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Did you ride today?

1168084 Views 18547 Replies 272 Participants Last post by  newleaf150, 
John_V
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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Dos_Ruedas
I’ve ridden quite a bit since i last posted.
Life has been incredibly busy, so I’ve had to drop off some of my side hobbies for the time being. Is just hard to find time to post on TS, mow the yard, wash the car, sleep, etc.

One ride I’ll tell a little about was with a group of friends from near my hometown. We drove into @rola’s home state and did a metric that had some extremely challenging climbing.
One climb was three miles and 1100 feet. It only had a few intense grades, but the overall length caused my legs to differ greatly. I’ve done climbs & steeper climbs, but something about this one did me in.

I’ll post pics on the pics of my ride thread soon.

I hope everyone is doing well and spinning those bicycle tires round & round.
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newleaf150
No ride today, but some bad news: the Pike's Peak ride is off. The organizers are quite unhappy. This event has gone on for years, but apparently some new wrench has gone into the works and stopped it flat. The organizers are really unhappy and scrambling to put an alternate event together.

Things are still up in the air, but if the proposed alternate route holds, it'll be cool. The new route isn't new to me, but at least it is a favorite 'near' mountain destination. There should be some good photo ops. I hope.
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newleaf150
It's amazing how the whole world feels better after a solid bike ride. Today I headed out on the touring bike with t-storms threatening. The route was a favorite out and back. I picked it this time because the wind's direction made it a headwind for the outbound leg. I do so love running with the wind.

After being spat on by rain for the last few miles, I made it home just as the rain began to fall in earnest, accompanied by thunder and lightning. 27mi on the day.
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newleaf150
A couple of months ago, canine companion Chip decided to take a hiatus from riding in his trailer and running alongside me on the bike. I'm not sure why, but when he made it clear he didn't want to go, I let him stay home.

Today, he saw me getting ready for a quick trip to the store and got excited. Really excited. I had planned to take another bike, but it can't pull a trailer. Instead I pulled out the folding MTB, hitched up the trailer, and away we went!

It was as if nothing happened: he rode, then ran happily while I stretched out the normally short ride to the store. Upon arrival, he received a treat for his troubles, 'cause he's a good boy and it's a dog friendly store 🥰.

Only 3.3mi on the day, but awfully happy ones. It was great to have him with me on the bike again. I have missed that.
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newleaf150
As I said above, I originally set out to take another bike on this afternoon's ride, but changed when canine companion Chip showed interest in going too.

After we returned home I kept thinking of that other bike. Tried to talk myself out of it, finally threw the gloves and helmet back on.

Out came the BikeE recumbent for an early evening spin around the neighborhood. I let the impending darkness chase me in after a mere 3.6mi. Matters not. I got out for another ride, and during a beautiful time of day.
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newleaf150
Today I enjoyed some saddle time on the fat bike. Such fun! I hit what's become a favorite fat bike descent, a rocky hard pack section where the fat bike allows me to rip the decent at speeds I just can't manage any of my other rides. I love the way those monster meats smooth an otherwise bumpy road.

I also ran into a problem with the saddle clamp on my new dropped seat post, fortunately near the end of the ride. A hard bump saw the saddle lose adjustment. I had to stop and re-adjust it, only to have the same thing happen a few minutes later.

I have a historical tendency to over-tighten pretty much everything and have been trying hard to dial that back. Thus it was frustrating, after the 3rd try, to really go after the nut to the point of risking breakage only to have the same thing keep happening. That'll be something to figure out, but not today.

Today, I got up early to start the smoker and the brisket that Mrs. Newleaf prepared last night. I wanted a good ride to work up my appetite, found it. 28mi on the day.
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newleaf150
Just a few miles today. I helped out with an event for the adaptive cycling group I've joined. A highlight was getting to play buddy rider for someone who got to earn a pair of sore legs for the first time in years and was overjoyed with the idea. That was wonderful.

I also learned how to set up two of the group's delta trikes as a tandem. Apparently they are manufactured to allow them to be daisy chained in this way.

The event took place at a local park with a 2.5mi cycling loop. I'm not a big fan of such a short duration loop for pleasure rides, but playing buddy rider on it was just fine. I ended the day with 7mi, most slow. Not many miles, but oh so many smiles.

The group does hardcore rides, too. Today wasn't about that. I loved being a part of it.
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newleaf150
I didn't ride far, but it was special: happy new-to-me bike day!

Every year our local HOA throws a community yard sale. This year, Mrs. Newleaf and I participated. I still managed to cruise a few sales yesterday. A couple of bikes caught my eye. Not that I need another bike. But I do love vintage MTBs.

Then last night it hit me: I need a trainer bike. Last winter, I resisted putting my folding MTB on the trainer because I like riding it outside. It was a rough winter and I ended up doing little riding outdoors. I could have used a trainer bike. Further, I lose miles to t-storms most summers. Such lines of reasoning are otherwise known as rationalization, but never mind that :p.

Today the sale traffic started off strong and got better, right up to when the rain started. We moved our happily reduced offerings into the garage and stayed open. After a bit, I threw on my rain racket and wandered off to another sale where I'd spotted a vintage Mongoose Sycamore MTB the day before.

$30 bought it. It's entirely possible that the rain through which I walked it home was the first rain the bike has ever seen. It is equipped with Mongoose branded tires which appear brand new, as does the chain and cogset. I'd say that at most the bike has a few hundred miles on it. I wouldn't be surprised if it were much less.

I inflated the tires and adjusted the saddle before donning my helmet and heading out into the rain. The brake pads are stock; not all that in the wet, but they work. The frame is a little small for me but felt like it may work out. We'll see. Pics to come.
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