Saturday 19 January rides

[sundial]

How was your ride today? Are you braving the cold to get in a ride? I opted out but hubby and friends thought it would be fun to cycle in 20 F weather with winds 13 mph. So according to my windchill calculator, he's enjoying 1.4 F/-17 C temps. Brrrrrr!!!

[Tri Girl]

I'm on your side. No riding today. It's nearly the same temp here: 22 degrees with 12 mph winds. No thanks. I'll take my chances getting fat sitting here in front of the computer. At least I can READ about riding.

[bikerz]

Woo hoo! Did my usual 9 mile hill loop today, and was totally in the zone the whole way. I had my best time this year on this loop by almost 5 minutes!

I chanted a Buddhist mantra in my head the whole time I was climbing and I have to say, I think that's why I was so much faster (using the term "faster" loosely, for me ) - I just got out of my own way for a change.

It was a beautiful morning - 60 degrees, pleasantly warm in the sun. Just great.

[Crankin]

My ride was a 30 minute easy spin on the trainer, followed by 15 minutes of abs and core and 15 minutes of stretch with Mr. Street.

[makbike]

Too darn cold here to ride outside, brrrrrrrrrr! The Siberian Express has arrived. I logged 17.5 miles on the trainer in my warm, cozy living room.

[SouthernBelle]

I did ride. It was cold. Very cold. I wore my facemask which I only wear when it's really cold. I couldn't find my toe covers and I really, really missed them!!

My rear brakes were off center and dragging so I had to stop and center them. I got going again and as soon as I shifted they were off center again. I can't stand that dragging sound. Plus it was too darn cold to keep stopping. So I ended up turning back. At least I got in 13.42 chilly miles.

I decided that rather than fiddle with it myself, that in was time for a tuneup. My bike has never had one. So my bike is happily at the LBS and now I'm in where it's warm. I'll be without for a bit because apparently everybody else has decided to get their tuneups now too.

[Geonz]

Four degrees. 16 miles. (Windchill something below zero but that doesn't count for me because if it's in my face I pedal harder and get warmer.) Rode to my house and back and it wasn't so cold iwth the layers, so I rode out to get the computer I need from work. It was slow going with the headwind and riding the 50-pound Gazelle with studded tires on it, but it really felt wonderful. There's just something hormonally appealing about steady strong pedaling and reasonably hard breathing. The bike shop's on the way back so I stopped in there to raise the seat rather than do it in the cold and so I could sneak back to the back office and tell the guy in charge that the Xtreme jacket he gave me yesterday (Christmas present but the first try didn't fit) was working well (over another jacket, a sweatshirt, and two layers of thermals). THen a biking buddy walked in to pick up her bike and admired the jacket and looked at the one on the shelf (and I saw the pricce tag - oy ) and we rode back together. I even forgot to put the ski goggles on for a ;while and it didn't hurt. It raelly helps if it's sunny!

Oh, and it was 13 by the time I got back heat wave!

[OakLeaf]

You all are too brave for me.

No ride today (well, 3 miles RT to Pilates class and the grocery store). I got out yesterday for a 37-miler with the boys. It was about 62 degrees, cloudy and damp, and it didn't get any warmer the whole time we were out. Shorts and arm warmers (well, two of us had arm warmers, one guy left his arms bare). We stopped for breakfast, which was a mistake because we were all freezing once we started out again.

[Fredwina]

It was 45 degrees at the start! I actually had to wear full fingered gloves I almost got frostbite!!
Back to reality we had our "three club" ride. with Cycling Connection, Riverside Bicycle club, and the Redlands Water Bottle Transit Co.(Yes, that's the clubs name)
We met in Riverside and rode to park. The group I was with was a little slow (plenty of hills) and I have a 300K in a month. so I took off on my own and went to Corona and back.
Had about 50 - I wanted to do a metric, but didn't have enough time

[KathiCville]

BF and I did 14 miles yesterday on the spur of the moment. Temps were about 30, light wind, at 3 pm. I was pretty comfortable in my oh-so-carefully-selected layers, but my BF (who usually rides a MTB) didn't have quite enough on his legs to keep him warm. So he opted out at about mile 10 and I kept going. I needed just 4 more miles to bring my year-to-date odometer to 100 mi........The mileage meter turned over to an even 100 just as I pulled up to my truck, yay!! ........

