New month, new thread. No I have nothing to contribute (yet). Anyone else?
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New month, new thread. No I have nothing to contribute (yet). Anyone else?
It is supposed to start raining and not get below freezing for the next 3 days!!! I have never been so excited for rain, ever. Maybe by Monday the snow and ice will be gone. I've been going to spin class and I am so not good at sitting on one of those things for an hour. Bring on the rain.
I'll be going on my third February ride today, the 3rd! So nice to be in Florida this time of year. I don't ride on the weekends here as the lovely bike paths are choked with newbies, kids, dog walkers, etc. So, I'll have in around 100+ miles on the week in three rides.
I am hoping to ride Sunday, when it will start out freezing, but be around 40 for a couple of hours, later in the day. It's going to be cold and windy tomorrow, so since I have been hiking a lot, I am going to do a tabata class; only 45 minutes, so I can have a normal day.
I rode twice in January, which is fine by me. I need the mental break, so I can be fired up in March. Our big trip is the end of June, so the key for me this year is to not flame out after coming back from Spain and then our short trip to the Berkshires. Thinking I need to plan to lead a couple of rides in August and September to keep me motivated.
We're expecting the same weather here this weekend, Crankin. But I'm not sure yet what my plans are, and I also want to take a break now in order to be in a good frame of mind later. I might go for a walk/easy hike with a friend on Sunday. I'd kind of like to go see a movie, too, at some point, and also need to finish painting the giant dresser that is currently taking up space in my living room.
Trying to heal up from my fall, early in the week, but darned bruised ribs on my right side are killing me. Rode, indoors on the trainer, yesterday, but couldn't stand sitting in the house, today, so rode out on the lake ice with the dogs. Not good. Any riding seems to be aggravating things, probably from leaning forward on the handlebars. May just have to go for a week with no cycling. Bummer.
Did buy a set of studded fat bike tires, yesterday, though. Not sure which bike to put them on, yet. No way am I giving up. :)
Buying cycling gear is a good substitute for riding, at this time of year.
I don't think I will get to ride Sunday, as now they predict rain/snow showers.
Good weather here in southern AZ- five commutes this week, starting temps in the low 40's and riding home in the 60's or close to 70!
Getting ride to ride a short way up Mt. Lemmon this morning.
Good idea on the bicycling gear, Crankin. Also a good time of year to do some rebuilding or even start thinking about changing or adding bikes.
My Salsa Fargo is a good example. It's a drop bar mountain bike with 29er wheels/tires, kind of a cult bike for those of us who have them. Love the bike in every respect with one huge exception. It has SRAM Apex shifters with I HATE. The problem is the single paddle that is used for both upshifting and down shifting on SRAM. In order to down shift, I have to move the paddle twice the distance in, compared to moving it a short distance for a higher gear. With my hands, I struggle to reach in far enough when I need to downshift and if I don't reach in far enough, I actually shift to a bigger gear, not a lower gear and that completely kills things when I'm in a climb. Even when I do it right, it's still slow and awkward to downshift. MUCH, MUCH prefer Shimano 105, Ultegra and so on because downshifting and upshifting is on different levers and I have enough reach with both. Much more manageable for me.
At this point, it's either convert everything over to Shimano - and that won't be cheap - or trade it in on another bike. Decisions, decisions.
Are your handlebars too big? Having compact drop bars has made a huge difference for me, and I have no trouble with Sram shifters.Quote:
Originally Posted by north woods gal
Thanks, NY. Might try that. The problem with the SRAM is mostly back when trying to ride trails and single track. For that, Salsa recommends staying down in the drops for better braking and control and I agree. It is safer for technical riding. When in the drops, though, almost impossible for me to get enough reach to downshift, so I have to go back up on the hoods to do it, right. All and all, I think drop bars are fine for milder and easy trails, but they really are a mismatch on the techno stuff. Not a big deal, because I have other bikes for trail work.
