Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in smiley_bikes' LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Sunday, April 1st, 2007
11:11 am	About 8 miles/40 minutes today. (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
1:16 pm	Ha HA! Smiley STILL bikes! I rode about 11 miles round trip to the pharmacy and back today, and it took me about 45 minutes. Dead flat but the distance was a challenge -- that's what happens when you're off the bike for a year! But it felt so damned good. :) (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 30th, 2006
2:51 pm	Distance: 20.3 mi Time: 1:22 Avg speed: 14.8 mph Avg HR: 159 bpm Shaker > Gates Mills > Shaker Seventies and overcast. Beautiful day, great riding. A bit of annoyance with other riders on the way back -- again, being slow and pregnant will be the death of me! Belly is starting to be noticeable when I'm in riding position. Weird session of tachycardia when I got home. Only lasted a few seconds but my HRM read 212 briefly and I got lightheaded while my heart thrummed like a hummingbird's. (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 16th, 2006
4:18 pm	Distance: 14.7 mi Time: 0:57 Avg speed: 15.4 mph Shaker > Gates Mills (turnaround Fairmount circle) > Shaker > South Park Sixties, overcast to partly sunny. Felt slow and had a limited time so I made it a very short ride but it was a pleasant Sunday stroll. (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 15th, 2006
7:46 am	April 14, 2006 Distance: 24.4 mi Time: 1:36 Avg speed: 15.2 mph Shaker > River > Berkshire > Gates Mills > Shaker Overcast seventies, one or two spats of drizzle. Some headwind on the way back. (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 13th, 2006
7:59 pm	Distance: 19.7 mi Time: 1:13 Avg speed: 16.2 mph Shaker > Gates Mills > Fairmount Beautiful, overcast high sixties. (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 6th, 2006
7:40 pm	Distance: 19.8 mi Time: 1:14 Avg speed: 16.1 mph Shaker > Gates Mills > Fairmount About 60, sunny. I think this being slow and pregnant thing is going to be the death of me. I didn't want to go anaerobic, so I was forced to ride with or be passed by some really annoying cyclists. I at least can say that I didn't get dropped, as I stayed a careful bike-length behind anybody who passed me. Anyway, it was a good ride and I'm glad I went on a lovely spring evening! (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 2nd, 2006
1:17 pm	Springtime! Distance: 23.8 mi Time: 1:40 Avg speed: 14.3 mph Shaker > River > Berkshire > Gates Mills > Fairmount Fifties and sunny, a lovely spring day -- or, if we were in Phoenix, a lovely WINTER day! Ack! It seems I'm starting from scratch, it felt great to be on the bike but I had no legs. They were weak and wobbly by the 18 mile mark and I'm glad I didn't choose to go farther. But it's a start. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 12th, 2005
3:51 pm	Well, it's not 50 miles but for the longest ride in three and a half months, I'm OK with it. :) Distance: 34.5 mi Time: 2:12 Avg speed: 15.7 mph Shaker > Bolingbrook > S Woodland > County Line (climb) > Pekin (Dines) > Watt > Fairmount > River > Berkshire (climb) > Gates Mills > Fairmount Went alone, and despite all whining about getting dressed in a cold apartment, it was pretty much the perfect riding day. Sunny, high fifties to low sixties, some wind. I think this was the first? Or second? ride since DH re-packed Flicka's rear bearings. I noticed a difference anyway -- not a "I am so powerful and fast!" difference, sadly, but more of a "that climb used to be harder, but I was in better shape the last time I rode it!" On a depressing note, I got passed...and dropped. :( Just didnt' have that kick, I was bushed by mile 26 or so. But I did pass and drop someone else, so all's well. ;) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
4:09 pm	Distance: 19.7 mi Time: 1:18 Avg speed: 15.2 mph Shaker > Gates Mills > Fairmount High 50s/low 60s, overcast. Took it fairly easy, low intensity. Shifting was wack which threw me off a bit, but generally nice to get out. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 2nd, 2005
1:53 pm	It's still weird to feel so out of shape -- earlier this summer, my body was able to rise to every challenge I threw its way. :\ But it was awesome to ride with DH, I missed that. :) Distance: 23.5 mi Time: 1:28 Avg speed: 16 mph Shaker > Gates Mills > Old Mill > River > Berkshire > Gates Mills > Fairmount (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 25th, 2005
12:47 pm	Dayam it's been a while I skipped a couple of entries in late July, but what the hell. They hardly matter now. This is my third "real" ride since being hit by a car on August 1. I am really out of shape, but I am trying to focus on how I am going to get back IN shape, and also on just getting some rides in before it's too late. Distance: 14.2 mi Time: 54 min Avg speed: 15.7 mph Commentary: Even the simplest things set my heart to pounding, and I don't feel like I have any of that explosive power in my legs that I used to enjoy. Nonetheless, it's nice to get out there and ride. My wrist was barely aching by the end. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 29th, 2005
