February 14th ride

[HillSlugger]

I have never started a ride thread and the only reason I am doing it today is because I rode OUTSIDE for the first time since February 3rd! And I am soooooo happy . One of the shop riders sent out an e-mail yesterday saying that he was going to get out today and he asked if anyone wanted to join him. The responses varied from the enthusiastics YES to the ARE YOU CRAZY?! Granted, there is still a ton of snow out there but the sun is out and the roads are clear so why not? There were 9 guys and me (yes, lucky me!). We stayed inside the park. It was a great ride. There were some patches of snow and tons of potholes so you had to be alert. I did 31 miles and was covered from head to toe with mud. My entire face was brown with mud but that's what you get for riding in the back of the pack. Man, am I happy right now.

I would have loved to ride outside today. Instead, I did 22mi in the basement.

[jdubble]

I got to do the 40 (but it was really 46) mile Worst Day of the Year Ride with my sweetie, something that rarely happens these days. A perfect Valentine's treat!

And the weather was actually pretty great, all things considered. The rain stopped just as we started, and there was even some sun by the end.

It was the maiden voyage on my bike with my new 11-speed groupset, and boy did I need it. I would NOT have made it up the biggest hill on the ride without my new compact double and some extra gears. Oof. But it was a great ride. Didn't think I was that sore until I hopped on the xtracycle with the boys to go to the grocery and could barely peddle home.

[pfunk12]

I would have loved to ride outside today. Instead, I did 22mi in the basement.

I assume there's no safe place to ride out your way? That's the nice thing about Rock Creek Park.

[HillSlugger]

I assume there's no safe place to ride out your way? That's the nice thing about Rock Creek Park.

The main roads by me are barely full width; I have no idea about the more country roads I like to ride on. I guess I could have driven to Beach Drive.

[7rider]

Wonderful powder today at the small, Ski Cooper today in Leadville Colorado. We came to this small, family-oriented area to avoid the crowds of the big resorts and to get ourselves acclimated to the altitude. Of the many years I've been coming to Colorado, I think today was the first time we ever had more than about 3 inches of "powder". Empty trails, no lift lines (sloooow chairs), and a mix of snow showers and sun all day. It was fantastic.
Tomorrow is Breckenridge.

Have fun biking.

[Aggie_Ama]

My husband was sweet enough to encourage me to ride 18.5 miles with him. I felt terrible because the weather turned sour with a cold front coming in just as he set off for the rest of his ride. He was dressed for it but the winds got blustery, it was a beautiful ride while I was along!

[azfiddle]

Yesterday we had The "Valentine's Day ride" a day early. My DH and I went 38 miles in perfect Arizona winter sunshine. It was our first time on this route. The distance, and the ride profile were great as long as we didn't look too closely at the scenery- we were surrounded by copper mine tailings piles for half the ride.

Today, my Dh went running and I rode 42 miles with with a group that was just a bit too fast for me, especially after yesterday. They are a nice group and very encouraging, it was a beautiful route that I've done before, and they regrouped & waited for everyone about every 6-8 miles, but I was discouraged about dropping off the back almost every time. I felt like I was pushing myself to keep up, and couldn't and then ending up riding alone about half the time.

[pfunk12]

Wonderful powder today at the small, Ski Cooper today in Leadville Colorado. We came to this small, family-oriented area to avoid the crowds of the big resorts and to get ourselves acclimated to the altitude. Of the many years I've been coming to Colorado, I think today was the first time we ever had more than about 3 inches of "powder". Empty trails, no lift lines (sloooow chairs), and a mix of snow showers and sun all day. It was fantastic.
Tomorrow is Breckenridge.

Have fun biking.

Awesome, 7! Glad to hear your vacation started off so well. Enjoy!!!