No bonking! Take it easy out there in the heat.

Its probably a combination of a lot of things. We're in a heat advisory all week, and you do live in the hottest place on the face of the planet. I wasn't looking to do anything too long. I think my old ride up Kennerly and the Freshly Mill loop was about 20 miles. That's decent without overdoing it, particularly in the heat of the day. We can play it by ear. I really don't want to do more than 20 in the heat, honestly.

Its not you, its the heat. Drink lots before you ride. Drink lots when you ride. Hydration starts days before you ride. This is even more important if you are going to be doing long rides. Make sure you're drinking lots and frequently.

If I remember right, a good portion of that Freshly Mill loop is under shade as is the figure 8 past Dutch Fork HS. That might be a good way to do it. Not trying to overdo anything! I've still got to face the group ride Saturday morning!

i'm not a newbie to otr, but i am to the orchard...well, sorta. i used to be part of the former list...probably close to 2 years ago. i've been a fan of otr for years now...own every album... attend every concert i can in our area. my family and i recently moved from maryland to atlanta, but unfortunately just missed the concert here earlier this year. : (

anyway...i saw the subject of cycling...and just had to post for the first time to this list. i'm a cycling addict...totally in love with my klein quantum with the beautiful fade from blue to silver. (insert homer's gurgling drool sound here) i dabble in mtn biking too, but find it much harder to get real time on it. fortunately there are a lot of cyclists in atlanta, but the area i live in isn't like my home in maryland. we lived in a small town with lots of options for long mountainous rides in amish country. now i live in a development with way too much traffic. hopefully we'll soon find some cool rides that won't require driving an hour or more to north georgia.

any other atlantan-otr-lovin'-cyclists out there? if so, i'd love some advice!

anyway...it's been nice reading about my favorite past-time on my favorite band's website.

now back to the tour....
twila

Welcome to the Orchard, Twila!

Welcome and feel free to go over the top as much as you want here! We do.

I know what its like having tough roads. I'm in SC, and its the same here. Where were you in MD?

Try a local bike shop to find out good places to ride and/or if there's a bike club. That's the only thing that's kept me going here!

And yes, back to the Tour!

btw, I rode past a field of sunflowers the other day and laughed so hard I nearly crashed!

I rode 25 miles today! Some of it hilly, most of it not. Definitely coming along. With a great group.

Speed imminent. Fun already here.

I am still getting over that ride from yesterday. I felt better while I watched the Tour and played online last night, but when I got up and started walking around, I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I checked the weather almanac from yesterday and it said it only hit 91 yesterday. It felt more than that to me. I think I have been drinking enough before the ride, it is just that once I get out there, I sweat so much I think I could funnel water into my mouth and still not ingest as much as I sweat out.

As for tomorrow, I do not think we can make it to the Freshly Mill loop from my house in less than 30 miles, as I rode it yesterday and it was about 35. We could either meet out there, or drive out there from my house, or we could ride on some closer roads, which by the way have steeper hills and smoother roads. What do you think?

Welcome, Twila!

Those Kleins are beautiful bikes. I would second what Julie said, and say to give fighting the traffic a shot. If it is not too bad, I have found it fun at times to try to ride along with city traffic, because it stops and starts a lot, and never gets very fast. Or try riding in residential areas.

Way to go, Troy!

dre - hmmm. Guess I thought you lived closer to where I used to live than that. We can ride whatever you want. If you've got a good 20 or so miler, that's cool. If not, we could always go out to the Y and ride the loop from there. No biggie. I'll need to change out of my street clothes first though. I'll leave it to you. Hills sound good to me!

I'll call ya from lunch with my friend!

Troy - Yay! Sounds like you're really getting into it. Biggest tip in cycling....there's no substitute for time in the saddle!

I didn't get a saddle! Mine came with a seat. What a jip.

This weekend: at least 20/30 on Sat/Sun. Can't wait.

I TOTALLY like cycling better than running. And I really liked running.

Wow! You like it better than running!? Never expected that.


