Weekend Rides!

[Catrin]

Wind kept me from riding Thursday, by the time I finally had time to ride Friday we had a downpour....today was beautiful though a little cooler. Rode a glorious 25 miles :) I felt strong and wanted to ride further much further, but I do not want to do that until the weather calms/settles and I can ride more consistently. Build it up steady and slow this year :)

Though it wasn't all that warm, the winds were low and the sun was bright - my wind jacket wound up in my trunk bag which I had brought for that very reason - it felt fabulous!

The only problem was the reminder of what happens if I do not put on enough chamois cream... :o :eek: There is NO doubt what the discomfort was from - I won't make THAT mistake again!

[emily_in_nc]

My longest ride of 2011 clocked in at just a few ticks over 30 miles. Since this was nearly all urban or suburban, that's 2.5 hours of riding time, a really good ride for me.

We first went to two different markets (farmer's and food co-op) for all sorts of yummies, brought everything home for the fridge, then headed back out for more fun miles.

Weather was perfect, though there was a stiff wind - gusts to 25 mph this morning, they say, but calming throughout the day. Temps were mid-60s at the start to low 70s. Sunny. Absolutely gorgeous flowering trees, daffs, tulips, forsythia, and various flowering bushes. A highlight was riding under a HUGE weeping willow that was all that shade of light spring green of new leaves that I just LOVE.

A wonderful ride and wonderful day!

[Mr. Bloom]

I hammered the first 15% grade at 8mph...then, with the wind I wasn't recovered five miles later when I got to the 2nd, much longer, 15% grade...My first time to walk the bike in four years!

Oh well, I take solace knowing it's not my abilities, but rather my brain. I can deal with my brain...but I still should have known better this time...shame on me:o.

[indysteel]

DH and I got in 20 miles this morning before the in laws' arrival. We had a brisk cross wind to deal with that I struggled a bit with. But it was nice to get out, and the sun was shining for a change!

[Becky]

25 miles on Friday...home to work to the bike shop and back home again...in a very stiff breeze. I felt strong though....

Today was ~13 miles to the shop and then home on another windy day. DH and I keep reminding ourselves that there's no escaping the wind here....

I'm so glad to be back outside on my bike!

[HillSlugger]

Only 16 miles today: 1st 8 into the wind, 12.8mph; 2nd 8 with tailwind, 18mph :eek: Tailwinds are much more fun :)

[marni]

catrin, butt btr chamois cream in a purple and yellow tube, makes small packets that you can carry in your jersey pocket for a mid ride relube. One packet fits easily into a snap pack size sip lock and for me is good for two relubes or 100 miles. If you keep it in the snack pack, you can open it, use half, squeeze the rest down to the bottom of the packet, fold the top over and throw it back in the snack pack for the next time or ride.

[crazycanuck]

I participated in the Petit Oppy version of the Oppy all day trial http://audax.org.au/public/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=24&id=88&Itemid=310. The Oppy is 24hrs and is a minimum of 360k but I'm not up to that quite yet..That and do you know how hard it it to find people to ride that distance?? Especially in Perth :rolleyes:

So, I decided to enter a team for the petit oppy with the minimum distance of 180k..Since i don't like the idea of only 180k, 200k+ was the word. (Eventually had a team of 3 & won't be inviting the dude we rode with again!!!) We did 200k in 12hrs yest then 35k this morning to the end then home...So 235k in just under 14hrs. We had to shorten our route by 25km as we misjudged the speed we could reach along one section due to the crap road surface.

I'll explain a bit later as i'm off to snooze for a bit.

I really wish more women would do Audax/Randonneuring stuff..There are only two of us in Perth that do Audax rides but obviously people think it's touring...NOT!!! I certainly don't stop & look at the roses when i'm wondering if my current speed will get me back before the cut off time...:rolleyes:

The guys that were out to beat the record (rode from Kalgoorlie to Perth then needed to get to the end at freo) didn't quite due to some nasty headwinds. THe record i believe is 664k but the gents did just under 600k. :(. Tis not a huge deal for them as they've qualified for the PBP anyways..for the second and third time.

