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Did you ride today?

1167671 Views 18546 Replies 272 Participants Last post by  newleaf150
Now that the National Bike Challenge is over, I thought I would start a thread to encourage people to continue to ride as much as they did while doing the NBC and show their results.

I'll start:

34 miles today. Good temps and humidity and a very crowded, but still flooded, MUP.
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This is getting tiresome: the creeping crud I found turns out to be another case of Covid. Managed a short walk yesterday but only with the help of my inhaler. I'm grateful to have the medication available, but sure do miss the days when I didn't need it.

Last time I had Covid, I barely noticed the illness itself, but the months of Long Covid which followed were no fun at all. This time, I'm hoping the fact that the infection has straight laid me out points to it going away rather than lingering forever as last time. In any event, I'm not likely to be getting much if any saddle time in the days to come.
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Not yet, but I rode the last two days and feel pretty good today, so ....

I have been doing shorter rides just to get out on the bike. I am so sick of going outside into the beautiful weather and thinking, "I should have ridden today ... "

I am not that old, I really am not, yet it seems that so many issues of mental and physical health cut into my riding time ... and I am semi-retired, but it seems that my limited work schedule always ruins my plans .... I have decied I'd rather do an hour or so on a bike than no hours on a bike.

I look back on the days when I looked forward to going out on Sunday and riding until I got to some road I had never seen before, which usually meant going further in some direction than I had ever been before, because I knew I could ride back however far I went. Now I worry about anything over 20-30 miles ... it is pathetic, but here I am, so I can either lament the losses or ride the bike however far I can.

I can accept that 300 yards at three percent is a "challenging hill" .... I can accept that after that I might need to coast a while to catch my breath .... because I can also accept sitting agianst the couch watching TV, but after suffering up the tiny bump in the road i feel a lot better.

People always told me that it sucks, getting old ... i thought they meant, it sucks Being old .... now I am finding that it sucks pretty hard just getting there. :ROFLMAO:
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the main point is the ride.....i ride same stuff most of the time due to time and responsibility constraints but don't care. crank up the bluetoof speaker, hop on and it's all about the bike and the action of the ride and whatever the climate is throwing at me is just secondary and OK. Being on the bike, hammering it to my limits, sprinkling in rewarding gravity related shenanigans and thanking God for the ability to do so at this point in my life is what it's all about for me. Enjoy the moments, performance level compared to others is irrelevant. Having fun is winning!.........i12ride, always. iluv2ride, always.

and sometimes i just throw on flip flops or even barefoot and casual around on the commuter or the chopper or cruiser with no performance or mileage or direction in mind at all. IOWA....which means I'm Out Wandering Around. ride2live, live2ride......
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How many of you, on occasion, just stare at your bikes and reminisce about previous rides? and/or what next upgrade should be. I know I do. Lots of bikes and rides to ponder is a great thing.

now i have to go pick one and RIDE!!!
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Almost every time I look at my Cannondale Rize I think about how its ridiculously amazing suspension helped me clear some stuff I would never have been able to get over, even when I was in great shape, and riding a lot so my bike-handling skills were much better .... then I think how I wish I were healthy enough to go back and try again. I have relived that moment many, many times ....

I am not planning any upgrades on any of my bikes, beyond tuning up the engine.

Actually, when I look at my rack of bikes I usually just feel appreciation for all the great times they have helped me experience. I usually only think of specific moments in conversations, real or online, with other riders.

Today I responded to Rolling_NoMad's question about flat-bar touring, and was transported back to somewhere around 1990, riding out to a two-day party on some farm a few towns removed from the ugly city where I lived. Not even a "special" ride ... just a long, relaxed haul on a loaded bike which fit me well and was tuned up perfectly.

Now that makes me think of a stretch of a tour in 2001 (?) when I was on a fully loaded, massively rebuilt/modified Schwinn .... that whole tour was just packed with moments of pure riding joy.

Man, I need to get away from the computer and out on the bike ... Now I am stuck here in the past. Look what you did ... :ROFLMAO:
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Just yesterday, I went out to the bike shed and just stood there for a while, staring at my bikes and missing them, one after the next. Thanks to Covid, that's the closest I've been to a saddle in weeks. I hope to change that sooner than later, but my recovery is characteristically slow. It's nice to read about bikes and bike trips in the mean time, but I'd rather be riding.
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I will dedicate my next ride to the improving health of Mr. Newleaf ... but it won't be until Monday soonest. Hang in there.

I know from a lifetime of lung infections, (and the whole month of October) how bad this sucks. But at least here we see you as a healthy, happy person ... just on vacation in Hell.
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No ride in many days.
New work assignment (for five weeks) has me working 90-100 hours a week.
There just hasn’t been time.

I’m hoping this week to take a morning break and hit the stationary bike & weights each day.
Time will tell.

Newleaf, keep your head on straight and push through this. You’ll be riding again in no time.
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Dos, you had best be getting mega-rich, for all the work you are doing.

I hope all this stuff works out properly for all of us.
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Thanks for the well wishes, guys. I am on the mend, but it's slow.

Today I did at least take action on the cycling snack front: I pulled 6lbs of London Broil from the freezer and dug up an old recipe for beef jerky. Mrs. Newleaf's super meat slicer made short work of the meat, frozen or not. This is the first time I've tried it and I was pleased. Previously the slicing process was more of a PITA. I hope this means I'll do this more frequently going forward. Store-bought jerky is quite good, but it's got nothing on The Real McCoy.

I need to get back in the saddle.
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I did 17+ miles on the very uncomfortable hotel fitness room bicycle yesterday.
No television. Very boring.
No time today.
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I haven't ridden in about ten days .... somehow Mr. Newleaf transmitted his pneumonic plague over the internet. I am maybe going to be okay to go to work tomorrow for a few hours .... but since I am winded walking to the bathroom, I am not planning on riding.
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I haven't ridden in about ten days .... somehow Mr. Newleaf transmitted his pneumonic plague over the internet. I am maybe going to be okay to go to work tomorrow for a few hours .... but since I am winded walking to the bathroom, I am not planning on riding.
[email protected] you, pneumonic internet plague! <shaking fist at uncaring sky>

Seriously, I am sorry to hear you found a bug. I hope you feel better soon.
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I wish you people would quit using that nasty word.
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What .... work? :D

I wish there were more reports of real or virtual rides .... when I saw that there were additions to the thread, my first thought was, "I hope it is some good news."

Hey, I did 180 miles in January--which is a good week for a lot of riders, whatever---despite business trips and all kinds of obstacles. February might not equal that, but I still have March .... and then I will be riding at night or on the surface of the Sun ...... but I plan to be riding.

The real bummer is I never get time on my mountain bike .... I demand a certain level of fitness, because the general effort and need for burst efforts required for off-roading could leave me exhausted and far from the trail-head otherwise. It is good to have goals, I guess.
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Yes! At long last, today I hit the saddle for a multi-faceted road test. Before contracting Covid, I loaded my fat bike with its new purple bikepacking bags and stuffed them with a sample cargo. I installed a new thru-axle in order to pull canine companion Chip's Burley Coho XC trailer. On the trailer, I installed Burley's 3+ tire, a 16x3" semi-fat tire to better match the Surly Ice Cream Truck's 26x4.8" monsters. Finally, I moved my Garmin's mount position in order to clear space for the handlebar pack.

Then I came down with Covid and everything languished unridden in the bike shed for weeks. Today, I finally felt well enough to try. I loaded Chip into his trailer and away we went. It would have helped if I had remembered to use my albuterol inhaler before setting out. I happily almost never need it, but that means that when I do, it's easy for me to miss the physical queue or forget in the swirl of getting out the door. I am nearly recovered, but it seems to hang on and on in my lungs.

Between Covid, loss of conditioning, and the fact that I was riding my fat bike at its heaviest ever given the bags, dog, and trailer, I wasn't going anywhere fast. Meh: I can't describe how good it felt to be back in the saddle, and I wasn't the only one. Between my illness and an unusually long and intense cold snap, Chip has suffered from a terrible dearth of adventure of late. He was thrilled to get out and ride, even more to run. Once I remembered about the water, that is: Chip detests water in all forms save those which he can consume. He is an accomplished ice cube thief, and loves his water bowl. Past that, all water is evil and horrible. Especially when it is cold.

Temps in in the low 50's meant there was a lot of snowmelt today. Extended sections of the MUP which made up the bulk of our route were damp. Sometimes, Chip will run on damp concrete and not mind. Most of the time, it's a problem. Today it was the latter. Thus he 'only' ran 3.5mi. I feel certain there would have been more had the trail been drier. Twice he signaled to stop after ~0.5mi due to trail damp. Still, I feel confident that he enjoyed the outing and will be ready to go again...well, as of right this second, if the truth be told. Chip is always up for an adventure.

I also saw one of the finest examples of bike handling and balance that I've ever seen. Out of a little girl on a little single speed. She might have been 6. She was out with (I presume) her family on a very busy day. I followed them into the shadow of an overpass while waiting for safe passing conditions. Before that happened, the girl rode onto a section of shaded, hard-frozen ice. Both her tires lost traction and slid in different directions at the same time. Unlike when I have experienced this same thing on studded tires, her tires kept. Sliding. And. Sliding. She first ended up almost directly perpendicular to the trail before swinging the other way and going more than 45* off straight in the other direction.

I'm just gonna say it: I probably would not have ridden onto that ice in the first place without special equipment. I know better thanks to being an adult and having literally tens of thousands of miles under my belt. Had I tried what she did with a comparable bike, I'd have eaten sh!t and eaten it hard. Straight up. It's been a long time since my heart went into my throat the way it did watching her slide and knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that she was going down. I hate seeing kids hurt. Worse, not one of my myriad first aid kits has yet made its way into the fat bike's gear. Sometimes, a band-aid really can make a kid's wound all better.

Fortunately, no one told the little girl that it was clearly impossible for her to do anything but crash. After a series of wild oscillations, she rode off the ice and proceeded as though nothing had happened. Her presumed father had acted perfectly and in the clear expectation that she was going down: grab some brakes, move over, unclip to stop. And she was fine. Shortly afterward, I got an opening and rolled past. I commented on her incredible recovery and he agreed that he had no idea how she had managed that. I wish I'd thought of it at the time, I'd have suggested he introduce her to MTBs. Balance and low speed control she seems to have, in spades. Also plenty of luck, no doubt. That could make for a heck of a racing career. Respect.

In any event, even though today's 14mi hurt toward the end and were probably a few more than I should have done, I wouldn't change a thing. Except to maybe hit the [email protected] inhaler before setting out. Then I might have managed yet a few more miles. No biggie. I still got saddle time. When that happens, my whole world is improved. Boy, did I need that.
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Finally, a positive post in this thread .... and Disaster Narrowly Averted.

Thank you.
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.........hotel fitness room bicycle yesterday.......
Wonder why it is that i'm picturing unicycle?
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UNIcorn wearing a UNItard riding a UNIcycle........the triple UNI!!!..........still only one wheel tho
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