Christmas Eve Rides

[HillSlugger]

With temperatures in the 40's and no responsibilities until the afternoon I couldn't resist getting out for a ride. I mostly had the roads to myself. It was windier than I like, but I pushed 17 miles as hard as I could.

Merry Christmas to all!

Nicole

[maillotpois]

I may go for a ride today..... We shall see....

[East Hill]

It's windy out, and I hope more trees don't fall :eek: , but I'm going out there now.

East Hill

[Kathi]

No ride here, the neighborhood streets are still snow covered and icy. The main roads are good however.

I haven't ridden since Thanksgiving but the skiing is wonderful!:)

[suzieqtwa]

I got up around 8am ,and it was raining slightly ,and in the upper 30s. As I was about 2 miles into the ride it starting pouring , and continued for the rest of the 27 miles. I sure am sick of riding in the rain every day. My feet ,and hand were numb ,and I was having trouble changing the gears. It wasn't windy just rainy. I WANT THE SUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I got home my husband had bacon.eggs ,and hash browns cooking.
Happy Holidays to all . I will be drinking eggnog ,and run tonight. :D

[kerrybelle]

Got out for a nice 10 mile mtn bike ride. Weather here as been unseasonably warm lately. Today's high was 52 I think.

I pretty much abandoned my mtn bike over the summer and it's great to get back on the trails. Now, I miss riding my road bike though! Have to get the trainer set up soon.

Kerry

[Tri Girl]

Sounds like you ladies have had some fun today!
It was cold, so a friend and I went for a mtn bike ride today on the wind-protected trails. Rained Wed. and the trails were still pretty tacky and muddy. I felt like a REAL mtn biker today (not just a roadie poser like I really am) becuase my bike and I were both a dirty mess when we were done. It was muddy, wet and way too fun. Got lost, took an unmarked trail- jumped over two creeks with my bike- slipped like crazy in the mud, re-built two bridges that washed out, got lost in the trees, couldn't clip in because of the caked mud on my shoes, had to ride fixed gear because my bike was too dirty. It was a GREAT ride! :D (did I mention that I'm LOVING my mtn bike?)

Now, if it would ever stop being cold- I'll actually ride my road bike again. We'll see...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

SuzieQ,
Despite the rain, it sounds as though you had a GREAT ride today! (especially the husband having breakfast cooking when you got home part!!) :D

We had a forecast of clear and in the 40's today, so we planned a big ride.
Got out early and had "BreakFest" in town with friends, then mapped out a 30 mile ride through the local countryside.
It was way cloudier and windier than we had counted on. A half hour into the ride we were being blown around all COLD and WET and sleet was pelting us in the face too. But I said those high winds were going to blow all the clouds away eventually, so we kept going. Happily, it eventually DID clear and the second half of our 3 hour ride was much nicer even with some warming sun and we dried up while riding. We passed a friend's house and dropped in and she made us tea and put out xmas cookies! :p The tea really revived me.
For the first time since getting that miserable cold 3 weeks ago I felt NOT sick & weak while riding bike today. I'm SO happy to be well again.

We especially loved riding today- our very first Christmas on our bikes together!
We rode 32.5 miles, got home safe and happy before dark, and are going to start a fire in the fireplace and heat up my leftover potato leek soup for dinner. I feel so blessed and so GRATEFUL to have my health and a wonderful partner to share things with.
I so wish there could be more peace and less misery in this world.

Happy Yulestice to all the wonderful ladies of TE. Your thoughts and writings bring me joy every day.

[SouthernBelle]

I had a nice ride today. A while back I brokered a bike transaction between a young college age friend of mine and a local judge whose wife can no longer ride due to back problems. It's a nice Bianchi, about 5 years old. So today we had a nice ride of a little over 15 miles. She is learning where to shift when, and this was the furthest she had ever ridden. It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend Christmas Eve!

[Fredwina]

I got in 40 miles, would have done 50, but the Santa Ana winds (50+ mph gusts) that were predicted for yesterday show up today. I almost went and did GMR (The mountain would block the wind, but decided that I was probably going to be riding that way tomorrow. Was a little overdressed (it's 72 here now:) ) And I'm over 6500 miles for the year. I'm going to shoot for 6666 (will I need to have my rector exorcise my bike if I achieve my goal?:rolleyes: , we'll see)

[DirtDiva]

Had a lovely ride on Christmas Eve. I did just a little under 50km (probably about 30 miles) and included some hilliness. I'm starting to think hills aren't so bad... :eek:

Today I packed my bike up ready to head back to the UK. I get to ride my mountain bike again on Saturday - I'm so excited. :D

[jobob]

Lee & I drove over to Tiburon, and rode from there up to the Marin Cheese Factory (which is near Petaluma & Novato), and back. It was about 55 miles round trip and moderatley hilly, with around 3000 feet of climbing. (We were originally going to start out from the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge, ride over the bridge then on thru Sausalito & pick up our route there, but decided we'd save the bridge start for another day). It was overcast & chilly and damp and I got tired & chilled about midway into the ride and my shoulder started aching - which is new for me - but I perked up some after a sandwich in the warmth of the Cheese Factory, and more so after a couple of motrin at the top of the next hill on the way back home.

