Rides on the Ides of march(15)!

I went to church and back. Probably should have checked the weather forecast, as I did get rained on briefly. but I had my trusty red rain jacket. Id d find a better way to get back into my place:)

Forty-three miles in intermittent mist/drizzle for me. The wet didn't penetrate my layers or my winter Lakes, and since it was 40 degrees, I stayed comfortably warm.

Before I left the house, the weather radar showed no rain in the vicinity--some had passed through and more was well southwest. Should have paid more attention to the humidity level, however. Had I known it was going to precipitate, I probably would have spent time with Coach Troy.

Short loop early this morning. Cloudy, but another day without wind, so no complaints! I went fast for me, trying to get back home in an hour. I just about made it!

Then I walked some of the cliffwalk with my brother, I'm guessing about 4 miles. Felt better riding than walking :rolleyes:

This was the first time I'd made it to the new consolidated Sunday ride, starting between us and the next town. There are now two groups, an A-/B+ ride and a C ride. The C riders seem to be coming along (although they're leaving the start time "fuzzy" which doesn't seem like a good idea - but it's their ride, so whatever!). But our group was a little weird.

Everyone was reasonably evenly matched and had relatively decent paceline skills, so it was a good group in that sense. But the whole point in moving the starting location was to make it halfway between the towns so people could ride there, and instead there were just two of us who rode - both of us from my town. And, to get there on time, I had to leave in the DARK. I like watching the sunrise, but not from in traffic! Luckily there's a MUP alongside the very narrow semi-busy road right near my house, which I'm not too proud to take on the road bike especially under those conditions. Goodness knows there wasn't any other traffic on the MUP, although I was a little worried about running over a dog turd or having a possum dart out in front of me, or worse, running over glass (of which there's a lot of broken beer bottles any weekend morning) and having to fix a flat in the dark - luckily none of that happened.

The "new" riders from the next town vetoed a breakfast stop, started off hammering, then complained that the pace was too hard and took a short cut before we even got to the restaurant. :rolleyes: Since we'd got a snack and a water refill at a convenient store anticipating no breakfast stop, the rest of us rolled on by too. No mullet and eggs for me today. :(

It was an amazingly beautiful day, didn't even need arm warmers at 7 a.m. and we were back before it got hot or windy. 54 miles.

It was 57 out when we got home from our ride! Spring has sprung.
I wasn't sure where we would ride, but I knew that I wanted flatter than yesterday. So, we did 20 miles in Concord, Bedford, and Carlisle. I think this is probably the flattest route I can do from my house. It's mostly on main roads, but still pretty. I felt much better than yesterday and my average was actually quite good. I improved my climbing speed on the hill home/driveway by about 2 mph from yesterday.
I think I figured out that after the first year I moved to this house, my speed went down, not only because of medical problems, but because I never do an "easy" ride that doesn't involve climbing. Before, during the week, I would go out and ride 15-20 rolling miles two or three times a week. Then, when I went to do long rides on the weekend, that involved 2-3k feet of climbing, I was fresh. So, my goal is to make an effort to slow down during the week, and try to find some flatter places to ride, to intersperse with my hilly rides.
Tomorrow is going to be cool again, about 43. I might just ride my Jamis to a medical appointment and go for a run.

Just so far today :p:

Got up early this morning and cycled off to train station at 6:00 am Seattle from hotel. Hmm 3 kms. in drizzling rain. Shoved my bike into bike box, while he collapsed his foldable bike.

Then after getting train station in Vancouver...before noon later, reassembled bikes and rode 2 kms. in rain turning to abit of sleet-rain with wind homeward.

Isn't it nice to save taxi money? :D

Spring has definitely sprung down here. It rained most of the week, and started off cloudy today, but as soon as I saw the sun peek through the clouds, I hopped on my bike.

It turned into a beautiful day, mid-60s, light breeze. Sweet! I did about 13.5 miles, which for me is a pretty good accomplishment, including some pretty killer hills.

Hope it's okay to share some of the signs of spring I encountered along the way...

The Mountain Laurels are still blooming:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...21_7319030.jpg

Wisteria is in bloom:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...0315091620.jpg

And I saw this amazingly bright bougainvillea intertwined with a bush that had yellow flowers -- so prettty, but the camera on my phone doesn't do it justice:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...0315091616.jpg

I went to spin class this morning. Still not the same as being outside.....

Tortured today by REALLY NICE WEATHER...and too sore to ride without a saddle block. :eek: WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH


LOL.. Wednesday Night (club) Ride here I come!

beautiful day out today in Chicago... it's going to be tough this summer dividing my time between one type of riding an another... :p

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...n/IMG_1225.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...n/IMG_1223.jpg

My sitbones were a bit sore today too, after our first significant ride of the year yesterday.
But we did a sweet little 13 mile gently rolling hill ride and the weather was gorgeous- high 40's and sunny! :p It felt good, and I could have done twice the ride but we wanted to take it slow and not strain anything the first few rides.

My DH and I actually rode together today. I was the one not having any stress. We went about 4-5 for DH and maybe 7 for me. We basically went out and back from a main stopping place outside of town and traffic. DH was sweating a lot and I barely even was warmed up before I stopped. I thought I was in terrible shape but I guess not. I guess having a variety of bikes to choose from has helped keep me in "ok" shape.

I would say it is hard when your significant other is having a hard time climbing hills and is not thrilled to be out there when I am. I have the reverse sinario of wife is fast and fit and DH is the one struggling. I REALLY tried to be slow and wait for him when I could. I also told him we were not racing and that he needed to go at his own pace whatever that was. I think it turned out ok and was a positive experience for him. I will have to go burn up the asphalt another time.

Red Rock

I rode from home into the city centre following first a cycle path then a canal trail - climbing up past every lock from sea level! Total mileage was 23, and weather was unusually good although I got a bit mud-soaked from the trails. Got some stunning views too though, loved it! :D

Did 23 miles and it was cloudy with light winds. :)

30 miles and wind. :(

First ride of any substance since new wheels and tires were put on mid-week. Just under six miles into the first 15 (a slug-fest with the wind), I was so frustrated a tear or two rolled down my cheek. Felt like I was riding a 45-pound bike through cement with the brakes rubbing. ACK! Perhaps it's just the different 'road feel', as my total time was faster than expected, but the jury's still out on the new wheels.