Ok ... time to share ... who rode this weekend?!
I rode 12 miles on my mountain bike on Saturday and 42 miles on my road bike on Sunday. Our weather was sooooooooooo nice!
So how about the rest of you?
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Ok ... time to share ... who rode this weekend?!
I rode 12 miles on my mountain bike on Saturday and 42 miles on my road bike on Sunday. Our weather was sooooooooooo nice!
So how about the rest of you?
Sat was pouring, but I got in a great singletrack ride (8 miles) on sunday... crystal clear, frosty weather; warm in the sun. The trail was combination of frozen, icy puddles and a tacky surface, but no mud.
Susan, where are you?
Irulan
Hi, on saturday I rode 60km between the fields and near the sea with my racebike, there was a lot of wind, as always here near he belgian coast! We don't have forests or hills but our country is so flat and open so you can imagine the wind blowing! I always begin wind ahead, so riding home goes very fast! On sunday I had to work till 15.00h but as soon I got home, I jumped on my bike and I did another 50km. the weather was very nice but when I got home it was dark!!bye!
I got in a good ride Sat. at Wakefield! FINALLY made it over that log pyramid that keeps laughing at me and found a neat 16 inch log drop on a downhill that was fun to launch off of.
It started out being pretty windy & cold but after riding through the woods I got warmed up. It was pretty muddy in some places and the trail was sooo covered with leaves I wasn't even sure if I was on the trail! Its amazing how different the scenery is after all the leaves fall and we've finally had some rain. All the streambeds are filling up again-with freezing cold water!
Hopefully, the trails will really dry up this week b/c I can't wait to ride again after Thanksgiving!
Cheers,
Kristina
Not too often (according to popular opinion anyway) that I get to put that subject header on! But I'm enthusiastically agreeing with Susan126 that it was a glorious weekend for riding in the "sunny" Pacific Northwest. No typo there, folks, even though it's almost December and we're about to launch into our season of seeing 11 shades of gray - sometimes in the same day!
I'm a roadie thru and thru so I didn't blink and eye or have any yearning to experience the mud, holes, ruts, and a log pyramid??! that I read about in above posts (but glad you girls enjoyed just the same! Just give me some Seattle area shoreline or backroads to enjoy unbelievable views of Mt Rainier looking like a giant sno-cone as a backdrop in one direction with the Cascade mtns to the east and towering Olympic range to the west, ferries criss-crossing Puget Sound...ahhhhh...bliss!
We wanted to do some fast, flat miles, so we went out to the Sacramento River Delta on Saturday. It was kind of foggy and a bit nippy at first. I was very happy to have my wool arm warmers (formerly hiking socks with toes cut out).
On Thanksgiving we're doing Mt. Diablo. It's a 3500 ft climb in ten miles. The current plan is to ride it twice.
The first time we did it (once) - back in March on our mountain bikes with slicks, we got to the top and I talked to a guy who had done it three times that day and I was thinking, "Man I am happy to have gotten here at all."
We've since done it once on the tandem. Took ten minutes off my mountain bike time even with a bunch of mechanicals. So twice will be a major milestone for us.
Veronica
hey veronica, that hillclimb sounds AWESOME!!!
Glad to hear everyone had a great biking weekend! What's a little mud or wind when the trail or road beckons?!!!! My goal is to bike through the winter! I've bought all kinds of rain, cold and wind gear. Bring winter on! :D
Irulan, I live in the pacific NW. About 45 miles southeast of Seattle in a little town called Bonney Lake. I have an awesome view of Mount Rainier, when it's not cloudy or foggy that is! Where are you?
Oh wow Marianne it sounds like you have some great scenery for your road rides! Fields and sea, it must beautiful! And you rode on both Saturday and Sunday! Extra bonus for you!
On my mountain bike ride on Saturday, my bike and I got very muddy. I loved the ride, but I hated the muddy mess I had to clean up afterwards! LOL Sunday's road ride was AWESOME! I felt great and I kept up with the fast group!!!! I'm giving myself a pat on the back :D Our AVS was 16.4 and that's with hills! After the ride we went to Starbucks for coffee muffins and chatting! It was the perfect biking weekend!
Veronica .... you're doing a 3500 foot climb in 10 miles on Thanksgiving Day?! Way to go! You will definitely earn your big Thanksgiving dinner!
