March 14th rides

[gnarwhal]

I went out to the woods with my other half and we slogged up a very very long hill where i got to experience the advantages of my new Crank Bros clippy pedals and then we came down through the trees, on single track, roots and rocks and i got to experience the disadvantages of my new Crank Bros clippy pedals (or at least the disadvantage of not being used to them yet). Rode some stuff that i hadn't been able to last time; stormed through a rock garden section which had scared me pantless previously, powered through a boggy muddy section and managed a little teeny tiny drop off jump thing and a planked river crossing.

Windy but sheltered in the trees and we saw a pheasant and a squirrel and then a whole pond full of about 100 frogs and their spawn, they were so croaky that it sounded like a distant helicopter.

[kfergos]

We had a relatively warm day yesterday. I rode a pretty much flat 40-mile loop around the 'burbs of Boston and had a tailwind much of the way. People in Wellesley and Weston had jaw-dropping mansions! I can't believe the money out there! I got distracted and rode slowly, gaping like the country cousin, at some of those places. Yowzers.

Sadly the last 10 miles, along a really unpleasant, heavily-trafficked, no-shoulder road, buffeted me with a steady relentless headwind. Most of the ride I also went at what felt like an agonizingly slow pace (I averaged 14 mph, so 40 miles took me 3.5 hours) because I still have studded tires on my bike -- we did get snow last Monday! It's not too late for MORE snow! -- but at least it was warm enough that I did get to use clipless pedals for only the second time since November. Clipping in -- I forgot how great it was.

Today: Another 40-miler, hillier, but out in the boonies. Should be picturesque, at least, even if none of the plants have started turning green yet.

[channlluv]

I did 15 miles around my favorite five-mile loop at Lake Miramar. The weather in San Diego is mostly beautiful and the first 14 miles were beautiful, but just as I was heading for the fourth lap, a storm blew in and it got cold and damp, and I don't have a long-sleeve jersey or rain gear of any kind yet.

When are those new jerseys going to be ready?

Roxy