November Rides?

[emily_in_nc]

I hope some others got to ride today!

DH and I had an excellent ride on our road bikes. Not too long, just 21+ miles, but absolutely perfect fall weather. Started out around 55F and ended around 63. Sunny, light breeze (nothing like the 30-50 mph gusts we had on Friday -- no, we did not even attempt to ride!) Foliage is getting to be past peak but was still pretty. I felt really strong today, for some reason, and hills seemed easier than normal. Perhaps this is due to a good night's sleep last night, or just enjoying the weather, or the lighter winds, but whatever it was, I'll take it.

Tomorrow will be our errand ride on mountain bikes -- we need to hit several grocery stores for different sale items. The high is only to be 56, which means maybe 50 at the time we'll be riding since the high is at 4pm, and we don't like riding that late in the day.

Monday morning a serious cold front is supposed to blow through, bringing very chilly temps for the rest of the week, so after tomorrow we probably won't ride again until next weekend. Sigh...

[ny biker]

We're expecting that cold front here on Tuesday. In the meantime, we had a bit of a front pass through today. It brought winds from the NW, 15 mph gusting to 30 or more. Nonetheless the sun brought a bit of warmth and the sky was blue and there are still some colored leaves on the trees. I led a 41-mile club ride in a beautiful rural area in southern Maryland. It was great. The wind didn't seem too bad for most of the ride, but my legs were pretty tired so I guess it was working against us.

We've reached the time of year when water fountains in parks are turned off for the winter, which takes away some tried-and-true rest stops in my favorite cycling areas. I need to work on identifying some alternatives.

Now I'm watching Casablanca on TCM. One of those movies that gets better every time you watch it...

Anyway, I seems pretty definite that it will be too cold for my post-work bike ride on Wednesday, but I'm hopeful I'll be able to do a club ride in rural Virginia on Saturday.

[Catrin]

Crankin - happy belated birthday!!! I hear you about not knowing how to dress to ride this time of the year. I either dress too warm or I freeze, can't seem to find that middle ground.

[emily_in_nc]

Ended up with over 35 miles today. We rode our MTBs to the paved bike trail (Indian Creek), rode the trail (pretty busy today with dog walkers, runners, and other riders), then came back a different way to stop by Aldi for some groceries. Turns out they had everything we needed (at amazing prices), so we didn't even have to go elsewhere. Good thing, as we were both getting tired and hungry by this point. Temp. was right at 50 starting out and about 59 at the end of the ride. We layered appropriately and were pretty comfortable throughout the ride.

Looks like no riding for us until next Saturday at the earliest. It's gonna be a COLD week. Stay warm everyone!

[emily_in_nc]

Yesterday we did a 20-mile afternoon ride on the road bikes. Temp was in the mid-50s with sunshine, and it was very breezy with sustained winds in the 20-25 mph range and gusts to 30. Challenging, to say the least, but wonderful during the stretches when we had a tailwind! Still, that much wind really takes it out of me, and 20 miles was plenty. (Truth be told, I was ready to quit after 10, but DH soldiered on, so I sucked it up and did better than I expected!)

Today it was less windy, a little warmer (low 50s starting out, 60 at mid-afternoon peak), and still sunny. We took the MTBs out and planned for a usual loop involving 5 miles on the road to a paved bike trail, ride to the end of the trail and back, then 5 miles back home with an errand stop on the way back. 34 miles total. However, DH got a call as we were riding on the path that his glasses were ready at Walmart (3 days early!), so we detoured and did 10 extra miles to/from Walmart for a total of 44.5 miles. We didn't take enough food for that long a ride so bought a box of granola bars at our grocery stop near the end and demolished a couple of bars apiece. That gave us the energy to finish the last few miles to home. Since this was an urban ride with many stops and street crossings, we ended up with 4 hours of saddle time, but I felt amazingly good. I guess all the miles over the past few months have finally paid off! I am also at my lowest weight in years despite plenty of eating, so that is good too going into the holiday "eating season".

Tomorrow winds are supposed to be up to 40 mph as a front comes through, so we're going to walk to the farmer's market and take a well-earned day off the bikes. Hope some of you get some good weekend weather for riding -- it gets harder to find good days to ride this time of year, but we've been pretty lucky, especially considering we had a low of 14 earlier this week!

[OakLeaf]

I got out for a short, easy ride with a couple of the older guys from the club. It was pretty much all any of us were up for today. I realized that it was actually cycling where I tweaked my foot a couple of weeks ago, though the half-marathon probably primed it. The pain is gone since the osteopath worked on it, but it still doesn't feel quite right, probably will be a week or two before everything heals back where it's supposed to be, so taking it easy was good. The weather's supposed to turn overnight, so even though it was cloudy and humid and felt chillier than the thermometer said, it was good to get out.

