November Rides

I went to Ohio to babysit my 4 year old grandson the end of October. I rented a bike and rode 30 miles on a great bike trail with perfect weather.
The covered bridge is new this year. Can you see the trail under the leaves?

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First week of November, I rode a 50 mile out-back overnighter to Snake Creek state park by the Missouri River. Daytime temps was a 60's so nice for riding. Night temps plunge quickly with the setting of the sun.
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Last week I enjoyed a 3 day 170 mile ride. Mornings were in the low 30's but warmed to 50's. Wind was mostly favorable except 30 to 40 mile crosswinds one afternoon. Roads were very decent considering this is SD and I only had 10 miles without a shoulder. I spent 2 nights in a hotel and my Hubby came and picked me up on the last day in Yankton, SD. I rode my trusty salsa vaya with 2 front panniers and my handlebar bag.

Yankton is on the Missouri River which is the border between SD and Nebraska. The old Meridian bridge in the picture is a double decker built in 1919 and had many years of use, until the new Discovery bridge was opened in 2009. The great old bridge is now a bike/pedestrian trail. The end of my trip was definitely the highlight of the trip.

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I hope I have bike riding out of my system because we now have average temps of 20 and a few inches of snow on the ground.

another cold ride. Started out at 38 degrees and finished 3 hours later at 43 degrees. At least the wind was much lighter, especially when compared to two days ago.

today's stats 42 miles in 3:15 for an average of 14.3 which is a step up from Wednesdays pathetic average of 9.3!

Having so much trouble dressing for cold weather! I usually commute in regular clothes (it's short and I have no where to change or store stuff) - but I was a human popsicle today. After a lovely commute in, I called DH for a ride home from the bus. Brrrrrrr. Probably would have been ok but for the waiting outside for the bus. No shelter and I have to wait or risk not being able to get the bike on the bus.

I only did 9 km. round trip (bakery) today @-19 degrees C with a wind chill and light headwind which made it cold it enough! Why is it the first bike ride among some lumps of ice and snow on pavement feels like victory? It really does.

I don't have studded bike tires right now so there were some rocky patches I ended up walking over. Oh well..nice bright cold sunshine out there today.

It's our real riding season here- I rode about 24 miles on Veteran's Day to Saguaro NP and around the loop, commuted 22 miles round trip yesterday rode 28.5 miles today by myself on part of the El Tour de Tucson route. Tomorrow we'll do about 80 miles on the ending part of the route - then time to "taper" (like I really do that....;) )

Today was the annual Cranksgiving* ride in Portland...it was cold! This year, since I am not a fast rider by any stretch, I decided to compete for the most weight of frozen turkeys hauled, and borrowed a trailer from the bike co-op where I volunteer. In that division, one only has to go to one store, load up with turkeys and ride back so it ended up being a really short ride (probably half a mile each way) to the nearest large grocery store. Somewhat surprisingly, I ended up winning with 135 pounds of turkey between panniers and trailer. There were a couple of people with cargo bikes so I thought one of them would end up hauling more. Next year I may decide to go back to the regular division where you have to get specific items at a bunch of different stores, since that makes for a longer ride. Either way it is a lot of fun and for a good cause!

*an event put on in many cities in the weeks before Thanksgiving, that is a sort of race/scavenger hunt to collect food for local charities. There is no entry fee, but riders buy items along the way to donate.

That sounds like fun!

What a cool idea Jolt!

I led a 34-mile club ride today. It was cold and gray, thermometer said mid-40s but without the sun it felt colder. I would have been warm enough except the group's pace was a bit too slow, and I was coasting for too much of it. I was riding sweep but there were a few times when I just had to speed up and pass people in order to warm up.

Afterwards we stopped at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for coffee and hot chocolate.

Despite the January-in-November weather, we had a nice ride with a good group of people. I posted the ride on the club's schedule in order to force myself to get out and ride, and I'm glad I did.

did my normal Wednesday ride yesterday and it was much better than last week. Yes the winds were really blowing last week as the same 42 miles only took 2:30 instead of 4:30 and the average mph was up from 13.2 to 14.8. Only problem was that it started out cold 40's and ended in the low 70's so by the time I was finished I was feeling like boiled lobster. There are only so many layers one can take off.

the ride stats were 450.2 miles in 2:30 at an average 14,8 mph.

Wow, great stats Marni! 450 miles in just 2 1/2 hours!! 😋

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Originally Posted by Crankin

That sounds like fun!

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FYI, Boston's is tomorrow (Saturday). :)

https://www.facebook.com/events/302207596652765/

I might go, but I have a bazillion errands to run before family arrives for Thanksgiving.

It's one thing to do this in Portland, ME, but Boston, no.

