February 18 rides

[Velobambina]

Completed the first two disks of Spinervals Hardcore 100. Total time--3 hours and about 35 minutes. I hadn't planned on doing the entire 5.5 hours, so I didn't eat anything before getting on the trainer. If I had planned properly in terms of nutrition, I think I could have made it through the entire thing.

This is a great Spinerval. Very do-able if you have a good base. I like all the sets. The third disk, which I've done two or three times, is the most difficult (2 hours, a lot of big, tough gear work). Playing my own tunes helps a lot, too.

I'm going to try to do the workout in its entirety some bad-weather Saturday or Sunday. But hopefully, we have had our final "no riding outside" weekend until next winter.

With some luck, tomorrow's rain and the rest of this week's warm temps will melt the ice pack so those of us here in the DC area can ride outdoors again in a couple of days.

[lauraelmore1033]

went on a group ride down to the bike swap. Very small group; speedy guy, slow guy and ride leader with a no rider left behind policy. It was supposed to be a social pace, but slow guy was toooo slow, so I tied to keep up with speedy guy who had an all riders left behind policy. On the leg back I managed to keep him in sight as we pushed a 16 mph pace (Man I LOVE this new bike!). I realized he was trying in earnest to lose me when he sped up to 18 mph and kept looking back. For some reason this really pissed me off and I became more determined not to be lost. He couldn't keep it up forever and I did eventually catch up with him. This was the point at which he decided suddenly to veer off the route. I was happy to let him go. 'Tis a hollow victory, of course; this was the "downward" leg of the course and gravity was on my side since I am heavier. If he'd tried to lose me on evn the slightest bit of uphill, I wouldn't have been able to keep him in sight.

[Derf]

Short ride with DH (still getting used to clipless pedals) and two friends (the husband is new to road biking, but seems like a "natural" and was used to moutnain biking, this was the wife's 3rd time out). Only 15 miles -- Marina Del Rey to the Manhattan Beach Pier and back. Short, but beats nothing!