November Rides?

[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.

[ny biker]

I did a 46-mile club ride today out in Virginia horse country, in the area of The Plains and Middleburg. It's probably been more than a year since I've been out that way, and much of today's ride was on roads I've never been on before. The weather forecast called for cloudy skies with highs around 60. However when I checked the hourly forecast this morning, it said temps would not get above the high 40s, and that turned out to be more accurate -- it was 50 at 3 pm when we finished. Combined with the complete lack of sun, it was quite chilly. My new Gore Ultralight jacket worked well to keep me warm enough, but my legs and feet were a bit cold at times with my Midzero tights and PI Elite booties. Still, it was a nice ride with a great group of people.

I was planning to do other things tomorrow, but a friend is planning a short low-pace ride so I might join him for that. Not sure if I can manage, though.

[missjean]

It's nice to read about everyone's rides! In between work and house renovations, I have not been on my bike for about 3 weeks. :-(



.

[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.

[emily_in_nc]

Forgot to report on my week's rides. Before it got so incredibly frigid the last few days, DH and I did a couple of week-day rides last week. First one was a really short seven miler. The following day was MUCH better, though it was still quite windy. We rode the Indian Creek Trail west to the terminous in Olathe, around several detours/construction and back, stopping to run a couple of grocery errands at the end before heading home. Total mileage was over 46 and over 4 hours of saddle time (urban riding on mountain bikes is not fast). Fortunately, we had the wind to our back most of the way home, or I may have fallen by the wayside. It was an intense but good day!

Here I am, literally at the end of the trail. Kinda abrupt stop to it with no signage at all!

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[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.