April 22nd Rides

First ride of the season!!

Yay, temperature finally went above 45 degrees this weekend and it's so beautiful. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm a fair weather rider and really don't like to ride when the temp. goes below 50. I tried this year and hated it.

So finally got out on my bike, did a short 20 mile ride up Mass Ave then cut over to the bike path that ends in Bedford. Didn't start to feel really good until after the first 10miles. Then it just felt so great to be out on the road and stretch my legs. Averaged 14mph, not too bad for my first ride of the season, considering I haven't been on my bike since September of last year (I'm not couting the terribly short ride I did two weeks ago in 40 degree weather...I was miserable and turned around after only a few miles).

Yay for sun and warm weather!

Emily

Did a short, but nice recovery ride today. 24 miles early this morning.

WINDDDDY today..kinda tough to do recovery, but we tried to stay 90degrees to it.

Now I have plenty of time for my nap! hee hee

I got out about 40 minutes before sunrise, and it was just beautiful, just love the way the light changes during that time of day. Kind of chilly--in the mid-40s--but it warmed up as I went along. My AV "Jobob" vest kept me toasty warm as my top layer. ;-) Got in my usual Sunday 43 miles, and trail traffic was pretty light, as I suspect most folks waited until it got warmer to get out. It's downright hot outside now (near 80 degrees).

My first big ride of the year. The weather was beautiful for riding.

33.82 miles, 14.65 mph average, 37.5 mph max, 1646 feet climbing.

There's one road I was on for a 7 mile stretch. I'd only been on part of that road once, back in September during my first ride with this bike; I had to walk a large part of the hills. Today, I didn't need to walk any, but the climbing was hard and I even took a rest half way up one hill. I'm going to nickname this "Misery Road".

At about 30 miles my body pretty much told me that it had had enough and that I was on my own for the last 3+ miles; everything was starting to hurt.

Used aerobars for the first time. I've had them on the bike on the trainer stand so that I could start to get used to the position. Out on the road the first time I got into them I almost lost control of the bike. It's a lot harder to steer and control the bike with your hands so close to the center line of the bike. I also need to get used to needing to reach out of the aeros to shift gears. I'm not sure I really like them but I will give myself more time to get used to them.

Ellie got a nice wash, chain cleaning, and lube. I got a shower. :)

I rode 29 miles with Denise G. I had changed out of a sleeveless jersey to a short sleeved one, which was probably a mistake. It was only around 75, but it felt like summer! A very pleasant ride through residential neighborhoods, the Harold Parker State Forest, with no real hills, just rollers. It's nice to ride in different areas once in awhile. We had to cross a couple of places where water was rushing across the road from all of the rain, but it was pretty shallow, so we rode through it. Even though i had tons of sun block on, my right arm is a little red.
Back to work tomorrow.

I picked up my new bike from the bike shop (she needed a few minor adjustments) and left from there to head out to the wildlife refuge and back. Beautiful warm day, 22 miles.

I've decided my new bike's name is Miss Gulch.

a nice leisurely Sunday ride with a friend. 27 miles in glorious sunshine. I let him pick the pace, which made it a bit slower than I would have done which made me feel even fitter and sportier. Of course he was on a heavy front suspension mountain bike with knobby tires and I was on a XC bike with slick tires.....

I actually tackled two club rides today. I started with an MS-150 prep ride which took in some beautiful countryside in and around Louisville. It had several sections of rolling hills to challenge those preparing for the upcoming MS-150 in June. It was 23.83 miles and I averaged 16.5 mph :) I was quite pleased with this for yesterday's 60 miler was a tough one with lots of challenging climbs so my legs responded well this morning.

I left that ride grabbed a sandwich and headed to the next ride. It was a pretty flat 22.86 miler that has one long climb. There were a ton of riders at this one and that always makes me very nervous to be in a big group. I managed to worm my way through the crowd and settled nicely into a smooth cadence of 100 rpms going down River Road. By the time I arrived at the big climb my average speed was 17.1 but alas my legs were beat and the climb dropped my average speed :mad: . I managed to hang on and finish strong and ended up with an average speed of 16.6 this afternoon.

All in all it was a beautiful day here in Kentucky. Clear blue skies, a bit of breeze and temps in the 80's. Looks like the upcoming week is packed with a lot of rain :mad: so I guess I'll dream of riding.

DH and I did the Sunday morning shop ride at our LBS. He rode with the A/B group. Mike, the LBS owner wanted to pull the reins in on the A ride, which has gotten a little too competitive lately, so he had the A and B riders go together. It was, I hear, a pretty blistering pace. I went with the C-ride. Slower, but still speedy. We were cruising along MacArthur Blvd at about a 22 mph pace. By the time we got back to Beach Drive and into the park, the C group had pretty much broken up, so I dropped solo down into Rock Creek Park to add another 8 miles or so to my total.
38.75 miles at 16.9 mph pace. 1750 ft in climbing and 3800 calories burned. Yay! So, DH and I celebrated our first successful ride with the shop for the season by going to the deli next door and getting poppyseed hamantashen! Yummmm....
Oh, and I jumped up 2 more places in the 2500 in 2007 standings - to a whopping 27th place! (Nicole....I'm gaining on you!) Yay all around!

Busy day for the TE-DC gang, I see.

I drove out to Williamsport, MD, to cruise the C&O Canal towpath. It. was. beauuuuuutiful. :D Rode 30 miles from Williamsport to the top of Big Pool (at Fort Frederick State Park) and back to Williamsport, then decided that I had more in me so I headed a few miles downstream of Williamsport and back up to make it a total 35 mile ride. Managed to maintain an average of just over 13mph, in spite of dodging other cyclists (lots of families with little kids on bikes, a few folks with panniers who looked like they were riding the whole 184.5 mile towpath), pedestrians, and dogs (leashed and unleashed). Probably only 100 feet of total elevation (if that), but I did have the excitement of taking the bike up to 20mph down a very gravelly slope at a spot where the canal used to drop through four locks in a row. I know that's not fast to some of you speed-demons out there, but the idea of wiping out on a gravel trail had me on pins'n'needles. Fun, though ;)

Could the weather stay like this all summer, please, pretty please???

I had a great ride today!! First organized ride event of the year.

Did the Easter Ride in south suburban Chicago... what a great day!! It was so beautiful out, I opted for the 68 mile loop, which turned into a 63 because of construction, but that's okay.

We had quite a head wind and cross wind at times... that really didn't let up most of the ride.

but wow, what a great day for those of us who got to bike in Chicago today :):D

i did 35 miles, 15 of which was with a broken spoke:( looks like the rear wheel may be toast, which s not good since I had a big ride planned this weekend

83 hilly and windy (15 mph-ish) miles. Tired and happy. Elevation gain 6328 feet.

Must go to sleep.