ride after yesterday's Patuxent River Hill Fest so what could be better than one of Claudine's patented Boot Camp rides to Ft Hunt. These rides never disappoint and it was a good workout, both on and off the bike. I wound up pushing pretty hard for a good portion of the ride so it was a bit more than a true "recovery" ride but that's all good. Had a nice little lunch afterwards, then rode home. The only negative was that the Di2 battery crapped out...again...right behind the Arlington County Shit Plant. How appropriate! Needless to say, after getting home, I loaded Shiksa up on the bike rack and took her directly to the bike shop to get fixed...again! This is really starting to get frustrating. Hopefully we'll get it straightened out this time. No one's fault but if it still won't work, I'll go back to mechanical DuraAce. But still, a great ride (even though the mileage doesn't reflect the ~3 miles from Shirlington to Daingerfield Island where I thought I was "restarting" the Garmin but actually stopped it since I hadn't stopped it when I got to Best Buns; doh!).
What an absolutely, fan-f-ing-tastic bike ride today! The metric century was laden with hills, some great downhills and just as many nasty uphills, but I did them all, no stopping or walking, and I did it at a higher average speed (13.3 mph) and faster riding time (4:34 hr) than I ever expected. And some of those downhills were amazing: maxed out at 36.4 mph on one of them. Almost 3,600 feet of climbing today! Great day, and it was Paris' birthday to boot. Glad she posted this as a Meetup and invited the group to celebrate her birthday with her on this phenomenal ride. Can't wait for next year!
After a nice lunch following the Crystal Ride "race that's not a race," rode with Tim back to Shirlington where we split off. I went to Best Buns for the white mocha I missed this morning due to the early ride start and a macaroon, just because. And as luck would have it, Cathy from my office happened in to Best Buns a few minutes after me and she was kind enough to pick me up at FreshBikes after I dropped Shiksa off to get her Ultegra Di2 diagnosed by the Shimano tech guy who just happens to be scheduled to be in the shop tomorrow. Hopefully we'll finally figure out why my battery only lasts for 120 miles and not the 2,000 miles it should. Here's hoping.
Started off really strong on the race, I mean ride (it's a race, no matter what they say; it's a pretty aggressive fight to the death kinda thing). Average in the 16+ mph range for the first two laps (15 km/9 mi ea.) and kept on the aero bars for most of it. By the third lap, I started slowing down and dropped down just below the 15.8 mph needed to make all 6 laps within the 3.5 hr time period. Thought I'd still be OK based on my performance on the first two, but the fourth lap got slower still but I pushed through. Could've stopped at 4 and still have gotten the Silver medal but I forced myself to do one more lap since that's what I did last year. Made it through that lap but the last time up the Air Force Memorial hill about killed me. I knew it was going to be the last one I'd do today and I made myself finish strong. That fifth lap took 40 minutes and I came across the line with 20 minutes left in the time period so there was no way I would've finished in time. Plus I wasn't even sure I could do another lap, much less in the 40 minutes I just did on the fifth one, so I settled for a 5-lap Silver. But it's alright, and it's my friggin' birthday so I say it's A-OK.
Running a few minutes late (what's new), but still met up with Tim at Best Buns and had a spirited ride down to Crystal City for the start of the Crystal Ride. Actually made really good time and arrived within two or three minutes of my posted 7 AM meetup time. Not too shabby.
Rode to Liberty Tavern for a nice brunch with the gang and to watch the amateur and pro races in Clarendon. Then did some nice spinning, including some laps at Hains Point to get ready for tomorrow's Air Force Crystal Ride. Finished with a nice light dinner at Best Buns. Now time to get some rest for tomorrow.
Helped lead a nice, very easy beginner ride with Paris and the Sassy Sisters up in Chevy Chase. Afterwards, decided to do a real recovery ride from yesterday's 50 miler on the MD Eastern Shore. Cruised down Beach Drive, climbed up from the creek on Porter Street, and rode up Connecticut Avenue to Western Avenue. Then just tooled around the neighborhoods of upper Northwest before getting back into Rock Creek Park to a return up Beach Drive. Was just what I needed.
First really hot day of the bike season but still a great ride and a really good test of Shiksa the TT bike. Had a nice breakfast at the Inn before the ride. Then I really hammered it out of the gate and pushed myself. Allowed myself to drop back (plus I got caught and dropped) for a bit but was generally in the mix. After lunch at The Crab Claw and ice cream at Justines, I was back in the aero position and pushing it well until...the flat from hell. I heard the "psssss" of the air escaping and stopped to change the tube. But alas, the tube I was carrying has a stem length sufficient for my Zipp 303s but NOT the deeper Zipp 404s. Doh! Had to patch the old tube and thought I was golden until it decided not to hold around two miles later. So again with the patching but this time I used multiple patches. It held well enough to get to the ferry terminal and I tried to kick it all the way there. And the "apres ride" was quite enjoyable as well.
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