April Rides

I had a meeting at a school on my "day off," so I couldn't go on the club ride. Probably a good thing. So, after lunch, I rode 7.2 miles to meet 2 friends for coffee in west Acton. Now, these were the same exact roads for the first part of my Saturday ride, when I felt great. Today, my legs are toast. I think the commuting is going to take some getting used to, even though I keep thinking "it's only 10.4 miles round trip." Last night, I wanted to throw out my pannier on the way home! Anyway, after the coffee, I made myself go a very long way home (14 miles), mostly uphill. While I did get my average up on the return trip, to what it was Saturday (still not great), I was hurting. Plus, I was kind of overdressed. By the time I got to my neighborhood, I had unzipped my jersey and and I took my jacket off and tied it around my neck, as well as taking off my gloves and light head cover. I would not have got up the hill with that stuff on.
21 miles. Wearing my compression tights, which haven't seen the light of day in a couple of years.

Well, sometimes you just have a bad day. Hopefully that's what you had on Wednesday. Though you may find you need to alter your workout schedule to accommodate the bike commutes without wearing yourself out.

I finally got out for an after-work ride on Wednesday. This was the first week since Daylight Saving Time started that we had decent weather.

Since I am now working at a different office that is farther from home, I have to drive to a small park that is near my old office and start the ride there. (There are no good places to ride near the new office, and besides I really like the route near my old office.) However I have an ongoing problem getting out of work early enough to do the things I want/need to do in the evenings. Something always seems to come up at the last minute. So I left work later than I wanted, then got stuck in traffic caused by an accident. I ended up exiting the highway early and using back roads I've learned through cycling. Yeah bikes.

Though I was starting later than I wanted, it was still light out for about half the ride. I did a slightly shorter version of the usual route. I think it was about 16 miles total. There are lots of short hills, and some are quite steep, so my pace is always a bit slow on these rides. But I was happy that I averaged close to my normal pace, even though I'm not riding nearly as much now as I do during the summer.

The weather was pleasant, in the 60s. After sunset it felt a bit chilly. But I was generally comfortable with Shebeest capris, a long sleeved base layer and short sleeved jersey. I added a wind vest and windproof gloves near the end. No booties, no thermal tights, no caps or ear warmers or windproof jacket. It was so nice.

I was very happy afterwards.

I did a whole five miles, with the furniture getting here yesterday
300 junk bikes. There was supposed to be a freeway(I-40) built through here,but it was blocked:
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Back side of the Memphis zoo:
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Levitt Shell, where a 19 year old Elvis Presley gave his first concert as an opening act for Slim Whitman:
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This is supposed to be a guitar:
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I got out Weds after work, but only because one of my cycling team buddies who also started the coaching program said "I need to ride". Wind were 20 with gusts to over 30 which usually more than I want to deal with. When we got to the start, she said, "I only came because you said you were going to ride". Ha ha. But anyway, we rode the loop at Saguaro NP, which is somewhat sheltered from the wind and it wasn't too bad. Then we did 3 extra miles back and forth to the picnic ground to work on our cadence.

Today I rode in to work and will get in 20-22 miles depending on my route home. At least they are only predicting winds of 17 with gusts to 26 (headwinds) on the way home.. Well, the DH always says: "More exercise!".

Fredwina, it took me a minute but I can see the guitar. That's neat.

Thanks
I went downtown and back. Not getting much with the job search and taking care of Mom (life is never easy)
Memphis Belle:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_...0/100_3214.JPG
Kinetic sculpture from bicycle wheels:
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Main st. downtown:
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Who's this guy?
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Great pictures, Fredwina!

I love that bicycle arch, Fredwina -- thanks for posting!

We made our way back from Patagonia, AZ to Prairie Village, KS over three days March 31-April 2, so no riding those days, just a lot of driving -- and two "spring forwards" during the trip. Ouch!

Yesterday after a morning re-stocking at Costco, we had a nice ride in the afternoon with temps in the mid-60s and climbgin to the low-70s. I couldn't believe how strong I felt. I guess the hills and higher elevation of southern Arizona and lots of Feb/March miles really made a huge difference as riding here felt so EASY. Average speed didn't reflect that with all the stops and turns in this urban/suburban environment, but it was a fun 25 miles.

