October rides...

Gorgeous fall day, today. Was about 30 this morning when I got up, though :eek:. Decided to do a shorter ride today, a tomorrow is going to be warmer, so we did 19 miles of our "flat" ride, into Bedford and back. As we were approaching the center of town, we could see a very long and unusual traffic back up ahead on Main St, so we quickly rerouted ourselves around that. DH then remembered it was swap and drop off day at the municipal building, so one of the roads, which leads to parking, was closed at one end. Nothing unusual, on the ride. I was dressed on the edge of too warm, but at least I didn't have a base layer on, as DH did. I had my lighter weight tights on; those were a mistake, but I survived. Glad I went, but glad I didn't do more.

NY..sounds like you did have a training plan of sorts.:) I started getting into plans in college when I started doing long brevets. I've accumulated enough knowledge about putting one together and my strengths and weaknesses that it’s much easier to do now. I only do them in detail now for a much longer ride (200+) or a long hard multiple climbing one like the Death Ride last year. I guess I just like the structure and motivation they can give me. I'm sure the mileage of the ride i plan for will also change as i get older....but it will probably still be about the structure/motivation.

Hard but beautiful ride into the santa monica mountains today….made even better being with alex. Temps were mild and in the 60’s to low 70’s which is usual for this time of year. We had a slight headwind going out of santa monica but little wind in the mountains and not much of a tail wind by the time we were back down to the pacific coast highway and then bike paths going home. Coming home it was good to feel the cooler ocean air after the climbing too. Some good climbs, beautiful views and wonderful feelings of togetherness. The SM’s have more motorcycles on the weekend and we do roads that help to lessen that and especially auto traffic. Met a couple of good friends half way into the ride and we stopped together for a nutrition and stretching/relaxing break. It was good to see them and share the combination of our olive/sundried tomato rice cakes, homemade energy bars and dried fruit with each other while sitting on grass under the shade of a color turning big oak…..one of those unexpected feelings of connection and conversation that makes a day better. We took separate roads leaving as they came into the SM’s from their home on the eastern side.
A few more climbs and a great descent past Pepperdine University and we were back on
PCH. We did stop at the Malibu Country Mart on the way home to sit, relax and drink some thai iced tea boba and eat some yummy dark chocolate covered apricots from K chocolatier….the blessing of calories burned on climbing.:)
76 good miles

Wind, Rain and the DH, my riding buddy, is nursing a silly injury so this weekend is reduced to walking the PUP. DH was test riding a bike he was doing some work on, went to hop the curb, which was taller than he thought, front tire hits the curb making for a hard stop. He launched off the saddle as the back tire left the ground and slammed into the top tube, right behind his private parts - ouch. Attempted to ride and the saddle pressure was a no go. Poor guy. IMO curb hopping is such a guy thing - ha. Of course if any of you are curb hoppers than I stand corrected :)

I did ride today, but a short ride. It's warm, windy, and cloudy. A nice ride, but DH is suffering with some sort of malaise, so we cut it short.
My right knee felt a bit jacked, and since my hiking trip is in 5 days, I did not disagree with ending the ride.

Odd weather for us continues. Rainy and cold a couple days, ago, so stayed inside and did a solid and very hard hour on the trainer. Yesterday, the sky cleared and the temp hit the upper 60s, so dug my shorts back out of the drawer, went with a sleeveless top and hit the road. Wanted to ride some gravel roads a 9 mile ride out on pavement, but not feeling especially up to the technical part on the gravel riding, so took my Trek Stashe with its big 29er plus 3" tires - no finesse gravel riding needed with this bike. Called it wrong, though, because the gravel roads were in about the best shape I've seen, yet. Could have done them on the 700x25 road bike. Way too easy on the Trek. Oh, well.

Riding on the pavement on the way home, got a little nutty and started making mad dashes on and off the pavement to the gravel and sand shoulders, looking for something that might be a challenge for the Trek. When I could find a suitable embankment, would ride up and and back down to the pavement on those, too. If someone had been watching, they'd probably have thought the girl had lost it. Well, maybe I have. Mountain biking and mountain bikes just bring that out in me.