Off to sleep.

[Bike Chick]

We got a 35 mile ride in yesterday on our TT bikes. The longest ride for 2011 and the longest ride on my TT bike. It wasn't as warm as we'd hoped and there was a brutal cross wind but it was still great to be on the bike. That bike's made for speed (the sprints were so fun), not comfort and I'm a little sore this morning in (AHEM) "certain places".

[azfiddle]

Does Friday count as weekend? I'm on vacation and have the new bike. I rode the 8 mile loop road at Saguaro National Park so my DH (still on the disabled list after his commuter accident) could take some photos. He took several nice action pics and "portraits" at the end. Beautiful Arizona spring weather- so I rode home from the park- total just 16 miles.

Saturday I got out a little earlier, and rode about 5 miles up the Mount Lemmon Road. The base is at about 2700 feet and where I turned around was about 4000 feet elevation (maybe a little more). It's not that hard- just a steady climb of about 5-6%. The constant uphill is a zen experience- coming down is just exhilarating. Total about 30 miles.

[kfergos]

It was a gorgeous day, somewhat cool to start with but sunny with some clouds, a perfect spring day in the Northwest. I did possibly the hardest hill ride I've tried yet -- between 5900 and 6300 feet of climbing (depending on which GPS reading website you trust) in 37 miles, with another fairly flat, fast 13 miles after that to loosen the legs up. We rode around the Issaquah Alps, for you Seattle ladies. We rode down Montreaux; I cannot believe people ride up it. The view from some of those neighborhoods on Squak and Cougar Mountain was *spectacular* -- could see downtown Seattle and Puget Sound plus north for miles.

Before starting, I was really intimidated and not at all sure I'd finish the ride. 20 people left the parking lot to start with, and by the time we got back to the parking lot, 7 of us remained. I hung on the entire time! Just refused to quit, regardless of how slowly I was riding. And I wasn't the last one up most of the hills, either. :D

...I've vowed to swap out my 12-26 cassette with something a little more conducive to hill climbing before the next ride like that!

[Catrin]

catrin, butt btr chamois cream in a purple and yellow tube, makes small packets that you can carry in your jersey pocket for a mid ride relube. One packet fits easily into a snap pack size sip lock and for me is good for two relubes or 100 miles. If you keep it in the snack pack, you can open it, use half, squeeze the rest down to the bottom of the packet, fold the top over and throw it back in the snack pack for the next time or ride.

Thanks for the reminder, I may actually have a couple left over from last year. I like "That Bu*T Stuff" (TBS) which comes in a large 6 oz tube, I am checking with them to see if I can purchase smaller tubes for on the bike use.

I've also wondered if good old coco butter would make a great chamois cream - it is certainly more affordable... Of course shea butter would be good as well though the price is closer to what I am paying for the TBS.

[Crankin]

Did 25.5 miles through Acton, Carlisle, Westford, Chelmsford, and back. We then headed to Concord center, rode around some residential streets and then headed home. When we got to our street, I realized we'd be about half a mile short of 25, so we rode up a cross street a bit and then turned back.
It is gloriously sunny out, but it felt quite cool for the first 10-12 miles or so. DH decided to go slowly. I mean really slow for him, so I just sat back and enjoyed not having to feel like a rabbit. There were a few times I wanted to get ahead, but I restrained myself, as this year I am trying to be nice to my body.
The last time I did this ride, I was with Hirakukibou and it was a very nice and warm late summer day. It made me think of all the good riding to come.
And getting quite worried about how I am going to find enough time to ride and work!

[Catrin]

Got out for a 17 mile this afternoon, shorter than yesterday but that was the plan. Resisted the urge to try and hammer it up hills, and tried to keep my heart rate a little lower than usual - am trying to develop the habit of considering the day after my longest ride of the week to be a recovery ride...if I develop the habit now then it will come naturally once my mileage starts increasing.