[Catrin]

I came THIS close to finally getting back on the bike today...but am not quite ready so went trail running instead. Perhaps next weekend It IS starting to sound attractive again however, and that is a good thing. Reading about the weekend adventures is helping a lot! Something rather traumatic happened a month ago that I am going to eventually post about that took me off the bike for a time. I've written 4 posts about it here, and deleted every one of them

[emily_in_nc]

I came THIS close to finally getting back on the bike today...but am not quite ready so went trail running instead. Perhaps next weekend It IS starting to sound attractive again however, and that is a good thing. Reading about the weekend adventures is helping a lot! Something rather traumatic happened a month ago that I am going to eventually post about that took me off the bike for a time. I've written 4 posts about it here, and deleted every one of them

So sorry about that, Catrin -- you'll know when it's time to talk about it, if ever. Glad you feel that you're almost ready to get back on the bike. It will be there waiting when it's time...one thing I love about bikes.

[Crankin]

I rode today, for the first time in 10 days or so. It was really nice out, though, it did feel a little cooler than the 59 degrees it was. It was sunny, though. At this time of year, the shadows are long, especially around where I live, since it's woodsy and shady on a lot of the roads I ride on. Was glad I had my neon jacket on, and part way through the ride, the rear blinkies went on. It almost feels like the sun is going down, any time after 2 PM! Tons of riders out today. We let another couple pass us on the bottom of Strawberry Hill, since this is a warm up for us. But, we did pass them on the climb, which kind of tired me out, since it's in the first 3 miles from my house. We rode a regular loop, but one that goes a little further afar and I don't do it as often. One of the roads is designated as a scenic bike route, and it really is. Both of us are just slower than usual, but we picked it up by the end and got our average at the lower end of respectability for me.
The ride was 21 miles and I finally achieved 2K miles today. I know this is more than 99% of the people in the US, but this is my lowest mileage in 6-7 years. I've still been active, with other things, but next season is going to be rededicated to riding. We are in the early stage of booking a bike trip that goes from Lisbon to the Spanish border next October. Although the riding is not as strenuous as most of the other trips I've done, I want to ride more.

[Owlie]

I came THIS close to finally getting back on the bike today...but am not quite ready so went trail running instead. Perhaps next weekend It IS starting to sound attractive again however, and that is a good thing. Reading about the weekend adventures is helping a lot! Something rather traumatic happened a month ago that I am going to eventually post about that took me off the bike for a time. I've written 4 posts about it here, and deleted every one of them

(((Catrin))) Your bike will still be there. They're remarkably patient.


Did 19.3 miles today. I should not be this sore. I feel like I'm starting from scratch with every ride. I really should take the Charge out one of these days, since I got the brakes fixed.

[ny biker]

Damn it was cold out there today. The thermometer in my car said it was 50 degrees but that cold NW wind made it the coldest 50-degree day I've felt in a while.

I had originally planned to do a 30-mile club ride this morning, but when I checked the hourly forecast last night it showed temps in the mid-30s at start time, so I didn't bother to set the alarm. I figured I would do a short hilly ride close to home in the afternoon instead. When I woke up I found that the temps had not dropped as much as predicted overnight and I could have done the club ride. Oh well. Then I decided that instead of staying here in Arlington I would drive over to Maryland to ride in a nice rural area near the Patuxent River. I mapped out a 29-mile route, tried and failed to get my printer to print the cue sheet, hand-wrote the cue sheet and finally headed out around 2 pm. By the time I got to the ride start and began the ride, it was almost 3:00.

I tried something new today -- instead of wearing shorts under my tights I wore some old Shebeest knickers. My hope was that my legs would be warmer with the inner layer extending down below my knees. It definitely did help keep the cold out. I also wore my Showers Pass jacket with two layers underneath, and a wool cap under my helmet. Unfortunately I was still a bit cold. For the first half of the ride my legs were cold, and for the second half my legs were okay but my torso and ears were cold. I ended up altering the route as I rode and shortened it to 20 miles. Despite the chill, I was glad I made the effort.

I really need to get into the habit of riding indoors during the week in order to stay in shape for any weekend outdoor rides I manage to do this winter. I'm going to start this Tuesday night. I'm committing to it here so that you can all shame me if I give in to the laziness.

I also really need to start the cold weather rides earlier, around noon or 1:00, to take advantage of the sun while it at its highest.

[marni]

worst ride so far this month. Temps in the low 40's, winds from the NE at 15-20 mph guting in the 20s and 30s. Manged 35 miles on a charity ride. Wind seems to be the bette noir for November.

[ny biker]

For the record, I did ride on the indoor trainer tonight. It was almost 10 pm by the time I finished cleaning the bike and got going, but with Bullitt on TCM (muted) and Foo Fighters in my ear buds, I did 50 minutes, shifting up and down with the music and watching Steve McQueen chase bad guys through San Francisco.