Rides for the Last Day of 2007... Dec 31

[RoadRaven]

Well... New Years Eve is here... in 7 hours 2008 will be well under way... (its 5:40pm here in Middle Earth)

I rode this morning with my life partner and one of our sons... a comfortable 33kms... it is such a pleasure to finish the year doing something I love with the man I adore and one of our five wonderful children...

Trust you have all been able to do something - even if it doesn't involve a bicycle - with the people you love too

[Velobambina]

Two words describe this morning's aborted ride: WIPE OUT!!! LOL.

The pavement was wet when I started out and the temps above freezing. Wouldn't you know it, as I'm riding, the temps dropped below freezing [unfortunately, a lot of car wrecks reported on the morning news]. I wiped out on a wooden bridge. Not a bad mishap, thanks to my guardian angel. Some bruising/soreness on my left knee & hip. The left hood on my handlebars was pushed inward and my chain came off. Was able to put the chain on and make it home without incident. Luckily, I was riding my beater bike, so it will be going to Spokes today for a lookover/repair. I needed to get new tires, regardless.

I was lucky. I wasn't injured, save the bruises and soreness. My embarassingly expensive headlight was fine. Bike does not appear to be badly damaged. No one around to see me go down, either. Also got to do some crosstraining--rowed--since my ride ended prematurely. ;)

I can't wait for winter to end....

[IFjane]

Two words describe this morning's aborted ride: WIPE OUT!!! LOL.

as I'm riding, the temps dropped below freezing [unfortunately, a lot of car wrecks reported on the morning news]. I wiped out on a wooden bridge. Not a bad mishap, thanks to my guardian angel. Some bruising/soreness on my left knee & hip. The left hood on my handlebars was pushed inward and my chain came off. Was able to put the chain on and make it home without incident.

I was lucky. I wasn't injured, No one around to see me go down, either. I can't wait for winter to end....

VB {{{{{HUG}}}}} Thank goodness you were not hurt more!

I can't imagine going out in this mess this morning - slick and I can't see 10 ft. in front of me. I was hoping to get out on the road (haven't been out yet since hand surgery) one more time in '07 but if it doesn't clear up soon I guess I'll have to hit the trainer again. :(

I'm with you on ending winter soon!

[jobob]

VB, you're another one (along with Ms. Geonz) who simply amazes me with the amount of riding you get in, in the land of ice & snow ! :cool:

I'm very glad you weren't hurt.

Cheers, - jobob

[RoadRaven]

Well...

A least the headlight was ok!

Seriously, glad you are pretty much ok. It seems so strange to be chatting with people about bikes and yet our rides at any given moment of the year usually happen in such amazingly different weather/seasons!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

10" of snow last night. Went snowshoeing today. ;)

[Geonz]

Yea, I keep thinking "it's a lot harder to ride in Arlington than Illinois! What's she doin' getting all those miles!" (I grew up in Greenbelt)

Glad you slid reasonably safely - WHEW! The ol' "watch for overpasses and bridges" deal. Keep the rubber side down!

No wipeouts here... well below freezing but just frost to crunch on. 35.8 miles and I think I'm done for the year :D

[Velobambina]

That was my final Mrs. Magoo move of 2007. An apt end to a not-so-great year. ;)

Knee is bruised and sore, but functioning normally. I've been icing it and putting arnica gel on it.

The bike is home, fixed, and ready to go for tomorrow morning's ride. Thinking positive--no ice, no rain, not too cold!

Thanks to all for the good wishes. I really was lucky in all regards. That was my first bicycle wipe out since childhood.

[Veronica]

Ouch! Take care of that knee. They are tricky little buggers.

V.

[jobob]

Nothing epic for me today - just one full circuit of the Alameda Creek Trail & Coyote Hills park near where I live, about 28 miles. It was beautiful, clear & sunny, but the wind was really blowing.

[divingbiker]

Two words describe this morning's aborted ride: WIPE OUT!!! LOL.

The pavement was wet when I started out and the temps above freezing. Wouldn't you know it, as I'm riding, the temps dropped below freezing [unfortunately, a lot of car wrecks reported on the morning news].

Wow, what a difference it makes to be a few miles north. I didn't see any icy patches, no wrecks, and my ride to work was fine! Glad you're ok.

Just did the usual commute, except I was standing in for my boss so I let everyone (including me) go home two hours early. Lots of others must have done the same, because there was a lot of traffic on the ride home.

[Blueberry]

A short-ish ride for us here in NC. We've had some relatively warm days, but I always forget that the temperature starts to drop about 2:30. All the New Year's treats are safely in the fridge - awaiting dinner.

Happy New Year to All!

CA

PS - VB glad you're OK!

[froglegs]

To the gym (to swim) and back, an 11 mile round trip. It was quite leisurely (ok, lazy) since I had no energy because of my long run yesterday and not eating/drinking much this morning. Still, it was quite enjoyable. :)

[makbike]

I took my new bike out for a spin this afternoon. The sun was shining, temps in the low 50's, clear blue skies and a nasty wind. Since I'm trying to talk myself into the 3-State, 3-Mountain century in May I decided maybe I should tackle a tough hill today (can't believe I went out looking for a hill - I hate to climb!). I found it and me and the new bike went up it no problems. I traveled through the tiny towns of Bagdad, Hatton, back through Bagdad, out to Cropper and back to Shelbyville today. I logged a total of 41.4 miles and averaged 16.07. My body is still adjusting to the new bike - hard to fully adjust when the riding is sporadic at best given the season. Looks like this was probably my last outdoor ride for a while - snow is in the forecast :D so I'll be on the trainer the next few days and then it is back to work:(

[silver]

managed to get out for just a bit.

