Rides Sunday, December 18?

[Catrin]

20 glorious miles today in pure sunshine. 43 degrees or so and I stayed nice and toasty warm! Indeed my balaclava came off after about 25 minutes.

This is only the second time I've worn my Amfib tights, and was surprised to see my skin was red over my knees and lower quads, and cool to the touch after my ride though I didn't feel cold. I think I am sold on the Amfibs! I rode with them last weekend at 35 degrees and was also quite comfy :)

[Crankin]

It was 25 at 12:30, so I wimped out and took a 4 mile hike, after yoga this morning. I don't feel too guilty, it was brilliantly sunny, but cold. It did get up to 28, for about 30 minutes. I haven't hiked anywhere except on my neighborhood trail in a long time, so I really enjoyed it.
We saw SheFly and her DH on their mountain bikes on the trail, when we were almost done with our hike, but after that, we went into town to pick up a gift and we only saw 2 cyclists on the road.
I have 37 miles left to get to 3K miles. I think I'll make it. If not, well, I am close enough.

[luv2climb]

I did some exploring around El Dorado Hills again. I'm always on the lookout for a new hard climb. I found a few nice climbs off of Silva Valley Parkway (Glenmore Way, Loch Way, and Highland Hills Drive), but none of them are really hard. The beginning of Glenmore hurt a little because it is steep, but it's short.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135282849#

Here's a climb and descent of Aberdeen Lane recorded with the GoPro camera mounted on the head tube. This is my first ride up this side. Usually I descend this side after climbing the other side, which is steeper. This time I descended the steeper side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCcPl7qz_Tc

Here's the view from the top of Highland Hills Drive. The curvy road on the far right with darker asphalt on the top section is Aberdeen.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/viewofAberdeenLanefromtopofHighlandHillsDr.jpg
Zoomed-in
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/viewofAberdeenLanefromtopofHighlandHillsDrcloser.jpg

[redrhodie]

I didn't ride Sunday, but Sat was my lbs's Christmas ride and pot luck breakfast. We did a new route, which had a long hill that I didn't estimate correctly, and ended up going up the whole thing in my big ring. I'm paying the piper for that today. Sore.

Breakfast was great! Everyone made really delicious food, and there was way too much. It was my friend Trisha's last ride with us as she's moving west, and that part was sad. Although we only know each other from doing this ride, I'm going to miss her. She's a bright and sparkly star.

I love my lbs.

[SheFly]

Crankin' - nice to see you and DH in the woods yesterday! We were on our SS MTBs for a recovery ride - man was it COLD! I was fine on the way out, but getting home was a bit frigid.

Now that the race season has [finally] ended, it's on to riding for fun for awhile. I'm actually hoping we get some snow soon though - I think I'd like to break up with my bikes temporarily ;).

SheFly

[Crankin]

I'd like to see the snow, too. I am itching to break out my skis and take a break from riding. This is the longest into December that I have regularly ridden, and while I have enjoyed it, I think my normal late November/early December routine of hiking and phasing in some indoor riding, with just a few outdoor rides gives me the mental break I need.
I see it might snow on XMas day, so maybe there will be some x country skiing in the near future.