Weekend Rides!

Had an awesome 29 mile ride this afternoon! Had the fastest average speed, ever. It was only 12.6, but for me that is pretty darn good on my cushy tank! Considering that the last mile of my ride is always quite slow as I am riding around walkers on a bike path I am pretty happy with that average speed.

Quads are a little sore, but considering my March riding couldn't be very consistent due to weather, I think that is only to be expected. It is supposed to be something like 82 degrees tomorrow - with 23 mph winds - so am planning on hiking tomorrow, or just take the day off. Today was my 4th ride this week :)

FIRST RIDE THIS YEAR WITHOUT WARM CLOTHES :)

errrrr, sorry for the shouting, but it was awesome to be out in just bib shorts and jersey! I love my tights but am more than ready to store them until next fall...

Yay! That sounds fabulous!

I drove to a paved path and rode 20mi for my first ride this year. I feel so invigorated and pumped with endorphins from it :) I think tomorrow we are having storms so I was glad to get a lovely 60degree early April ride in Wisconsin today.

Wooohoo, Catrin! I think fastest av speed ever is somethin to shout about. :D

I, too, rode 29 brisk but sunny miles. Included a couple of miles up the big bad hill. And a couple of scary miles down the big bad hill. Not sure what's worse.

Tomorrow I'm heading to CicLAvia - should be super-fun!

I only rode 5 miles RT to the farm market. Ride report in the First Aid Supplies on the Bike thread :rolleyes::

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=42007

I did a 4hr mtb event today..funkily fun ya!! Heaps faster than last year :cool: but still not the quickest :o

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444 mile long National Park that starts (or ends) 30 mies west of Nashville. The Ride2Recovery Ride was to benefit fallen warriors. As I've previously posted, we had grueling conditions and I felt my age (and weight!). But, as I get older, I'm getting a little more inclined o stop and take some pictures!

On the Trace to the start...cyclists, car, and look closely for turkeys! They were everywhere!
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/...3/47f77fe3.jpg

The overall setting was very pastoral:
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/...3/321ca9b3.jpg

This was the view from a bridge at mile 51. The wind nearly knocked me off my feet:
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/...3/99b2e3d9.jpg

Lunch in historic Leipers Fork (so historic, that when I lived 15 miles from there, I had never heard of it:rolleyes:)
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/...3/b3292d8f.jpg

I'm glad I did the ride...it reminded me of my riding basics that I forgot in the last year of less riding.

Here are the stats: my 40 mile pace was 18.8mph. At mile 43, pace didn't matter anymore...finishing alive did!
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/...TraceStats.png

I don't think I've ever done a ride with so much speed variation!
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/...raceMetric.png

I got home from my class at around 3:45. I was in a really bad mood, so DH went off to the grocery store and I went out just for a stress reduction ride (the topic of the last part of my class was self care for therapists). I did one of my "dark ride" loops, that I usually do at 5:30 AM, before work, when I have limited time. Ten miles down to Concord center, around a loop and back behind the back side of the Old North Bridge. The area is just packed, I mean packed, with people and cyclists for all of the upcoming Patriot's Day celebrations.
A very relaxing ride, and only a little bit slower than usual.
Today will be a long ride.

Only got about 7 miles in yesterday, but they were glorious :D First official ride on the LHT! It was on the PACKED multi-use path, so didn't get as far as we had originally planned, but I did learn that I really need a new saddle!

Both of my legs are recovering from sclerotherapy for my lovely varicose veins. Doctors orders said ONLY walk 15 minutes twice a day for 2 weeks! That's like telling a bird it can only walk and not fly! No riding, boxing, weights, Pilates or yoga!

I go for my two week check up this Wednesday, and let me just say that, after that I'm out the door!

Reading all of your riding posts is adding fuel to my fire :D

Went for a 21 mile ride with DH and our friend who has now passed the one year mark of his broken hip from a bike crash. He is still working on range of motion/some pain issues, but he is just as fast as ever. So, the doctor has told him to slow down a little, which is fine with us! We took him up a rather large hill sort of like my own street and then over into Lincoln center and back. 850 feet of climbing. I felt like I was going to die trying to stay with them, but I did it, even though in the end, my average was not that fast.
I am concerned that my friend (the wife of the one who rode with us) has not wanted to go out with us yet. She is having more and more difficulty even staying pretty far back behind us. I am not sure what is going on; she does all kinds of stuff at the gym and can outdo me like 10X on x country skis. She's always been slower than me on the bike, but, now it's really by a lot.

