Sunday 3/22 rides

[sundial]

Today I ventured down the hilly back roads and photographed this new little guy.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/2dogcrew/newfoal.jpg

Seeing a new foal always brings me joy. The mare was still a little protective of him and moved him away from me so I continued on my little journey. On my way back from my route, he was lying in the field and snoozing in the sun. :)

Did about 16 miles of hills with just under 1200 ft of climbing. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. It was sunny with a gentle breeze and I saw lots of red buds in bloom. I stopped once to photograph and then proceeded over a bridge with cool bluish green water. After that I turned around and headed up the L O N G steep hill and had to quit mid way to bring my heart rate down. Hey, it is my first try of the season on Cardiac Hill. Glad I'm on the triple as I don't have my hill legs quite yet. :p

Did anyone else enjoy a nice ride today? :)

[Jenerator]

Didn't see any foals, but a lot of calves along my route today. Got in about 25 miles of mixed road & trail riding. Great way to welcome spring.

[solobiker]

Nice picture. I am so happy that things are starting to turn green. No ride for me today..it is getting pretty windy here. The warm before the storm so I went for a hike in Boulder. It was so nice, sunny with temps in the 70s. Yes it was windy but when I am hiking I don't mind. It is supposed to be in the 40s tomorrow with rain/snow

[wackyjacky1]

Today I explored a relatively new park called Salado Creek Greenway. It was beautiful! It was about a 7.5 mile ride to get to the park, and the path through the park was about 7 miles (roundtrip), so I ended up with 21 miles altogether. Pretty breezy at times, but the temp was perfect (mid-70s).

This was my longest ride to date (goodbye 10-mile mental barrier!) and although I got pretty tired toward the end, I must confess I am feeling a nice sense of accomplishment. :)

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc71/wackyjacky1/DSCN0547-1.jpg
Salado Creek

[Crankin]

We did a 16 mile ride in a part of my town that I rarely see. It was nice, but the weather wasn't as nice as I thought it would be, so no 30-40 miles as I planned. Cloudy and winds steady at 15, with gusts up to 20.
Yoga tomorrow, which is fine because it's going to be freezing again. I rode 115 miles in a week, which is a lot for me, let alone for my first week out. My left sitz bone, IT band, and back all are hurting...

[Blueberry]

Today I explored a relatively new park called Salado Creek Greenway. It was beautiful! It was about a 7.5 mile ride to get to the park, and the path through the park was about 7 miles (roundtrip), so I ended up with 21 miles altogether. Pretty breezy at times, but the temp was perfect (mid-70s).

This was my longest ride to date (goodbye 10-mile mental barrier!) and although I got pretty tired toward the end, I must confess I am feeling a nice sense of accomplishment. :)

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc71/wackyjacky1/DSCN0547-1.jpg
Salado Creek

Well done!!! And yes, I'd say you've broken through!!

Had to re-post your bike since I always like looking at it - it's such a great color combination:)

No riding for me today - still getting over a stomach bug:( Ah well - at least I felt well enough to go for a walk in the sunshine with my pup:)

CA

[shootingstar]

43 kms. beautifully sunny with some headwind, then tailwind, depending on different points of route.

Many cyclists out there today.

[sundial]

Wacky, what a beautiful place to ride. :) And your bike is so striking! :cool: Just curious, are those mustache handlebars?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

DH and I rode 24 miles this morning after breakfast. A cloudy day, it was 35F when we started, and 40F when we finished. Rather cold but it was good to get riding again after this bizarre winter.

[Tri Girl]

Beautiful pictures, ladies! Wacky- what a lovely park- and sundial- great pic of the newly born foal. So pretty!
I just rode to the grocery store and back for a few things (the 12 pack of toilet paper bungied on my rear rack must've been a hoot for motorists to see). :)
It was far too windy for any "real" riding today (35mph with gusts in the 40s). I've decided I just won't ride when it's that windy because I get too cranky- on the other hand, I should just head N and ride with a tailwind for 30 miles and tell DH to come get me. ;)

[OakLeaf]

I joined the boys for the first half of their loop then split off early. The Sunday ride is turning into a nice group. But they weren't going to stop for mullet and eggs anyway. :p 29 miles on the road bike. Then I jumped in the shower and went to church on the commuter bike for another 2 miles RT.

