March 6 Rides

[andtckrtoo]

Met up with my boss and his wife and did 25 miles over to Santa Cruz. Their daughter SAG'd for us, and drove us back. Gorgeous day, a great climb and an awesome descent, and some wonderful scenery. I really enjoyed it. I was also thrilled that my first climb of the season was so easy.

[Miranda]

Nothing epic to post, other than this week first ride of the year... sorta. Two whopping laps around the sub on the roadie for 1.5mi in the chilly but sunny midwest weather... and today took my mtb out on road to local park to meet the fm walking the dog. Just a few miles, but felt great to get outside! Hooray for Spring thaw!

[Owlie]

Today's ride was a bit of an adventure to say the least. I went out on the bike trail this morning. It was warmish (40s), but there was still snow and ice in the shady spots...a lot of snow and ice. I decided to go north on the trail rather than south as I normally do. Much of that part of the trail, it seems, is shaded. There were spots where you could conceivably get a road bike through. I guess I freaked out a bit, because I fell. Twice. The first time, I scraped my chin on the ice (nothing major, thankfully). I put the chain back on and walked until the path cleared. The second time, I fell on my shoulder and scraped up my knee. (I have no idea how I did that.) I was having trouble getting the chain back on, and this guy rode up and offers to help. We got the chain back on. It turned out he was from Texas, and not used to this whole snow-and-ice thing. He tried giving me the "keep your eyes on the road and you'll be fine" talk. It didn't work. I walked the bike again until it cleared.
I rode about 20 miles today, walking the spots where most of the trail was covered. I wasnt't the only one who wasn't expecting ice--I saw lots of roadies taking advantage of the first warm day in a while walking their bikes. I also found out that ODNR doesn't see fit to keep their restrooms open between November and April. This resulted in a hunt for a suitable clump of bushes or trees. Winter is not the time to be doing so. About 2/3 of the way through, I found myself wondering why my legs felt so tired. (I mean, I know I haven't done much since winter break, but really!) I stopped to get a drink of my fakerade (lemon juice, sugar and a bit of salt in water) and happened to look down--I was in my big chain ring and my highest gear. No wonder!

I ran into the Texan again in the parking lot--it turns out he fell several times after we parted ways.

[marni]

The SAG guy and I got in a 30 miler in spite of 20 mph headwinds for at least half of the trip. At least the temps were warm enough for a short sleeved jersey and no wind vest. I'm not sure whether he was holding back a bit or whether the jogging intervals are paying off but I actually passed him and pulled him through most of the headwinds and at a reasonable seed for me. After 2 weeks back on the bike after the accident and after a full week or training, I am starting to feel a bit more like myself and am getting my "I ain't scared of no headwinds" attitude back.

marni