26 miles, total, on a beautiful fall day. Life is good.

Upper Wisconsin river, yesterday, about four miles from my door on one of my bike loops.
http://i68.tinypic.com/16a4ke8.jpg

Thanks, ladies, for your commiserations on my DH's shoulder injury. I have not been on TE for a few days as we were without internet.

He didn't get to a doctor since we are traveling, so it would take a pretty major emergency to go to the effort of trying to find someone to see and to actually be able to get in on short notice, but his shoulder has slowly improved with rest, ice, heat, and gentle stretching. He thinks it is his rotator cuff. He is much, much better than he was a week ago and finally got out for a short bike ride (first time since this happened) today. He was very careful and avoided using his upper body as much as possible. He has been able to walk and do easy hikes for the past few days, after several days of resting it.

Yesterday I took the MTB out for a ride in the park where we were staying (Bob Amos). It is a city park in Pikeville, in eastern Kentucky that had a really nice mostly unpaved bike trail. They had paved the climbs, I guess to deal with heavy rains/runoff, but that was very helpful to keep from spinning out, as each climb was steep. The trail was disappointingly short at only 4.5 miles round trip, but there were some tough climbs and gorgeous scenery in the autumn woods. I also rode on a very, very steep road in the park up to an overlook (had to walk part of the steepest hill). Only 8.5 miles total, but it was an excellent interval workout.

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A few days earlier I had done another campground ride in West Virginia. Had to ride the same road over and over, but it was a nice one, with pretty lake and foliage views. Got in 20 miles on that one.

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Looks like a beautiful ride, Emily, and a good workout, to boot. Can't beat that.

We had over 5 inches of rain, Monday night, so first thing the next morning, hopped on the fat bike to check the trails around the house. Pretty sure which sections would be flooded from past experience, but how much water was the question. Pretty bad in some sections, for sure. The good news is that the flooded sections are a small percentage of my trails and even those sections could be ridden with the fat bike, but no sense in tearing up the trails and cleaning the fat bike, later.

I did try a 29er, later in the afternoon, but found that it was digging in too deep on soft spots and prevented me from getting up enough speed to climb some of the hills. The fat bike is no speed demon, but have to admit that when things get soft and gooey, it is the bike to ride. An hour's worth of MTB work on a beautiful day, though, so happy, happy, happy!

I went to a workshop today, a 79 degree day in the middle of October! I was angry about this, but I need the hours for keeping my professional license.
So, I went out to ride at 5:10 AM. Did a very short loop, like 6.5 miles, as I had to shower, eat, and drive 20 miles. It was longer than my commute is, and I actually felt great. Too bad after breakfast, my stomach started acting up. Not sure why.
I am exhausted, going to chill out. I hate sitting all day.

lovely ride emily...so glad you're finding and sharing all these wonderful roads!!!!

Afternoon temps have been in the unusual 80’s for the last two days and the next couple. My commutes have been in the high 60’s mornings and low 70’s evenings though which are perfect for me. My commutes are one of my favorite parts of the day. I do wish more people could see the mental and health benefits to commuting by bicycle. Because of the hours I work I usually get to ride into a sunrise and then a sunset along the ocean this time of year. What a wonderfully calm way to start and end my workday. ….and especially like today stopping to reflect on the oncoming day at my favorite coffee bar at 6am and having a chocolate affogato :)

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Good ride, yesterday. Did a bit over an hour of pushing myself on my MTB trails around the house and tallied over 6 miles. I know that doesn't sound like much, but lots of tight turns, obstacles to work and, especially, plenty of steep climbs. I now have over a mile and a half of trails I've built over the summer, but they consist of over a dozen interconnecting loops, so there's an almost endless variety in how you can ride them. An hour of pushing myself, aggressively, on these trails leaves me huffing and puffing, but in a good way. Have definitely noticed it takes more leg strength and wind than my usual road biking on pavement. My private little trail system has also been very informative as to how the various types of mountain bikes handle and perform. Be glad to share what I've learned if anyone has questions on mountain bikes. Lastly, I'm never more than a short walk from the house to warm up with a cup of coffee. :)

NWG, I totally get what you're saying. After managing just a bit over an hour on my MTB the other day due to the steep climbs, I was wrung out! Huffing and puffing for sure! I think 1 to 1.5 hours of tough mountain biking is a tremendous workout and probably equivalent to double or even triple that on a road bike, depending on terrain. I always feel like I should get extra credit when I ride off road. :D

Okay, you get extra credit (from me, at least :)). When the trails are soft, as they have been for me, this week, rolling resistance goes through the roof, so even more extra credit when you ride those kinds of trails.