Had a couple of shifting issues, unsure what happened. The front chain didn't seem to want to shift a time or two, I wasn't cross-chaining and wasn't trying to shift under a load...beautiful ride though!

[nscrbug]

I got in a 50-miler with my cycling buddy this morning. Was only 2 miles from home (on the way back) when it started to rain. Needless to say, by the time I got home 2 miles later, I was soaked and chilled to the bone (temp was in the 40's, so not a warm rain). I went straight into a HOT shower...which felt glorious. :D

[redrhodie]

The rain in the Midwest is heading here tomorrow. I'd probably be able to get out early and miss it, but at 4:30 this afternoon, I thought, why risk it? I was supposed to be taking a rest day, but I got on the bike at 4:45 pm, and got in a quick 18 miles. Glad I did it! Now I can concentrate on my very large pile of bike laundry tomorrow, and otherwise rest.

Yesterday I commuted. 29 miles.

[nolemom]

I was able to ride Friday, Saturday and Sunday in absolutely perfect Florida weather. Light breezes, warm temps and beautiful sunshine. The best thing is it appears the meds, stretches and massage therapy are helping to tame my sacroilliac problem. I felt the strongest I have in months and managed 133 miles for the weekend. :)

[Roadtrip]

I woke up with a migraine, so the planned morning ride wasn't to be... by the afternoon I was feeling a little better, so we got out I did 12 miles yesterday. I had wanted to go a little further, tho the saddle didn't agree with my plans, so I turned around after six miles and "limped" back to the car.

I kept slipping forward on the saddle to where I ended up on the horn and it caused me a good amount of pain.. I'd shift back only to slip forward again as soon as would tried to put any decent amount of power down. I ended up raising the saddle about 3/4" and it helped somewhat, tho I did keep slipping, plus my underside was already yelling at me.

I just decided the #*$& WITH IT and hammered the six flat miles to the car setting my land speed record of 21mph... so my sensitive areas only had to endure the saddle for a short while, tho my hands were numb when I got back to the car because I ended up holding myself back on the saddle with my hands.

Today I took the bike into the shop that I intend to have my fit at and asked if there was anything that could be done prior to my fit appointment and the fitter said I could move the saddle forward to see if that helped until the official fit... so we'll see!!!

Shannon

[indysteel]

Is your saddle level, Roadtrip? I'm not sure moving forward will help but you might check if it's level from front to back. How long until your fitting?

[westtexas]

catrin, butt btr chamois cream in a purple and yellow tube, makes small packets that you can carry in your jersey pocket for a mid ride relube. One packet fits easily into a snap pack size sip lock and for me is good for two relubes or 100 miles. If you keep it in the snack pack, you can open it, use half, squeeze the rest down to the bottom of the packet, fold the top over and throw it back in the snack pack for the next time or ride.

I am really curious now... exactly how does one relube mid-ride? I mean... if you're anywhere people might see you squishing some stuff down into your skivvies... I just have a very awkward and probably embarrassing image in my head!

[Roadtrip]

Is your saddle level, Roadtrip? I'm not sure moving forward will help but you might check if it's level from front to back. How long until your fitting?

Sorry if this is long.. not meaning to hijack this thread... my weekend rides recently have been trying to adjust to the new road bike and tinkering with fit. The fitter wanted me to get some miles on the Ruby before we did the fit.

The saddle (Brooks B17 Standard) is ever so slightly tipped upward, in the thought that it would keep me back (perhaps I'm wrong), tho I kept sliding/moving forward and when I did... the nose was then elevated and irritated the soft tissue... DOH.

My reach didn't feel short. My arms were slightly bent as they should be and not locked out. I've been reading here that some of the ladies prefer the wider B68 and have considered that one, just don't know if that's what I need.

B17 (current saddle)
Length: 275mm
Width: 175mm
Height:65mm

B68
Length: 260mm
Width: 205mm
Height:62mm

I tried the B17s which has a length of 242mm and I know I DIDN'T like it at ALL. It was too short.

