May 19 daily ride reports, anyone?

I've decided that I really am not ready for summer. It's 89F outside and horribly windy (20-25mph - stronger gusts). So, what do I do - decide to ride for the first time in a week after traveling and eating rich and yummy foods. I felt every forkful of that real buttercream frosting on the birthday cake, every crabcake, every forkful of crab imperial. Oh, did I feel it.

I only rode 10 miles because between the wind which never seemed to get behind me no matter which direction I was going, and the heat, and the sunscreen (which feels like it makes me sweat more), and the smoke billowing in from the fields - yes, the farmers for some reason like to burn their fields on the windiest of days. My face turned bright red - and still is quite red 20 minutes post ride. I'm sitting here dumping heat - after a shower.

BUT - It felt soooooooo good to be back on my bike. The new saddle still felt great and now I don't feel so much like a slug.

Hope you all are having great rides today!

Woke up and took a beautiful pre-dawn, 18-mile ride. I've never gotten up so early to go out and exercize, but it felt great! Loved the birds singing, the smells of spring, and the lack of traffic. The sun was just coming over the mountains as I headed back home.
Current temp is 83 degrees F, so I'm glad I got out early! :)

Fish - glad the new saddle is working out for you!!

Well... its the 20th here in Middle Earth... and I'm preparing for a club road race today - Its got a long nasty hill climb, which I know I can do, but not at speed... however I am one of the heaviest in the grade, and one of the stronger on the flat, so I hope to get to the top, begin catch up and recover on the way down and then get into TT mode and catch up completely on the flats going back (its an "out and back" course... 25km I thinnk)

So thats my ride for your "19th"

Its cool early winter here, but no frost this morning but the sun is not long up and the sky is a promising blue... see y'all laters!

81 degrees here at 7:20am. Too hot for me! Got thirty five minutes and 10.3 miles on the stationary at the gym though, which I thought was good enough at the time.
Then I came home and ate a pint of Haagen Dazs :eek: ??????
Freakin' horomones.....

It's my 30th birthday and in honor of that, I rode 30 miles...plus one for good measure :)

I headed over to the Santa Ana River Trail and down to the beach this morning. Instead of going towards Huntington today, I went toward Newport first for a change of scenery. The bike trail there slows me down a bit more because there is more foot traffic and the path is more narrow. I enjoyed the sun that was finally peeking through and took my time passing Newport pier, then Balboa pier and shortly thereafter reaching the end of the path and turning around to head toward Huntington. I went past the Huntington Beach pier and up past 9th street before I stopped to take a break and have a snack. The clock was ticking and I had to get back to pick dd up from school by 11:20. I spent my ride back on the beach path wondering if I'd be able to get my goal of 30 miles in. The whole ride so far was very windy and I was hoping that I would make up some time when I turned inland to go home. Luckily I was right and I was able to pass home and go a few blocks farther to add some mileage to my ride. I made it to her school with plenty of time to spare and 30.6 miles under my belt for the morning.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

Fish - glad the new saddle is working out for you!!

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Happy girly bits and absolutely NO sit bones pain. :D I know it doesn't have much/any cushioning, but it feels so comfy and supportive. Amazing! Thanks for the suggestion!

Now if only it could magically make the wind go away! Why in the world is it always so windy here?????

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Originally Posted by fishdr

Happy girly bits and absolutely NO sit bones pain. :D I know it doesn't have much/any cushioning, but it feels so comfy and supportive. Amazing! Thanks for the suggestion!

Now if only it could magically make the wind go away! Why in the world is it always so windy here?????

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Can't help you there, sorry!

I got to commute twice today 'cause I went back after a morning meeting to take the kitty in for his bi-weekly infusion, and just to confound me he'd eaten *everything* in the dish and wanted more :) :)
(No, I didn't take him on the bike. Yes, the carrier would fit. No, I wouldn't subject an elderly feline to the potholes. Yes, I had to pump up the rear left car tire, not just the right side. Yes, I PROMISE, I'm going to Goodyear next week.)
I'll prob'ly take the 20 mile route home unless the sky's too juicy... and it's still on the cool side here!

While UK Elephant was testing saddles and shoes, I test rode a Trek 7.6 on "the beautiful bike path by the lake". Wheeeee! :D :D :D Going fast is fun! But before I invest in a new bike, I'd better check out what I can do in the way of modifying my old one. And also how serious I'll be about biking once I'm back in Norway

Meanwhile ... we did buy UK the Serfas Carma saddle. After test riding a dozen different saddles, that was the one. In spite of the pink detailing. We also bought her reversible (clipless or flat) pedals, and a pair of shoes. So Monday it's off to spin class in the morning to practice clipping and unclipping. :)

Happy Birthday, Brandy! :D :D :D

fishdr, what kind of saddle do you have? Do you ride a road bike? I am not really happy with the Terry CrMo one that they put on my bike, and will try something else when I get a minute.

Lise

Lise - I'm using the Terry Zero X. There's virtually no padding, but it has a nice cutout and as I said before - my butt feels comfy on there and well-supported. The geometry works for me in terms of sit bones, too. Maillotpois suggested it - she is wise :)

Well, today was my first day as a bike commuter. Got my new pedals and saddle on the ol' trek, and my new Timbuk2 bag. I had a doc appt today and I was a bit late leaving so I was hammering most of the way in. I got there with no time to spare, locked my bike up, and got my can upstairs. I wasn't able to change so I had to sit in my bike clothing, which the nurses in the dept quite enjoyed. I'm a regular patient and work in the dept, so I know everyone and we all rib each other. All I know is I walked out being on less medication for the crohn's disease than I walked in, so I must have looked all rosey and healthy. Mental note: ride bike to doc appointment more often. :D

Met up with Fuji Girl and some other residents for lunch, still in the bike garb. Changed for a grand total of 2 hours to do some work, then back into the bike gear to meet up with some friends for some mexican food. I'll admit it, had a margarita. But was fine to ride home, honest mom :) It was a bit chilly coming back, and getting a little dark. Put my blinky light on my bag and off I went. It was a great ride back, the timing on the lights was great so I made good time (unlike this morning). At one point I was riding along side a stretch Hummer limo with a newly married couple standing out the sunroof. Needless to say I got a lot of cheers from the bridal party. I think they were just drunk. Now it's time to get out of these bike clothes, and stretch out on the sofa. I can say it was a great first commute day. I'm hooked :D

[QUOTE=bikeless in WI]While UK Elephant was testing saddles and shoes, I test rode a Trek 7.6 on "the beautiful bike path by the lake". Wheeeee! :D :D :D Going fast is fun! But before I invest in a new bike, I'd better check out what I can do in the way of modifying my old one. And also how serious I'll be about biking once I'm back in Norway

Wow! Is that the beautiful red FX 7.6? That's the bike I'm may buy next. Want a hybrid to use for commuting and errands - and it looks to be the perfect bike. I plan to try one on Sunday. :)

14 mile commute to work
14 mile commute home

what a boring life it would be if I didn't have my bike commute!

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Originally Posted by Lise

Happy Birthday, Brandy! :D :D :D

Lise

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Thanks Lise. http://www.tinklebelle.com/Smilies/images/wub.gif

[QUOTE=withm]

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Originally Posted by bikeless in WI

While UK Elephant was testing saddles and shoes, I test rode a Trek 7.6 on "the beautiful bike path by the lake". Wheeeee! :D :D :D

Wow! Is that the beautiful red FX 7.6? That's the bike I'm may buy next. Want a hybrid to use for commuting and errands - and it looks to be the perfect bike. I plan to try one on Sunday. :)

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Yep. The very one. Sort of road end of the hybrid scale. There's also a mountain version (silver) with more of a gear span for climbing, but also somewhat more weight. The guy at the shop had me on a wsd version and a men's 20" frame. Turns out the 20" fit me better and might be just about perfect with the 70mm 17degree stem. My bike back home is more or less like the mountain version of this bike (7.5?), cuz 7 years ago there wasn't this whole range of hybrids from nearly a comfort bike to nearly a road bike. So maybe I'll just upgrade my old one. We'll see.

Well, today I was a little disappointed to be back in tights and long-sleeved, thermal jersey. :mad: But, I did a 30 mile ride that I have been enjoying this week. I had gotten a little tired of getting on the bike last week, so this week I am treating myself to some lighter riding, and trying to just have more fun. This route has a lot less climbing than a lot around here, and I have let myself drive my bike out to a spot where I can start and finish flat for a couple miles. Headwinds to start, but fun tailwinds to finish easy, with a smile. Thought I might get rained on, but didn't!!:D

Hit the computrainer with my coach. Did a 10 mile race against my "April ride" self and won by 1.5 miles. :)

Bike having shifting problems, so it is in the shop. Hopefully, I can get it tomorrow.

Just wanted to tag along, hope that's alright.. This looks like a good thing to motivate me when I want to hide my head under a pillow and not get up to bike. Rode about 10 miles today. Stopped at the bike shop to see if they could fix my shift indicator. The guy said "Sure" snatched my bike and said they'd have it back to me by Tuesday. The devestated look on my face was enough for him to hand the bike back to me and say they'd schedule me in to have it fixed same day. Hate having to wait, but it's better than being without my bike. It's just another excuse to look at more bike geeking toys next week anyway.

Didn't want to get up at 5am to go riding..got up anyways..

There were four of us on the 30km ride. Not a bad ride if i do say so meself, except for the niggle in the back of my hammy. When i get my own road bike i'm purchasing a comfy seat-my girlie bits are being squashed.

I'm still working on changning gears but getting there.

I lent my workmate my old mountain bike as she's looking at buying it. If she does buy it, i've got my eye on a few bikes...Much to ian's annoyance...
(i want a bike that fits & doesn't weigh so much) I'll post about that somewhere on the board

I am enjoying getting up hills (road) faster than i would on my old bike...

Off tomorrow to do some mtn biking- (work on hills)

Better late than never! I got to do my longest ride to date. I did 35 miles. It was really great to find out that I could do that distance and still feel like I could go further. Granted the hills were mild and the route was relatively flat, but it still was a great ride!

My legs were talking to me during some of the ride, and other times, they felt great. I think I wasn't properly fueled, and that's something I'll have to work on in the future.

Now I just need to get out there and do it again!!!

I also did 35 miles, my longest ride of the season with hills. The first 14 miles were hilly, not terribly so but they were enough to wear me out. Also, there was a headwind on the last climb. Then there was about 5 miles of downhills. When we hit the flats we had a tailwind and was rolling along about 16 mph. That felt great. Then we had lunch. I had one more hill to climb, near my house, so the rest of the ride I kept my heart rate low and kept a spin of around 85-90 rpm.

I made the last hill, yeah, came home and took a nap. Later, I rolled my muscles on the foam roller (self message) and stretched.

Not bad, considering that I'm 11 weeks from ACL surgery and my ortho's protocol doesn't recommend cycling until the 13th week!

I did have some saddle soreness and sore glutes. My saddle is 1/2 cm higher than normal due to using platform pedals and I can't raise my handlebars to compensate. I can't wait to get back to my clipless pedals.

I was tired enough that I don't think I'll try this loop again for awhile. I need more muscle endurance!