Never got out of the 40s, today, but did a little pavement riding after spending most of the afternoon repairing flooded out trails from our big storm. Trying to keep one foot in the road bike world and one in the MTB world as much as I can before winter sets in. When it does, will do some fat bike riding and indoor riding on the trainer till spring. Love the snow and will be doing my usual cross country skiing, but hate to see my road biking and regular trail riding shut down for the winter. I do sometimes miss living in an area where I can ride pavement all four seasons. Oh, well, can't have it all.

I rode last weekend -- a 65-miler that I was not in shape for, with temperatures ranging from 42 to 73. Knowing how warm the sun can be this time of year, I dressed in easy-to-remove layers and went with toe covers instead of booties. As a result I was too cold for most of the first hour, and my feet were very cold. The irony was that I had ridden similar routes on several very hot days this summer when I sought out whatever shade I could find to try to cool down, but last weekend those same shady areas were too cold in the morning when we started. The other negative was that the route was planned by a fast rider who has no trouble going 28 miles between rest stops. But for me that's a good 2 hours of riding, which is never my preference; 60-90 minutes between breaks is much better, otherwise I start to ache from sitting on the bike too long and I'm way too hungry several miles before we stop for food. So the start of the ride was cold and the finish was achy. But things were pretty good in the middle, and the suffering will make me better able to enjoy one or two more long rides before the cold really sets in.

On Wednesday I went out for my post-work hill ride. It's been hot here this week, with record breaking high temps in the 80s. I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so insanely humid. The local electric company had some equipment problems that caused blackouts in parts of the area where I rode, so I went from totally dark neighborhoods to normal lighting back to the dark for almost half the ride. At one point I stopped to check the local news on my phone, to see if there was any explanation for the blackouts, and the sweaty humidity was so uncomfortable. But while I was riding it was okay and I generally enjoyed my last short-sleeves-and-shorts ride of the year. And despite overdoing things on Saturday my legs felt mostly okay on the hills.

Now the hot weather is gone. The rain on the edge of the cold front just passed through minutes ago, and the wind will change from the SW to the NW now. And we're expecting gusty winds tomorrow. I have to run errands -- going to vote in-person absentee, among other things. So I'm watching the forecast for Sunday. I had hoped to do a ride by the Chesapeake Bay but they're still expecting it to be breezy. I think something farther west might be better. So I will probably decide the night before.

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

NWG, I totally get what you're saying. After managing just a bit over an hour on my MTB the other day due to the steep climbs, I was wrung out! Huffing and puffing for sure! I think 1 to 1.5 hours of tough mountain biking is a tremendous workout and probably equivalent to double or even triple that on a road bike, depending on terrain. I always feel like I should get extra credit when I ride off road. :D

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I totally agree with this. Just riding my mtb on the dirt trail next to the local paved rail trail is enough for a really good workout, harder work than riding the road bike on the adjacent pavement.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

I rode last weekend -- a 65-miler that I was not in shape for,...The other negative was that the route was planned by a fast rider who has no trouble going 28 miles between rest stops. But for me that's a good 2 hours of riding, which is never my preference; 60-90 minutes between breaks is much better, otherwise I start to ache from sitting on the bike too long and I'm way too hungry several miles before we stop for food. ...