Did my 15 mile loop, which I haven't actually done in a long time! Though it was 41 out, it was windy, and we were heading straight into it all the way on the last half of the loop.
My legs felt good, despite my groin giving me fits. Need to start back to my exercises for that. But, despite wind, the groin, and eating lunch right before the ride, my average was good.
Then I went to the LBS to get the saddle/stem fitted for my new bike!!! Going back to pick it up in 10 minutes. It's going to be 55 degrees tomorrow and I will have it to do a longer ride! Pictures to follow...

Yesterday- El Tour de Tucson! 104 miles in beautiful weather :)

Took my Silque out for its inaugural ride. It was a pleasant 53-58 degrees. We started in sun, which necessitated some gear changing, but thankfully, the sun went in near the end of the ride. We ended up riding on some of my most favorite roads, near my old neighborhood, where I first started riding. Did a couple of hills I haven't seen in years. Not big hills, but hills.
It was a really good ride, but slow, due to constant stopping to tweak a few things on the bike. We stopped at Nashoba Brook Bakery for lunch and had some tuna salad and watched the people. Felt a bit chilly when we left lunch, but the climb back up to my house took care of that. When we got to our street, the high school x country ski team was roller skiing on the loop, necessitating me to not go up past my driveway and turn around, using the downhill as momentum to get up the 15% grade. The kids were everywhere, so I bore down and went really slowly up the driveway.
You can read my review of the bike in the Bikes thread. 27.5 miles.

Took advantage of a slow work day and came home for lunch and took a short 8.5 mile ride, mostly uphill. It was 59 out, but cloudy and didn't feel that warm. But, I had on knee warmers, a ss jersey with a base layer and arm warmers/vest, instead of winter gear.
I love the way my new bike feels. However, I do think there is something going on with the saddle and/or the height of the saddle. My knees hurt mildly. I never have this. I raised the saddle on Sunday, by a teeny, teeny bit. Jury still out on the Oura. Soft tissue is perfect, but not sure if my sit bones will get used to it. My left sit bone as well as the bony part where my left leg attaches to my butt is sore. This is kind of like how the Brooks saddle felt, except that had other torture, too. More concerned about the knees.
It's going to snow tomorrow, and I may be tied up with nordic skiing right after Thanksgiving. Perhaps will go to the LBS on Sunday to discuss.

Where do your knees hurt?

I had knee issues when I got my Madone, I think due to a different pedaling angle by switching from a triple to a compact double. I ended up going to Speedplay X cleats, from SPDs, eventually switched to the (expensive) Speedplay cleats with a longer-than-standard shaft to solve the problem completely.

I rode on Saturday with my bike club. It was cold, I was tired, didn't get home from work the night before until after 10 pm, really did not want to ride. But it was a friend's last ride before knee surgery, so I went anyway. We had a very nice time, with a good group of people. In all we rode 40 miles. It started on the road where I was ticketed a few years ago for impeding traffic even though there was no actual traffic at the time, and just thinking about riding there again brought back the anxiety of having to go to court to fight the ticket. So I let the group start ahead of me and then rode as fast as I could to get off that road as soon as possible.

I also went for a ride yesterday. Due to crap at work yada yada yada I was forced to take the day off. So I did the weekly Tuesday morning club ride. Again, nice ride with a good group of people, and four of us went out for a sandwich afterwards. Total was 31 miles. The rest stop was at a historic church on a hill above a river, very scenic and worth the effort to climb the hill.

Then I took a nap, packed up the car and drove north for Thanksgiving. I left a day earlier than originally planned to avoid the big storm. I left at 10:20 pm, arrived at my parents house just after 4 pm, got to bed at 5 am. I managed to avoid all the traffic except for one spot in Delaware, but was able to take an alternate route to get around that spot. Was planning to drive home on Saturday, go for a ride on Sunday (weather-permitting). But yada yada yada crap at work I will also not be able to work on Monday, so I'll probably stay with my family through the weekend and drive back on Monday. I think I will probably be raking leaves for exercise while I am here.

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Originally Posted by AppleTree

Wow, great stats Marni! 450 miles in just 2 1/2 hours!! ��

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woops pardon my dislexic fingers. Obvously it was 45 not 450! Even 45 in 2 1/2 hours is pretty stypendous for me, I must have had a lot of tail wind or a total lack of wind 'cause I know I wasn't going up hill or down.

