November 10 weekend rides

[Catrin]

Events out of my control prevented me from riding yesterday, though it was nice. Today I manged to ride 24.5 miles and it felt great For the first time in some time my knee was happy with my finding hills and climbing them - and I did better than expected.

Beautiful, if windy, afternoon. I started, and ended, in my favorite park but headed out of the park to find some hills and to inflict wind upon myself. I had a Guilliana23 sighting, as well as a couple of others I knew. It was a fun ride!

[Owlie]

14.8 miles after work. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow morning before work and get a long ride in. I haven't done anything over 20 since September, and it's starting to get on my nerves.

[AppleTree]

Catrin, good you were able to get out after your "incident" yesterday. Wow.

Today I did my usual weekend 25+ miles up to the arboretum. It was a cold start, in the 30s but the trail was clear and no frost...some along the side though, in the shade. I forgot my water bottle and had to stop and buy water. That's how it started out.

I had the closest call I've had yet to getting hit...and by no less than a giant Ford Silverado pickup... I was going straight, he was at a stop sign ready to cross the road, I could see him look to his right and then left... I slowed down just to make sure he saw me...and as I got right in front of him he started to go. I SCREAMED... REALLY LOUD... and he stopped...waved at me as if to say "sorry about that".... moron. I know he looked my way and just didn't "see" me because I was a bike... even though I had a flashy light and bright green jacket on. He was with two feet of hitting me. Shook me up a little bit.

To top it off as I was getting close to home I got chased by a dog... nice. Good thing I was going downhill, I outran him.

Other than that it was a great ride...sunny, crisp fall northwest day.

Be safe everyone!

[happyscientist]

Beautiful weather here this weekend after a couple weeks of cold. Yesterday, I rode out to watch an area cyclocross race and ended up climbing some much steeper hills than I anticipated. When I got home, I mapped it out and saw that one was 13.8%, a personal record. My quads are still tired. I hope I can keep up with the guys today.

[BikeHN]

43 miles & 5100 feet of climbing over the foothills parkway & back in beautiful E. Tennessee. It was a tough day in the saddle but great weather & scenery.

[TrekDianna]

16.5 yesterday and it looks like we'll be heading out today also. We're exploring backroads in all directions.

[velo]

Indian summer-like weather with upper 60'sF, but super windy. I managed to get out Thursday - Sunday. Actually rode 5 days this week total, which is unusual for November (for me, anyway, in the upper midwest). I got in a total of 138 miles, although this morning was SOOO incredibly windy... my ride was just shy of 25 before it started gusting over 30mph and I called it a day. This week I made my goal for 2012, which was 3000 miles. That was about 4.5 months of riding, since I started back to riding late, in June. I'm pretty happy with that and will now start thinking about winter riding goals and what I think I can do in 2013. This time I'll have the whole season to plan for and I'm hoping for a mild winter like last year to get an early start. I'll put the trainer skewer on my Klein and if I do any outside riding, it will be on my LeMond, as starting tomorrow, the weather is shaping up to be a slushy, cold mess. It was a glorious weekend and I'm hoping to end it with some hiking this afternoon with the family.

[OakLeaf]

What a glorious day. I read that it's not Indian Summer until after November 11 - if it's on November 11, does it count?

I still can't climb hills at all without aggravating the numbness, but I'm continuing to build, and today was a milestone: for the first time in months I rode farther than I had to drive to the bike path (which is the nearest flat place to ride) - 25 miles.

It was extra nice because I came up on two other women from my club whom I hadn't seen since the spring, and chatted with them for a couple of miles.

So glad to be out.

[Crankin]

I did not ride yesterday, as I caught up on chores I put off until after my exam. I did go on a 4 mile hike on my local trail from my neighborhood; I had not been in there since last early spring, because of the tic situation.
Today we did 33 miles from Boxborough to Groton and back. An old favorite ride, with the part on a busy road re-routed to a different road, which was very nice. It's warmish, about 61, but very windy. For once, I brought appropriate changes of gear to deal with rising temperatures and I was fueled and hydrated properly. We rode slowly, and I really enjoyed myself and felt good. Stopped to eat our sandwiches at Groton Dunstable HS, where there was a judges tables by the field and a nice port a potty. What more could a cyclist want?

[gocard]

Went out for a ride on a beautiful crisp autumn day. It was in the low 60s, blue skies and very windy, which made it feel a lot colder on a bike. I rode 21 miles, on one of my favorite routes but it felt so much harder this time since I was riding against the wind. I went slower than I did previously, but it was some good resistance training. Love the freedom and fresh air I get from riding my road bike! It's so much better than riding on a stationary one.

[TrekDianna]

cold, rainy and windy today, but we did 35.03 miles.

[thekarens]

Road safety class followed by a very short 5 miles. Learned a lot and now we're certified if we decide to do the MS-150.

[DebSP]

The temperature in southern Ontario was fabulous today although a little windy. But I did 40 miles today. Half was gravel grinding and the other half was on the road. I wear my ankle high hiking boots to gravel grind and got some strange looks from the road bikers that were out and about today! (At least I hope it was just by hikers!)

[TrekDianna]

Road safety class followed by a very short 5 miles. Learned a lot and now we're certified if we decide to do the MS-150.

I would love to do one of those. I end up in Houston a few times a year.

[thekarens]

I would love to do one of those. I end up in Houston a few times a year.

It was a lot of fun. Let me know next time you're here. If you'd like we can go out for a ride and if you're interested in a class (assuming there's one being put on at that time) the information will be posted here: http://www.northwestcyclingclub.com/ and on their FB page. They also have a ride every Saturday.