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I was relieved to read that you feel a need for a break in a shorter amount of time with less miles between! I appreciate your honesty. So often I read of all these fast high mileage rides and beat myself up because I haven't been able to match up. After having signed up for a springtime cross country tour, this has had me second guessing my ability. I know that I am not exclusive in this respect, but it just feels reassuring to read of someone who validates it. I don't know if this makes any sense. I just wanted to put it out here : )

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Originally Posted by wnyrider

I was relieved to read that you feel a need for a break in a shorter amount of time with less miles between! I appreciate your honesty. So often I read of all these fast high mileage rides and beat myself up because I haven't been able to match up. After having signed up for a springtime cross country tour, this has had me second guessing my ability. I know that I am not exclusive in this respect, but it just feels reassuring to read of someone who validates it. I don't know if this makes any sense. I just wanted to put it out here : )

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We may be not be in the majority, but we're definitely out here. When I look at the ride classifications for bike clubs, I fall right in the middle in terms of my usual average speed (13-14 mph). But for the longer rides that I like to do, I am on the slow end. There are just a few people in the clubs I belong to who ride a similar pace and do longer rides. Actually some of them can ride more often and do more miles than the faster riders -- because they know how to pace themselves.

When I consider doing an organized ride (usually a metric century because I don't enjoy longer rides than that), I always try to look at the route and see how far apart the rest stops will be. If they're all more than 25 miles apart, I will make my own plans to stop more often, usually just bringing my own snacks and stopping at the side of the road for a break. Sometimes I will conclude that the ride organizers do not want to support slower riders and I will decide not to do the ride. And even if the stops are only 10 miles apart, I expect that I will be dropped early on and will not have much company on the road for much of the ride. I also look for information from the ride organizers about minimum speeds or cut-off times for reaching certain points along the route. As long as I can ride within their parameters, I figure I'll be okay even if I am one of the last people to finish.

As for last weekend's ride, which was just a club ride, I really should have stopped and taken a break after about an hour, and again about halfway between the second and third stops. I kept going because I wasn't too far behind the main group (for a change) and I didn't want to drop back further. Also I was riding with someone and I didn't want to hold him up. But lesson learned, in the future I will have to tell my riding companions that I need a break and will understand if they don't want to stop.

As for not being able to match up and second-guessing anything -- as I said, some of the slowest long-distance riders I know are the ones who can ride the longest. They do week-long tours, they ride in the mountains, they stop when they need to stop and they slow down if they need to slow down. And they enjoy the scenery while they ride because they're not suffering in a paceline trying to keep up with the wheel in front of them.

NY, thank-you for all the perspectives on group riding, Amazingly, in all my years of riding, have never done any group riding other than with a friend or two and even that has been infrequent. It's not that I'm anti-social - far from it - it's just that I've always worried about being forced into a pace other than my own and my pace very much changes with my mood and interests. Our local bike shop hosts weekly rides and divides them into average speed for assignment to groups. I'd also fall into the 12-15 mph average speed, but just worry I'd be a drag on everyone. I suppose I should try a group ride before I turn up daisies, but I'm content riding my usual solo. I very much enjoy reading your posts and others who do group rides, though.

I did solo rides for the most part as I would be dropped by seasoned riders within the first few miles. I did metrics regularly (in the first year every week - yeah that wasn't wise), and once I recovered from the overuse injuries from THAT I averaged 25-45 mile rides for the most part. I don't think I every got higher than 12-14 mph on the average for a ride. Regardless I enjoyed all of my rides. There were 2 group rides a year I generally did because I liked their atmosphere, they supported a good cause, and here was entertainment at the SAGS. I was fine riding solo, but I HATED group starts. I think I never really got faster because certain physical issues required an upright riding position.

My point is I never felt forced into a pace that would be beyond me, and those who knew me also knew I didn't expect them to hold back and ride with me. A couple friends would from time to time, then take off. It was a good balance. I just made sure I had a good map - I remember a couple remote rides where the Dan Henry's were poorly marked and I got lost. I always figured it out however. At least the last SAG was always still open when I got here for all of my group rides. They may have been on the verge of packing up, but they WERE still open ;) Wynrider - don't let that fear of holding others back make you second-guess yourself on the spring tour. Enjoy!

I totally agree that MTB riding is far more challenging to the body than road riding. I consider it almost a different sport as it has such a different skill-set (speaking specifically of cross-country). I think the longest mtb ride I had before my crash ended that activity was 12 miles, and I was quite proud of that!

