first ride of the year!!

[Biciclista]

I haven't ridden for 2 months. Been long hard cold dark months. And today the sun came out. So I got on my bike and rode 3.7 miles! woo hooo!!!

[owlice]

Yay!!!!!

[radacrider]

Cool, happy new year!

[Crankin]

Happy New Year, everyone.
Glad you got out to ride, Mimi.You deserve it.
Just got back from a 19 mile ride. It's the first time i've ridden on January 1st. Last year, it was just as warm, but we were up north.
I was overdressed, as the temperature must have been skirting 50 for the first half of my ride. That, and the fact I'm fighting a sinus thing, made me a bit cranky, but I unzipped and slowed down. Last night, it must have been a little icy, as the town had dumped enough salt on the roads to make it look totally white. At first, I thought there was black ice, but it was way too warm.
We stopped just to sit and people watch in Concord center and it was like a spring day. Tons of cyclists everywhere.

[Blueberry]

Awesome, Mimi!

I just did my first outside ride of the year as well - wind gusts to 21 mph :eek::eek: I know some ride in more, but I rode my fendered bike, and it turns into a sail. At least I was outside on our last day of very unseasonably warm weather....

[azfiddle]

Hurray Mimi- I think the sun coming out for the New Year is a good sign!

Chuck and I did a ride out to Saguaro NP. We have been riding a lot this vacation and we had some wind too, so it was a very slow pace for us but a beautiful day- almost hot out!

[Biciclista]

oh and there's more!! Raleighdon and I went out and rode together this sunny afternoon for another 2.5 miles! This is the first real bike ride he's been on since his surgery in October!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/388964_2758487793925_1009659155_32939521_518857661_n.jpg

[Bike Chick]

We rode 19 miles yesterday---does that count? The wind died a little in the morning and it was pushing 50 degrees so we decided to get our New Year's Ride in on New Year's Eve and do our runs today. I'm glad we did since the wind is blowing 20 mph with 36 mph gusts today. It sure felt great to be riding outside for the New Year.

[azfiddle]

oh and there's more!! Raleighdon and I went out and rode together this sunny afternoon for another 2.5 miles! This is the first real bike ride he's been on since his surgery in October!



Double hurray!! The picture says everything.

[redrhodie]

That's too awesome, Mimi! I'm so curious to know how he felt. He looks great. He's my hero.

[Crankin]

That picture is awesome!

[shootingstar]

Came back from 20 km. today. It was -11 degrees C. He went a bit further.
I stopped to take photos of some guys playing ice hockey on skates on a frozen river area a few km. from home. Some parents were with little kiddies, skating around.

It's been decades, since I've lived in a city where people skated on frozen natural water bodies in winter!

That's great for Don, Mimi that he's on the bike outdoors.

[Becky]

DH and I did 26 miles today, in unseasonably warm temperatures hovering around 50 degrees. Such a change from 3 days ago when we were bundled up in heavy windproof tights and winter jackets!

It's a nice way to start the year and begin thinking about our cycling goals and plans for this year.

Mimi, I'm so happy that you and RD got outside today! You both deserve some fun and fresh air!

[OakLeaf]

So happy Don is back outside on the bike! I hope the fresh air and sunshine made him feel as much better as it always does for me.

I was up way too late last night to get up in time for the club ride :o which I really wasn't planning on anyway, Sundays can get a little crazy. Running day for me. We rode the commuter bikes to the New Year's Eve celebration last night, though. :)

[nscrbug]

Wish I could say that I got my first ride of the year in today, but the weather was just way too cruddy. It was cold, rainy (with some snow flurries mixed in), and very windy - sustained winds around 25-30mph with gusts up to 50mph!!! :eek: No way am I riding in those conditions. I opted for the gym instead and got a decent workout in to start off the new year. Might be able to ride by next weekend with temps in the 40's forecasted. :)

Linda

[bmccasland]

Yay Mimi & RD!!! :D Happy New Year. Woohoo!

[maillotpois]

Huge wonderful happiness. Happy new year!

[withm]

oh and there's more!! Raleighdon and I went out and rode together this sunny afternoon for another 2.5 miles! This is the first real bike ride he's been on since his surgery in October!


Woo hoo! It's just like, well, riding a bike!

Welcome back to your bike Raleigh Don! Well done!

[Catrin]

oh and there's more!! Raleighdon and I went out and rode together this sunny afternoon for another 2.5 miles! This is the first real bike ride he's been on since his surgery in October!

Yayyyyyyyyyyy! This is such good news!

I really, really, really wanted to ride today. The temps were loverly at 45 degrees on January 1! There were, however, wind gusts up to 50 mph. Tomorrow the high is 24 with 18mph winds.... Guess winter has to show up for a couple of days but they are calling for a return to 40 degree temps later in the week.

Trainer today :(

[five one]

Wonderful news! Terrific photo!

[Owlie]

oh and there's more!! Raleighdon and I went out and rode together this sunny afternoon for another 2.5 miles! This is the first real bike ride he's been on since his surgery in October!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/388964_2758487793925_1009659155_32939521_518857661_n.jpg

That's wonderful! And great picture!
I, like Catrin, wanted to ride, but due to the crazy wind, I didn't. I needed a day off, I suppose.

[7rider]

Great news, Mimi.
Congrats to RD for getting back in the saddle. Wishing him continued recovery and the best of health in the new year,

[ivorygorgon]

DH and went for an awesome mountain bike ride. It only ended up being about 10 miles, but they were tough miles. Temps got up to about 78.

Mimi: I loved seeing RD on his bike. It literally brought a few tears to my eyes.

[Anelia]

I was alone on my first ride for this year :( and I got kind of tired of falling on the snow and ice and I decided to ride on the road. I rode for 2 hours. It was not easy with 2,35" tires on this ascent (http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/394626_2415204700324_1257515807_31973359_1289330628_n.jpg) but I felt great. Temperature: about 40.

[lawnchick22]

A lot of the country was unseasonably warm yesterday...we were able to ride for 30miles with a lot of wind, still had a great time.
First long ride for my 17 yo son. Though he is an excellent xc runner and very fit, he hasn't learned how to pace himself, thus, getting dropped in the last 5 miles. He took too many turns in the front of the group and paid dearly for it later on. Lesson learned.

[Biciclista]

I was alone on my first ride for this year :( and I got kind of tired of falling on the snow and ice and I decided to ride on the road. I rode for 2 hours. It was not easy with 2,35" tires on this ascent (http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/394626_2415204700324_1257515807_31973359_1289330628_n.jpg) but I felt great. Temperature: about 40.

WOW. that's some ride! I'd take the road too.

[ann_w]

It was - for January - a really nice day here in Portland yesterday, so I took my shiny new bike out for a ride. I'm really new to this, so only lasted about 15 minutes. I'd like to blame the wind that made my coat puff out like a sail, but honestly - I have no stamina on bike ... yet. ;) It's still an improvement, before I had to stop about 7 minutes in. So in a week I've doubled my time. :p

I'm upping the level on my indoor bike (recumbent) to build my leg strength up a bit. (This is what I get for waiting until 50 to ride a bike.)

[featuretile]

January 1 is the annual bike ride/brunch for our club. It was one of those miracle days we get in the winter in CA. It was 70 degrees out and beautiful and absolutely no one was out driving in cars. Had a nice 30 mile spin around the Watsonville area and did not even need a jacket! Then a great brunch....
About 40 people showed up. Could not have been better!

[climbergirl]

First bike ride of the year? Half a mile home from the bf's place on the (new-used) beater winter bike on unrelenting ice.

About 17 F, but the sun was shining, and I wasn't moving fast enough to generate any wind chill! :)

Ice is not my friend. Really. It's not. But it's supposed to warm up to nearly 40 by Thursday/Friday, so there's some hope for a (real) ride next weekend!

[radacrider]

... I'd like to blame the wind that made my coat puff out like a sail, but honestly - I have no stamina on bike ...

Good for you for getting out.:) It was windy - 17mph from the east with 24mph gusts.:eek: (I know, I was out toward east county for a bit and nearly got blown sideways a few times.

