Yesterday's weather

[BikeMomma]

Did anyone ride yesterday....and what was the weather like in your area?

I've gotta rave about the weather during my ride yesterday morning. Driving over from my home in Atwater to Merced to meet the group, I could see that the air was soooo clear. In Merced, we are very close to the foothills, and beyond, the Sierra's and Yosemite Nat'l Pk. Usually, we only get a hazy view of the foothills, and see maybe a little tiny bit of the whiteness of the snow on the upper tips of the higher hills beyond.

Yesterday, however, the air was *crystal* clear and we could see clearly the fresh snow on the Sierra's. If only we had been at a higher elevation, I'm sure we could have seen the peaks around Yosemite.

It was absolutely gorgeous. Even the guys were amazed. They rarely pause regularly to admire the view like I do (or at least they never admit they do), but yesterday there were oooh's and aaah's abounding.

We rode from Merced to the ranger station at Turlock Lake (about 54mi), which climbs up a little bit into higher foothills than we usually go. At one point after we turned around for the return trip, we crested the top of a hill, and I swear the whole world opened up before us.....you could see see for miles around in panorama -- low hills below, high foothills around us, and framed perfectly were the snowcapped mountains. Ah! Awesome!

Sure hope your rides were half as good! This was one to keep in the memory banks. I found myself upset that I didn't have a camera!

-BikeMomma

[Trekhawk]

Did anyone ride yesterday....and what was the weather like in your area?

I've gotta rave about the weather during my ride yesterday morning. Driving over from my home in Atwater to Merced to meet the group, I could see that the air was soooo clear. In Merced, we are very close to the foothills, and beyond, the Sierra's and Yosemite Nat'l Pk. Usually, we only get a hazy view of the foothills, and see maybe a little tiny bit of the whiteness of the snow on the upper tips of the higher hills beyond.

Yesterday, however, the air was *crystal* clear and we could see clearly the fresh snow on the Sierra's. If only we had been at a higher elevation, I'm sure we could have seen the peaks around Yosemite.

It was absolutely gorgeous. Even the guys were amazed. They rarely pause regularly to admire the view like I do (or at least they never admit they do), but yesterday there were oooh's and aaah's abounding.

We rode from Merced to the ranger station at Turlock Lake (about 54mi), which climbs up a little bit into higher foothills than we usually go. At one point after we turned around for the return trip, we crested the top of a hill, and I swear the whole world opened up before us.....you could see see for miles around in panorama -- low hills below, high foothills around us, and framed perfectly were the snowcapped mountains. Ah! Awesome!

Sure hope your rides were half as good! This was one to keep in the memory banks. I found myself upset that I didn't have a camera!

-BikeMomma

Sounds like a beautiful ride. Yep the weather has been great up here too over the last few days. I went for a ride yesterday and it was cool but sunny and when I got to the top of one of the hills I could see the mountains and they looked majestic. It doesnt get much better than that.

[SadieKate]

Beautiful? Yes! Warm? No.

We didn't ride until Sunday when I don't think it got above the mid-40s (I know, some of you are saying mid-40s is balmy, but I'm not used to it yet). On the way up we could see snow up on the Sierras but then a high haze settled in. Even the last horse person was gone before we were so you know the weather got cold very quickly.

Mathilda likes her new pink wheels. Bubba is such wonderful guy and hosed her off at the end while I got into dry clothes.

PS, somebody needs to tell me of this image makes your screen go crazy. I figure out how to change the size of the image in the forum and I don't want to resize in Photobucket.

[CorsairMac]

no ma'am it did not but it sure made me see pink!

actually with Christmas coming on, my free time is getting very limited due to church demands. I was going to ride Sat but the wind here was 28 mph with gusts over 38. I had planned a route that would've had that wind at my back while I was climbing, headwind while I was descending, but the crosswind was gonna be killer so I stayed home and remembered what couch potatoes don't do!

[Adventure Girl]

I went mountain biking on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I rode in the afternoon and it was beautiful! We had quite a bit of rain earlier in the week and little bits of green things are growing everywhere. It was a great ride.

Sunday... well, notsomuch! I went out early. I was on the trails before 9:00 AM (early for me). It was 38 degrees out and I was freeeeeezing for the first mile or so. There were ice crystals on lots of the plants, and some of the little puddles were partly frozen. But once I got moving, I warmed up. I planned on riding about 2 hours, but it was so nice, I rode for almost 3. And by noon, it had turned into a pretty nice day!