I pretty much am the same. I can average 15 on a shorter, flatter ride, but on a 50 mile ride with climbing, it's more like 13.5 or less. Sometimes it's 12. I ride diifferent speeds for different purposes. I am lucky i have a group i fit in with, but i still dislike group rides, unless
I am leading.

I am right there with most of you! Depending on which bike I ride (Bike Friday is a bit slower than my Trek) and the terrain, I can average as low as 11.5 to 12.5 mph on a utility ride and 14-15 mph on a flat, shorter ride. I have occasionally averaged 16, but that's usually for only half the ride -- then we turn back into the wind, and I end up at 14.5 for the overall! :D For most of our longer recreational rides with several stops, I average 13-14.5 mph.

On longer rides I like to stop approximately every hour to stretch, give my posterior a rest and sometimes have a snack and/or bathroom break. The longer the ride gets, the more I have to stop; i.e., the first stop may be at 90 minutes in, but then it goes down to 60 and finally maybe 30-45 minutes at the end, when I'm petering out!

Well, looks like rain and snow in the forecast for mid-week. It's normal for us up this far north, but, still, I can't help but wonder where my summer went. I go through this every year, doing my best to prepare for winter, which I actually enjoy, but I always find it hard to say good-bye to biking in shorts and a sleeveless top on those warm summer days. Sometimes I think about having a winter home, down south, but hubby says, no way. Oh, well, on to snow biking.

Hard hour and a half on my MTB trials, today, despite showers and temps in the 40s. Hope everyone else is staying warm.

I’ve learned to really like mild weather :)…….it’s wonderful you’re so well connected to the season’s there though nwg….

Worked all weekend. We did ride to the farmers market yesterday and alex dragged me out today for an ocean bike path ride south to have lunch with friends. Good way to change mindsets, get some exercise, be with alex and then also with good friends. We got so into riding and being together that we did some climbs in the palos verdes hills before heading home…….40+ miles, overcast skies, and low 70’s
….and we were blessed with some ocean tailwinds that came up on the way home!!!!!

I have a guest from France and today we rode up to Saguaro NP together, along with my son. She kept exclaiming out gorgeous the desert was. And really, it is, even in fall when the weather is still warm but everything looks pretty dry. No interesting wildlife today though. 25 miles altogether,

You girls are making me feel warmer in my mind, at least, with those posts. Keep 'em coming. :)

This is behind real-time, but in this blog post about our Columbus Day weekend I wrote about our ride in southwestern Ohio, partly on the Little Miami Scenic Trail and part on rural roads. You'll have to scroll by some campground and hiking stuff, but it's there at the bottom of the post!

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...e-park-in-ohio

No riding in the past few days as we've been traveling in Appalachians and doing some great hikes. Now we're visiting my folks and will head to the NC mountains tomorrow for a few days. I am so excited as my brother is joining us; I haven't seen him in almost three years! I'm not even taking my bike as my step-dad is driving all of us and doesn't have a car rack, and we will be loaded down with luggage and food. Maybe I'll finally get back on the bike next weekend after we return!

Good for you, Emily. Glad you got to visit family. Family visits are one thing we do miss. Had hoped family would want to visit more, once we retired up here in the woods, but pretty tough since we're so far of the beaten path.

Been doing quick repeats on stiff climbs I built into my MTB trails. Can now do four or five in a row on climbs I could barely manage, once, earlier in the summer. Kind of a Rocky Balboa thing. Yup, she's getting stronger. :)

