March 3 Rides

So, after 3 weeks off with bike with traveling followed by bronchitis, I got out for a ride today! I was so afraid I would be so slow but for me sometimes off time is body repair time as I felt great. That doesn't mean it wasn't hard, but I as long as I made the effort I had a lot more power than I expected. It was very windy, so we were all underdressed. But with headwinds come tailwinds, so while going out was tough coming in felt so great, especially as the day warmed up and sun rose. Temps from low 50s to high 50s, winds 15-20 mph. I only did 28 miles (hilly) to be sure my bronchitis is behind me (and I did cough a fair bit out there) but it felt so good to be out there again!

Well, it's not my first ride of the year, but it's the first ride of the season. I also am recovering from bronchitis, and babying myself a bit. It was about 47 when we left, 43 at the end, cloudy and the roads are a mess. But, i was out there; 16.88 miles, mostly climbing, av. 14.11.

It feels like I am starting all over, but it was good.

I must be crazy for I round myself riding in conditions that certainly are not what I consider to be good for riding but I rode anyways. Actually I decided to participate in the club ride today so that I could surprise my BF and show him I'm not the weather wimp he thinks I am and that I've convinced myself I am. After he left my house this morning I made the executive decision to ride telling myself if it was too cold I would only ride the first half and skip the second. The skies were clear and temps in the low 40's. By the time I made my way into Louisville (a couple of hours after his departure) the skies were cloudy but it was still in the lower 40's as I packed my gear in my car. At about the half way mark into Louisville I notice white stuff falling from the skies and I begin talking to myself about how crazy this whole "I'll surprise you..." thing is. By the I time I get off the expressway it is snowing hard and I'm having a rapid conversation with myself - this is really crazy, you can't ride in this, they will call the ride off, etc. At one point (10 minutes before the ride is to start) I stopped and turned my car around to head home but I did not go far before I talked myself into turning the car around again, secertly hoping that when I got to the start point they would say "ride cancelled!" There were six guys in the parking lot, all dressed and ready to go when I rolled in and asked "is the ride on?" to which they replied "certainly, why not?" I tooked around quickly and guess who is not present, my BF. Okay, I tell myself since you are here you can ride the first half (approximately 18 miles) and call it quits. I dressed quickly and off we went in a nasty snow shower and of course the first part of the ride was against the wind. So we are fighting a nasty wind and the snow is blowing into our faces - I can't see and I'm hoping I don't catch the wheel in front of me. At about the 7 mile mark the ride captain called the ride, we turned and headed home. I was surprised that I stayed so warm, only my toes were cold. I guess I'm not a weather wimp after all for I successfull completed 12 miles today, I fought the wind (I've done this before) and the blinding snow (a first for me) and rode in temps below 50. I think I've opened a whole new chapter in my riding life!

Well, the Mid-Atlantic chapter of TE (;) ) - this day consisting of MDHillSlug and myself - met at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge to ride a route smartly planned by DivingBiker, who could not attend herself, as she was tending a sick pooch (Hope all is well, DB!). I say "smartly" as she laid out the loop clockwise, so we had no major road crossings to contend with - all right turns. Yay, to DB!
We took off a bit after 11 - both of us were late. It was a nice ride - sunny, high 40's to low 50's temp wise. Got a bit breezy on the backside. Yucky headwinds! Saw quite a few other cyclists - none going in our direction however - so there has got to be more to explore in that area.
We got back to the parking lot, and MDHS was taking off her bike shoes and putting on running shoes to do the 3-mile run out to the main road (she's training for a triathalon, crazy woman!) when a ranger pulled up beside us - in a convertible Mini Cooper, not exactly a Government-issue vehicle! - and told us that "they" (i.e., Fish and Wildlife) don't want folks using their lot as a staging area for bike rides. He said if they had to close down the place and evacuate folks out, they wouldn't know where we were (?). He said they were fine with "ride in/ride out" but don't stage there.
Hmmmmm....
So, this scofflaw left, and MDHS went for her run.
17.9 miles at a 14.8 mph pace.

