It's the last weekend of October and the "official" door-to-door candy collection was Saturday evening from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. Didn't anyone realize that the #1 BCS team, AUBURN, was playing Ole Miss then? Fortunately, I could occasionally hear score updates shouted by various driveway tenders and door openers up and down the street. Alex kept me company on our porch and texted an information service called, I think, "Cha Cha" and got some score info that way as well. Sharon left us with enough bagged candy to keep the juvenile population of Prattville on a sugar high for months. We dispensed the sweets from a 5 gal pail and were able to get rid of 75% of it, but no more. It was much nicer out this year than last, so sitting outside to wait for the wanderers was really not a bad gig. No football though.
My usual riding friends were downstate doing a charity century in Fairhope, so I posted a Club Lite ride in Pintlala. These are 13 - 15 mph avg pace affairs, over easy to medium courses, and with frequent rests to catch breath and re group. 6 riders in all came out and after some discussion in the parking lot of our options, the 33 mile seemed most popular. All the routes leaving from Pintlala Baptist Church are low traffic and rural. Mostly farms and woods to pass by. A new rider to the area, Pete, joined us today and provided the only real excitement to the ride. 6 miles from the start, his bike started to make all sorts of noise. Turns out that his rear spokes were coming loose. He had to stop. After not seeing him and Phil we called and Phil reported on the situation. As it happened, I had a spoke wrench in my tool wrap, so we pedaled back to where they were and Phil (who was the proprietor of Cycle Escape Bike Shop prior to retirement) did a field expedient true and tension job on the wheel. The repair took about 10 minutes and lasted the entire rest of the way. Here are Phil and Pete, back on the roll.
My down the street neighbor Bill came out for the ride, but left after 7 miles. His legs started to give him some cramp trouble. He thinks he under dressed and the cold (41F) was the problem. Fortunately, he was at a good point to shortcut back to his car.
The other Bill and Tommy came out for the ride and as you can see from all their get ups, it was a chilly early morning. Here they are:
To his credit, Bill is wearing a WOOL jersey under that jacket, and wool leg warmers too. I did not need a jacket. A thin wool base layer under a Pearl Izumi jersey (both long sleeve) worked just fine. I used knee warmers today. I use 1 size larger than normal and pull them all the way up, and they stay on very well. They act like a knicker really. Speaking of wool, Bob made my day Sunday evening when he messaged me on Facebook to ask about wool items for the winter :)
We turned in 33 ish miles at 15.2 mph and climbed about 1,300' It was 70F at the end and just delightful.
Sunday's ride (which is always envisioned as a relaxer, but oftentimes turns out not to be) was dedicated to help Sarah from church work on an activity merit badge for her scouting. (American Heritage Girls). She needed a 20 miler and I invited the club at large to attend if interested. Max and Kathy were maybes, but did not show. Robert and Bonnie did show. It was Bonnie's 40th BD, and she rode 1/2 mile/year = her longest outing ever.
Here is Sarah, along with Pete. She's on a heavy tire Rail Trail bike and we adjusted her saddle upwards twice on the ride. It still may be a tad low.
And Bonnie:
It was a lovely day to be out, and we went at Sara's pace, about 9 mph. The adults all enjoyed chit chat, and were reminded that all rides do not have to be training ones. Just taking in the scenery from a saddle is great once in a while. With the pedal to and from my house to the start (which I rode at my usual pace), I had 33 total miles again, and 1,017' of climb. The relaxers did 20 miles and about 300'. Regardless, the Garmin still said I used up over 1,500 cals, which was great.
Well, the end of the year approaches, but hopefully not the end of rides for the year. November and December offer fewer opportunities to get out, but there should be some. Next weekend, we are carpooling to Oxford, to climb Mt. Cheaha. Should be a good time!
My usual riding friends were downstate doing a charity century in Fairhope, so I posted a Club Lite ride in Pintlala. These are 13 - 15 mph avg pace affairs, over easy to medium courses, and with frequent rests to catch breath and re group. 6 riders in all came out and after some discussion in the parking lot of our options, the 33 mile seemed most popular. All the routes leaving from Pintlala Baptist Church are low traffic and rural. Mostly farms and woods to pass by. A new rider to the area, Pete, joined us today and provided the only real excitement to the ride. 6 miles from the start, his bike started to make all sorts of noise. Turns out that his rear spokes were coming loose. He had to stop. After not seeing him and Phil we called and Phil reported on the situation. As it happened, I had a spoke wrench in my tool wrap, so we pedaled back to where they were and Phil (who was the proprietor of Cycle Escape Bike Shop prior to retirement) did a field expedient true and tension job on the wheel. The repair took about 10 minutes and lasted the entire rest of the way. Here are Phil and Pete, back on the roll.
My down the street neighbor Bill came out for the ride, but left after 7 miles. His legs started to give him some cramp trouble. He thinks he under dressed and the cold (41F) was the problem. Fortunately, he was at a good point to shortcut back to his car.
The other Bill and Tommy came out for the ride and as you can see from all their get ups, it was a chilly early morning. Here they are:
To his credit, Bill is wearing a WOOL jersey under that jacket, and wool leg warmers too. I did not need a jacket. A thin wool base layer under a Pearl Izumi jersey (both long sleeve) worked just fine. I used knee warmers today. I use 1 size larger than normal and pull them all the way up, and they stay on very well. They act like a knicker really. Speaking of wool, Bob made my day Sunday evening when he messaged me on Facebook to ask about wool items for the winter :)
We turned in 33 ish miles at 15.2 mph and climbed about 1,300' It was 70F at the end and just delightful.
Sunday's ride (which is always envisioned as a relaxer, but oftentimes turns out not to be) was dedicated to help Sarah from church work on an activity merit badge for her scouting. (American Heritage Girls). She needed a 20 miler and I invited the club at large to attend if interested. Max and Kathy were maybes, but did not show. Robert and Bonnie did show. It was Bonnie's 40th BD, and she rode 1/2 mile/year = her longest outing ever.
Here is Sarah, along with Pete. She's on a heavy tire Rail Trail bike and we adjusted her saddle upwards twice on the ride. It still may be a tad low.
And Bonnie:
It was a lovely day to be out, and we went at Sara's pace, about 9 mph. The adults all enjoyed chit chat, and were reminded that all rides do not have to be training ones. Just taking in the scenery from a saddle is great once in a while. With the pedal to and from my house to the start (which I rode at my usual pace), I had 33 total miles again, and 1,017' of climb. The relaxers did 20 miles and about 300'. Regardless, the Garmin still said I used up over 1,500 cals, which was great.
Well, the end of the year approaches, but hopefully not the end of rides for the year. November and December offer fewer opportunities to get out, but there should be some. Next weekend, we are carpooling to Oxford, to climb Mt. Cheaha. Should be a good time!
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