Winter Riding Thread (December-February) Outside and Inside

[Crankin]

OK, I am tired of posting in the November thread.
I had my office holiday party today, at lunch time. Since I don't work on Wednesday, I had planned to ride there, but it would have involved bringing my food contribution yesterday. So, I decided to go to spin, which is not far from my office.
I managed to get in the zone wile I was warming up, and ignored the others. The class was good, but when I decided to leave at 10:20 (10 minutes early), so I didn't have to rush getting cleaned up, the instructor said, "Make sure you tell me you are OK, if you leave early." I looked right at her and said, "I am going to work..." Not sure if she heard. This felt a bit demeaning, as I did not look like I was going to faint, in fact, I was wiping down my bike. I am mostly used to going to spin at 5:45 AM, where people come and go all the time. I may email her, as it irked me.
It ended up being a really nice day, about 46 out, but I am still glad I didn't take the 45 minutes to get ready for a 5 mile ride! After the party, I did a couple of errands and then came home and took a quick walk around the hill, just a mile, but it felt good.

[ny biker]

I rode last Wednesday night after work. The weather was decent, high 40s. I tried out my new Gore Contessa jacket. It does a good job blocking the wind, but the sleeves were shorter than I'd like. Luckily my gloves come up far enough to cover my wrists. I also tried out chemical foot warmers for the first time. I followed Crankin's advice and wore thinner socks (DeFeet Wooleators rather than Woolie Boolies) and made sure the shoe straps were loose enough. I put the toe warmers under the front part of the foot -- my problem is that the metal cleat makes my feet cold -- and they did keep my feet warm, but it's not really comfortable to have the extra layer there. I think I rode about 17 miles in all. I've been very slow lately on these rides. I think I just am less motivated to push myself in the winter. I feel so constricted by the tights and the booties and the extra layers under my jacket.

Yesterday (Sunday) I led a 32 mile ride for the bike club. It was a nice winter day, lots of sunshine with temps in the mid-40s and hardly any wind. There were five people in the group and we all rode together most of the time. It was my 15th time leading a ride this year, the same number as last year despite all the sick time in the spring and summer. So that's a good thing. I used the toe warmers again; my feet stayed warm but I started to get that numbness in my toes that you get when your insole isn't supporting your foot right. It wasn't too bad though and was better than being cold. I know I could try putting the toe warmers on top of my feet, or even on top of the shoe between it and the booty, but I don't think that will solve the problem of the cold coming from the cleats.

I might have one more chance to ride this year -- I'll be busy with holiday/family stuff for the next week or so, but if the weather cooperates I will be able to ride on the 30th or 31st after work. I haven't uploaded anything to Garmin Connect in months. I suppose a good project for New Year's Day will be to plug my Garmin into my pc and hit the upload button -- and then go off and do something else, since it undoubtedly will take a while to transfer all my rides. But I am curious to see how many miles I rode this year.

Looking ahead, I usually take my bike to the LBS in January for an annual clean-and-tune. They offer deals and coupons in January because their business is always slow then. But I think this year I will wait and have it cleaned at the end of February or early March, when I hope we will no longer have to worry about snow and ice and salt on the roads.

[Blueberry]

Went for a short, slow holiday light viewing ride tonight. Full moon out and 70+ degree temperatures made for a nice, if unseasonable, ride. So nice to (mostly) have the roads all to myself.

[Crankin]

Rode 21 miles yesterday, with roads damp, but pleasant 50 degrees, with wind.
Today, DH and I rode 11 miles, rather quickly, when I got home from work at 2:15. It was 70 degrees, but windy, and the roads were very wet. I was covered in mud splatter when I got home. But, I'll take it, since it's December. Tomorrow, we will do a longer ride, while the rest of the world is celebrating Christmas. It will still be warm, high of 60, so nice. But, we have a "wintry mix" forecasted for next Tuesday, so it's coming to an end.
I passed 2,800 miles for the year today.

[Crankin]

We did a 33 mile ride, from home, using a well known route from one of the clubs we ride with. It's called the 7 bridges ride, because it crosses the Sudbury River 7 times. We left the route before the end, as obviously, we were riding home. We started the club route with a climb up Nashawtuc Hill, which is the other bigger hill in town, and then made our way into Sudbury, Wayland, and Lincoln. No roads I haven't been on, but a few that I don't ride that often. It was between 57 and 67 degrees on the ride, which I think, is close to a record for Xmas. I've had other warmish Xmas rides, but it was sunny, too, an added bonus. At one of the flatter parts on Goodman's Hill in Sudbury, I had to stop and eat and take my arm warmers off. Much better after that!
Lots and lots of riders out today, and as we neared the end, lots of families walking. There was even a traffic jam as people were entering/leaving Walden Pond State Park. Just like summer.

[Helene2013]

What a December. So warm and we broke a heat record yesterday. Thought I'd be able to ride outside but winds were pushing near 100km at peaks. So nope... no outdoor cycling.

Today I had a training session planned inside. Decided that although it is only 8c (yesterday we hit 19c) the winds were more decent. So we got the Crux out and did a 32km ride. Quite a few "hills" to climb and heart was pumping on the way but better on return as winds were sideways. We met a few cyclists and lots of pedestrians. Funny that cyclists met, none were younger ones. More like people over 50. hihi

It was so much fun. We stopped at McDonald to get a coffee and muffin. Our toes were frozen but the reste of body was great. We can't complain as normally the weather here is near -10c, if not colder. And we have a nice snowstorm hitting on Tuesday too. Probably a foot of snow, if not more. We "saved" at least 2 months of winter here. It was fun getting the Crux out in December.

[Catrin]

Beautiful!

[azfiddle]

Wow, beautiful photos. Death Valley has such a stark beauty

[khg]

I haven't been on a *ride* ride since September... Commuting, errand running, etc yes--but yesterday I finally got out on a bike ride for the sake of a bike ride!

It was one I've been planning on doing--a familiar loop of the south end of Lake Washington, and around Mercer Island--except I wanted to try it on my single speed bike to see if I could do it. Not only was it the longest ride I've done since September, it was also the longest ride I've done on that bike. I'm glad I finally did--I like how that bike rides a lot, and I find the single speed fun and relaxing. I'm never worrying about whether I should be changing gear, for one... Clears an amazing amount of mental space! There were a couple parts I almost had to walk, but I managed to stay on the bike the whole time (I was also very strategic with my route planning!)

It was a nice morning--a little chilly, but refreshing once I got going. Sunday traffic was pretty light, leafless trees make for better water and mountain views, and the snow on the mountains is really beautiful right now--I was having a great time. I knew that some rain would be moving in around midday, and I was hoping to either beat it, or that it wouldn't be that bad. Well, I almost beat it, but boy did I get caught in a downpour! The wind picked up and drove stinging needles of rain into my face riding across the Lake Washington bridge, but since I was just a few miles from home, it wasn't too bad, and I felt pretty badass for being out in it. And after a while in a piping hot shower, I regained feeling in my fingers and toes.

Of course, shortly after I got home, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it ended up being a gloriously beautiful afternoon and evening. But it was a fun ride, felt like an adventure, and it was really nice to get out riding again.

[ny biker]

Catching up... I rode outside last Saturday. It was a club ride with 8 people. Temps were in the low 60s and it was cloudy, with a chilly breeze at the deli near the Chesapeake Bay where we had our rest stop. The original forecast called for sunshine all day so I had hoped for a nice lunch at an outdoor table at that deli. However on Friday afternoon one local meteorologist said he had a feeling that clouds would linger through the morning and early afternoon, and he has a good track record so I suspected he would be right, and it turned out that he was. Oh well, the clouds were not too gray or thick and we could at least see a vague outline of the sun through them. More importantly, even with the chilly breeze it was not really cold, and there was no sign of the snow and ice from a few days earlier. We rode 35 miles. Since I haven't been riding lately my goal was to keep my average speed above 12 mph, but as it turned out I was able to keep it above 13 without feeling too tired. I did slow down a bit in the second half to stay with someone who had trouble with a particularly steep hill. At the end I felt hopeful. We may still get hit with more snow, but I can see the light of spring at the end of the tunnel.

Last night I rode for 50 minutes on the indoor trainer while watching behind-the-scenes footage of the Foo Fighters recording songs on the Sonic Highways dvd. It was really interesting hearing them work on different tracks without hearing the vocals or drums along with it.

We should have another warm day on Sunday, so I'm tentatively planning to ride then, and then will take my bike to the shop for its annual clean-and-tune service. The LBS is offering a discount on their routine service packages through the end of the month, so this is a good time to get it done.