Yesterday, I ran three miles as soon as it stopped raining. Then, DH and I decided to go for a short 15-mile ride. My regular bike was in the middle of getting a deep clean, so I rode my new Jamis Aurora instead. I haven't spent much time on it since getting it last fall, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I don't know if I need to tweak my saddle position, if my legs were just sluggish from my run and a tough yoga class on Friday or attributable to wider tires on a heavier bike, but I felt like I was riding in quicksand. It might have been all of the above. I like a lot of set back in my saddle position, so perhaps I just need to adjust it. In any event, it was a hard, albeit short, ride.

Today, DH and I hiked 5 miles in Brown County State Park. It was a lovely day for a hike, although it was a lot warmer than it's otherwise been. I was pretty sticky by the end.

ETA: I took a look at the Jamis last night and noticed that the back brake is rubbing. DH complained that he found them really hard to adjust. So, we gotta figure that out before our Katy Trail tour, but it at least explains why I felt (and was) so slow.

No riding today, trying to listen to my legs...but did go for a nice walk in Eagle Creek Park with a friend and her dog. It was nice. Saw so many cyclists out there that it made me want to ignore my legs and go out anyway...but I am not. It is barely the beginning of the season, if I want to finish strong in November then I need better habits now :cool:

only 9 miles for me. Checked out new farmer's market then went to Supermarket to get what i needed. Up and down hills. Tailwinds and headwinds... Go for it you guys!

our weather is warmer and dryer but not warm or dry to quote one of my favorite bike bloggers: http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/

We have had a beautiful weekend in central Florida and I was able to ride Friday, Saturday and today. Today was a dear friend's 57th birthday so we rode his favorite route and I got in 68 miles. Birthday cake at the end of the ride was just a nice bonus.

Fabulous sunny day in the UK today, think it hit 66 degrees here in the south.

Still getting my confidence, energy and stamina back but had a lovely ride along the sea front, weaving in and out of the 'grockels'.

For me it was a milestone, 11 miles but I totally hit the wall but like anything else, as soon as you get home you only remember the good bits.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...adadf740-1.jpg

Oh yes, the reason for sitting down am currently limping about with a broken little toe! Yes, it hurts lots. :(

Nice report, clock. Glad you're back on the bike!

I did my Ocean Drive loop yesterday. Calm winds and sunny. I'm getting spoiled. Took a rest day today, and the wind and commute returns tomorrow. Possible rain. Not sure what bike to ride. Oh, to have my problems. ;) Poor me.

Yesterday was a cold, windy and rainy day for April in Tucson- the high was in the 40's! So my only weekend ride was today. It was cool and windy- mid-50's with a steady breeze and gusts to 25 or so, but I planned the ride to take advantage of tailwinds on the way home. 33.5 by the end of the ride. I just did a ride along edge of the foothills.

It will be back into the 70's and 80's for the rest of the week, and just get warmer from there!

Did my first Sunday ride with the LBS in a loooong time. I met the owner early so he could swap cassettes from my old wheels to new wheels I was demo'ing - with the idea of buying - on my old Seven to turn it into my dedicated retro-race bike for du's and tri's (next up is re-doing the front end with new bars and stem). These wheels - Dura Ace hybrid carbon/alloy weigh in at just 1380g/pair and are da BOMB! They roll so smooth and nice and feel so great. I may end up putting them on my ID8. :cool:

After that, I met two friends of mine and we started with the main group with the intent of doing the "C-ride" - that is...hang with the group as long as we can, because we'd like to start building up intensity, but it's still early in the season for us, and don't sweat it when we get dropped and then do our own thing and have a good time while we're at it. So we stuck by that rule, and 6 of us ultimately did that kind of ride, having a grand-old time in the process.

I forgot my Garmin at home (D'oh!), and DH recommended I download "My Tracks" - a free Android App - to my phone and use that. So I did, and used my phone to track my ride and then emailed myself the TCX file, which I then uploaded to BikeJournal, Training Center, Garmin Connect, and all of the other mind-bending ways I track my rides and workouts! (Whew!). A very high-tech crash course this morning. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Bloom

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444 mile long National Park that starts (or ends) 30 mies west of Nashville. The Ride2Recovery Ride was to benefit fallen warriors. As I've previously posted, we had grueling conditions and I felt my age (and weight!). But, as I get older, I'm getting a little more inclined o stop and take some pictures!