[Veronica]

I rode with the NorCal Bike forums group yesterday. We did just over 45 miles. After an initial climb, the first 20 miles were pretty flat. We were flying! Then after lunch, came 11 miles of rollers. Next at mile 31 a four mile climb. The first mile's average grade of about 9%. Overall average for the climb, 6.8%. It was beautiful climb though, nice pavement, very few cars, a nice mixture of sun and shade, views off to the Pacific Ocean.

Veronica

[Wahine]

I rode about 5 miles outside yesterday up and down a hill, in a squall with gusts up to 40 mph. I was helping a freind test ride bikes. I sure am glad I wasn't out for a long ride though.

[jobob]

Kim & I did the same ride as V, as far as Pt. Reyes Station. Then I begged off Mt. Tam and Kim was happy to join me in a toodle down to Inverness (where we checked out the local bakery as a Public Service) and then headed back to Fairfax via Nicasio again.

Some pics here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=380745

V & Thom arrived soon after and we had a nice dinner at the brewpub across the street.

[IFjane]

BF and I did 14 miles yesterday on the spur of the moment. Temps were about 30, light wind, at 3 pm. I was pretty comfortable in my oh-so-carefully-selected layers, but my BF (who usually rides a MTB) didn't have quite enough on his legs to keep him warm. So he opted out at about mile 10 and I kept going. I needed just 4 more miles to bring my year-to-date odometer to 100 mi........The mileage meter turned over to an even 100 just as I pulled up to my truck, yay!! ........

Kathi, you are my idol! Way too cold for me - I logged 24 miles on the trainer instead, then did some core work. Today I changed it up and ran 30 minutes on the elliptical, then did weight training & core work. I will probably get back on the trainer tomorrow.

[Brandy]

Friday night we spent the night down in San Diego because George was doing the San Diego Brevet Series 300k the next morning. Like I had two weekends before, I stranded myself far from home and vowed to start in the wee hours of the frigid morning and make it home before noon, when the kids were coming home.

The alarm went off around 4:08 and I slowly got myself out of bed and started getting ready. Food didn't sound appetizing at that point, so I made myself a bottle of Interphase mixed with CarboPro and called it breakfast. George helped me get ready to roll, ushered me out the door at 4:42 a.m. and I was off. I realized within the first mile that I had left my flask of CarboPro 1200 behind in the room and there went my plans for not having to stop and buy anything. Rather than turn around, I decided I'd just stop off buy something when my bottles were empty, which is easy when you're riding on the coast.

I was a little nervous in the beginning section since I had never been on this stretch, it was dark and I was alone. I had 11.3 miles to get to Doyle Park, an area I was familiar with and from there it would be a route I knew. The first two hours that I was on the bike, my feet and legs were so cold that I felt like I could hardly turn the pedals. I was remembering back to doing this route two weeks before in the rain, and thinking to myself, that I'd take rain over the cold anyday. At least on that day I was rolling at a faster pace!

By the time I made it to San Onofre it was beginning to warm up a bit and I started to see some other cyclists on the road. I was also through both of my bottles and kicking myself for leaving that flask behind. I was really enjoying the CarboPro that was in my bottles and knew that my only alternative when I hit 7-11 in San Clemente would be something like Gatorade. On the stretch before 7-11 I was getting really warm in my wool baselayer and jersey so when I pulled in, I ditched the base layer and shoved it in a pocket. I went into the store, bought some dreaded Gatorade and a Pop-Tart for some quick energy, since I had been running on very few calories since leaving San Diego. I only managed to eat one of the two in the package, filled my bottles and I was off again.

After going through the State Park in Dana Point I was waiting for the left turn light to change and two cyclists came up behind me. We ended up talking and keeping a good pace on the rollers through Laguna when one had to break off. The other was trying to get some mileage in, so he continued north to Huntington Beach with me. I said goodbye when I turned off at Brookhurst, fully intending to head home and call it a day at my planned 91 miles. I looked at my watch and noticed that I had at least a full hour before the kids were supposed to be home, so I took it easy for another 10 miles so I could get a century in.

All said and done, 6 hours 58 minutes, 101 miles, 3 bottles and 1 Pop Tart.