Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

We rode local today and after reading about sunset-like skies right before and after the eclipse, I was hoping for some great shots. However, not much more than a slight lower lighting took place. Flowers were amazing though. I got a vulture stooping in one shot and a hawk on a saguaro in another. Good day to be on the bike too. It feels good to be retired and able to get out on my bike most days. At four weeks, I am officially counting down the days until we head back east.


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After riding the Ibis for 8 months, I finally got on my Pivot again. While they both are XC bikes around 25 pounds, they ride a tad different. I was surprised that I did not climb as confidently on the pivot on technical climbs. I guess I have adjusted to riding the Ibis with it's slightly steeper seat angle and slacker head angle. The differences are subtle, and only require slight changes in technique, but after riding one bike all the time, I lost some of my touch on the pivot. Anyway, I have a few more chances to touch up while my Ibis is having service. Both Art and I have our suspension serviced while out here because Guru suspension is right in town. They do great service, and I trust Dane with my suspension.

A few more cactus have bloomed and I spotted a few freebee strawberries coming up in my hoop house. It also has finally warmed up. Yesterday was close to 90, yikes! It seems like we went from long sleeves right into sleeveless. Thankfully today was not so hot, and seemed like perfect temps on the bike. The big mountains are loosing their snow and roads and trails are getting more sandy as moisture seems to disappear.

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With warmer temps, we did a tandem ride mostly on the loop today. There is a nice 30+ mile loop we do on the northern portions of the bike path ( loop ) and a 5 mile stretch on a connector road with a wide shoulder. The flowers on the first portion were amazing. We even ran into a rattlesnake while on this section. The bike path infrastructure is pretty cool out here. They have path cloverleafs, under passes and over passes. A new leg was just added and finished last year. Next time we go, we can park closer to our house.

There is a new pump track in Oro Valley that is scheduled to open in a month. It was along our route today so we tried to take a peek. It looks amazing! It was said to cost $700,000. all paved. I do not have pictures as it was still barricaded and had a few cops hanging out in front, so we did not try to cross the closure line with our bright red tandem. I hope to get back there and check it out some day.


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pixychick said:
With warmer temps, we did a tandem ride mostly on the loop today. There is a nice 30+ mile loop we do on the northern portions of the bike path ( loop ) and a 5 mile stretch on a connector road with a wide shoulder. The flowers on the first portion were amazing. We even ran into a rattlesnake while on this section. The bike path infrastructure is pretty cool out here. They have path cloverleafs, under passes and over passes. A new leg was just added and finished last year. Next time we go, we can park closer to our house.

There is a new pump track in Oro Valley that is scheduled to open in a month. It was along our route today so we tried to take a peek. It looks amazing! It was said to cost $700,000. all paved. I do not have pictures as it was still barricaded and had a few cops hanging out in front, so we did not try to cross the closure line with our bright red tandem. I hope to get back there and check it out some day.


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I thought the two of you could not get any awesomer than you already are...then you show up on a tandem!

$700K pump track?!?!? There goes my great idea for parcking lot C...
 
Yesterday it got into the 90's, and there was some cloud cover. We did a longish ride and while it felt quite comfortable while riding, I got somewhat dehydrated. I used a hydration mix and drank water before, during and after the ride, and still got legs cramps while sleeping last night. I just can't seem to keep hydrated enough out here in the warmer weather. I know there are some extra salt hydration mixes, but I have avoided using them because my doctor told me not to use high amounts of salt. She encouraged magnesium instead. At this point I am at the limit of how much magnesium is recommended. I may need to revisit that conversation with her.

Cactus flowers are starting to bloom, and wildflowers are starting to fade. Things seem to be a few weeks behind this year. After yesterdays ride we drove about 15 minutes out into the desert to see a Caracara nest in a saguaro near the highway. Caracaras are from the falcon family and have a 40 inch wingspan and a crazy looking orange beak. We also have been getting more migrating birds in our yard: Lazuli bunting, black-headed grosbeak and cowbirds. Hummingbird activity is way down. Perhaps females are on nests and all have plenty of food so that they do not need the feeders. Anyway, I am happy for the break from filling feeders daily. They will only get 1 refill a week once we are gone. ..... 2 weeks until we head back. I am looking forward to seeing friends and riding Sterling .

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@pixychick

Do you do any supplementation at night before sleep? Do you mix up the types of Magnesium? Have you had anything else checked like Potassium?

I'm assuming that if you can't get enough during you're ride you're trying to get it in while not riding.
 
Santapez said:
@pixychick

Do you do any supplementation at night before sleep? Do you mix up the types of Magnesium? Have you had anything else checked like Potassium?

I'm assuming that if you can't get enough during you're ride you're trying to get it in while not riding.
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That is a very good point. If I do not drink a second hydration mix around dinner, I will make a magnesium drink before bed. I have tried magnesium cream on my legs but that does not seem to help. Are there many different types of magnesium? Potassium is a good idea. My Hydration mix (nuun) has potassium in it, but I have not tried supplements yet. What ends up happening is; with a solid effort I may drink two nuun drinks, cramp at night and drink a third to stop the cramps. Perhaps I just need three portions and should drink it before bed. It just seemed like a lot of nuun to drink in one day.
 
pixychick said:
That is a very good point. If I do not drink a second hydration mix around dinner, I will make a magnesium drink before bed. I have tried magnesium cream on my legs but that does not seem to help. Are there many different types of magnesium? Potassium is a good idea. My Hydration mix (nuun) has potassium in it, but I have not tried supplements yet. What ends up happening is; with a solid effort I may drink two nuun drinks, cramp at night and drink a third to stop the cramps. Perhaps I just need three portions and should drink it before bed. It just seemed like a lot of nuun to drink in one day.
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Definitely different types of Magnesium. Some like Magnesium are not readily absorbed. There's a couple well recommended ones and I can't tell you why but I went with Magnesium Citrate as being the best. A lifetime supply for 10 people is like $25 on Amazon.

Just a small amount here & there, with a little more before bedtime. Also it may take some higher dosages at first to get to baseline if you're deficient.

Luckily you can't really go overboard on Magnesium, if you take too much you...get the shits.

Also if you salt your food you can switch to a potassium based blend salt like Nu-Salt that has Potassium instead of Sodium.
 
I would definitely research the different types of magnesium. My current chemo drug depletes magnesium and I have to have magnesium infusions as well as supplements at home. I’m currently taking 900mg daily. Magnesium glycinate won’t cause diarrhea and is easily absorbed. There is also plant based Magnesium which is derived from sea vegetables. I also spray magnesium oil on my feet at night….but be careful with that stuff as it burns if you overspray. Good luck!!
 
Today we took a bit of an adventure ride. We rode Cow pies and Baby Jesus from our house. This was our first time up there this year. Conditions were better than expected, and that is for an eroded washed out old heritage trail . It was a tad overgrown , which was not so great because rattle snakes are out. We ran into two and they were pissed and rattling. One would not move off. We ended up having to bushwhack through the tall grass. Not great, but seemed better than passing a coiled rattling snake on the trail.

We also saw a desert tortoise. She did move off either, but we stepped over her. She tucked her head in and we told her not to worry because when her head is in we could not see her. 😉

It ended up being a great ride and we got home before it got really hot. It was a nice way to spend Earth Day. However, I took a hit on a piece of cat claw and the Thorne broke off in my pinky. Took some digging and squeezing after lunch, but Art finally was able to get that out of me.

I’ve been drinking extra nuun and so far no cramps at night. I am beginning to think I wasn’t having enough electrolytes.
 

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