We rode from our house to milepost 4.5 on Mt. Lemmon today (me and the DH). It was cool to start but warmed up to short sleeve jersey temps. About 29 miles total- and almost 2000 feet of climbing or so. And then I rode to get a hair cut and color, and groceries on my touring bike, for about 4 more miles.
Good job!Quote:
Originally Posted by azfiddle
Plus, one, AZ. The only practical way for me to rack up those kinds of miles, right now, and do it safely, is indoors on the trainer. Yuk! Love my snow biking, but this time of year I'm dreaming of those good times to come when the snow is gone and I have hundreds of miles of nice dry open road to explore. Definitely cabin fever time for me. :(
Good news and good day for me. My bruising has subsided to the point where I can ride, comfortably, again, without aggravating anything. Did two miles of heavy duty plowing and pedaling though deep crusty snow out on the lake (whew!), then added another easier pedaling mile, riding the shoulder of our snowy neighborhood roads, being very careful to stay off the well traveled and slick portion of the snow pack. Still need to mount the studded tires on one of the fat bikes, but can't decide which one gets the studded. Kind of OCD, maybe, but hate changing out tires on the other bikes because each kind of tire and tread has its place for various types of winter riding I do. That, and I hate doing the switch out tires thing. :)
Well, rather than sink a lot of money into switching the Salsa Fargo into Shimano from SRAM, I just traded it off on, yup, another fat bike, a Norco Bigfoot 2, so it wears the studded fat bike tires. Two problems solved in one move.
Have to say, those big 45NRTH Dillinger 4.8" studded tires are awesome. Rode ten miles, today, mostly on our local snow and ice packed county roads, but also some riding on the lake and even some riding on the back trails. Pretty crazy to be able to stand up and pedal up snow and ice-packed hills, but I can do it with these tires. Single digits for temps while riding, but was plenty warm and got a good workout.
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...P1080901_1.jpg
North Woods, what do you wear on your face in those single digits?
We are on a February roller coaster here, with two days of record-setting temps in the 70s followed by cold wind with white-out snow squalls, then a cold cloudy day. For the weekend it will be warmer than average, in the 60s possibly. No offense to Crankin but I am not sorry that we didn't get the snowstorm yesterday and am equally not sorry that we're not in the crosshairs for another one on Sunday.
My bike has been in the shop for the annual clean-and-tune service this week, and I'll be picking it up tonight. The cherry-red bar tape that I loved was worn and dirty so it's been replaced with a bright light blue. I will test ride on the trainer tonight to see if I can pedal and clip in and out without hurting my ankle.
I am not offended, NY! Your area does not normally get the type of snow we experience.
Nice bike, Northwoods. I am imagining Northwoods wears a balaclava, or a combo of neck gaiter and fleece cap.
So, we got about a foot of snow yesterday. We did get to our 5:45 am tabata class, as the gym decided to have the class as the snow didn't start until around 7:30. My office was closed, so I stayed inside all day after the class. I wanted to ski through the neighborhood, but I started feeling exhausted and weird, mostly I hope, because I haven't been sleeping well and i have been exercising a lot. The snow is beautiful powder, so I now have the next 3 weekends of nordic skiing. So happy. We are agetting a little snow tonight, about 3 inches, then a bigger storm Sunday into Monday.
This weekend it will be local skiing, up to southern NH tomorrow, meeting our friends who moved. Then Sunday, very local, in the next town, early before all the yahoos from the city get out here. Next weekend, we will be up near Stowe, Vt for the long weekend, and the weekend after that, we are staying at an inn near the the local ski place in southern NH, so we can ski saturday and Sunday there.
After that, it will be March. A lot of years, we are out on the road on March 5th or so, but lately, it's been closer to the 15th or 20th. I could do another weekend of skiing, but after that,I need to get my bike azz in gear. Our trip to Spain is June 26.
Yup, a combination of things, depending on just how cold it is. A balaclava with a scarf or neck gaiter does a pretty good job most of the time. When temps get down into the single digits and a bit below zero (yes, I bike in those temps), I also find a neoprene nose/mouth mask to be very helpful, because that's a sensitive part of the face for me. The other part of my face that is very sensitive in extreme cold are my eyes. Then I add a good set of tinted ski goggles. The tinting really helps wear and tear on the eyes on sunny days with the light reflecting off all the snow.