[luv2climb]

I had the most fun I've ever had on a New Year's Day! :D A local cycling club had a hill repeat challenge up Beatty Drive in El Dorado Hills. Beatty is a 3/4 mile long hill with lots of 10%-12% grades and a max grade of 16%.

The goal for the riders is to climb Beatty as many times as possible in two hours. I am not a member of this club and I wasn't technically a part of the ride, but I wanted to live up to my username as usual and have some fun on that hill, motivated by the presence of 75 other climbers.

I mounted front and rear cameras on my Bike Friday folding bike. These did a great job of capturing passes and the occasional rider I was able to pass. Having more than one camera also gives people a second chance to hear the commentary from spectators and passing cyclists.

The rear camera also did a great job of capturing suffer-faces on riders passing me and being passed by me.

Between climbs I stood on the side of the road and took video of the riders passing by. I could only do that for a few minutes at a time before I got the overwhelming urge to do more of my own climbing! :D

Garmin data (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/138177155)

Details of the ride from the bike club's website
(http://www.hammerinwheels.com/events/37036952/?eventId=37036952&action=detail)
Before the event I met a very nice woman from another forum. I was talking to a friend and she heard me talking about my San Francisco climbs on the Bike Friday. She also recognized my voice from my videos. She had a very nice recumbent trike, and after the event we took a ride down Green Valley Road before turning around due to limited daylight.

Here's the video from my climbs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WjAVfsj6q8

Here's the video from the side of the road. The sound of the descending bikes was pure badazz!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJPDO5NOIo

[Blueberry]

Cool video! I watched part of it. That's some impressive climbing:) Also some amazing suffering on the part of the other riders (particularly those on the side of the road!).

What's going on with the rear camera and the tire? There's some sort of odd timing issue (I think) where the camera is recording at the rate the tire is rolling (I can tell you're moving - in no way questioning that - the tire just doesn't look like it - heck sometimes it looks like it's rolling backwards!).

[luv2climb]

Thanks! :) The rear camera is a cheapy Midland XTC-100 that I bought from REI for $64. It only has standard-definition resolution at 640x480 30 frames per second, whereas the other two cameras are still SD resolution but record at 848x480 and 60fps. It could be the lower frame rate causing the weird effect, but I'm not positive.

I've seen the same effect on other people's videos where the wheel is visible.

[MojoGrrl]

Went out for only 23 miles today, but it included a challenging climb. The descent (which is always a little sketchy, very steep and twisty on an essentially one-lane road) was complicated by a car coming up and me having to ride my brakes to slow down and make it around said car, resulting in my rear end sliding and me nearly going off the road in order to steer out of the slide. But then I hammered it all the way back and made pretty awesome time.

One of these days, we need to go out on a ride, luv2climb...I have a friend who lives in the Grass Valley area who would love to take us on a climbing sufferfest!

[Aggie_Ama]

Great news Mimi!! I hope he enjoyed the ride immensely.

This weekend the weather has been amazing in Texas. Saturday I did 70 miles alone, my longest ride ever alone. I usually stick to 30-40. It felt empowering. Yesterday I did 14 miles mountain biking with a big group of friends, it was a fun way to start the New Year. At one point there was 14 of us riding down the trail which is a HUGE group. :)

Today DH and a teammate of ours did 64 road miles. We really wanted to push it with a big race looming next weekend. Plus it was bright and sunny, even though it was chilly never getting out of the low 50's. Us Texans consider that a bit cooler than most of you, we're cold weather wimps. It was a great long weekend!

[luv2climb]

Went out for only 23 miles today, but it included a challenging climb. The descent (which is always a little sketchy, very steep and twisty on an essentially one-lane road) was complicated by a car coming up and me having to ride my brakes to slow down and make it around said car, resulting in my rear end sliding and me nearly going off the road in order to steer out of the slide. But then I hammered it all the way back and made pretty awesome time.