It was a great ride and I'd love to do it again, but I'd just as soon do it when it's not so cold & damp !

I passed my 4000 mile goal during that ride :)

And, Lee and I had a lovely Christmas eve surprise when we were nearly finished. :cool:

[ridethewind]

I almost didn't get myself out there to ride. But, I'm glad I did. No big mileage for me, as I'm just getting back to cycling after knee joint replacement surgery. I just rode around my small town (of about 9,000 people) until I was tired and dusk was about to set in. It was chilly, but I was pretty comfortable, despite my almost utter lack of cycling clothing. The only thing that really got cold was my chin. :D

[maillotpois]

I passed my 4000 mile goal during that ride :)

And, Lee and I had a lovely Christmas eve surprise when we were nearly finished. :cool:

Okay - I was the surprise!! :cool: I did some internet research on coumadin in the morning, and found out that I was actually "safe" to ride yesterday, so DH and I did the Tiburon loop, a 25-ish mile ride that's usually super easy, boring, whatever. Wow. After 6 months off the bike that was HARD!! Everything hurt. My pulmonologist had told me to keep the HR below 160 - that was a real struggle as well. Every time the road went up at all, the HR soared. Oh well.

But... the best part was coming back into town and running into Jo and Lee!! They were headed out of town on their way back from their ride and kindly came across the road to see us. Seriously, adding another 100 meters to the ride to go over to see them might have been too much for me!!

It was great to see them - they did an absolutely wonderful ride that I hope to do with them and some of you next year.

Baby steps for now. I did a shorter version of my ride today and it was enough. It's going to take a while to get back, I can tell. :o

Congrats on the 4000 miles, Jo!!! :)

[Fredwina]

MP, Glad to see you're back :cool:

[DebW]

I also managed an xmas eve ride. Had about 1 hour of spare time between packing and heading to the airport, so I got in a 15 mile ride. Overcast and breezy weather in the high 40s. It will sustain me until Friday or Saturday when I am back home.

[Veronica]

Woohoo MP! I'm so glad you're back on the bike! Keep it fun!

Christmas Eve I rode Kona to Hilo. Started at about 5:15 AM. I'm glad it was dark. Every time we drive up the hill to the main highway and I look at far down our hotel is, I think, "Oh my GOD! I rode up that!"

The ride was going pretty well. The weather was good. It's beautiful and warm here. Thom lost my second water bottle somehwere so he was shadowing me more than we had planned. My wicked expensive shorts are toast. Twenty miles into the ride, major issues. Maybe there is a limit to how many miles they'll last.

I changed into my Assos knickers at fifty miles. They were better and not too warm. I was about 45 minutes faster than we projected to the base of the climb to Volcano. The climb to Volcano was tedious - 27 miles, 4,000 feet of climb through scrub. It took about 4 hours. It was raining at the summit so Thom gave me back my tail lights, vest and my bolero for the descent. It's not all downhill to Hilo. :rolleyes:

About halfway down my right knee started to hurt like it did on the Mount Tam double. I decided that ten more hours of pain was not a good idea and I bagged the ride in Hilo. The inside of my knee still feels a little bruised.

Assos shorts are not as good in the rain as the Louis Garneaus. They soak up so much water!

120.6 miles for the day.

V.

[Aint Doody]

I, too, got in a 22 mile ride on Christmas Eve. I was solo because none of my cycling friends could cut themselves loose. It was drizzling rain and about 40, but I was totally comfortable. I'm 10 miles from my 3000 mile goal for the year. I will make it!

[maillotpois]

Great ride, V! I have driven up that hill to Keaheaou or however the heck you spell it. It is a steep one!

Better to have an actual vacation for your vacation than to kill yourself to do a super long ride. And your ride sounds long enough! Hawaii is for mai tais and watersports. :cool: Have one for me!!

[bcipam]

After having done a 40 miler Saturday my friend Richard and I decided to do a ride down to San Juan Capistrano for lunch. I told him I needed to get back home around 3 cause I was going to Church that evening.

Long story short, we got a late start. I ran into a friend I haven't seen for a year and we talked for an hour. We finally got down to Capistrano about 1 - I was hungry and we found a Carl's Jr. I had a chichen sandwich and yes I admit, fried zuchini (iI was hungry!). We sat about 40 minutes and then got back on thebikes. My legs no longer worked. I was done. Had I thought anyone was around to come get me I would have called. I kept checking to see if the trains were running cause I would have bought a ticket. Anyway, my friend patiently followed me back. We stopped a few times. Ended up taking a longer route then planned which was also hillier but had less traffic. Got back home around 4:15. We did 55 miles. Needless to say I didn't make it to Church. All I could do was shower and love up my couch. Christmas and today no riding. I may regret that.

BTW the weather was absolutely fabulous. A typical California Christmas, sunny and cool about 65 degrees. Loving it.

[Brandi]

It was a great peaceful ride!