New Years Day ride

[Jenerator]

With Colorado front range winds gusting into the 70s and 80s the past couple of days, I didn't even ride to work, despite the moderate temps. Today, the winds dropped to a more manageable 10-20 with gusts under 40. When a friend invited us for Gumbo, I headed over on the bike. With the wind mostly at my back or crossing, I made record time. DH drove, so I cheated and got a lift home and missed the headwind. All in all, a nice 20 miles to start the year.

[cycling_sarah]

I got on the trainer here in RI...1 hour/16.19 miles.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Beautiful sunny Southern California: Dry trails meant 17 miles on the mountain bike today with a beautiful view of snow tipped peaks and coastal fog.

[malkin]

A tandem ride for 20mi here. Cold, but not windy and the road was clear.

I rang the bell and "happy new year"ed at least a dozen horses and lots of geese; I love it when the horses look up and I always wonder why the geese are standing or sitting by the side of the road. We got several friendly honks a few rude ones, lots of waves from smokers banished to cold porches, and one shouted greeting out a passing car window.

Ride clothes for the two of us make a whole washer load; hanging up to dry they humidify the whole place.

[jobob]

I rode up Morrison Canyon Road for the first time today. It's only about 9 miles from my home so I had a nice warmup.

Good thing because that sucker is freakin' steep! It's about 2 miles or so of climbing but I could only manage ~ 1.5 miles before bailing out. What I did manage averaged out to a 9% grade with some sections kicking up well over 12%. booyah.

The descent was pretty dicey. While I'm a good descender for the most part, I took this one very cautiously, since the road is only a single lane for the most part without good sightlines. I hate it when I'm not rewarded for my efforts with a fun descent!

I wore my HRM today and my hr went up to 187 (which was interesting since I thought my max HR was 185).

But apart from the eye-popping climb and the dicey descent, it was a nice ride and I felt really good. Good start for my 50th year.

[RoadRaven]

Just 24km on false flats here for me... it's too darn hot...

[malkin]

... wore my HRM today ...

For a second, you had me thinking, "Her Royal Majesty."

[OakLeaf]

I went for a little cruise with one of the guys I normally ride with, another guy I know, and we met up with some people from another group and went out to breakfast. Just an easy cruise for a little over 32 miles.

It was really a running day, plus my legs were still sore from Tuesday, but heck, it was New Year's, and besides I didn't want them to think I was wussing out because of the wind. So after the ride I chilled out at home until low tide and went for a short interval run.

We'll see how my legs feel for the regular ride today. But I think stronger <keeping fingers crossed>.