Can't help but think how I must look like a fright with such a setup, but all our neighbors know it's me under all that stuff and wave when they see me. Haven't been racking up a lot of miles, but I am proud to say that I'm biking every day, regardless of the weather, doing 5 to 10 miles a day, now that I have the studded tires. Biking all bundled up, plus the cold, makes for more pedaling effort, but I love it so. It's its own kind of biking. Nothing else like it.
I am in awe of those of you who do get out in freezing temperatures. Although I've been commuting regularly to work all year, I just couldn't make myself ride when it was 29 or 30 degrees and dark outside. There were a few days that were 39 and 40 (and probably dipped to 37 in the cold air drainage areas along the Pantano Wash (dry riverbed).
That said, I have made 24 trips between my house and school (22 on work days, and 2 for planning/grading) since Jan 2. It's gotten to the point that I don't want to drive and feel like I'm cheating if I do... I even rode on Thursday when we had parent teacher conferences, and rode home in the dark under the almost full moon. It was lovely- the 3 mile section of the bike path that goes through relatively undisturbed desert between the air force base and the mountain bike park was incredibly quiet and tranquil. I saw 3 people and 5 bunnies along about 7 1/2 miles of pathway. It was even pretty quiet along the suburban neighborhood streets near my school and then there was just a mile from the path to my house.
Thinking about doing a group ride this morning.... or a solo birding ride. I've got an hour to decide.
I dig what you're saying about some riding in the dark rides. A lot of my commuting in my Chicago days involved riding in the dark, both ways. Some of those rides were less than fun, of course, but I remember some that were almost other worldly beautiful, too, the kind you hated to end. The commuting by bike really helped restore my spirits after a stressful day at work.
Pretty quiet on the birding, up here, but should start to see some migrants, soon.
Commuting to or from work in hte dark is one of my favorites. I wish I didn't have such a short commute now.
I got in about 40 miles (had the Garmin turned off when I was going slow through parks to look at birds). I saw 57 species today. Highlights were 13 species of ducks, many in spectacular breeding plumage- especially a gorgeous male Wood Duck. 5 species of raptors: Cooper's Hawk, Red-tail, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, and Peregrine Falcon. First swallows of spring- definitely a Rough-winged Swallow and maybe a Tree Swallow. It wasn't a fast ride, but I routed it to take advantage of a fairly strong tail wind for the ride home.
My riding consists of ride on the trainer...no choice. I just got back into training mid-Jan after someone on Dec 29th fell on me after slipping on ice (under snow) and I did not see it coming nor able to avoid it and injured my leg just under the knee to the calf. It felt like the knee (not the fractured tibial plateau one from other knee last year) but it truly was the lower leg. Ortho gave me the ok to resume my gym, and listen to how the leg feels. I had hamstring/ calf pain for over 2 weeks from that fall. Now it is all back to normal. Did my ramp test yesterday and it was lower than the last I did before the fractured titial plateau but much more than I had anticipated. Now I can have my PT/trainer plan a real effective program to get me on track to be able to nail that 112km bike ride I signed again for in June.
I've started to run very short periods of time on treadmill...like 20 seconds and walk 40 seconds. The knees needs to adapt again. What a waste of precious time but no choice to get back slowly than re-injure it again.
Our winter is really bad this year. Snow, freezing rain, melting, refreezing...all in a week. I love winter. I'm a winter person. But this winter is the worst I've seen so far. Not able to snowshoe, etc...
Best of luck in your recovery. I haven't cycled at all in past 2.5 wks. due to heavy snowfall and deep cold (-25 degrees C) where I am. We'll see in 1 wk., given the melting right now. Just walking outdoors.