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Great report Mr. Bloom! Pity that I wasn't a cyclist when still living in Tennessee, and even spent close to a decade in Nashville. I think I was aware of the existence of the Trace, but no more than that, sadly. Perhaps someday I will go for a spring or fall tour of it :)

Your elevation gain was higher than I would have expected, doesn't the Trace head to the SW of Nashville? Of course, there are those bluffs to the west of Nashville that run about half the distance, or more, to Memphis. Thanks for sharing the details of your ride - on congratulations on surviving those winds! It's been a long time since I've been in that part of the state and it was nice to see the photos - and you riding with the turkeys :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Great report Mr. Bloom! Pity that I wasn't a cyclist when still living in Tennessee, and even spent close to a decade in Nashville. I think I was aware of the existence of the Trace, but no more than that, sadly. Perhaps someday I will go for a spring or fall tour of it :)

Your elevation gain was higher than I would have expected, doesn't the Trace head to the SW of Nashville? Of course, there are those bluffs to the west of Nashville that run about half the distance, or more, to Memphis. Thanks for sharing the details of your ride - on congratulations on surviving those winds! It's been a long time since I've been in that part of the state and it was nice to see the photos - and you riding with the turkeys :)

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You should part of the Trace sometime, Catrin! I'm not sure I'd want to travel the entire distance of it, but I'm glad I did a stretch of it the last time I was in the Nashville area. In 2008, I went down for the Harpeth River Ride in June and then rode about 40 miles on the Trace the following day before heading back home. I stayed in Franklin, which is a lovely town. It was one of the my best riding weekends ever. The portion of the Trace that I rode was rolling. Early on a Sunday morning, there was some car traffic, but it wasn't particularly heavy. I saw more turkeys than people. DH and I would be heading down there this year for the River Ride but for the fact that it's the same weekend as the MTB clinic. Maybe next year.

I will ride this evening for the first time in 10 days....after riding all through the winter, this has been painful (not to be able to ride).....am so looking forward to it!:):):)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Your elevation gain was higher than I would have expected,

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I'm highly suspicious of the number (we've debated Garmin reliability many times here in the past)...I expect it was less than half of the reading...but it felt like twice as much!

Hello! After a big week of training leading into my next ironman up in Asheville, NC, I topped it off with a century on Sunday. I did the Cheaha Challenge Century in Alabama, and it was fantastic! Great support, excellent climb, beautiful weather! I would recommend that ride to anyone!

I too, stopped for a picture!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kacie tri-ing

Hello! After a big week of training leading into my next ironman up in Asheville, NC, I topped it off with a century on Sunday. I did the Cheaha Challenge Century in Alabama, and it was fantastic! Great support, excellent climb, beautiful weather! I would recommend that ride to anyone!

I too, stopped for a picture!

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I drove up Cheaha a few times. Congrats if you rode it!

For others, Cheaha is the highest point in Alabama.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kacie tri-ing

Hello! After a big week of training leading into my next ironman up in Asheville, NC, I topped it off with a century on Sunday. I did the Cheaha Challenge Century in Alabama, and it was fantastic! Great support, excellent climb, beautiful weather! I would recommend that ride to anyone!

I too, stopped for a picture!

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I have never been and never will, be an athlete of any description BUT I do love seeing photos of people like you, just to embarrass you, you look stunning and I love the bike too.

Phew, just looked at your blog and was wondering if you actually took any time out to breathe when you had your week in Asheville. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ClockworkOrange

I have never been and never will, be an athlete of any description BUT I do love seeing photos of people like you, just to embarrass you, you look stunning and I love the bike too.

Phew, just looked at your blog and was wondering if you actually took any time out to breathe when you had your week in Asheville. :D

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***Blushes*****

Thanks so much!

I did take time in asheville. Before and after every session, I ate a lot of food. I might be the only person who can train that much on vacation and STILL gain a couple of pounds :D It was worth it though!



The cheaha challenge actually goes up one side of the mountain, and down the back side, then turns around and goes back up. It was great (in that twisted kind of way!).

Hope everyone has great weather to ride this week!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kacie tri-ing

The cheaha challenge actually goes up one side of the mountain, and down the back side, then turns around and goes back up.

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Now I'm DOUBLE IMPRESSED!
:cool::cool: