My 1st 2.0 30 4 bike ride

Some relatives are visiting on Sunday, so I wanted to take advantage of low traffic on the roads (for the July 4 holiday) and ride today. My regular riding partner, Guy, was otherwise occupied and so I made plans with Lee, Sammy and Elisa to do the 30 mile Lincoln loop bike ride.

Since it was not clear if everyone would be up for the full ride, I made up a route and cue sheets for everyone which would allow for some to go ahead and some to cut the ride short if needed. I used the Bikely website because it allowed for me to create a route by "drawing" on a map or downloading a file from my GPS. Once the route was in place, you can add notations on the route (mostly at turns) and then it creates a cue sheet - with distances calculated automatically - for you to be able to share turn-by-turn instructions. Here is the route, click the title bar to see the ride and cue sheet on the main Bikely site.

Newton-Lincoln-Newton 29 miles

http://www.bikely.com/

Also, I should mention, that Guy is normally the guide, and although I was pretty sure of the route, this time I would be the navigator and I wanted to be sure I didn't lead anyone astray.

We started around 9am; it was cool, misty and cloudy. However, the weather forecast showed it clearing up at the latest by 10am. The clouds were not reading the forecast, because it rained for about 20 of the 30 miles, sometimes pretty hard. However, despite this, or even because of it, we all had a blast on the ride. The route is beautiful, even in the rain, and we were all thrilled to be out enjoying the elements, and the physical activity. The pace was a little slower than usual given the weather and the fact a couple of the group were newer to this length of ride, but it was still a blast and a work out for all of us.

So this is my first Web 2.0 bike ride (using Bikely), and as a 30 miler with 4 of us riding together we have the 1st 2.0 30 4 bike ride.

P.S. It also happens to be my 2 year biking anniversary. I bought my bike on July 3, 2006 and started riding, training up for the Hazon ride, on July 4 of that year. I did not realise this until I was chatting with Sammy half way through today's ride but I know am still enjoying it all as much now as when I started.