A front blew in (and I do mean BLEW) in overnight, and today it was overcast and cold with a strong northwest wind. Windchill in the 30s in the afternoon. From wearing shorts and short-sleeve jerseys yesterday, today I bundled up for a walk in wool, gloves, a scarf, and hat. Hoping to get out for another ride tomorrow as the temp is supposed to warm up a bit in the the afternoon -- and we should see the sun. Spending the entire winter in the south has made chilly early spring weather difficult to take!

I commuted yesterday. The compression tights did their job Wed. night, as I went to bootcamp on Thurrdsay, and my legs felt fine yesterday (well, there was that little 10-15% climb with a packed pannier, on the way home). Today we are presenting at our club's bike workshop. Four hours of telling people that you don't wear underwear with bike shorts :). Seriously, I love doing this, but it's 4 one hour workshops, plus a lunch when people always ask lots of questions. My allergies are going nuts, my head is full, and I hope I don't lose my voice today. I had thought I might go on a short ride after this, but I am taking a rest day, so I can do a long ride tomorrow.

I just came home from a 42-mile ride with a few friends. It was breezy but the sun was warm (I think it was just about 60 degrees) for most of the ride. The only real chill was during our two rest stops at parks on the Patuxent River, with the breeze coming off the water. When we started I was wearing a windbreaker and had wool leg warmers covering my lower legs, but I switched to a vest after a few miles and removed the leg warmers about halfway through the ride. We finished just in time -- some clouds rolled in while I was at a nearby deli getting a sandwich, and it pretty chilly without the direct sun.

We saw some daffodils and some purple wildflowers but the big tall trees are still bare. I'm still eager to see the leaves come back, even though I know the pollen will be unpleasant.

Our pace was a bit slower than usual today, since one friend is dealing with some knee troubles and we're all still getting back in shape after the long cold winter. But it was a nice ride, with good company and nice rural roads.

Today was ride up Mt. Lemmon. I don't always know how far I'll get- today I was trying to do standing intervals while climbing, and needed to go further than the two friends I was riding with at the time (our group splits up as it starts climbing). I ended up making it to the overlook at Seven Cataracts, a little over 5000 ft. I remembered to take some pictures for a change.
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Santa Monica Mountains for a 68 mile ride. Perfect weather for climbing, which must have been the reason for the more bicyclists than usual, especially on Old Topanga Road.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by azfiddle

Today was ride up Mt. Lemmon. I don't always know how far I'll get- today I was trying to do standing intervals while climbing, and needed to go further than the two friends I was riding with at the time (our group splits up as it starts climbing). I ended up making it to the overlook at Seven Cataracts, a little over 5000 ft. I remembered to take some pictures for a change.

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Good job! We drove up to see the beauty of Mt. Lemmon when we spent Feb. in Tucson but just did not feel conditioned enough to attempt riding it. If we'd had another month in Tucson, then perhaps. But I could see how incredibly difficult it would be.

Today we did a 31-mile urban ride on the MTBs -- five miles to the Indian Creek Trail, 21 miles of trail (got stopped by deep mud in KCMO), five miles back. I pulled a real dumbazz move and left my bike seat bag open after our rest stop for a snack, and my phone popped out at some point on the ride. I did this exact same thing in Belize, so you'd think I'd know better!

We went back but could never find it, and calling it went straight to voicemail, so either it fell out on the road and got crushed by a car, or someone picked it up and was furiously using my minutes (I had a lot). So, I had to race over to Walmart to buy a new phone (Net10 prepaid), call and have my number and minutes transferred over, and all is well now. I lost my contacts but didn't have many as I am not a phone person. Fortunately DH has most of the same ones I did. And the new phone was only $20. Just one of several reasons I only have a cheap, dumb phone and not a pricey iPhone! I'm way too accident-prone.

Aside from that, it was a great 31-mile ride, a little chilly (50s) but sunny. Supposed to warm up a bit over the next few days. Come on spring!

Emily, wow. That's good that it wasn't much to replace.

