November 8th Rides (Sunday)

[Ana]

The weather is unseasonably warm today in the Midwest and I just had to get out there today! I have been cooped up inside recovering from "side effects" from the nasal mist seasonal flu vaccine for three days last week so I am still not fully recovered. My ride was wonderful despite the many cars and bad patches of road and being out of breath on the hills.

Anyone else get out there?

[Bike Chick]

I did. It's not many times we have 75 degree weather in November. You have to take advantage of it.

[jesvetmed]

Ana... sorry you've been sick. Glad you got out today. I've been cooped up for 6 days with the actual illness.... ugh. No ride for me today -- maybe tomorrow! I'm going to have to live through you all today! Hope everyone has great Sunday rides.

[Owlie]

I did about 5.5 miles today--took advantage of the nearly 70 degree weather to ride. I had the flu two weeks ago, so I haven't been doing much. I wanted to go further, but my body said "No, thank you. We've had quite enough and want to go home." I think next weekend I might be able to go out for longer, but we'll see.

[Crankin]

It's 66 here, also. Went for a nice 20 mile ride, nothing special, but very nice. Tons of cyclists out. I couldn't believe how bundled up some of them were. I even took my arm warmers off it was so warm.
Yesterday it was quite a bit cooler and we started out for a 30 mile ride with friends, but my DH didn't feel that great, so we headed back to our friend's house after 20, where we had chocolate chip pumpkin bread and coffee. Delicious.
Only about 60 miles left to make my yearly goal. I have been fairly relaxed about it, but since I am close, I know I will make it.

[Tri Girl]

Haven't ridden. Should have because it's so very nice outside, but the 30 mph wind zapped all my strength on just the one mile ride to the store.

[Becky]

It was nearly 70 degrees here today! DH and I did 13 miles with a friend who's been sidelined a bunch this year. He knows the best cycling routes around here, and we had a great time catching up with him.

[7rider]

DH and I went to a nearby state park to watch some cyclocross races. Some friends of ours were racing. We were spectating. But, the park is one of my favorite places to mountainbike, so we brought the bikes. After watching our friends race, we did a loop around the park - 9 miles of twisty, rolling, singletrack. It was beautiful out.

[HillSlugger]

The weather in MD was also unseasonably warm, also bright blue skies with little wind. Got out for a great 30 mile ride on the tri bike. What a great day!

[redrhodie]

I decided to ride to the north and do my hills. When I got there, I could see from the top that the roads down (and conversely back up) were completely torn up and in the middle of being repaved. So, no hills for me. It was like an early Xmas present! No, I'm kidding...I was disappointed.

Then, on the way back, I saw a little girl, maybe 5 years old, learning to roller skate. She had ski poles to help her stay upright--totally cute. "Good job!" I said as I rode by. She said, "thanks, I'm still just learning," to which I laughed and said, "me too!"

I'll never stop "still learning" to ride a bike.

[pfunk12]

I did a 31 mile solo ride in the early afternoon. It was a gorgeous day - in the low 70s. And the leaves still look beautiful. I decided to do hills in the beginning and then have a flat second half. As I was riding, it hit me - why does a 60 mile ride with friends seem to take twice as less time as a 30-mile solo ride? No, this is not one of those tricky math questions that you find in school text books! When I'm riding by myself, it feels like the odometer barely moves.
It was an uneventful ride except for one "incident". At one point, a guy decided to draft off of me. It was on a road with a lot of traffic. Because he doesn't know me and doesn't know how I ride (and vice versa), it always makes me nervous when some stranger latches on to my rear wheel. I could see his shadow and I could almost feel his breath on my neck (okay, I'm exaggerating) But then he passed me...and I looked at him...and it was like looking at Adonis on a bike! He was tall and lean and gorgeous and beautiful and gorgeous and...(did I mention that he was gorgeous? ) Any kind of irritation I was feeling went poof! And then he said, "Hi! How are you?! Nice day for a ride. Have a great ride!" And he took off. And I couldn't keep up with him. But I do think that he had to be the most beautiful cyclist that I've ever seen in person.

[tctrek]

It was a gorgeous, mild weekend here in GA. We did 20 miles yesterday all around a beautiful hilly area known as Berkley Lakes. It was so pretty that I didn't even complain about the hills. Today we did 22 miles on the Silver Comet Trail. We had planned to go further, but a large portion of the trail is washed out and closed after the "Flood of '09".

[owlice]

Okay, pfunk, just where were you riding?!?! I may need to switch trails!!

~~

As others have mentioned, DC/Maryland had gorgeous weather today -- perfect riding weather. A beautiful, sunny day, with the magnificently clear light of early November.

You know how it feels to be in water, how weightless and supported you feel, how smoothly you glide through it? That's what the air was like today here. It was almost as if there was no line, no divide, between me and the air; I could not feel the air at all, except as softness, smoothness, support. That's the kind of riding weather we had today.

I have not been on a bike in two weeks, and oh, how much I needed today's ride! Twenty miles on trails through woods, along the Anacostia, past deer, and under what must have been hundreds if not thousands of grackles getting ready to settle down for the night. It felt wonderful. It was wonderful!

[pfunk12]

Sounds like you had a great ride, Owlice. Next time, come off the trail and onto the road with me and we'll go and look for Adonis . If I see him again, I'm going to whip out my cellphone to take a photo.

[Miranda]

15mi loop to my favorite farm house. Whew, felt like A LOT more. This is the first time I have been out really since my crash. Wow, I'm so weak. Sure more body parts will be protesting tomorrow. But, as I encountered another cyclists on route it felt great... I thought: "I think I have re-joined the cycling-human-race" lol. So, it was worth it. As posted, beautiful unseasonally warm weather here in the midwest.