NY, I suspect the knees are from 2 things: The amount of lunges, squats, jumping I do 2X weekly at the gym comboned with using the compact. My Guru has the same compact gearing +1 lower cog as my new bike. I also noticed the knee issue when I first started riding the Guru, and it still happened when I switched back and forth from the bike with the triple. But, not as much, over time. I just have to keep telling myself using the small ring on the compact is not the same as the granny on a triple (which I have no issue using!). You have to use the small ring on the compact a lot more, there's a lot more switching back and forth. My sweet spot with the compact gearing is a combo that is just a teeny bit cross chained; hence I try to use the next one up, which is harder than I am used to. Hopefully, I'll get used to it, since now this is all I have.
I've been using Speedplay Xs for 10 years. I had SPDs on my first road bike and switched over when I got the Trek 5200 in 2004. I have Speedplay Frogs on my Guru, so lots of float on both bikes. My sense is if I stopped the stuff at the gym, the knees would not hurt, but really, I am not doing that much there and just with baby type weights of 6-16 pounds. I just have to get my body used to it. It's not pain, just achiness around the outside of the kneecap from the medial point, around almost the whole way, but not on the top.

Did a lovely 28.5 with girlfriends on Saturday, (LOTS of wind), plus an additional 10 miles looking for my iPhone, which slipped out and disappeared. Sunday only did 20, but for whatever reason (wind even worse) it felt like 40. Too sick to ride so far this week, but hopefully by Friday can get in a few miles at least - just itching to ride! This is prime riding season in Florida; I can't believe how much easier it is without the summer heat and humidity.

40 very windy miles in 3:00 hours. The brief tailwind we had allowed me to coast down off the freeway overpass and the 1/4 mile to the stop sign without pedaling. On the other hand it was peaking at 19 when we headed back into it. Gotta love the flat Texas prairie and the howlin winds.

on the other hand that gives me another 125 miles or more week.

So, only in New England would I be x country skiing yesterday (awesome) and riding today. It was warm (50 ish), but the roads were in so-so condition from our recent snow. We didn't get that much here, but it is melting. Didn't want to take the new bike out, but I want to test some changes I made. So, I settled on a 14 mile ride that had lots of hills.
Upside is, I spent more time in the small ring and my knees are fine. Going to put the saddle height back to where the shop had it, after raising it a snitch. Jury still out on the Oura, but, with the very, very slight tilt up in the front, I only felt mild pressure in my left glute and nothing when I finished riding.
The LBS will call me when my 2nd bottle cage comes in and I will discuss the saddle with them when I bring the bike there for them to put the cage on. I hope I have at least a couple of more rides out side this year. Apart from the saddle, the bike still feels just dreamy smooth. I did clean my bike when I got back, which is a miracle for me.

Due to a schedule change at work, I ended up going back to my original holiday weekend plan of driving back here late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, instead of making the trip on Monday. The weather today was warm, in the 60s with sun, so I forced myself out of bed for a club ride this afternoon. The route was 31 miles and very flat, and the pace was fast, which was okay for a while, and then I really wanted to slow down but couldn't because everyone else was riding fast. I finished with an average speed of 15.4 mph, which was about 1 mph faster than I had expected. Afterwards a few of us went to nearby coffee shop, where I had a nice peppermint hot chocolate.

Much of the route was on the shoulder of busy roads, and there was lots of broken glass along the way. So I give a thumbs up to the Mavic tires that came with my Ksyrium Equipe wheels, because they made it through without any problems.

And so November is done and dusted; meteorological winter starts tomorrow. We're expecting some roller-coaster weather this week, and I don't know yet if I'll be able to ride outdoors. I guess I should get the indoor trainer out of storage, just in case.

Got out for a ride with BF's family yesterday. 10.28 (or thereabouts; I didn't pay attention to the mileage before I set off) miles. Good weather (though there wasn't as much wind as usual, so my long-sleeve base layer got a bit warm after 30 minutes or so), relatively little traffic, and I actually remembered to eat this time.

Thanksgiving week- beautiful weather! I rode every day from Tuesday - Sunday- longest ride was Saturday (48 miles) but put in a respectable 148 miles for the week with all the time off. Mostly I rode on the east side of Tucson at Saguaro National Park and the base of Mt. Lemmon, but one long ride took me to the far northwest. And since most of the rides were under 2 hours, that still left plenty of time for cooking, eating, spending time with my family and playing music. I'm trying to focus on losing a few pounds, so hopefully all the miles will give me some help. (The scale hasn't said so yet).

Thanksgiving in Michigan north of Lansing. We went for a couple of rides to be in the moment of the fall and winter scenes in farm fields and fading small towns. 20 or so miles each time. Didn’t see anyone else riding and few cars and that added a nice isolating feeling that played to the scenery. BBrrrrrrrr….it was in the 20’s to start but then to the 50’s towards the end of the trip.

Gravel/frozen mud sideroads ftw




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18 hilly miles today...I had thought that the good riding weather was probably done for the winter, but today it got up into the 50s and was just too nice of a day not to get a ride in. The roads are pretty wet because of the melting snow, with puddles and lots of wet sand, so I was very glad to have fenders. I still had to do a little wiping down of the bike with a wet rag when I got home, but it wasn't bad.

Amazing pics rebeccaC. You could frame them. Love the B&W! Thanks for sharing.