6:50 am	Monday Distance: 23.5 Time: 1:23 Shaker > River > Berkshire > Cedar > Gates Mills > Fairmount Rode this day only because I feared the next would be crappy. Went fairly easy. Wednesday Distance: 30.3 Time: 1:43 Avg speed: 16.9 Shaker > River > Woodland > County Line > Old Mill > River > Berkshire > Gates Mills > Fairmount Steady moderate intensity, just a few stretches of harder work. Overcast to clear and seventies. Thursday Distance: 46.2 mi Time: 2:37 Avg speed: 17.6 Fairmount > Gates Mills > Old Mill > River > Sherman (turn around) > River > Berkshire > Gates Mills > Fairmount Square Wheels from the church. I stayed with them! Worked really hard on the climbs, saw 190 on the main Sherman climb, but was seldom the last to the top. Seventies, gorgeous. (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 24th, 2005
1:56 pm	Saturday Distance: >39 mi Time: 2:02 Holden ride; Turned around just before Holden. Commentary: Finally back on the bike. Felt pretty good and strong but didn't want to overdo on the first ride. On my way back, hit Old Mill: 5:00 even (though I lost about 10 sec clipping in vs. a slow rolling start like usual). Meh. Sunday Distance: 37.6 (from church; ~39 total) Time: 2:03 Avg speed: 18.4 mph Shaker > River > Miles > Caves > Fairmount > 306 > Cedar > County Line > Old Mill > River > Shaker Commentary: Storm was looming, and then rain hit, so we stayed close and headed in early. I was kind of pooping out by the end but I didn't get dropped once. (Well, kind of had to be paced back up after one or two climbs but nothing major.) (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 19th, 2005
4:32 pm	Distance: >17.2 (~20.1) Time: 1:05 Shaker > Gates Mills > Fairmount Commentary: I skipped out on the group ride, didn't feel like riding for long on my saddle sore. :( Rode moderate intensity, practiced sprint with leadout at the deer sign. EDIT: Hrm. I think that's over 18.5 mph! Which would be my fastest solo ride ever. This having no computer thing is weird. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 18th, 2005
8:31 am	Sunday Distance: >30.3 Time: 2:02 Shaker > Gates Mills > River > Sherman > Caves > Pekin > County Line > Fairmount > River > Cedar > Gates Mills > Fairmount Commentary: Computer still acting up. Not too hard, not too easy. Warm and humid, a brief drizzle. Didn't see many people out. (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 16th, 2005
1:39 pm	Distance: >50.1 (~58) Time: 3:19 The Burton Ride: Shaker > Falls ... Music ... Burton ... Butternut > Bass Lake > Pekin > Watt >. Fairmount > River > Berkshire > Gates Mills > Fairmount Commentary: N. D. and M. plus T. from the church, they continued on from Burton while I turned back. I was bound and determined to stick with them, skyrocketed my HR on the early climbs but didn't fall off too much. Felt so-so on the way back, headwind. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 15th, 2005
7:14 am	Distance: ~26 Time: ~1.5 hrs Commentary: Started with the Heights Riders but the rain hit and when lightening struck too close for comfort, N and I thought we had a better plan for avoiding the storm. We rode around in the rain for a while which was fun but with the need to be extra-cautious we didn't get a great workout so we headed home. Along the way a guy jumped on our wheel and we worked on strategies to ditch a wheelsucker. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2005
8:17 pm	Distance: ~28 mi Time: 1:37 Shaker > Gates Mills > Old Mill > County Line > Fairmount > Berkshire > Cedar > Gates Mills > Fairmount Commentary: 90s, overcast, humid. I felt really, really strong and fast tonight. Did about 6 or 7 sprints, which felt a lot more supple than before. Passed a lot of people and worked hard keeping them dropped -- for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, I can honestly say this was thoroughly a high intensity workout. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 11th, 2005
12:27 pm	Well, my sketchy internet connection has gotten me out of the habit of posting my updates, so here's a combo-post. Sorry for length. Good grief, I don't even remember if I rode Wednesday. Blah. Thursday, July 7 Distance: 32.5 mi Time: 1:55 Avg speed: 16.9 mph Shaker > Bolingbrook > S Woodland > County Line > Dines(Pekin) > Watt > Fairmount > River > Shaker Commentary: Square Wheels/Heights Riders. Rode strong, even took a pull, but chose to peel off as they headed up Falls because I wanted a short ride and to beat N. home to make him dinner. I did OK keeping my speed and riding hard on the rollers. Friday, July 8 Distance: ~23.7 mi Time: ~1:30 Started out at recovery pace, met N. in the valley, worked a little harder but stayed under LT. Saturday, July 9 Distance: 28.4 mi Time: 1:43 Avg speed: 16.4 mph Shaker > Lander > Jackson > River > S Woodland > County Line > Fairmount > River > Cedar > Gates Mills > Fairmount Commentary: Rode pretty hard, got passed by and had to pass a guy on Lander. Met N. on County Line, he'd had enough and needed to get back before work so we headed straight in. Sunday, July 10 Distance: 77.6 mi Time: 4:32 Avg speed: 17.1 mph Emerald Necklace! (Abridged version) Well, that was a lot of fun. Many props to my wonderful patient companion. Even after I almost got us passed, he still forgave me! Mostly. :p My rear end was in agony for the last hour or so (I think my chamois bunched up and chafed my bottom at the sit bones), and my toes cramped up alarmingly a few times, but I mostly felt pretty good for such a long ride, and my saddle was super comfy until close to the 3 hour mark -- even then it was just a little bit of that sitting-too-long feeling, nothing major. I'd like to do that again! (Comment on this)