Beautiful stuff, RebeccaC. What camera are you using? I am going to start bringing the DSLR on some rides in my trunk bag soon. But we need to have some pretty weather first. Today, we did just about 20 miles on the road and trail. Tomorrow, I think we will do about the same. We stayed on the MKT until the washout area. Bad flooding screws up the trail big time.Attachment 17009

Rode about 22 miles of a 29 mile club ride I designed last year. Our venue for the start of our bike rally has changed, so we will be doing a different route this June. Sad, because we had rave reviews about the route, but the venue for this year is better. Change, like after 25 years for the club.
Anyway, it's brilliantly sunny and 55 out, but, with a cool wind, gusting up to about 10. Because we started at our friends' house, the biggest climb is right in the beginning. I felt like i was struggling for the first half, but I got myself going at the end. DH is struggling more than me, so I am chuckling. Tons of cyclists out today. Nice to do our first ride with our friends, although my friend is very slow at this time of year, so I really didn't see her, except for the beginning, once when we stopped and waited, and at the end.
Now I am deciding what to do tomorrow. It is going to rain on Tuesday and Friday, the days I usually commute. I could ride to work tomorrow and go to the gym Tuesday, or I could ride to the gym at 4:50 AM (I've done it), then ride to work, as it's pretty close. But, I'd have to pack so much crap, not sure I want to. I was planning to do a group ride Wednesday, and now my friend, who is a slow rider wants to ride with me. I am trying to do more club rides, to increase my speed, but I hate to say no to her.

I did get out yesterday and today:
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Finally some nice riding weather! Rode for about 45 minutes today, first ride on a road bike I picked up off Craigslist over the winter...kind of a nerve racking ride not being used to the bike yet and having to deal with all the sand and broken pavement on skinnier tires (probably fat to most of you...28s, but skinny for me). Also the first ride on a new saddle...decided to try a Selle Anatomica (Titanico) after hearing a lot of good reviews but not sure it is going to work well for me at all. I did realize after getting home that it wasn't on quite straight, so will have to try again now that that's fixed, but the edges of the leather were digging into the backs of my inner thighs and I had some other soft tissue discomfort as well, despite the cutout. Not fun at all. If it hadn't been for the saddle discomfort, I probably would have stayed out longer since it was such a nice day. If I ride tomorrow it will probably be on the other bike (Trek 830 frankenbike in avatar) where I can relax and enjoy the ride despite the current crappy state of the roads.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Rode about 22 miles of a 29 mile club ride I designed last year. Our venue for the start of our bike rally has changed, so we will be doing a different route this June. Sad, because we had rave reviews about the route, but the venue for this year is better. Change, like after 25 years for the club.
Anyway, it's brilliantly sunny and 55 out, but, with a cool wind, gusting up to about 10. Because we started at our friends' house, the biggest climb is right in the beginning. I felt like i was struggling for the first half, but I got myself going at the end. DH is struggling more than me, so I am chuckling. Tons of cyclists out today. Nice to do our first ride with our friends, although my friend is very slow at this time of year, so I really didn't see her, except for the beginning, once when we stopped and waited, and at the end.
Now I am deciding what to do tomorrow. It is going to rain on Tuesday and Friday, the days I usually commute. I could ride to work tomorrow and go to the gym Tuesday, or I could ride to the gym at 4:50 AM (I've done it), then ride to work, as it's pretty close. But, I'd have to pack so much crap, not sure I want to. I was planning to do a group ride Wednesday, and now my friend, who is a slow rider wants to ride with me. I am trying to do more club rides, to increase my speed, but I hate to say no to her.

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I've found that club rides slow me down, especially when I lead rides. I ride sweep at the low end of the speed range for the ride category, and there always seems to be someone riding slower. I don't want to leave them behind, even though I'm riding at the advertised pace and they're not -- I usually don't know if they're just having a bad day or if they normally ride that slow. But I'm kinda tired of having to hold back and not get the workout that I was hoping to get.

It's hard with the pace. I'm okay with it in days when I am not working on pacing but it's really hard for me when I am really, really trying to work on good speed! I, thankfully, am pacing closer to the BF now. He's still slower but not by much anymore. I've been spinning all winter and he's been doing nothing haha. So, he's been out of the game. He will lap me soon. It's good encouragement to try to stay with him.

Today, we did 20 miles of hills. I think I am finally getting the gearing right on the MTB. Despite the heavier bikes, we did great. BF hadn't ever ridden that much in the country before but he did great with the cars. We kicked butt! I also used my road bike saddle today and it improved my ride 110%!