Fit appt in likely in the next week or so... the guy who normally does the fit is also the store manager and normally doesn't work Saturdays and it's hard for me to get in for a two hour meeting during the week; I work M-F... He's going to try figure out something where he'll work with me to get the fit done on a Saturday.

I did mention that I thought my handle bars where too narrow and he did a measurement on me today and my shoulders are 46cm and the bars on my Ruby are 40cm, so we went ahead and ordered new bars.

Shannon

[jelee1311]

I finally got out yesterday after being too sick to ride for 10 days and it was so great. The sun was shining after sooo much rain,my bike computer is broke so I wasn't tempted to push hard because I didn't have any numbers to guilt me to go faster. So I rode a slow(I think) 12 miles and I enjoyed seeing all of the cherry trees that have bloomed. It made me so happy to know spring is here and some day it will stop raining. :)

[Catrin]

Sorry if this is long.. not meaning to hijack this thread... my weekend rides recently have been trying to adjust to the new road bike and tinkering with fit. The fitter wanted me to get some miles on the Ruby before we did the fit.

The saddle (Brooks B17 Standard) is ever so slightly tipped upward, in the thought that it would keep me back (perhaps I'm wrong), tho I kept sliding/moving forward and when I did... the nose was then elevated and irritated the soft tissue... DOH.

Have you measured your sit-bones yet? Perhaps you have, it just wasn't in the post.

[azfiddle]

It has been gorgeous here- maybe a little too warm, with temps getting up over 85. I rode Friday and Saturday on my new ruby- everywhere I've gone has been "the first ride to _____________ on the new bike". Friday my DH had the day off but since he still can't ride because of his accident, we drove up to Saguaro National Park and he followed me around the 8 mile loop road to get photos of me and the new bike. Then he stuck around to take more pics at the park while I rode home. Not too far- about 16 miles.

Saturday I decided to ride partway up Mt. Lemmon. It's not super steep, but a long climb. It's 2500 feet at the base, and you can ride up to the summit at about 9000 feet.

I planned to go just to the first big vista point, but it was going so well I rode 5 miles, up to about 4200 feet, where there is a fee station. Almost everyone passed me (nothing new there!) but when I pulled back out from the vista point, I was just behind a group of triathletes with their own training car. I exchanged a few words with the guys in the car and actually caught up to the group and drafted with them for about half a mile.

I took Sunday off to take a hike with my DH and friends instead.

[maillotpois]

azfiddle - I really want to go up Mt Lemmon some day. Sounds like a great ride.

I did a 300k Saturday and it rained for 275k of it with hail and wind gusts as well. :rolleyes: A lot of people DNF'ed - seasoned randonneurs. I have probably done stupider things, but I can't think of any right now. It was my slowest ever 300k by almost an hour.

[Jo-n-NY]

First weekend of 2011 that I was able to get in riding both weekend days. Saturday was quite windy and cooler than predicted for a 17 mile ride.Sunday was the first club ride out of the bike shop my dh works at for 27mi. With an early morning start time the temps were only 34 degrees but without wind it was not bad at all.

I feel like our cycling season has officially began :) although Friday it hit 70 today is rain mixed with wet snow :eek: As they say, March is "unpredictable"

[andiewest]

I enjoyed two relatively spring like days of riding. On Saturday I went for an 80k (50 mile) ride. Had my first flat tire ever. My riding partner helped me change it. I really need to figure that out. Unfortunately, I am not very mechanically inclined, but I think next time I will be able to do it on my own. The 50 miles was my longest ride ever. I started the day with sore quads, as I had done a lot of isolations, squats and lunges at a circuit class on Thursday. My legs were fine during the ride, I just didn't have a lot of zip.

