Sunday, 16 Mar Rides!

[Velobambina]

One word: RAIN!!!!

Luckily, it was 46 degrees and the wind was light. I made it 43 miles, which was my goal for this morning. Lots of love and groovy vibes to the manufacturers of Gore-Tex. LOL. Aside from my hands and face, everything stayed dry. I wore an old pair of LG Lobster-style gloves w/wool glove liners which kept my hands dry for about an hour. Thank goodness they never got cold.

I don't mind riding in rain so long as I stay warm. The only real bummer is the clean up afterward.

[SouthernBelle]

Good grief, VB! Was it even light out when you started!!?

[makbike]

Joined the club for the "70 at sunrise" ride. I must have had a mental lapse for it was awfully cold this morning. It was 42F when we started out of Westport. The sun was nowhere to be found. It was a gray, cloudy day.

The hand/toe warmers worked well as did the wind blocking turtle neck, the tights and the wind jacket. All was well until we stopped for a snack at the 33 mile mark - I got cold really fast and by the time we hit the road my teeth were chattering. It took some time to warm up and work the chill off. It was a fast ride - 70 miles in 4 hours and 7 minutes and it felt great. Once back at the car (temp had climbed to 46 F) I quickly loaded my bike and gear for I was cold once I got off the bike. I turned the heater on high and drove home with it blasting. At the end of my forty minute return trip I was warm but a chill still lingered so a hot shower was in order. I finally feel normal.

The route was very scenic and took us from Westport through the tiny town of Sligo and on to Carrolton. We turned around and returned home passing through Bedford and Sligo before returning to Westport. Along the way we spotted a huge red tail hawk and lots of song birds. For those interested here is a link to the today's ride:

http://www.kybikerides.org/ridemaps/3024.htm

[Aggie_Ama]

My husband and I set out this morning with one gaol- JESTER. If you have ever been to Austin to ride or met a roadie you will probably hear of Jester. It is an omnious sight off FM 2222, just past Tumbleweed hill. In .5 miles you gain 350 feet at an average grade of 14%.

We started out from our house and had to go about 25 miles to get to Tumbleweed Hill. First DH had to have a flat at 18 miles which caused quite a bit of cool down. We hit Tumbleweed hill- woohoo 42.6 mph straight down. Then came Jester. I tried and tried but Jester won. I will be trying again though, I will conquer Jester. We then took the worst road ever, textured pavement, narrow, swithbacks galore and steep down. After a couple more nasty little hills we made it to the bagel shop. Ate lunch went on our way home. About 10 miles from home my husband flatted again. Had to get a Co2 (the first flat he messed up on needed two cans) from some kind cyclist and headed home. 62.63 miles.

Here is a YouTube of someone riding Jester, I balied out right past that first mailbox you see about 1:25 into the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMT9p7AHCDc

And here are some shots so I don't look like a weenie.

[Velobambina]

Good grief, VB! Was it even light out when you started!!?

Nope. My favorite time of day is just before sunrise!!!

[solorider]

Wow VB- that's early! I like to start a bit later- especially when the highs are only around 40 here- at sunrise it was only 20 here in MI!

I got my first outside ride of the year in today (not counting the commuting i've been doing all week)- a fairly short and easy 23 mile loop around the south side of town to get started on my goals for the year. It felt great to be out- and I can't wait until it's warm enough to stay out a bit longer-

It was a very pretty ride- with ice still covering all the ponds and swamps, and piles of snow still laying along all the ditches-nothing really blooming yet, but the birds are returning and the sun was out about half the time for my ride.

I managed to get a flat at the 20 mile mark which got my hands so cold I was very thankful I was almost home- first flat I've ever gotten in my front tire- at least those are a bit easier to change out...

[Blueberry]

Went for a tandem ride today - first ride on the new Brooks saddles (b17 for him, flyer for me - both honey). Didn't keep track of mileage - just went to Duke Gardens to take pictures and around the neighborhood.

VB - I'm always amazed You're getting back when I'm getting up. Is that how you get in long rides during the week too?? I think I'd have to leave at about 4AM, and I really worry about safety down here...

CA

[SheFly]

CA - must have been tandem day! DH and I got our tandem out for the first ride of the season. Now that we're both in training, we don't get to ride together very often, and this affords us that opportunity.

Skies were gray and temps were in the low 30s here, but we still managed to get in 3.5 hours riding for a total of 62 miles with about 3000 feet of climbing. Nice to be out though!

Is spring coming????

SheFly

[Susan126]

Hubby and I went to Carnation this morning and did a metric. Well a tad bit more . . . 64 miles. It was cloudy and overcast but no rain. We had quite a headwind most of our ride. I love Carnation. Very scenic and beautiful. I made Joe stop at the Nestle Training Center. It used to be the original nestle farm. Where they had all their cows! Today it's just a landmark and training center. Here are my two pictures:





Now that our weather is starting to get warmer my training has officially begun. That's what I told DH today! He just looked at me strangely! I want to try and ride every weekday (a short after work ride) and really start to build up my weekend mileage.

After our ride today we stopped in Carnation's QFC and each of us had a chicken breast, water, and girl scout cookies! They were selling them outside the store. And who can pass up girl scout cookies? Especially after a 64 mile ride!

[Velobambina]

When we lived in the boondocks and had to get up early to avoid the worst of the DC rush hour traffic, our internal clocks reset. Moved back to Arlington in the mid 1990s and realized that getting up early works best for us.

Even in college, I was usually up at 6am on weekends so I could study (peace & quiet---everyone else was still sleeping off the night before).