I'm glad everyone had some great rides this weekend! Let's try a repeat this up coming weekend! :)
Susan
Mud is kind of an interesting deal. It's fun to ride in, and different, but one can also cause a lot of trail damage. Trails become much more susceptible to being torn up when really wet. I don't know what the Seattle area soils are like. Around here, there are some great south facing areas that are sandy and dry out really fast.Quote:
Originally posted by Susan126
On my mountain bike ride on Saturday, my bike and I got very muddy. I loved the ride, but I hated the muddy mess I had to clean up afterwards! LOL Sunday's road ride was AWESOME! I felt great and I kept up with the fast group!!!! I'm giving myself a pat on the back :D Our AVS was 16.4 and that's with hills! After the ride we went to Starbucks for coffee muffins and chatting! It was the perfect biking weekend!
More on trail care here: ]IMBA
I'm going to try and get my women's club out on a "Turkey Burner " mountain bike ride on Friday. Clear and cold is our weather report.Quote:
I'm glad everyone had some great rides this weekend! Let's try a repeat this up coming weekend! :)
Susan
Irulan
You are so right about that Irulan! Our bike club does a lot of trail maintenance and repair throughout the year. We are always advocating trail care. Actually, most of the mud we did acquire was on the fire road to the trails. Amazingly the forest where we rode keeps the tails pretty descent throughout the winter months. Plus the soil at this place drains really well! We can have a week of solid rain and you couldn't tell riding at this place. There are many places that do get very very muddy and we stay away from there. Plus they are usually closed during the winter months. This trail system is a well kept secret but the word is getting out to many local riders. In fact our mountain bike club has a Turkey Burner ride there this Friday! If you want to see some dry trails and FUN trails ..... come out for the ride if you are in the area!
Susan
The IMBA trail care crew came to town this summer and I spent two days training with them. We rebuilt an eroded 200' section of trail here and then did an 18 mile ride. I learned a whole lot that day!! Their presentation is awesome.
Irulan
come out west some time!!
IMBA came here last November, and again this November...Loved their presentation and information and working on the trails. The TCC team was wonderful, and very helpful and supportive...
you know what?? I ride almost every day, and when I get my new trek bike next year, I think I even sleep with it!! haha!
Marianne, what kind of trek bike? My road bike is a trek! It's a 2200 WSD! A pretty candy apple red .... I call her "Red Streak" ... I love her! My hubby has the men's 2200. We would have liked to have gotten the 2300 but we had to buy two bikes AND we have two kids in college . . . sooooo we settled for the 2200 and we are NOT disappointed!
I am so jealous that you ride every day! Joe, that's my hubby's name, and I are going to start training this xmas break. We will be entering a few long rides in 2003. The first will be a 100 mile (160 km) event in April called the Daffodil Classic. We rode in it last year but we only did the 70 mile (112 km) course. So I guess we better get our b_tts in gear! We may do an event in Februay called the Chilly Hilly. It's not very long but it has a lot of hills and it's the official opening of bike season here in the Seattle area. It's 33 miles around Bainbridge Island.
ayermail, our mountain bike club pays for 3 members to go to a trail maintenance course in Oregon each year. It's a week long and the things they learn they bring back to the club. Sometimes other members of our club will meet them down in Oregon at the end of their week long class and we will all do a McKenzie River ride! :D IMBA is a great organization. Has anyone ever rode on one of their epic rides? I would love to ride the Maah Daah Hey Trail in Medora, North Dakota. http://www.imba.com/epics/maah_daah_hey_trail.html
Sue
I had dinner with friends and they convinced me to stay over and get up early with them for a ride. Zoe and Tim drove down from Seattle and B.C. to join us. We woke up early and got to the Syncline trailhead by 9:30 a.m. I hadn't been on singletrak since my abdominal surgery in July, but inspite of some cardio weakness, I felt fine! At least I wasn't the only one suckin wind on the direct climb up! :) With this trail, there is no warmup. Just straight up right off the bat. We saw some huge hawks and of course incredible views of the Columbia River as far as the eye could see. It was cloudy off and on, but towards the end of the day Mt. Hood appeared. I'll try to attach a photo of the view.
Happy riding!
Cyndy
I did Loon Lake/Ruby Meadows out of McCall ID this summer. It's going to be one of the epics coming up soon, or so I was told by ssome of the folks I was with. Seventeen miles of the sweetest riding....Quote:
Originally posted by Susan126
Has anyone ever rode on one of their epic rides? ISue
Irulan