First outdoor ride of the year

[redrhodie]

I also didn't get to ride in yesterday's thaw, but I did get 2 rides in last week. There was still snow on the sidewalks, but no ice on the roads.

With the thaw, the roads are wet and all the sand the city throws down for traction on ice gets in every crevice on my bike. It's a drag to clean, and the main reason I think twice about riding on days like this. I really need fenders.

[Thorn]

Played hookey Friday afternoon and rode 15 miles down the bike trail in 28F....first time out this year. Trail was covered with ice, but the studded tires had me feeling invincible.

Saturday was predicted to get up to 37F with early morning temps at 25F. Excellent. We got on the road at 7:30AM so we would get to the indoor farmer's market before the good stuff was gone (mmmm.....bleu goat cheese....mmmmm). No time to double check the weather. It said it would be warming up, right?

Gee, it felt cold. No problem, it should be hitting 30F by the time we head back. Nope...really cold. Head wind. Odd...

Got home. 19F the whole time. New cold temp record for us. While it was nice to know we can get out when it is colder than we thought, where did my warm weather predictions go???? Weatherperson....why, oh, why do you tease me so????? I was looking forward to the 38F you claimed for today.....sigh....well, thanks for Friday and Saturday's rides. It was a nice change of pace.

[newfsmith]

I'm hoping the snow is rain down here. The road over Moose hill is finally wide enough that I could commute tomorrow if it doesn't snow tonight. That would give me 4 days straight of riding, the most since before Thanksgiving.

[SheFly]

I'm hoping the snow is rain down here. The road over Moose hill is finally wide enough that I could commute tomorrow if it doesn't snow tonight. That would give me 4 days straight of riding, the most since before Thanksgiving.

Sorry - supposed to be snow here. Less north. I just came from Maine where we WERE able to get out on the snowmobiles in NH on Friday, and skated in mashed potatoes at Sunday River yesterday. Man - they need some snow cover up there, BAD!

Did make it back down here for a ride with some of the team today. Two and a half hours on an "endurance" ride - yeah right! More like a tempo/LT interval ride . I think we were all so happy to be OUTSIDE and not on the rollers/trainers, that we threw our traning plans out the window.

Hoping for some snow to make the skiing better this week. Weston was pretty poor last Tuesday...

SheFly

[SLash]

Finally, things are warming up here in OK. I've been able to ride twice this year and hope to get another one in tomorrow. My riding goal for January was only 25 miles and I've almost doubled it -

We have had unusually cold weather here so have been riding the trainer (when I could make myself exercise ), so getting out on bike is nice.

Took this picture last week on a ride. The sun was brilliant, you can't see it too well in the pic, but there were lots of geese in and around the water - quite beautiful. I love to watch them fly and have almost ridden off the road doing so... the peleton in the sky.

I haven't been to the forum in awhile so thought I would check in.

Happy trails...

[tulip]

I rode 50 miles this past weekend--the longest I've been out so far this year. I did 30 miles on Friday and 20 on Saturday. I had planned on another 30 miler yesterday but it was pouring down rain. I don't ride in the rain. The weather looks reasonable for the rest of the week, so I hope to get out for at least a few more rides on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then a 50-miler on Saturday or Sunday.

I did surprisingly well on my rides--14mph even though I have hardly ridden since October. I guess getting out for 2-hours of dog walking every day helps.

[Crankin]

Well, it did snow overnight and I can't decide what it's doing now. Sleeting? Freezing rain? My plan was to ski alone at Great Brook Farm, including the "black" (it's not really) trail. Then, my friend called me when I was in class yesterday and she wants to go snow shoeing. I feel bad, since she hasn't been out on her new snow shoes yet and she wants to go with me. She's the one that just started riding about a year and a half ago. Anyway, I emailed her and told her to call me in the morning and I will decide based on conditions. The snow looks wet and heavy/slushy, so I am not sure the x country conditions will be that good.
Back to the trainer tomorrow.

[skinimini]

One New Year's resolution out of the way. 1st ride today since my leg and ankle injury Sept 1. Rode 10 easy flat miles and it felt so incredibly good. Ice on the ankle as we speak!

[tulip]

Today would have been a wonderful day to ride. It was sunny and mild. But I had so much work to get done, so I was good and did it. Or almost all of it. When you work from home, you don't get Federal Holidays off...but there are tradeoffs.

[Geonz]

Once you start sneaking out in a "thaw" you start realizing that a layer or two is all it takes... I stuck to in town errands 'cause we're having freezing fog. Invisibility on slick roads - no thanks
Hoping to get in 500 miles this month and I"m on track for it...

[owlice]

I got in a little ride today, after spending most of the afternoon at lunch with two friends, from 12:30 until 3!

Had a few things to do at home after that, and by the time I got to the trail, the sun had set. Just the usual close-to-home trail, so only 10 miles, but still fun! All the snow and ice on the trail have melted; I was bookin' along at what is pretty fast for me, at least while there was still some daylight. It was nice to not have to worry about ice skating while biking! Once it was completely dark, I had to slow down. I'm kind of thinking that perhaps I should add another light to my handlebars...

[Ritamarie]

I got out for a 32 mile road ride today. Fun! First time on my road bike since last year (Dec 31). It was nearly 50 degrees here. Felt more like March than January. And my bike felt like a feather compared to my cross bike.

[Bike Chick]

I got my first ride of the year in today. It warmed up to 50 degrees and I took off. Did 22 miles and it felt great!

[XMcShiftersonX]

I got out for a 40 miler with 2200 ft of climbing with my husband today, rolling hills and tiger moutain. It felt awesome, at least after the first 7 miles, when I was pushing as hard as I could go and couldn't go faster than 10 mph on a flat, and felt incredibly winded! Turned out my brakes were rubbing! After we fixed that it was back up to 16mph and I suddenly wasn't as tired! Also the descent on the mountain was awesome! There are few things better than flying down a hill so fast tears are rolling down your cheeks from the wind!

I was going to ask what people's favorite winter gear is? Mine are this craft jacket and pant that I just got. Both wind, rain, and cold protection. I just throw those on over a jersey and a pair of shorts and I'm good.

Its really nice to read everyone just getting out there despite the unfavorable weather. Good job! Its really inspiring for me to read.

[AnnieBikes]

After four rides in the last week of December, it got COLD, as in BITTER cold here. Our last ride was on the 30th. But, when the snow came and my boys came home from Colorado and brought their bikes, I knew we would get a ride in sometime. NOT!! We did, however, get in some great cross training with a hike to a fully frozen water fall on the Appalachian Trail...awesome! Then we did three snowshoe trips on the AT, every other day for six days. It was so cold, in the single digits, but oh how gorgeous it was in the woods. DH surprised us with a backpacking stove in his daypack, with hot chocolate for us. Only problem was that in the three hour climb, our water had frozen!! Well, melted snow worked very well, thank you!!

Anyway, we rode for the first time yesterday, with 1700' of climbing (where I live, every ride has over 1500'...very hilly in East TN) and 28 miles. Today it is pouring rain! He is training for the Southern Tier so I am staying in shape with him, but I could definitely feel the legs after a three week hiatus, except for the trainer which I got for Christmas. The next break in the weather looks like this coming weekend with rain all the way till then. I do not VOLUNTARILY ride in the rain!!!