NY, I was just with friends today. I just got the route for Wed. and I am leaning to bagging it, going with my friend, and using the ride to my house and home as a time to ride faster. The group is going up into the town I lived in when I first moved here; the issue is the shorter ride 26 miles is stopping at a butterfly museum, which I have no interest in, and the longer ride is 37 miles, in a very hilly area past the museum. Plus, those riders are fast (for me) and I am not sure I can keep up, or I will be that person behind the sweep :). Seriously, when DH and I lead, I do the sweeping and on the 2 rides we do early season, it is show and go... there is always someone who shouldn't be there. Other rides, they have to call me and I screen them.

Rode just under 8 miles each way to a friend's house in the next town, to see her and her new baby. Lots of hills on the route! I rode the bike with fatter tires today and was glad I did given the amount of broken pavement and frost heaves--that's spring in New England. Definitely a ways to go as far as getting broken in to the saddle again...was feeling that soreness in the derriere on today's ride.

Emily- just saw your comment. Mt. Lemmon is not so much hard, as just a long, constant climb. The grade is mainly 5% and so it's just a steady uphill slog. I average 6-7 mph when I'm moving but I stop every few miles and take a little rest.

Last trip I stopped around mile 7 (mainly due to time constraints). This trip, about mile 9. Next trip I'll go to either 11.5 (Middle Bear Canyon) or Windy Point (mile 14).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by azfiddle

Emily- just saw your comment. Mt. Lemmon is not so much hard, as just a long, constant climb. The grade is mainly 5% and so it's just a steady uphill slog. I average 6-7 mph when I'm moving but I stop every few miles and take a little rest.

Last trip I stopped around mile 7 (mainly due to time constraints). This trip, about mile 9. Next trip I'll go to either 11.5 (Middle Bear Canyon) or Windy Point (mile 14).

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I still have not tried the Mt Lemmon climb on my Spinervals Tuscon DVD. I assume there is a long period of riding in a high gear. The scenery looks nice, though, so I will try it out -- but not until next winter, since I'm really over the whole indoor cycling thing at this point.

I've ridden part of Skyline Drive once. It's a series of climbs like what you describe -- long but not steep. It was definitely challenging, but also lots of fun.

NY Biker-

I am so thankful that the weather here allows us to ride year round. Mt. Lemmon is the only long ride I can do in the mid-summer.

Yesterday was my 53rd birthday, and because I didn't have the time or inclination to ride 53 miles, we did another urban ride on the mountain bikes and rode 35 miles on the bike path and roads there and back (which, for those geeks like me, is actually 53 in hexidecimal!) Had to go to the bank and a grocery store, so riding the MTBs with racks and Tailriders made sense. It was a good, long-enough ride.

After showers, we then celebrated with BBQ and ice cream out last night! :D

Happy birthday!!

(I thought "dyslexia," not "hexidecimal.")

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Emily!!!!....ice cream ftw I remember Balsano's Gelato from a trip to KC if it's still there you might like it.

Happy Birthday, Emily. Doing that miles for your age thing starts getting a bit "old," when you are over 50. I'll keep doing it, but wonder how I'll feel when I'm 65 or 70!

I know someone who led a 72-mile club ride to celebrate his 72nd birthday last year. On the flip side, there used to be a guy in this area who led a group ride of (100 - his age) miles each year for his birthday.

I hope I'm able to ride my age when I'm 65 or 70, even if I don't want to.

Oh, yeah, I am one of the youngest members of the Wed. group I ride with, and I'm 60. There are a few new people, but they are all at least in their 40s-50s. Some of the strongest riders are at least 65, and a few years ago, I went on a ride led by a guy my father's age :eek:. He still rides, at 89, but not with the main group. There is now a splinter group that does Mondays on the bike path or other flat roads.
I did not go on the group ride today; not a particularly wonderful area to ride in for this early in the season, for me. DH worked at home, so we just came back from our go to loop, which is hilly enough. Hit my target average for the first time this season. It's really windy out... sustained 10-15 miles an hour with some gusts. Felt good after the initial climb and false flat on this route.

Last night, I did my first group ride since I left California. Mostly meandering around Midtown, and the pace was nothing to brag on, but it did feel good.

I did my weekly hill ride last night. It was pleasant, not as chilly as I expected it to be.