2 1/2 days, 70 miles of desert riding. I am a tired girl today. We volunteered for the BLM in the Owyhee Wilderness this last weekend and rode an area that was new to all of us along the South Fork of the Owyhee River. The roads were some of the best we've been on (keeping in mind where we were) More than enough of dropping in to the canyon and hike a bike back out - geeze. I said to one of our friends that he should send me all the photos he has of me pushing my bike and we could make a book - ha. We had to ford the river twice, up to my knees both times. I am not skilled nor strong enough to carry my bike across a river so I make two trips. One to carry my panniers and another to push my bike. This trip was in sage brush country - miles of sagebrush. Not much for wildlife. We did see a badger as we rolled into first nights camp. Saw some fresh cougar tracks the next morning! Couple of coyotes and chased some wild horses - those guys are really skittish. Once again, zero people. The downside was I made the mistake of eating a cliff bar before we started and had intense stomach cramps and you know what that follows - ugh. Not a great way to ride 20 miles, with nothing but sagebrush to squat behind. the guys were great, allowing me to lag behind but never out of their sight. Sapped my energy for the entire trip (couldn't be my age- ha) Made it back to the truck just as the rain started to fall. Today it is pouring. Just in case you aren't tired of wide open desert photos - here are a few.Attachment 18233Attachment 18234Attachment 18235Attachment 18236

Sky, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. When I think of adventure riding, riding such remote roads comes to mind. The closest thing we have, up here, are old logging and fire roads. I think such roads are the perfect blend of features for riding with an MTB - not super technical, but still challenging enough to be MTB, only and, above all, always interesting and true backcountry kind of remote. Really is my favorite kind of riding.

Nothing more tempting than this for me.
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Get what you're saying about the digestion thing. Eating immediately before, or during, a long ride might work for some folks, but definitely not for me. Have learned this the hard way, more than once.

Keep those pics, coming.

I would love to come and ride that. If my DD ends up a Mayo at least she'd be in the near area!

First day I had time to ride after getting back from my hiking trip. I had a lot to do on my day off, before I leave shortly for the hair salon...
Just a little ride, but my first cold weather one of the season. It was 46, not bad, but partly cloudy and breezy. My extremeties were dressed correctly, but I should have either wore a short sleeved base layer and not LS, or a lighter jersey. Jacket was fine, too.
My quads are still just a little jacked from the hiking, so I've been vigorous with the stretching, foam roller, lacrosse ball.

Luv the feelings those desert photo’s give me Sky. It really does help me find moments of calm/peace when I’m in that landscape. Your challenges on the ride help reinforce the being in the moment feelings too, even the physical ones….well, not the stomach cramps….hoping you work out a solution for the next time.

That’s a great back roads image nwg….the softness of it takes me there in a very fall overcast sky way. Looks like part of a wonderful days ride!!!

On my ride home tonight I came across a homeless woman who was having a serious mental episode. She ran after the bicyclist in front of me and pushed him over, yelling at him that he stole her clothes. I stopped, he landed in the sand by the side of the path and wasn’t hurt so I turned my attention to her and talked to/comforted her. She had definitely distanced herself from reality but I was able to calm her. I called a friend who works with the homeless and the issues around it. She showed up in a short time to offer her assistance to the woman and they walked off together. Made me feel good about having the friends I do.

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Originally Posted by rebeccaC

Luv the feelings those desert photo’s give me Sky. It really does help me find moments of calm/peace when I’m in that landscape. Your challenges on the ride help reinforce the being in the moment feelings too, even the physical ones….well, not the stomach cramps….hoping you work out a solution for the next time.

That’s a great back roads image nwg….the softness of it takes me there in a very fall overcast sky way. Looks like part of a wonderful days ride!!!

On my ride home tonight I came across a homeless woman who was having a serious mental episode. She ran after the bicyclist in front of me and pushed him over, yelling at him that he stole her clothes. I stopped, he landed in the sand by the side of the path and wasn’t hurt so I turned my attention to her and talked to/comforted her. She had definitely distanced herself from reality but I was able to calm her. I called a friend who works with the homeless and the issues around it. She showed up in a short time to offer her assistance to the woman and they walked off together. Made me feel good about having the friends I do.

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rebeccaC - thanks for showing such compassion. Sometimes we hesitate to reach out to the mentally unstable due to safety reasons. Congrats on being able to help her push pause. Hugs

Plus one on your compassion to the homeless woman, Rebecca. We have a friend who is homeless, not because of money issues, but because of mental issues and despite all our attempts to help her, she refuses to find a permanent home (she lives in her car, even during our winters) and refuses to seek mental help. Very frustrating and very sad. So many of these people fall though the cracks in what passes for mental health care in this country.