It was gorgeous! SO glad to take the Girl off the trainer and into the sunlight. DH joined me so it was a leisurely 14miles but I didn't care I was just so excited to be outside! DH kept saying "Go on without me" but I was more than happy ride along and just enjoy the sun. DH is a masher and climbs the hills like his pants are on fire. I practiced my spinning technique and even though I climbed slower, I kept cadence between 95-100+ and eventually passed DH at the crests! Not to mention that he was wiped out and needed time to catch his breath while I was happily just waiting on him. :D

i did the club ride , plus a little extra today. This is our first time with a set route on Saturday, and we had a good turn (about 25v rides for a club of 80). Most of the fast riders went a little farther, before they started the ascent, but I had a couple of folks with and we took to the direct route up Mt Baldy Road. The two folks with me kept on turning around on the steep sections. It's supposed to be a ride that should have a map with and a I wasn't leading today, it did feel not to be that last person up this section. I go to the turnout for Shinn (the first red mark) and stopped and took off my tights. The other riders came by and I told them where to turn. I rode up to the tunnels, although I probably should had kept on going to Baldy village. I descended, did some climbing, and stopped by the Coffee Shop to socialize. I rode by the bank so I could cash my Birthday checks.
Total for the day 51.85 with 2900 feet of climbing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Regina

...a ranger pulled up beside us - in a convertible Mini Cooper, not exactly a Government-issue vehicle! - and told us that "they" (i.e., Fish and Wildlife) don't want folks using their lot as a staging area for bike rides. He said if they had to close down the place and evacuate folks out, they wouldn't know where we were (?). He said they were fine with "ride in/ride out" but don't stage there.
Hmmmmm....

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Whoops! Sorry about that! I'm not sure their reasoning makes any sense, because the refuge is huge and they wouldn't be able to find people anyway if they were hiking. But hey, I'm a federal employee, and I know we have some rules that don't seem to make sense either.

I've never had a problem there, but most times I'm starting from another point and use the wildlife refuge as a rest stop. There are parking lots around the area to start from, or there's the Greenbelt metro station, so if "we" do it again, I guess those would be better places to meet. I guess I always figured it's a federal government installation, and we pay taxes, so we can use it to park. Guess not...

Glad you had a good ride. The dog is fine; sometimes one has to sacrifice the occasional bike ride when one has elderly dogs...

The temperature in the mid 40s felt amazingly warm - what a nice change of pace! 30 miles rolled under my wheels, making me a happy cyclist today.

And Robyn's right, the roads around here are an absolute mess! My bicycle insisted on a good cleaning and re-lube as soon as we (my bike and I) got home.

My camera joined me - and this image made me think that the weather wizard is laughing too. Can you see the face in the snow and ice? (Yes, sometimes my imagination does work overtime...)

http://Denise.smugmug.com/photos/133362432-S.jpg

--- Denise

Didn't want to ride solo again, so I went along on a club ride that one of the guys from Bike Forums invited me to. 44+ miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Everyone was very welcoming and it was nice to have some company...I had done my long training ride for the week (83 miles and 5400 ft of climbing) solo on Thursday and realized that I get lonely out there! Now if only I can find some people to ride with pre-dawn tomorrow when I'm pressed for time, I'll be a happy pedaler...for some reason, no one wants to meet at 5:35 a.m. for a 5:50 a.m. start. :p

It looks sort of like a rhinoceros in profile to me, Denise! :o

DB - I'm a fed, too, so I can appreciate rules that don't make sense ("Don't ask why...it just IS!"). I'd be up for exploring more of that area - from Greenbelt (can you access that area easily from the College Park REI? I think so.) or wherever.

I went on a club ride with some of the racers and a few of us slower folks with the main goal of getting some climbing in early in the season. So we took off and did a 3 1/2 mi climb up the side of one of our "mountains" with the pitch as steep as 16%. After we came down, the wind had picked up considerably (25 sustained, 40gusts :eek: ) which we were going straight into. I stayed hidden a lot of the time (well, when those pesky men didn't decide to take off without some of the others). Who would have thought that a ride back to the cars on the flat would be more difficult than that climb? Oh, how I love thee the wind :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Regina

Well, the Mid-Atlantic chapter of TE (;) ) - this day consisting of MDHillSlug and myself - met at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge to ride a route smartly planned by DivingBiker, who could not attend herself, as she was tending a sick pooch (Hope all is well, DB!). I say "smartly" as she laid out the loop clockwise, so we had no major road crossings to contend with - all right turns. Yay, to DB!
We took off a bit after 11 - both of us were late. It was a nice ride - sunny, high 40's to low 50's temp wise. Got a bit breezy on the backside. Yucky headwinds! Saw quite a few other cyclists - none going in our direction however - so there has got to be more to explore in that area.
We got back to the parking lot, and MDHS was taking off her bike shoes and putting on running shoes to do the 3-mile run out to the main road (she's training for a triathalon, crazy woman!) when a ranger pulled up beside us - in a convertible Mini Cooper, not exactly a Government-issue vehicle! - and told us that "they" (i.e., Fish and Wildlife) don't want folks using their lot as a staging area for bike rides. He said if they had to close down the place and evacuate folks out, they wouldn't know where we were (?). He said they were fine with "ride in/ride out" but don't stage there.
Hmmmmm....
So, this scofflaw left, and MDHS went for her run.
17.9 miles at a 14.8 mph pace.

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My 3 mile run turned into less than a 2 mile run/walk because it just wasn't really happening today.

Great ride, not so great run. Good thing my first tri isn't until July.

I was so tired this morning and really didn't want to go but I did anyways. I went on my club ride but we went in reverse of what was the plan, starting off going east. This was done because there was a big rain coming in from the west. It was pretty cold, windy, and grey, not typical for this time of year. I'm finally starting to pick up speed with the group, especially on the pulls, so hopefully this energy will carry over to tomorrow's hill ride (definately NOT my specialty:mad: ):mad:. The ride itself was pretty good and quick because we had a tailwind for most of the first half of the ride and when we hit the head wind, we were almost at the end of the ride. I'm glad I went and got it done:D

A little 8 mile errand-ride today on the Commutermobile.

When I got home from grocery shopping the sun was shining and it was just beautiful weather. So I tossed everything into the fridge and changed into a pair of bike shorts and the Best Cotton Biking Capris Ever. (an old pair of tapered-leg Gramicci climbing pants that I cut to capri length. Gusseted crotch, no flapping legs, and best of all NO plumber's butt!) Grabbed my bike gear and pannier and took off into the sunshine.

There is a bike route from my apt to the library. I usually take a different bike route to work, this was my first foray onto another route. Traffic was polite (and light) and I was able to "take the lane" thru every intersection.

The view of the bay was gorgeous: silver and titanium water, lavender/blue/gray/gold sky. A deep bank of slate-colored clouds completely hid the Olympic mountains and the cedars on the hills were just a stunning deep dark green. I love the colors on days like this.

The white-and-green ferries darn near glowed in the sunlight.

Loaded my pannier with a volume of the collected poems of William Blake (gotta read 'em after seeing Tomb Raider for the zillionth time last night... "grain of sand" and all that...) and Suze Orman's book about getting your sorry azz out of debt for the student-loan ridden underemployed.

The ride back was a bit different, as the sun had almost gone behind clouds. Lots of beautiful grays, and the ferries were a soft dove gray on the dark gray water.

I had a fabulous ride today! Darcy and I met at Champoeg State Park around 1:15 and set off. The weather was cloudy...temps were in the high 50's.

On the way out we were doing 18 for a lot of the time, but as we turned back on our loop we hit a fairly strong headwind. Heck, I was lucky if I got up to 14.0! So my goal was to catch up to Darcy (she was a speed demon today!) and draft. I was right behind her the majority of the way back. So I owe you one, Darcy. You can draft off me next time!

I had an exciting moment where we were on a part of the road that didn't have much of a shoulder. A white car was passing someone coming towards me and if it would have moved over any farther I would have been a fatality. That shook me up for a bit! I don't think Darcy saw my close call since she was quite a bit ahead at that point, and I forgot to mention it when we were packing up. But yeah...would have been real ugly!

Oh...and I ran over a little quail on the way home. :( He just didn't run fast enough like the rest of them, poor thing.

Stats...
Distance: 30.06 (I lapped the parking lot a few times to get over 30. Yeah, I'm anal like that. :p )
Av. mph: 14.0 (WAY better than my last outdoor ride of 12.9! I didn't think I'd have anything left on the way back because I was working to catch-up to Mrs. Speed Demon the whole 1st half, but I probably could have done another easy 10 miles. :D )
Time: 2:08:15

Not bad. Not bad at all. And the most importand part...we had a great time!

Oh...and Darcy? My Diet Power program says I burned 2532 calories today! :eek:

Ellen and I had lots of fun. It was awesome. We are both the fitness and fun cyclists, not the club going to race all the time cyclists. So for us, the averages we accomplished are significant. Ellen is a very strong cyclist and by the end of the summer she will be cycling some serious distance.

It was 60 degrees when we started and 55 when we ended, which is far better than a ride I had earlier this week with high wind, heavy sleet and snow, all combined in one ride, and with the temp about 34.

A flock of ducks or geese took flight from a farm field on our left at about mile 7. That was great to see and hear.

There were other cyclists out today. While I was waiting for Ellen to show up, a pickup truck with an extended cab parked, and out hopped 4 male riders. They took their bikes out of the back of the pickup truck, then spent the next 15-20 minutes prissing around with the bikes. I have no idea what they were doing. I ride almost every day, so I keep my bike clean and oiled. Before I load it on to the car's bike rack, I pump up the tires. When I park I unload the bike, spend a minute or two putting on my helmet and gloves and so on, and off I go. But these guys, they were poking and prodding each other's bikes, adjusting their clothing, and basically primping and prissing for 15-20 minutes. Then on their way out to the road, after maybe biking for 10 feet, they stopped and fussed with their bikes some more. Ellen and I left about 5 minutes later, and the 4 prissy dudes got back about 2 minutes after us. I figure they probably only biked 10 miles because they had to stop every 1/4 mile and fuss with everything.

Darcy

Round the lake / Sea of Galilee. 70 km +/-
Really spring-like day (tho' kept my under-helmet poly-prop rainbow hat on half the way). Tons of wildflowers (pale yellow mustard and bright red anenome mostly and a purple thistle like Bruno28's avatar), tons of kingfishers (my favourite bird), nice flows in the river and streams...

Nice stripes - I *always* wear folded up long sleeves (to cover each and both of my delicate arms) and my gloves totally cover the back of my hand so I get this gorgeous forearm-to-wrist stripe (by which I mean really s*xy)

Knot - you gave me an idea. I will pack a pretentious book from now on.

The funny part about my trip to the library is that the library only has ONE computer terminal for the card catalog. (no actual CARD catalog) There are about 20 other terminals that get internet.

ALL the terminals were busy (it was Saturday) so I had to go ask the reference librarian to help me find the Blake book. I think I made his day! He walked me to the exact spot on the shelf and kind of waved his hands over the Blake collections, like Vanna White.

From talking to friends who are public library reference staff, they usually get questions about how to work the public access computer terminals... This guy's lucky day, I asked him to help me find a BOOK!:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Regina

when a ranger pulled up beside us - in a convertible Mini Cooper, not exactly a Government-issue vehicle! - and told us that "they" (i.e., Fish and Wildlife) don't want folks using their lot as a staging area for bike rides. He said if they had to close down the place and evacuate folks out, they wouldn't know where we were (?). He said they were fine with "ride in/ride out" but don't stage there.
Hmmmmm....

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ok, . . . . so if you park somewhere else and ride in, and THEN they close down the place and have to evacuate folks out . . . . i see, much better . . . .

Saturday was beautiful! No rain this weekend, thank goodness. But it was chilly. With the wind we rode in I did not take off any layers and I normally do.

We rode out in Katy, TX out from Katy Mills Mall and went 33.2 miles. Hubby went 34. Don't know how that happened as we rode together the entire way. This was our third training week with TNT. Going thru the Fulshear area was beautiful with all the large houses/ranches, horses, and these odd looking, but cute, mini-donkeys.

I am also proud that I took an overpass hill with direct head on wind and made it to the top and down; on my own! My first hill!! :D And I did NOT have to stop and walk up! Yippee! My quads were burning, my lungs were burning and I was seeing spots, but hey, I did it! I was ok after a few deep breaths. :cool:

I just keep telling myself; "wind is your friend; hills are your friend". They build me up and allow me to get stronger with every ride.

Have a good week all! :)