Lessons learned:
1. the salmon and asparagus sandwich from Whole Foods tastes good, but it's small and not enough of a lunch to get me through an evening bike ride.
2. I should keep a box of cereal bars in my bike bag for days when lunch is not enough to get me through an evening bike ride.

I'm also thinking of moving the ride start from a park near my old office to another park that is farther west. I pass both of them on my route, and the one to the west is closer to my office, which means less time wasted in traffic driving to the ride start.

Very happy to get a longish ride today (56 miles and change), my first ride with short sleeves and shorts of 2014! I had a nasty cold this week, which had me down with a fever on Wednesday, so I was pleased to bounce back and be able to ride today. I explored some roads in Maryland, going further NW than I in previous rides. I am not sure how I will handle the summer heat in this part of the country if it can be 76 in April (and 84 tomorrow)...

I did about 12 miles last night. This is an old railroad overpass:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...0/100_3261.JPG
I did a bunch of places today and got in 26 miles!
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Martyrs Park:
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The Civil Rights Museum. The wreath is where Dr. King was standing:
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quite literally stumbled across this:
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nice rack:
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Mid-south Coliseum and the Liberty Bowl:
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FedEx on approach to Memphis International:
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Always love your pictures Fredwina!

First shorts/short sleeved ride for me, too. I did have arm warmers on for the first 6-7 miles, though. However, I only rode 21 miles. You guys are making me feel bad.
Nice out, about 70 when I got back. Kinda windy. Tomorrow we are riding the new route for our club rally, that we lead in June. It's about 30 miles.

I rode Monday, Wednesday, Friday and today this week. Since I started the coaching program this month, I am getting out with a purpose most days: high cadence, standing intervals, etc. It's hardly ever "just a ride"... But it has been good getting out more often. Today's ride was a longer than usual route out to Saguaro National Park, with one 8 mile loop through the park, for 40 miles total. It was warm, but not hot yet in the mornings - and windy.

No pictures today...
We were supposed to do a test ride of our new AMC bike rally route with our friends, but it was rainy this morning and not so warm. They didn't want to ride in the afternoon, and went to the gym. We waited until 2:00 to leave, and voila, the sun came out and it was 70 at the end of our ride. The ride is fine, but it has a lot more elevation than last year's ride (we have a new start point). It's about 1300 ft of elevation in 29 miles. Not much for most of us, but we get people not used to hills on this ride. There's only one bigger climb, but a lot of rolling stuff. My legs felt much better today after wearing my compression tights for about 5 hours after yesterday's ride. However, one should not eat black beans and veggies before a ride, no matter how small of an amount.
Planning to bag boot camp and do a "dark" ride at 5 AM, since I can't commute tomorrow because I have to go right to my friend's house for Passover after work. Looks like the weather is going to thwart any commuting this week.

We tried out Columbus' bikeshare last night! Kinda cool, but also kinda fail. We drove into town to hear a band and decided to park near the club and ride the bikes to dinner a couple of miles away. It was a beautiful night.

Renting the bikes was pretty straightforward. The way it works, you get a 24-hour pass but you can only have the bikes out 30 minutes at a time. You can check availability of both bikes and parking slots online. If you want to take multiple trips, you swipe the same credit card you used to rent the bikes initially and it gives you a new code. So far there are a lot of kiosks in the downtown area, and a handful in some more popular destinations within a couple of miles downtown.

They were rideable enough - the only available adjustment is seat height, but both DH and I were able to set up our bikes well enough for a very short pedal. Super heavy, which we expected since they have to be pretty bulletproof. They weren't well lit though - just some flashing LEDs front and rear that seemed to be powered by an onboard generator - no basket or luggage rack, and we both really missed having a rearview mirror. Luckily traffic was pretty light. I think it would be pretty nerve-wracking trying to maneuver those behemoths around in rush hour traffic, especially with no mirrors.

We rode to dinner and snagged the last two parking slots in the kiosk closest to the restaurant. But when we went to head back to the bar, the kiosk wasn't working. It was only about a three-block walk to the next kiosk and there were plenty of bikes there, but it was kind of annoying for our first experience with the bikeshare.

Still, we'll probably do it again. I think I'll bring along my mirror though ... DH prefers a handlebar mirror, so he'll still be out of luck.