We were expecting strong winds. but they didn't kick in til later. so i decided to get out for a bit. I'm still not feeling 100% but the opportunity was too good to refuse.

16 miles at 17.3 mph avg. low 50's, sunny, windy

[solobiker]

No ride, still trying to get over a bad cold:mad: Hope those of you who did get out had a great ride.

[Aggie_Ama]

DH and I did a Metric Century today. I need 61.6 miles to reach my yearly goal and luckily the weather cooperated (mostly). It was in the 60's with a winds 10-15 mph. The worst part was the constant headwind for the first half of the ride. It has been about two months since I tackled a ride that long and I am feeling a little tired. There was a reward:

2007 Odometer: 3,500.3 miles :D

[shootingstar]

I did my ride today ...after not cycling for almost last 2 weeks. We returned last night from snowshoeing in mountains and winery touring vacation since Dec. 22.

Short....dinky 15 kms. and utilitarian to buy groceries and other essentials for New Year's Eve dinner tonight & for rest of wk. It was at freezing today, no snow at home ..compared to blowing snowdrifts in mountain passes last night.

[smilingcat]

my route wasn't quite 20 miles. Just over 18.5 miles and did two hill climbs (starting my hill reps for 1258 feet of climb). My HR maxed out today at 176 and kept it above 160 for 48:45 Oui, I need to seriously lose about 20lbs. And my back was more or less okay. Still can't ride on the drops though. I feel like things are looking up. Even though I've been off riding since the Holstein ride in Sept. and I just started back up in earnest about week and half ago, getting up to 18.5 mile is pretty good.

:D :D :D

Happy New Year.
smilingcat

[nancy sv]

Nothing - I've got a flat tire and am too lazy to fix it. But - I did sew up a sleeping bag/basket liner for my dog's basket on my bike!! (Does that count??)

[mimitabby]

I rode on the 31st as well. The day started rather ominously. At 755am we planned to ride our bikes the 10 blocks to the restaurant. But everything was white with frost. So we drove. The ride on the 30th, which I skipped, was absolutely miserable. the winds that i complained about on the 29th had increased and turned (so the promised tailwind became a terrifying crosswind) so people were REALLY reluctant this morning because all of them except for me had battled the elements the day before.
Everyone was in a bad mood, no one wanted to ride and slip and break a hip. So we waited and waited. We went back to the motel room, but at 10am the ride leader told us all was good, the roads had defrosted.
So we started. I was assured that it was no hillier than the saturday ride but in the first 10 minutes of the ride, my confidence was shaken with a 12% grade. Well, what's one 12% grade? We continued going up and down and up and down and Raleighdon grimly told me this was not the kind of ride he'd ever schedule for this time of year.
Right after this, we turned into a state park. It was kind of pretty. I heard someone say something about "when we get to the top" We rode our bikes up this well paved switchbacked grade up to a lookout.
http://www.sersale.org/bike/view.jpg
It was incredibly beautiful up there.

http://www.sersale.org/bike/manddatpark.jpg
the scenery everywhere was stunning
http://www.sersale.org/bike/madrona.jpg
and then we went back down THAT hill. We continued, faced with more ups and downs.
After a long grueling hill, I really wanted to give up, this was mile 8. Behind me came two veteran riders, one said she couldn't do it, she didn't feel well, she was turning back and another, who had been grousing about hills also turned back. And I continued...
I started feeling like my bike was incredibly sluggish, i was down in a granny gear and i was still fighting the bike. I was also last and Raleighdon was worried about me. We rode on highway 20 which was filled with hostile auto traffic, and made it across deception pass bridge, a famous and scary high bridge. Sorry, no pictures. We planned on stopping at an art gallery where there was a coffee bar,
but it was closed. So we recrossed the construction areas and the highway with closed lanes and no shoulders and the Deception pass bridge again and a mile further, stopped at a restaurant. At this point I discovered my brake was rubbing again. raleighdon fixed it (again) and the rest of the ride my bike felt like it was as light as a feather!
We had a nice lunch and almost warmed up then continued on our way. We were promised that the hills were over (not counting the 9% grades we were now on) and slowly continued back to our hotel. Finally we were on the flats, but one of the really tough riders was having trouble. She couldn't keep up with me, really a bad sign.

Raleighdon went back to "pull her in" but they were getting nowhere fast and finally our ride leader told me to "stay here" and she and the tandem went back too. I stood there in the fading light until i heard far far in the distance, Raleighdon's whistle. at that point i rode back until i saw them all, gathered around, changing a flat tire. No wonder
http://www.sersale.org/bike/rodbike.jpg
she couldn't keep up, she'd been on a flat tire for MILES.

Once the tire was fixed (hey, i helped get it back onto her bike) we spun home the last few miles all on flats and trails, including the awesome footbridge that goes across the bay.
I was so cold, jumped into a wonderful hot bath and never wanted to get out. 36 miles, 2200 feet of climb

[Aggie_Ama]

Wow, Mimi, those pictures are gorgeous! I am very confused about the bike, it looks like it is missing half a wheel? :confused:

[Blueberry]

The half a wheel is a fender:)

Sounds like quite an adventure, Mimi. Kudos to you for hanging in there - sounds like quite a ride!

[mimitabby]

Aggie, that's the bike waiting for it's repaired flat tire.

[Aggie_Ama]

The half a wheel is a fender:)




I forget they use fenders!! I thought she somehow broke half a wheel. :rolleyes: