Monday, Oct. 30th rides

[Tater]

Twenty-seven degrees, wind chill of twenty-one and I was a bit warm on the ride in. Finally dug out the heavy weight tights, but I can't wear them unless the temperature is below twenty-five degrees otherwise I roast. But at least I wasn't cold! The ride in was nice and boring, although it was odd that halfway through, the sun was almost over the mountains. Weird biking with sunlight in the mornings now after being in the dark for so long.

[sbctwin]

It was 36 when I started my ride to work at 4:30am this morning...Tater, what is the brand of your heavy weight tights. I have PI thermals, but find at 30F, my legs still get cold...What type of gloves do you wear?

[Tater]

It was 36 when I started my ride to work at 4:30am this morning...Tater, what is the brand of your heavy weight tights. I have PI thermals, but find at 30F, my legs still get cold...What type of gloves do you wear?

Hey, sbctwin! Actually, my tights aren't cycling specific, I believe they are
running tights, but they work great with a pair of cycling shorts under them. They are a Polartec fleece snug fitting tight made by Avalanche (Canadian company). As for gloves, I am using a pair of Specialized winter cycling gloves. They are a bit thicker on the backs of the hands and have worked pretty well so far in temps into the low to mid twenties. Hope that helps!

[Geonz]

It was 52 when I started out this morning, WHEEE!!! Just one layer~~~

I donned the heart monitor because I want to get into SHAPE, but had to hold back 'cause I rode in my work clothes so I had to stop just short of breaking into a sweat... I'll use it for real going home. INdoor rides start next week...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Nice weather finally! Sunny and around 50 degrees. Some wind but not awful.
Put a little too much layering on but was able to peel off things as I went. Rode 21 miles. Felt so GOOD, because I had been off my bike for 4 days due to bad weather and visiting guests.

When I put my bike away in the garage and then walk past the garden, I try not to look at the bedraggled matted dry vegetation begging to be pulled and cleaned up for winter. Oh, the SHAME!!!

[mary9761]

Had an unexpected day off from watching the boys and the temps were supposed to be approaching the 70's today so I decided to ride. I get my gear ready and head out. I have long pants on to keep my legs warm until it gets warmer as it's still in the 50's when I leave the house but it feels nice. There's a light breeze but I don't think anything about it after the last couple days I've had so I head downtown. I see Jimmy pull up alongside me as he's coming back from the bank and I stop for a few minutes at The Bike Line before heading on to the MONON. The UPS man has dropped off some new bikes!! Oooooh, the new Trek 7.5 WSD is among them, it's a pretty bike and similar to the Pilot with the road tires on it. Hmmmm, could this be a possible alternative to the more expensive Pilot?? Jason will be putting one together while I'm out for my ride so I'll stop back in to see it before going home.
I head out onto the MONON, thinking I might try to stretch out another metric today by riding out to 146th and Allisonville Rd but as I got further north the winds picked up stronger and stronger... Hmmm, I didn't know it was supposed to be WINDY AGAIN today!! I get to 96th St and the winds are steady towards 15 mph from the south so I decide I'm not going to go any further north and risk getting caught out in stronger winds like I did Saturday. I'm glad I turned around when I did. The winds buffeted me on the trail, throwing grit and leaf litter into my face. This is MISERABLE AGAIN!!! ENOUGH WITH THE WINDS ALREADY!!!!!!!
I'm exhausted by the time I reach The Bike Line again downtown, I had an average of 12.8mph heading north, but by the time I got back to town, that was down to 10.9 I've had it with 3 days of windy riding.
I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow evening (even though they call for rain early in the day) for The Bike Line's Halloween ride!
50's light breeze at ride start, temps raise to low 70's and winds build to 20+mph with gusts of 33+mph!!!

[Kalidurga]

Today was just gorgeous in Maryland. No tights, no knee warmers, no jacket... I headed out to Fort Frederick, where the Western Md Rail-Trail begins and parallels the C&O Canal towpath. Just for fun, I cut over to the C&O early in my ride, thinking I'd do a loop linking the two trails. Unfortunately, the recent windy weather had blown down so many tree limbs on the towpath that I quickly got tired of dodging them and headed back up to the WMRT after a couple of miles, and took that all the way in to Hancock. One of the great things about autumn is how much more of the Potomac River is visible from the two trails when there are less leaves on the trees. At one point, I noticed that the sun shining through what's left of the leaves looked just the way it does when it shines through new leaves just bursting out in the spring. As warm as it was this afternoon, it really did feel almost like a spring day.

After a break in Hancock, I got back onto the C&O and again did just a couple of miles on dirt, just for variety. The area near Hancock is popular with pedestrians, so it was nice and clear and a much easier ride than the lower section. Then, I cut back up to the paved WMRT for the rest of the ride and ended up with a total of almost 22 miles.

I worked on pacing myself again today. I've decided that distance really is more important to me than speed, so I'm going to settle for an average of 12-13mph if it allows me to be on the bike longer. I also worked on riding in the drops for longer periods of time, and getting used to braking in that position. It's definitely beginning to feel much more comfortable, with the exception of the last 4 miles of today's ride. Tucked down in the drops is just not a comfy position when you have to pee like a racehorse Aside from that, though, I'd be thrilled to have more autumn days like today.

[7rider]

FINALLY rode my bike today!
First time since Saturday the 21st!
I commuted in this a.m. - a "brisk" 33 degrees (0 C). I pulled out my "good" tights for this a.m., but not my super-duper warm tights, and my winter cycling jacket with 2 layers under that, and my lobstah gloves. Was plenty warm.
By the time I got to the office, however, my right trapezius was howling in pain again, with the pain radiating down my right arm, causing pins-and-needles tingling in my right hand. This is ridiculous. I called my doctor. Maybe she could give me a coritsone shot or something, as sadly, my PT with my chiropractor is plainly NOT cutting the mustard.
No-way on the shot, she said. That was plainly over-the-top in her book. So she's got me taking 600 mg ibuprofen a day, plus a strong muscle relaxer for evening, and - worse - NO BIKE RIDING for at least 7 days!!!
(I am planning on doing a mtb ride on sunday....shhhh, I may do it anyway). Of course, since I rode in and had another Dr's appt later in the day that I could only ride to, I HAD to ride at least once more, before heeding her advice and hanging up the bike - again - for another week.
Majorly bummed....but I hope this - in combination with the PT recommendation she gave me - will put me over this hump and get this inflammation out of my back once and for all!
Oh...and she said to minimize my computer time, as that aggravates my arm, too.
Boy, she was just FULL of good news for me. Sigh.