Sorry to hear about your injury and how it happened, Helene, but you're right, a fall is a fall. Your winter sounds something like ours. As much ice as snow and crazy swings in temperature, with lots of thawing and re-freezing. Our groomed trails are in good shape, thanks to a lot of work on the part of volunteers to keep them in shape, but all my snow work is the back country/wilderness type, so I have to take what comes. Thank heavens for the fat bikes, though. Can always ride them as long as the snowplows are out. Been a very busy fat bike season for me.
Sorry to hear about your fall, Helene. It sounds like you have a plan, though.
Ugh, Helene, sorry about your injury -- and your winter! Neither sound good, but recovery (and spring) will come in time.
After four days of not riding due to (first) bad weather and (then) too many projects I got deeply into during the bad weather, I finally got out today. I usually skip riding on the weekends since the best options here in Florida are paved bike paths, which get crazy on weekends and much quieter during the week, but I broke my usual rule and rode today. The weather was just too gawgeous not to. 70s, not too much wind, nor too much humidity, sunshine, birds chirping, and flowers blooming. Half of the county was out on the paths with me, but it wasn't too bad; mostly congested around parks/parking areas and not too bad in between. Managed to achieve my highest average speed since we got here at Thanksgiving, despite all the cyclist and runner "traffic", and just had a great ride overall. Hard to stop smiling in weather like this!
36 miles.
Just a meager 12 miles for me, but it was mostly snow packed roads with a little off-road work on some trails. Very windy, though. Some 30 plus mph gusts, but decent temp around freezing. I am ready for some spring weather, though. :)
You sandbagger :) Those aren't meager miles. I got in 7 with the weekend errands... Saturday I did a real "go out and ride" because it was 61 degrees -- but even then all of 11 road miles... my goal is this week (since it's mostly above freezing and no precip in forecast) to start sneaking in the gratuitous miles (this a.m. I added 1.5 miles to commute, and I'll go out for my sanity ride at lunch and try to do 2 laps instead of 1 and ... maybe break a sweat :))Quote:
Originally Posted by north woods gal
Okay, you got me. :) Hey, any miles are good miles, right? Really, though, I'll take riding outside even on the nastiest days, to riding indoors on the trainer. Those trainer miles are a last resort.
I agree, NWG, 12 miles on snow and with wind gusts are an equivalent or better workout than my 36 miles in favorable, fair conditions!
Yesterday was chore day, but I'm looking forward to a ride today. It's supposed to be partly cloudy but looks a bit threatening out right now. I'll be checking the radar before I head out. Don't want to get rained on. At least snow is not an issue! :D
Good reminder on the radar. I've made it a habit during thunderstorm season to check it, regularly, before heading out. Have been able to avoid some nasty weather that way.
Speaking of weather, here we go, again. Middle of February and the forecast for the day is some more of the icy stuff, even some possible rain. This has not been a normal north woods winter. Thank heavens for the studded fat bike tires.
I don't think any part of the US has had a normal winter, except maybe the deep south and even there they had a tornado recently. We have been on the mild side in general, which remains fine by me. Yesterday I saw a map showing no part of the western US being under severe drought conditions, for a the first time in quite a while. On the other hand, something about a dam possibly breaking in California.
Once again we have a forecast calling for unusually warm temps this weekend, but since similar forecasts have underperformed recently I'm not holding my breath. Since we usually get snow this time of year I am not usually riding at all outdoors this time of year, so I'm okay if it turns out to be cold. However I really need to get past the inertia and get in some indoor cycling time, since I'm totally forced to take a break from weight-bearing cardio until my ankle is better. I guess tonight I should set everything up and program the thermostat for a low temp tomorrow night, so I will have fewer excuses to be lazy about it.
I follow the NWS tabular (hourly) forecast, which is usually pretty reliable. It was supposed to rain Sunday night/Monday but was mainly windy here. It was windy, dark, and potentially raining so I drove to work Monday. This morning, I forgot I had a morning meeting and got 1 block- turned around and had my husband drive me half way. It was a 6% chance of rain but I got sprinkled on! It was cool and breezy coming home- and rain by the mountains but I didn't run into any. It hasn't been as warm a winter as last year, but more rain this year (even with La Nina) than last year with El Nino.