[Biciclista]

what a day for an epic (snort) ride.
DH was ready to go riding. It was about 9am. I had been looking out the window on and off for an hour already, watching the rain come down. I told him i didn't want to ride, it was raining. Of course, this made him very upset because we both know that I need to get some miles under my belt because in 2 weeks, we're going to be in Sacramento for the mad march hairs ride. (yes, I know I spelled that wrong, that's how they're spelling it)
He thought it over and remembered that he needed his hair cut. I cut his hair and surprise, surprise, the rain stopped. Hm. okay, i'll ride I said.
So we headed east and north to ride near the lake to Pert's deli for a hot drink. It's 42 degrees, and very grey. We got to Pert's just as the rain started to fall again, so I was a bit discouraged. We rode 1/2 mile and I suggest that i might turn around and go home, would that be ok? he said it was, but he was still heading north and planned to get downtown and I couldn't figure out how he was going to do that, so I decided to go along. We ended up in a park called interloken park, it had a big paved path (big enough for cars but no cars allowed) that snaked up and around the hill separating us from downtown. It was really beautiful and peaceful. We got to downtown from the opposite direction I am used to, and it was very pretty. It also stopped raining. Downtown we passed the Honda dealer, and we stopped and tried to stuff bikes into the 2009 and the 2008 Honda fit. My bike fit easily and nicely several different ways; but D's bike with the aero bars and long fenders front and back, did not. I was really disappointed, I wanted to be able to stuff both bikes in easily. We could get his in, we'd just have to do major disassembly each time. bummer.
Then we went to Elliot Bay Bikes, the home of Davidson bicycles, where Donald learned how to take his hub apart and, um. sorry, something else.
We were there easily for 2 hours. but it was time well spent. After that we rode home AND THE SUN CAME OUT! 27 miles. 1140 feet of altitude gain.

[Aggie_Ama]

Went to DH's mountain bike race in Wacko, TX. I really have never been able to love Waco and apparently he doesn't either since it was his first non-top 10 finish since he started racing again. :( He had the dreaded lead legs on a hard course. No riding for me, just being a good cheerleading wife or something.

[chicago]

sundial... what a beautiful picture of the foal and mama.. nice :)

great day today. got up early and met a few friends and got in 32 miles on the bike... before heading off to the barn for my horse riding lesson. then of course helped my trainer with all her horses and hung out at the barn ALL day, LOL... love it, just love it!! it's going to be hard to split my weekend time between the horses and cycling... but I will make it happen!!

great weekend... beautiful weather in Chicago... the one thing about winter here is it sure makes you appreciate these spring days... awesome.:D:p

[wackyjacky1]

Wacky, what a beautiful place to ride. :) And your bike is so striking! :cool: Just curious, are those mustache handlebars?
Thanks to you and CA for the compliments on my bike! Yes, those are moustache handlebars -- I love 'em.

[Zen]

what a day for an epic (snort) ride.


It's now called "Super Mega Bike Ride".
One of these days I'll post the photo that verifies that;)

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Great ride today. I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go when I started, but soon after I left my neighborhood I decided to ride out to Keystone Dam.

The weather stuff said partly cloudy to cloudy for this afternoon with strong enough winds to set of a weather alert for the area (20+). Didn't stop me after wimpin out yesterday. ;) Well..it was windy alright - and down right scary when riding over the dam with some impatient drivers passing too close (grrr). Wind and wake... yikes. Anyway.. the cloudy thing wasn't right.. the sun came out and it got nice n warm. I also realized too late that I forgot sunscreen. Never too old to make a newbie mistake, ya know? LOL
Sunburned arms...farmer John arms, no less. Oh well. It'll make for fun Monday conversation!

50 miles.. 2800elevation gain (one hill was 14% - nice test for my new compact!)..22+mph sse winds with some real nasty gusts.
I love my new bike!!

[channlluv]

Wow, I love your pictures! I saw a real road runner bird and as I was passing it, I thought about grabbing a picture to post here, but it was flying away too fast. They really are quick.

It was a beautiful day for a ride here, too, and I went 25 miles! Five times around my favorite five-mile loop at Lake Miramar here in San Diego. Foot traffic was really light, and there were only a couple of vehicles driving through. I started a little after 3:30pm and it was sunny, clear, and warming up after a rainy morning. I think it was in the mid-60s. By 5pm, it was turning cool, and the wind off the ocean was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g! I thought about doing 30 miles, but when I finished up the fifth lap, the sun was near setting and the marine layer was rolling in, and the wind was really turning cold, and I was starting to feel the ride in my left knee. Maybe next time.

