March 27th Rides

[Crankin]

OK, you guys are waaay ahead of me in the miles; I think I have 157 for the year. Hope to clear 200 or more by the end of the weekend. This is a bad week for me for riding. Tonight my students are putting on a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." So, although I will head home before coming back to school tonight, I don't have time to ride. And, it's really nice out. Tomorrow I have a dentist appt. at 4:20 (I postponed from last week, so I could ride!). I could bring my bike to school, change and ride around school or the area near the dentist for an hour, but I am not sure that when I get home tonight I will be coherent enough to get all my stuff ready. Or, I could wait and ride at 5:30 or 6. Friday is going to be 60 out but, I have theatre in Boston, so we leave at 4:30 or so. I will probably go to spin in the morning before school.
Is this sick? The whole season is ahead of me, and I am ancy that my miles are low.
SheFly, I give you credit for sprinting up Strawberry Hill Rd. My husband also pushed me yesterday, but thankfully, it was flat. My average was 16 something until we got to Annursnac Hill (my street), so I ended up with 15.8, which is very good for an old lady like me.

[SheFly]

Is this sick? The whole season is ahead of me, and I am ancy that my miles are low.
SheFly, I give you credit for sprinting up Strawberry Hill Rd. My husband also pushed me yesterday, but thankfully, it was flat. My average was 16 something until we got to Annursnac Hill (my street), so I ended up with 15.8, which is very good for an old lady like me.

No worries - it is still REALLY EARLY in the season! Don't fret over your mileage yet.

Oh - and we call your street "Anneurysm Hill" I HATE that hill.....

SheFly

[Crankin]

SheFly, you can come visit me and have the pleasure of going up my driveway, too, after doing the hill. I have to say, that after 1 year, 4 months, my perception of hills has changed. I used to live in Boxboro, NEAR big hills in Harvard, but if I wanted to go out for a small after work ride, I didn't have to go that way.
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger????

[indysteel]

I had a great ride last night. I met up with my friends Tracy and Warren around six. The forecast had called for scattered storms, but the skies looked relatively clear. It was probaby about 78 degrees and the winds seemed calm.

We did a route that our local club has marked for a training ride. I rode it a lot last year, and it's one of my favorites for no other reason than there's little traffic and most of the road surfaces are good. We thought we might encounter some wind but it was relatively light. We ended up doing a little less than 29 miles, at an average speed of 17.17. At one point, I had to sprint after a stop to catch up with my friends and got the bike up to 27 mph in the process. Weeeeeee.

I have to say that I feel considerably stronger than I did last year. We had a few surges last night that were awesome, and I still had energy to burn. I'm pushing gears that I only dreamed about last year. I generally like to spin at or around 90, but I'm also getting more comfortable slowing my cadence down a bit and using a bigger gear. I'm going to have to start using my big ring more often because I'm running out of cogs with my middle ring. I feel like all my spinning and yoga over the fall/winter is really paying off.

Warren is arranging a trip to Asheville over Memorial Day and I officially committed myself to going last night. This will be my first cycling-specific trip. I'm pretty nervous about whether I'm ready for some challenging riding, but I have a couple of months to train and I'm feeling more confident after every ride. One way or another, I'm going to learn to climb this year.....

What fun!!!!

Kate