Anyway- hard to say what's a normal winter anymore..... More rain in the forecast for Saturday.
Got a Jones H bar handlebar and put it on my Pugsley as part of my winter project to turn the Pug into a utility, take everywhere bike. Did a bit of test riding with the new handlebar, yesterday, out on the snow pack, and it's all to the good. Unlike a standard factory bar, the Jones allows for all kinds of hand positions and has extra mounting options for bags and such. Next step is adding some faster, low rolling resistance tires to the Pug. Those are on order.
My plan is to use the Pugs as a road warrior, mostly on gravel and sand roads, fire roads and so on, but it will also have to do some pavement to reach those roads. The bulk of my summer mountain biking, last year, was with fat bikes, anyway, so figured might as well branch out a bit more with the fatties.
Have a significant thaw headed our way, so got more trail riding on our hard icy snow, today, while things are still frozen. Pretty tricky, but fun, riding. The hard packed width of the trail is only about as wide as my snowshoes, since that was what I used to pack the trail. Even a little off the hard pack and the bike sinks into about a foot of snow and you slam to a halt. Then you have a problem of getting started, again, because your feet sink into the deep stuff on the side of the hard pack. Once rolling, though, lots of fun swerving and fishtailing. Guess you have to be a hardcore mountain biker to call that fun, but so be it.
Will miss the trail work when the thaw settles in, but I'm a glass half full kind of person, so looking forward to more road work as more road and snow melt on the roads. My goal for this next season is to do more adventure kind of riding on our rural/backcountry/fire roads., mostly with the Pugsley set up as a utility bike. I won't be fast, but I'll always get through. This year, though, absolutely getting a GPS.
Significant thaw, indeed. At least you (and I) are not getting soaked with all the rain they have in California. Though on the positive side, their drought is over.
I'm still feeling the inertia against setting up the bike in my living room. Honestly I'm a bit concerned that I will run into problems switching the pedals. It took a long time to resolve some problems I had a few years ago with knee issues and heels hitting the cranks while I pedaled. IIRC the fitter at the LBS had to add a spacer to the left pedal. I will try to be careful taking the pedals off, noting anything special such as where I find a spacer, and labeling/photographing things so I can put it the Speedplays back on again at some point. But I'm concerned that I'll end up messing things up somehow.
Anyway I had a brilliant idea to try the stationary bike at the gym, just to confirm that I can pedal a bike without ankle pain. So I tried that last night, but it turned out to be a bust. The geometry of their bike is just not right, and I felt like I wasn't pedaling normally, like the angle from the seat down to the pedals was off. So I gave up and took advantage of the leg extension and leg curl machines just so I could work some leg muscles in a way that wouldn't hurt anything.
So since the stationary bike at the gym was a fail, I'll have to set up the bike in the living room after all. Oh well. Springlike weather is on its way for the weekend so maybe that will get me going.
A nice 34-mile solo ride today, though I didn't sleep well last night (woke up way too early and could never get back to sleep), so I was feeling a bit sluggish and slow. But it was a gorgeous day in the 60s, not too much bike path traffic, and the sky was just beautifully blue. Florida really is lovely this time of year, and I am so grateful to be here! Also trialed a new pair of PI Quest bike shorts, a bit longer than I am used to (since I am short) and with slightly thinner chamois, but they were quite comfy. I will probably order another pair as I recently ditched my two most uncomfy pairs and need to get rid of one more that is basically falling apart so all the ones I have will work for me. Price was right -- got 'em on Amazon for super cheap, so I wasn't too confident, but they are very good. I think tall gals might like these b/c of the longer inseam.
Finished up today with my 4th commute of the week, and had company both ways- one of my friends rode with me and then came back down and rode home with me. So she got in 40 miles to my 20!
I started to leave work and discovered the screw came out of my cycling shoe. I taped it around my foot with masking tape and went to Ace Hardware on the way home- it's all fixed now.
No riding this weekend- the weather forecast is wind: up to 40 mph and rain: 100% chance on Saturday through Sunday. Maybe I'll get a lot done around the house.