D*H gave me a new seat post yesterday and adjusted my handlebar height and seat height to alleviate some of the pressure on my knees, and man, did it pay off. I cut three whole minutes off my most recent time, from 28 minutes for a five-mile loop to 24 minutes, 52 seconds...I did 25 miles in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 12 seconds. I think there's a numerology thing there somewhere, but I feel great right now. I really do.

My best speed before the wreck was 23 minutes. I'm almost there.

Woohooo!

Roxy

Getting in touch with my inner try-athlete.

[wackyjacky1]

Getting in touch with my inner try-athlete.
Love it! :)

[just1morebike]

Ohhh, I want to play!
I spent the weekend in Canyonlands National Park, about 3 hours south of my home. It was beautiful, not a bad place to go for the first ride of the year. Everyone goes to Moab to mountain bike, but there is so much do and see on the road. These pictures are from the Island in the Sky district, and the Needles district, further south.

[just1morebike]

OOps

[chicago]

just1morebike... gorgeous pictures... absolutely gorgeous!!!

[just1morebike]

just1morebike... gorgeous pictures... absolutely gorgeous!!!

Thanks, but they don't even come close to the real thing:)

[channlluv]

Love it! :)

Thanks. It came to me while I was riding today, imagining what it would feel like to actually do a real triathlon, and if they make tri-suits in my size, and if I'd be able to swim in the ocean without attracting a shark, and how long would it take me to train for a real marathon, and how the cycling part will be the easiest leg of the race....I'm thinking I might put it on a t-shirt.

:)

Roxy

[channlluv]

just1morebike... gorgeous pictures... absolutely gorgeous!!!

+1 - that's downright inspiring.

[7rider]

I did something I normally don't do on the Sunday shop ride: I dropped the C-ride at the top of Great Falls Park and tried to hang with the hammerheads on the B-ride. For the most part, I succeeded...at least I, true to my title over here, hung on to last wheel...barely. At traffic lights, I'd pick my way to the front of the pack, and by the time we were down the road - perhaps at the next light, I'd be at the back. Unfortunately, by the time we got back into town, I was at the tail end at a light they all got through, but I got caught at the red. So that was the end of the B for me, and I ended up fininshing with just 2 or 3 others that also fell off the back.

My friend's ride was a shake down ride for her on her new bike. Her DH built her up a stunning Colnago C-50 with Edge composite wheels and SRAM red. The "red" of the SRAM he had custom changed to pink, so the bike is black, with all pink accents (CK headset, SP light action pedals, Terry saddle, bar tape, cables). I'm not much for pink, but the combination of pink and black was stunning. Unfortunately, the switch from Shimano to SRAM shifting left her fumbling at a few spots, so she spent most of her time (with him, thankfully) at the back of the C-ride.

[Aggie_Ama]

I also realized too late that I forgot sunscreen. Never too old to make a newbie mistake, ya know? LOL
Sunburned arms...farmer John arms, no less. Oh well. It'll make for fun Monday conversation!


I did this last year when we went to Red River and rode 87 miles- at altitude where I burn worse. Not like I haven't been fair skinned since birth. Not like I don't know I burn in 5 minutes. I had knickers on which made for interesting conversation the next day white water rafting in shorts since I was BLISTERING RED from just below the knee to my low sock line and farmer arm style plus only one side of my face complete with helmet strap. Oy! :p

Glad you are loving the new bike, does the sexy beast have a name yet?

[sundial]

Just1more, I would love to ride my road bike there. I love the colors of the mesa. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[colleenbc]

I got in a lot of miles of amazing single track at Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming. It was all the better because it was about 70 degrees and almost all dry riding - only a few snowdrifts. This is uncommon in Wyoming in March. With a predicted blizzard for Sunday night (which did hit by the way - hard enough to cause school closures - snow days after sun days are fun!) I didn't see any members from Wyoming on the member map but if you're out there you should really check out the nice work they have done on the trails. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive for me to get there but I'll be back often!

[Geonz]

... well, it wasn't for me, but it was the first ride on the faster bike with somewhat faster people for their first ride of the season. I posted it and forgot to suggest sunscreen... so it was cloudy and cool enough that we were in long sleeves and tights (despite the forecast to the contrary).
It was a nice just-peppy-enough 28 miler, and since I rode hard the 6 miles to get there on time, it was a good workout and for the day I had 38 miles (not counting a few errands on the other bike). We just got out there and took turns into the wind, and chatted a little but mostly just enjoyed the ride. Averaged 14.5 and the muscles felt like they'd been used :) :) (yesterday's ride average was 10.9 - but on the Xtracycle still felt good).