Rode with dre today. Yikes. 230pm. Hot really doesn't describe it. Lack of hill training. Um, yeah, it just wasn't pretty.

But, I recovered enough to come home and mow. I think I actually lost about 12 lbs today between the riding and the mowing. I'm wiped. How the heck am I gonna keep up with group tomorrow!?

Pedal faster.

Wow, Julie; that is pretty intense. Did you go with the group today? Make sure you are drinking enough.


Yikes, Troy! That is pretty harsh for a newbie. Take it easy on us veterans!

My mom sent me an email saying the heat index would be between 105 and 107 today. Do you think that means she doesn't want me to ride? I think that is the range when heat exhaustion becomes not just possible, but likely. I think I will take it easy today, if I ride at all.

Troy....watch yourself.

I did not end up riding today. Woke up. Got up. Ate. Decided that after riding and mowing yesterday, I wasn't going to be doing myself any favors to be out there, so I went back to bed for 2 hours until the Tour started.

Maybe I'll do a quick 22.5 route tonight, or maybe not. Had to finish mowing this morning. Spent another hour out there in that heat. Not so much fun. We'll see how the afternoon goes.

Still even debating riding tomorrow actually since the Tour starts at 7:30 and OLN actually gets to play it all this year!

Oh, lighten up you two... all in fun here.

I never said it wasn't!

32 miles today. 16.5 mph pace, but many hills. Many.

My first week of cycling = 85 miles or so. I do so love it already.

Stoked,
Troy

Nice job, Troy. Great start.

I, personally, took the weekend off.

thanks for the warm welcome everyone! it's good to be back in the orchard. now if i can just remember to keep checking in on the chatter.

now that i've finally remembered...i'll try to respond to the questions.

as for what part of maryland i'm from...completely western md...as in grantsville. i worked in cumberland, if that helps. we lived in the region that is part of the appalachian mtn range...great climbing!!

and yes...the klein bikes do have sweeeet paint jobs. and they climb like a dream.

as for cycling in traffic...i'm working on it. my a.m. rides before work are teaching me to brave the crazy atlantans in their mad rush to work...and i managed to find a few side streets that don't involve constant fear for my life. i just long for those long sweet rides with very few cars and passing the occasional horse & buggy. oh well, as long as i'm on my bike!

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Anybody riding in this heat? I just read the weather report, and the current temperature is 100. My bike is in the shop getting the derailleur fixed, hopefully.

:: raises hand ::

We did a quick, pretty hard ride last night... 15 miles total, I guess, around the Booty Loop. Fastest I've pedaled so far. The heat was horrible... 100 degrees.

Going tonight, around 6:30 pm, for 1.5 - 2 hours this time... should have easily cooled off into the mid-to-high 90s by then.

Twila! Hi!

It's me... Kylie... remember??

Welcome.

i do remember...most definitely! after all, i hear your name every time i listen to the c'stone live recording that was passed around. : ) good to know you're still around! and it's good to be back.

thanks!

OK, so I rode about 18 miles tonight I guess... holy COW it's hot out there. But I'm improving so fast! The hills are actually becoming fun. My legs are barkin,' to be sure.... but I like it.



Yours in quad hell,
troy

RE: biking in traffic (which is what you do when you live in central Montreal, don't own a car, and the 'burbs are flatter than cornfields): I hate it. I mean, how many people here honestly enjoy driving in traffic? Nut jobs on the way to work? Pompous assholes in overpriced sportscars trying to strut their stuff between staggered stoplights? Courrier trucks which stop at random? 18-wheelers? Stalled beaters? Fool map-wielding tourists in rented sedans? Family jalopies? City buses? And let's not forget the pedestrians, who have all the sense of cows on acid! FRIG man! I have a very hard time ENJOYING this. I'm too busy trying to not get killed! And then there's the Car Door Factor -- geez. Who enjoys this? HOW? I need to know this mystical secret before I take to carrying a baseball bat over my shoulder, with which to attack the windshields of asshole-driven cars at stoplights.

I think I'm a little cranky about that dumb kid, MINIMUM age ten, likely thirteen-ish, who sprinted into my path from between two parked cars an hour ago. Sure, I slammed on my brakes (and they worked -- how I love them!), but I still fishtailed a bit on the slick pavement and lost my balance, which meant I was blessed with spending twenty minutes by the side of a dark road wrestling with my chain, which had jumped the stupid sprocket and become lodged between the freewheel and the frame, by the light of my blinking LED lights. I have a lot of grease on me. I am not happy. And I want to make that kid write "I will not run into traffic without looking" a few hundred times, Umbridge-style. I am not kidding.

On a side note, there are two words I refuse to write "properly" in English because I feel it ridiculous to use a French spelling when an anglicized one would suffice. One is barre, as in barre chord. I prefer the unsophisticated "bar chord." The other is derailleur, which I type the way Anglophones say it, "derailer." I'll use a francophone spelling when I'm mentally pronouncing the word with a French accent.


I realize I'm just a cranky biker and not some dignified cyclist like the rest of you, but I find this kind of statement a little weird, like when people say they're having their house painted. It's like... when do we decide that something so practically connected with our day-to-day lives is beyond our comprehension and must be handed off to experts? If it's simply a matter of convenience and you have the extra $20 or whatever to pay for someone else's labour, sure (though I still find this strange -- can you tell I've been raised in thrift stores and the day-old bread shop?), but otherwise, why not do it oneself, or learn to do it oneself, or have a friend teach you to do it yourself, or have the friend do it? Why do we declare vast Untouchable Areas We Will Never Understand and write off everything within it as Someone Else's (sometimes Paid) Job? I realize there's a difference between declaring oneself incapable of vacuuming and hiring a maid, and having a professional fix one's bike, but I find the principles to be similar.

Yes, I am very cranky. I will go to bed now. Goodnight.

[HJ]

You're an awesome writer, Libby. You should do something with that, for all.

[/HJ]

Good for you, Troy! You make me want to get out there and join you! Hopefully tonight, when the group will all leave me in their wake.


Sorry the traffic has been so bad for you Libby. My city is probably a tenth the size of yours, so it is not quite as bad, I do not guess.

As for the derailer (sorry about the snobbish spelling), I tried several times to fix it myself, bought a repair manual (I had checked some out of the library, but never seemed to have them when I needed them) and thought I had it working, but last week got stuck 15 miles from home on the big ring. I had to push the derailer back with my hands. I really thought it was shot and I needed a new one, so that is why I took it to the shop. I am going to pick it up today, and apparently they fixed it. I really am with you on repairing my own stuff as much as possible, but when I have money and not time, I would rather just get it done right, even if I have to pay for it.

[hj]


The more I think about this, I realize these were words I need to hear. Thanks, Libby. In my perfectionism and desire to have everything in its right place sometimes I am willing to pay any price to get things fixed, but I do not count the cost. I will make an effort to be more thrifty and fix my own stuff. I could give you much worse examples than my bike of things I have paid to have fixed, that were not really worth the money, but I am too ashamed.
[/hj]

Keep grinding there, T! Feeeeeeeeel the burn! The Booty Loop. Fun!

dre, I hope they got that pesky little problem sorted for you! Sorry out got caught out in such bad shape. Been there. Not fun!

Great news all - looks like the weather is going to give us a great break for the weekend! Everyone get out and do some long long rides! I'm going to see if I can keep up with the group Saturday for 20 miles - if I can, they break then slow down for the last 20. That' give me a 50 on Saturday! Keep your cables crossed! (and I don't mean the 3rd group this time which I usually pull, I mean the 2nd group that usually drops me)

I'm going to try to do at least double 40s this weekend while I can. 90s resume at the beginning of the week.

Get 'em, Jules!

Now, as long as the lower temperature doesn't give way to rain...

Shhhh!

I think we'll be ok except for tomorrow....maybe some late rain over the weekend. We'll see. As long as its not ridiculously heavy rain or lightning. I don't mind getting wet, but I do on electricution.

The shop did fix my derailleur, but last night it was still a little out of adjustment and I did not have time to stop and turn the screws. I did stay with the group last night, three or four times as far as I ever have. I am not sure how far out we were when they left me, probably 25-30 miles. There were clouds, and later rain, and so it was cooler, and that helped tons. I hope you find the same this weekend, Julie. I would tell you how the gu worked, but I dropped it trying to get it open! I did not want to get dropped myself, so I did not stop to pick it up. I am not sure if they go that far every time, but last night we rode all the way out to Peak, and when I got left alone it was almost dark. I ended up stopping at a friend's house at about 8:45. 78k, almost 50 miles! That was a good, hard ride.

It is amazing how much faster a group can go. We were going down a hill at one point, and guy up ahead got in a big tuck and stopped pedalling, and I thought, "we're not going that fast." Then I looked down and saw 55 kph, or 35 mph! Wow-just coasting at what is usually my maximum speed for a ride. The road into Peak is downhill or flat for a couple of miles, and I hit 64 kph, about 40 mph. We were just cruising--felt like I was the caboose (I pretty much sat on the back the whole time--all I could do to stay on) on a train. I guess that is what a team time trial in the Tour feels like, but they go that fast on flat roads. Yikes!

Actually, Libby, I think we are all just posers compared to you. You ride to live, or to make your living, we just ride for fun.

You should have made Paul stop and fix it! hehe

That's awesome that you rode with them so much! Fantastic!

Sorry about the Gu. Get some more. You have to tear the end off with your teet then stick the end of the tube in your mouth. Dropping it is not recommended. You're really not going to get much energy from it that way.

I've been out on that Peak route. Actually, I was out that when when I was floated by a hawk(I wrote about it somewhere in some thread).


[I]

Oh yeah, the power of the peloton, especially that one!

Um, but dude, don't look down! Just go with it. If you think about it too much, you're liable to crash!

You might want to try to stay in the middle of the pack instead of the end, its easier to stay together instead of getting whipped off the back. Trust me, I speak from way too much experience! Even if you roll up and have to pull, just pull for a few seconds and pull right back off.

Hmm....think I'll try some of that tomorrow. I'm ready to ride! Gonna wear my LiveStrong jersey tomorrow.

You know, this whole cycling thing.... I don't know, but it seems to me: 1) pedal, 2) watch for cars, 3) go like hell.

The rest is all details.

Well, there may be a little more to it than that, T....

Anyway. I got in my 40 today. Got dropped like a hot potato today. None of the regulars were there really, and the 'slow' group took off at 23-24. I never even saw the fast guys.

I did, however, maintain a very good speed down to the turn over I-95, pulling some guy all the way, and...AND, I managed to stand going over I-95 and accelerated as I climbed. At one point, I was actually going 16.something over the bridge. THAT felt good.

Even picked up a couple more LAF sponsors during the ride! There's actually a very slim chance I might actually make my fundraising goal this year.

40 again tomorrow!

Super, Julie! "Slow" is 23-24. That is ridiculous. The other night was one of my fastest rides this year, and my average was about 19. ONe of the guys was talking about a race he did, saying the pace was not too bad, about 25. What! Are you serious?!

Good to hear you were strong on the hill. And that you picked up some sponsors. One day soon you will have me too.
Happy riding!

Got in around 40 myself, today. Very fun. Lots of hills, legs getting stronger by the day. I SO *heart* that bike.

I'm tellin' ya! Don't run into stuff. and just. Go. Like. Hell.

Skipped it all together today. Woke up, and my knee was a little swollen as it tends to do from time to time. Must have spent too much time in the big chain ring yesterday. Not wanting to cause further injury, I took the opportunity to catch up on some lovely sleep.

Hopefully I'll get a couple storm free nights this week to make up my mileage. If not, it'll be trainer city, baby!

All this talk and my lack of riding is making me want to get out and go. I am full of nervous energy, the way I feel when I am too sedentary. Yesterday I got rained out, and today rain is coming and going, so maybe.

Here is a question: How tight are you guys' shoes? I think mine are too small; I have had them for 10 years, and they have done well, but I think they have always squeezed my feet a bit too much, so that sometimes my toes are numb during a long ride, and sometimes the seam on my sock really irritates my toe. The problem is that I wear size 14 shoes, so regular shoes are not easy to find, let alone cycling shoes.

Slow cadence troubling your knees, Julie? Think Lance, not Jan, and spin the pedals. Use the small ring! You can still go fast.

I do a comnbination of Lance and Jan. I think the problem was yesterday, after getting dropped and picking up a ghost to pull, I held 18-19 by myself for the first 10 miles, then climbed I-95 at 16mph. Probably overdid that a bit.

And btw, my cadence was 85-95 the whole time. I don't ride below 80. Gotta ride the big ring out here. Its too flat. I'm using it to work on strength.

My shoes, actually, are probably too big. I had a great pair, then a few years ago for some reason, they were suddenly too small and I had to get new ones. Same thing happened with my running shoes. I guess maybe my feet grew. No idea. But now I think my shoes are probably too big. I've had that problem with toes before. I try to keep my feet at the back of my shoes to keep that from happening. I think by nature of being clipped in, you have a tendency to cram your toes towards the front of you shoes.

You might look into some new ones. After 10 years, yours are probably a little broken down. We all change. 10 years is a long time. You've probably changed. Gotta be comfortable!

Soooo freakin' beautiful. 22.5 good ones today although the knee is still giving me a spot of bother.

I so wanted to be out there today, but I have to much work to do to get ready for school.

I will have to look into getting some new shoes, especially as my toes are almost wearing holes in them. I have never had good experience with Adidas shoes, but these are pretty good and have held up well. I think if they were not too small they could last another 5 years.

A spot of bother, huh, Phil?

i know nothing about cycling. nothing. but, i just saw lance armstrong on letterman. i may know nothing about cycling but, i know class when i see it. and i just saw it.

What'd he say that was so classy? I wish I'd seen it.

I, too, have been increasingly impressed with Lance Armstrong's class, and humility, at least in what he says. Like when he immediately congratulated Alejandro Valverde when Valverde beat him in the first mountain stage, or when an interviewer mentioned that he tied Bernard Hinault's second place all time in days in the yellow jersey, and Lance said, "I don't know if I deserve to pass someone like Hinault in the record books. That said, I still want to take the jersey again tomorrow." Class indeed.

OK, so... I just signed up for this. That's a website for this Bridge to Bridge century thingy.



I'm told that last little run up the top is a leg killer.

6 weeks to get ready!!



Stoked,
Troy

he talked about how important his teammates were to him winning, explaining their contributions to his success. he talked about how now he "just wants to be a father to his kids" and how important it was for them to share in his success and accomplishments. and spoke a lot about his cancer, his recovery and his hopes in helping to find a cure. as you said, his humility really struck me, especially compared with the arrogance of today's athletes. he just seems like a good guy.

Bill, I sort of woke up in the middle of that interview. I tried to stay awake, but its too late for me. He was good. I do think my favorite moment was the nice little gift Dave gave him!

Absolutely Lance has changed over the years. His public presence has continued to improve since 1996. Before that...

Even over the past 7 years, he's become much more....um, pc, about how he responds in public. I think he's really become aware of the impact he's made on so many people and how a role model really needs to behave. Impressive.

For those of you with access to OLN, Phil and Paul are doing a 1 hour interview with Lance tonight.

----

Troy - good for you, but are you freakin' nuts!? Nah, you'll do fine. Enjoy it.

----

Dre - Shoes are good. Shop around. There are a lot of really good ones out there, but certainly make sure they fit!

Yes, a spot of bother. You heard it, Paul! hehe

Oh, and, um, Bill....what would you like to know? Between the few of us, we could arm you with just enough information to be dangerous!