March rides.....riding into the days of the Spring equinox

My usual speed on a steep climb is 3 mph! I laugh when joggers pass me.

Sky King I definitely want cork floors -- I think they will help with some of the noise issues in my apartment. My problem is finding a color/texture combination that I like and that looks good with my wall colors, furniture etc. in both the living room and bedroom. Admittedly I am being picky, but I don't want to spend all that money and then hate the way my house looks. I've been looking at some samples of cork with a wood grain image imprinted on it. There's one that is the perfect shade of brown, I just can't decide if it looks too fake, like bad laminate. I've been dealing with four different flooring installers who are experienced with cork. They're all so nice and helpful, I will feel bad have to choose only one of them!

It was supposed to be windy today- so I rode out early to vote, go to the store and bank- just 6 miles or so on the Surly. They decreased the wind forecast (20 mph sustained with gusts to 40 mph) but it looks like it will still be pretty breezy in a little while. Tomorrow should be a little cooler and much calmer.

High winds can be frustrating and tiring, but if they're too high they can really be dangerous. I've been blown sideways a couple of times, fortunately was able to stay upright.

After several days that were cloudy/rainy/cold enough for my down coat and a cool breezy morning today, we finally have warm sunshine again here. I skipped the gym last night because I was very tired so will try to make that up tonight, then tomorrow am looking forward to a good ride after work.

I went on a great group ride today. I did the shorter version (26 miles), which was enough, as it had some tough hills in the second half. I really had to force myself to go, as it was sprinkling and 50 out when I left, but after studying the hourly forecast for hours, I made myself get out the door. The dreary skies made for a small group (it's too early in the season for fair weather cyclists), of which we had 7 and the long ride had 10. We left from a guy's house in Carlisle, near Great Brook Farm, and basically rode into Chelmsford and Westford, where we paused at the Butterfly Museum, where we chose not to go in. Then, we were in Tyngsboro, the town I first lived in when I moved here. I have a love/hate relationship with the place, but we were in my old neighborhood, exactly, and all I can say is this is where it got hard. We rode on my old street just a bit, as there is a dangerous, curvy downhill right where my house is, so we went on a parallel street that is extremely rural, complete with a pig farm. The first day my kids rode the school bus (ages 5 and 8), they saw this, smelled it, and asked what the hell kind of place we had moved to :eek:? The worst of the hills were over, but we had a few more back into Westford and then we were pretty much almost back.
My speed was high before we started climbing, but I stayed behind the leader on the hardest climbs (albeit, a bit behind on the worst one). I did hit my fastest downhill speed today, that I have only done once before, which is very wimpy, at 32 mph.
It was good because nothing hurt. Not my stomach, my hip, or any other annoying thing. I didn't feel tired, either. It seems like the stars align once in a blue moon! Joined the group for a nice lunch at a pizza place where I had a chicken salad so big I hope I can eat dinner.

So the weather was not great but the ride went well, Crankin -- often it is worth it to force yourself to get out there despite what you see and feel when you first step outside.

I rode almost 19 miles last night. As I've mentioned before my weekly hill ride is easy to alter based on how long I want to ride and how steep I want the hills to be. Normally at this time of year I'd be doing the shortest, least steep route, but I've got to get in shape fast and besides these outdoor rides are helping me get rid of the winter blahs once and for all. So last night I incorporated a couple of steeper climbs that I didn't do last week or the week before. My legs were tired at the end and still tired this morning, but I still felt better than I did a couple of weeks ago. So, continued progress. I got a late start due to stuff at work and needing to deal with some health insurance/flexible spending claims that must be filed this month. As a result I didn't finish the ride until 10 pm. I'm pretty sure it was my latest night ride ever. The weather was cooler than I thought -- temps in the 60s but I guess since we had several days where it was cold enough for winter coats, the ground was still pretty cool. No problems though since I remembered to bring my Big Bright Orange Tote Bag of Extra Layers, and all I needed was a wind vest.

The only issue last night was the pollen -- either it is sky high or the antihistamine eye drops I'm using are not working. I think there must have been a bunch of trees that I'm very allergic to near the ride start because I was miserable for the first few miles. After that things calmed down but still not great. I've been wearing glasses instead of contact lenses for night rides lately. But if this is how my eyes are going to be reacting to pollen this spring I won't be able to wear contact lenses with regular sunglasses for daytime rides. Which means I'll have to wear my prescription sunglasses, a pair of giant heavy Wayfarer IIs that I got back in the early '90s. :eek: I think it might finally be time to look getting prescription Oakley sunglasses...

Had a pretty good 24.5 mile ride with DH today. First one from the condo. DH tripped on a root on a little connecting path from our neighborhood to the next one (we were behind our house), and twisted his ankle and his knee yesterday, when we were taking a walk. So, we did go really slowly, which did not bother me. He was fine, but had pain unclipping. I had a planned route based on a ride I had looked up, but we really didn't have enough time, so I altered it. Found a nice way to get to places where we like to ride, with an easier crossing of the highway and no having to deal with tourists in Concord center anymore. Yay.
We rode into Boxborough and Stow, and then headed back on a main road, which is flat, but usually very busy. We could have returned much more quickly, but this was nice. Most of the return trips back to our new place are flat for the last few miles, which is a joy for me, after 10 years of a 10% grade.

Sounds great Crankin.

I finished my two weeks of spring break rides today. From March 12- March 27 I rode 385 miles (that even surprises me!). 66 miles on the Surly LHT for errands or when I was waiting for my bike to be put back together, and the rest on the Ruby. Longest ride: yesterday, about 64 miles, biggest climb was on Friday when I rode up Mt. Lemmon to Windy Point (4500 feet of elevation gain). Lots of 20-30 mile days around the east side of Tucson on bike paths and near Saguaro NP. A few days were pretty windy, but overall, the weather was great.

Now I get to get back into the swing of school!

I took a little ride by myself around noon today. I just wasn't feeling it to drive 20 miles to do a 25 mile group ride. I know it's fun to explore new places, but I just wanted to chill. I started out a different, and hillier way than Sunday, and ended up doing just under 16 miles. It's nice that I am much closer to roads that I love to ride on, closer to roads I first started riding on. It was about 51 when I started, and I was dressed just a bit too warmly, as the real feel kept showing it was going to feel colder.
I've deduced that nothing around here is truly flat, and my legs felt dead, but I still enjoyed it. Saw a few other cyclists, not many. When I got home it was 59 out and I was hot! So, basically, I found a good short, early AM or after work ride. It feels further away than the 15 mile loops I did from the house, mostly, I think because I was riding very near to the house I used to live in before I moved to Concord.

Sounds like a lovely ride Crankin, glad you found a future regular route!

Catching up... I had a good post-work hill ride on the 30th. Got started later than usual, again -- I need to focus more on getting out of work on time so I don't end up finishing the ride at 10 pm. It was in the high 50s and I was overdressed with a lightweight wool base layer, windstopper base layer and fleecy long sleeved jersey. I stopped after a few miles and took off the windstopper layer, and after that I was more comfortable. (It's interesting how differently I need to dress for a given temperature in December or February vs late March or April. Yesterday I went for a walk. It was cool and in the 50s after a cold windy night, and I ended up taking off my jacket and just wearing a long sleeved t-shirt with a short sleeved t-shirt over it. A couple of months ago I would have been cold without the jacket at the same air temperature.)

Anyway. After a sedentary Easter weekend I did the same route that I had done the previous Wednesday night. After this I will need to add some steeper hills so I can continue to build fitness for the Tour de Cure.

And I guess that does it for March!