On a more positive note, changed out to a raised stem and wider handlebars on my Giant Trance full suspension bike and it worked like a charm. Not to get too techno, but the Trance is very typical of the current breed of trail bikes with a very slack front end, meaning the front wheel is way out there in front of the handlebars as with a chopper motorcycle. (The MTB bike scene is very trendy. Slack geometry is currently "in".) Makes for very twitchy steering and a bike that is hard to keep on a straight track when on a steep climb. Was seriously thinking of selling the bike, but will keep it, now. So excited about the "new" improved Trance, that I rode for an hour in the cold rain (some flakes of snow mixed in), yesterday.
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Still riding, up here, on a daily basis and will continue to do so, even when the snow starts to fall (fat bikes are snow bikes and we even have groomed trails for them in the winter.) Most of my riding has been MTB, but hope to get out for some road work before the snow falls. Been waiting for a sunny day to take some of the chill off, but sunshine is NOT what this country has in abundance. In fact, it's pretty darn rare in the winter. The snow and the cold I can take, but it's the long month of gloom that get to me.

Not a lot of miles this weekend (netflix’s first season of Doctor Foster and the 3rd of The Fall were to blame yesterday :)….but we needed and just enjoyed the snuggling and downtime for a change). We did do a ride to the farmers market today for veggies, fruits and cheese. We also did a late afternoon ride to Venice's DÃ*a de los Muertos celebration which is a wonderfully colorful event with an altar and tree of life built by local elementary school students, Aztec drumming,dancing and ceremonies, lots of celebrants, art and good food. Not many miles but lots of sharing a relaxing time together made more important cuz i leave for a few days tomorrow for work.

Sounds lovely, Rebecca. Glad I'm not the only one that is still riding. Anyone else do winter riding? Just wondering. I get it that it's not something everyone does or enjoys. Be nice to have some company, though. :)

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Originally Posted by north woods gal

Anyone else do winter riding? Just wondering. I get it that it's not something everyone does or enjoys. Be nice to have some company, though. :)

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I'll be riding all winter!

But in Florida...LOL! :D

Currently doing some family stuff and RV chores so not riding much but hoping to get out this week. Supposed to be nice and warm Wed/Thurs before cooling off a bit after that.

I usually do ride until it snows. I am taking a more relaxed approach this year... because I am doing other stuff, if I am not riding. Saturday, it rained, so I went to tabata. Sunday was actually 65 degrees, but we were in Boston overnight Saturday for a fund raising gala and then on Sunday we stayed in the city and went to our monthly theatre at a matinee. We did walk a little. I went to power class at the gym today and then I work until 7... probably spin class tomorrow before work, though, and ride outdoors on Wednesday and Saturday, tabata on Thursday. Friday is my birthday and I am deciding if I am going to ride my age on Saturday. It's getting to the tipping point for me on that!

Well, okay, Emily, we'll count Florida as "winter" riding. :)

Happy Birthday in advance, Crankin! Have a good ride.

As for me, October was a good month, though I actually spent as many or more hours working on my homemade trails as riding them. Have added rocks and logs to climb over and some hairpin turns and other goodies to make things challenging when I'm in the mood. The rocks and logs have been a learning experience for me, but have learned how to get the bike over them using technique, rather than sheer upper body strength to life the front wheels. Way, way short of being any kind of expert or daredevil backwoods biker, but learning some of the basic MTB maneuvers has been a big confidence booster for me. Fun, too.

I finished up October with quite a few shorter rides focused on commuting, birding and a community ride - Tucson's "Cyclovia" event. So my mileage was about the same- around 100 miles/week or so (more during my fall break) in spite of the shorter distances (and also riding with some injuries after my little crash). I'm not riding El Tour de Tucson this year because I have a conference on that weekend, so I don't pressured to schedule longer rides like I have in previous years.

I had full or partial commutes on 5 of the last 7 work days! I hope the weather stays nice - I've really been enjoying the daily rides. My commute route is about 9.5 miles each way, mostly on a mulit-use path that is not too crowded, so I don't have to worry too much about cars.