DH and I went on Sunday for a lovely 20 mile ride. The sun was shining, the kids had spent the night at grandma's and all was right with the world! I thought that I would be hurting from the previous day's ride, but I felt fine. DH was even impressed with how quickly I made it up the two hills we did. My new specialized Amira and my stronger legs are almost making hills something I look forward to.

I am doing a metric century on April 3rd, and am beginning to feel less anxious and more confident that I will finish.

[withm]

20 bright sunny and flat miles on Sat which only made the 20-30kt NE winds even worse - no valleys to duck into to get out of the wind.

We stopped for a break where something seemed to fry our wireless computers. When I got home, my computer said we had ridden something ridiculous like 150 miles at 49mph ave speed. In 2 hours. Hmm, something ain't right? I took the head off, reset the whole thing (well I still hadn't changed the time so knew I had to dig out the directions and deal with that anyway). Here's hoping that will be the end of that problem. My friend's computer also went nuts but she hasn't said if she fixed it yet. We have ridden together for years, same bikes, same computers, and we never had this problem before. The display is nice and bright, so I don't think it's a low battery problem. I'm thinking some sort of wireless interference from the store's computer system?

[azfiddle]

Maillotpois- I think randonneuring is it's own special kind of crazy no matter what the weather, but you probably get a lot of good stories to tell...

C'mon down to Tucson. There is a completely supported ride up to the top of Mt. Lemmon in the beginning of May- a good thing as water isn't widely available in many places. I haven't ever ridden the entire thing- but have gone from milepost 1 to milepost 5, and from milepost 11 to the very top. (I did cheat and ride all the way to the bottom that day....)

[nscrbug]

andiewest - If you just did a 50-miler this past weekend, you will have no problems finishing a metric century...it's only 12 miles more, so don't fret it. You'll do great!

[Biciclista]

Roadtrip, you are about to go to get your bike fit so what I am saying might be superfluous, but here goes:
the problems you are having don't really sound like changing the saddle will help. I think you are still not quite in the right place ON the saddle.
The slippage problem on the B17 would be the same on a B68, so what you need to do is move it forward or tip it higher. I think you should just hold off
and the bike fitter will solve this problem.
The diff between the B17 and the B68 would be this: If you found that on the B17 you were sitting on the rivets, or that the pressure of the saddle was all on soft tissue, you would feel better with a B68...
I rode on a B17 for a few weeks while trying to impress my club with my willingness to change (away from the B67 at the time) I found that I could sit the B17 for a while, but couldn't go more than 30 miles before it really started to hurt. Went back to the B67 and that problem instantly went away.

The most important thing I can say about a saddle is, here i am, I'm going on 60 years old. When I ride, I have lots and lots of aches and pains. I know I always will. But the saddle is never an issue with me, not on a 6 mile ride in my blue jeans and not on a 65 mile ride either. That's the way it should be.
And I now have B68 imperials on my bikes.






.

The saddle (Brooks B17 Standard) is ever so slightly tipped upward, in the thought that it would keep me back (perhaps I'm wrong), tho I kept sliding/moving forward and when I did... the nose was then elevated and irritated the soft tissue... DOH.

My reach didn't feel short. My arms were slightly bent as they should be and not locked out. I've been reading here that some of the ladies prefer the wider B68 and have considered that one, just don't know if that's what I need.

B17 (current saddle)
Length: 275mm
Width: 175mm
Height:65mm

B68
Length: 260mm
Width: 205mm
Height:62mm

I tried the B17s which has a length of 242mm and I know I DIDN'T like it at ALL. It was too short.

Fit appt in likely in the next week or so... the guy who normally does the fit is also the store manager and normally doesn't work Saturdays and it's hard for me to get in for a two hour meeting during the week; I work M-F... He's going to try figure out something where he'll work with me to get the fit done on a Saturday.


Shannon

[Biciclista]

weekend rides
South Lake Washington loop yesterday (30 miles), complete with a headwind for the last 7 miles. Thought I saw Eden (it was another small brunette in the same kit) But I did see another bike girlfriend. It was a glorious day for a bike ride. SPRING IS HERE!