[Deanna]

I was with a group that rode up Mt. Tam on Saturday. It was brisk--windbreakers were a must for the downhills. But the air was pretty clean and the views were awesome...

My brother-in-law took these photos. That's me in the blue in the first one.

[bikerz]

Ohhhh you guys are killing me!

Took my first ride after the car accident on Tuesday last week, did my first Spinerval workout Thursday, then got slammed with a flu of some sort Thursday night, and I'm still hacking and coughing

Boo hoo - it's been clear and cool all week... glad you all could get out and enjoy it!

[BikeMomma]

Aawwww, bz....that's rotten timing. Sorry my rave made you boo-hoo. Hopefully you can get out there soon!

[BikeMomma]

I was with a group that rode up Mt. Tam on Saturday. It was brisk--windbreakers were a must for the downhills. But the air was pretty clean and the views were awesome...

My brother-in-law took these photos. That's me in the blue in the first one.

Wow, Deanna.... those are great photos! That first one looks like a great road to ride on (and looks like you're enjoying it!). Sweet! Thanks for sharing.

That one of the city reminds me....I still need to try to get a couple photos from my Maine trip scanned and posted. I took one from the plane as we were taking off from Boston. Great harbor and skyline shot, and only minimal reflection from the camera off the window. Neato! (Oh! I do have one of my pics up on bikejournal.com. Should be on my profile page -- one of me and Mr. Blue, the rental bike, outside the shop.)

[Deanna]

Wow, Deanna.... those are great photos! That first one looks like a great road to ride on (and looks like you're enjoying it!). Sweet! Thanks for sharing.

That road is amazing! It's Ridgecrest-sometimes called the 7 Sisters because of a series of little climbs. There is very little car-traffic on this road as most Tam tourists drive the route that takes them by Muir Woods . You can make a loop of this ride, but the view in both directions on this particular road are so awesome it's worth it to do an out and back.

[BikeMomma]

Is the 7 Sisters part of a century route? It sounds familiar like I've heard it before. Maybe the NoCal gals have spoke about it in other threads. Is Mt. Tam north of SF? I was trying to get my direction right in looking at the SF pic, thinking in map mode. I bet that's FUN to ride down. Wheeee!

[massbikebabe]

Please don't ask me about weather Massachusetts is expensive and cold!

Sadie...I sure do dig them wheels...

Keep the pictures coming ladies...they are good therapy for me!!


karen

[Deanna]

Is the 7 Sisters part of a century route? It sounds familiar like I've heard it before. Maybe the NoCal gals have spoke about it in other threads. Is Mt. Tam north of SF? I was trying to get my direction right in looking at the SF pic, thinking in map mode. I bet that's FUN to ride down. Wheeee!

I haven't done the century, but there were arrow marks on the road, so it must be. Mt Tam is north of SF, if you're ever in Marin County, you won't miss it. The picture is looking slightly southeast toward the city, so you can't see the Golden Gate. It is a fun downhill--and I'm a very cautious descender!

[Bike Goddess]

Bike Momma. The picture you see is part of the Mt Tam DOUBLE century. There is a century in that area- the Marin century which occurs on the same day. However, the route for that ride goes north of Tam. The Double century people do the Mt Tam route and then do the Marin century route. Takes them about 12-16hours as it has a lot of climbing. I did the Marin century this past year- 5500 ft (if I remember correctly) elevation gain- some at the beginning, some in the middle and end. I will do that century again.

Also check out the Mt Tam Double or the Marin century for ride reports.

[BikeMomma]

Bike Momma. The picture you see is part of the Mt Tam DOUBLE century. There is a century in that area- the Marin century which occurs on the same day. However, the route for that ride goes north of Tam. The Double century people do the Mt Tam route and then do the Marin century route. Takes them about 12-16hours as it has a lot of climbing. I did the Marin century this past year- 5500 ft (if I remember correctly) elevation gain- some at the beginning, some in the middle and end. I will do that century again.

Also check out the Mt Tam Double or the Marin century for ride reports.

Wow....double huh? Not sure if I can swing that yet - I've never been one for long distances (like over 100) and the climbing is definitely something I really need to work on. Foothills, ok. Long steep ones, no. I'll have to check out when that Marin century is, though. As much as Deanna is raving and how pretty that view is, I just might do it.

Thanks for the info tidbit!