One of these days, we need to go out on a ride, luv2climb...I have a friend who lives in the Grass Valley area who would love to take us on a climbing sufferfest!
Yikes! Glad you came out of that one okay! Descents like that are why I'm not in a big hurry to climb Mix Canyon. I want to climb it, but I have read that the descent sucks! Of course, once this weight is gone I'm probably going to climb it anyway.:p

I would love to go on a ride with you and your friend! I'm always looking for new climbs, and I found a couple good ones in Nevada City while riding around during last year's Nevada City Classic bike race. Your friend probably knows of many more good climbs I haven't discovered yet. ;)

I've been riding solo for so long I almost forgot how fun riding with others can be. I have a friend who likes to go on climbing rides with me, but her schedule doesn't allow that very often. She did get to go on yesterday's ride with me, and she loved it!

[MojoGrrl]

Yikes! Glad you came out of that one okay! Descents like that are why I'm not in a big hurry to climb Mix Canyon.


I happened to be on the other side of the valley from Mix Canyon, in fact...Cantelow. I have not yet done Mix Canyon but it's on the to-do list...

[Anelia]

I had the most fun I've ever had on a New Year's Day! :D
Yes, you really did! It's so nice riding with so many people around. :cool:

[Anelia]

Today I had a long road ride with a mountain bike: 49 miles for 4 hours. I got wet from the water on the road and sometimes it was cold on the descents and too hot on the ascents but I felt great. :D

[hebe]

My first ride of the year today. Only a tiny one (3 miles round trip if that), but the Mr and I towed dd to her new nursery building. It's a fairly straightforward route, with a busy-ish roundabout to cross, then goes through an industrial estate before heading out into the countryside again. I am determined to do more short journeys by bike rather than car whenever weather and commitments allow. Her previous nursery building was a bit of a faff to bike to - with dismounts to cross at busy junctions and awkward transitions from multi-use paths to road riding so I ended up not cycling it as often as I'd hoped.

[spokewench]

Way to Go Mimi! You better get on that bike or RD will pass you up!

[OakLeaf]

The roadies wimped out from the cold this morning and I didn't feel like riding alone, so I rode the commuter to yoga and on a couple of errands, just maybe 9 miles RT. At least one guy is riding at noon, but I had to be home. I'll get a road ride in on Friday anyway.

[luv2climb]

Well, I got to thinking about Sunday's (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showpost.php?p=619322&postcount=31) ride, and I had a bad feeling that I may have screwed up by riding along without saying anything first. I PMed a member of another forum who is also a member of the cycling club that hosted the hill climbing challenge, and he confirmed my fears. Another lesson learned the hard way. :(

To anyone I may have offended by doing this, I am sorry.

[luv2climb]

On the lighter side, I discovered this blog entry (http://www.superclydesdale.com/?p=43377) from a local Clydesdale who also likes to climb. Halfway down the page, right above the picture of him climbing, is this. :D

"Another low point was being passed by someone on a Bike Friday – one of those folding travel bikes. All I could think of was “are you kidding me?” As it turns out, that person was there to watch the repeats, not do them (at least not all 12). So, pace was not a concern to them — that took a bit of the sting out of it. Still, that’s the sure sign of trouble. Any time someone on a folding travel bike passes you, you’ve got issues. It felt like I was driving in a Nascar event, and getting passed by a Prius. It’s not right. I probably could have knocked them over, and beaten them to death with their ridiculous bike, and the police would understand (it was simply overtly disrespectful – I had to do it). Of course, I’d have to catch them first."

I left a nice comment on his page with the links to the videos, and he was good-natured and even pointed out where I could see him in the videos.

To some, his writing style might seem crass, but to me it was funny as hell! :D You see, I have a warped sense of humor. I'm not uptight like many cyclists. Life is too short to live like that. I will continue to follow the blogs of cyclists with a sense of humor.

His comment does reflect the stereotypes many cyclists have about small-wheeled bikes though. Many people believe folding bikes can't perform as well as full-size road bikes. After riding the steepest hills around on my Bike Friday, I beg to differ. :)

[goldfinch]

Too bad that you had the awkwardness of not following an unwritten rule. I looked at the videos--nice. Sometime I have to ask you about video cameras. One would be nice to share rides with long distant family.

[luv2climb]

I joined that cycling club today, so it's all good now. There should be some good sufferfest rides coming up. ;)

I would be happy to talk about cameras. Any questions you have, feel free to ask. :)