January rides -- outdoors!!

[SheFly]

We went out again last night here in Maine on the fat bikes. Temps in the late afternoon were around 18F, but falling FAST. We dressed much the same as we had for our colder ride earlier in the week, and set out to see what the trails were like.

In a word, I can only say, the conditions were AWESOME! The snowmobile trails had been recently groomed, and it was so much FUN. Unfortunately, that dropping temp provided some big challenges - we had over-dressed and then hit a couple of big climbs reasonably hard (stupid Strava), so were wet. Worse was that my feet were starting to freeze, and we still had a long way to go to get back home. We rode the sweetest downhill trail imaginable to the road, and slogged it back from there. The entire time, I was making balls with my feet to try to keep circulation flowing and get my feet away from the cleat area.



We made it home safely to find the temp was now at 9 degrees. Everything was toasty with the exception of my feet. We were both a bit disappointed - the conditions were so good that we wanted to just keep on going!

Oh - and DH has just manufactured a rack system for the fat bikes such that he (we) can ride to go and ski . This is what happens when your DH is "retired".



SheFly

[ny biker]

Oh - and DH has just manufactured a rack system for the fat bikes such that he (we) can ride to go and ski . This is what happens when your DH is "retired".



SheFly

Are those rain gutters? They look like rain gutters.

I have recently discovered the miracle that is shearling insoles. I have them in several pairs of boots and in my sneakers. They're pretty fluffy when new, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get them tamped down enough to fit them in my bike shoes and still have room to wiggle my toes. I think that would be a game changer.

[SheFly]

Are those rain gutters? They look like rain gutters.

I have recently discovered the miracle that is shearling insoles. I have them in several pairs of boots and in my sneakers. They're pretty fluffy when new, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get them tamped down enough to fit them in my bike shoes and still have room to wiggle my toes. I think that would be a game changer.

Yup - rain gutters. He was planning on using PVC, but this solution was less expensive. When we loaded the bikes into the truck to head north this past week, it looked like rocket launchers on the back .

The shearling insoles sound like a good idea, but I'm not sure those would fit into my shoes... Let me know how you make out with that!

After another day of rain and ice in Maine (and a thwarted attempt at riding the trails on Saturday - too icy for me to manage), we headed back south yesterday morning hoping to connect with our teammates for a road ride. For those of you that know the area, I emailed the team at 10:06 am from I-95 in Newburyport that we would TRY to intersect with them at the five corners intersection in Stowe/Acton at 11:45 - and we had to stop at the house first to unload, change, and gear up! We managed to leave the house in Bedford at 11:03, rode like maniacs, and connected with the team at 11:48 I was already pretty much totalled at that point, but that was just the ride to the ride!

Like ny biker, we had nicer temps yesterday - probably mid 40s, but it was windy. We ended up with almost 65 hilly miles (3700 feet) in just over 3.5 hours. I was DONE by the time we got home, and thankful that I was able to sit an watch the live feed of CX Nationals the remainder of the afternoon.

SheFly

[Crankin]

Yah, no wonder you were toasted. I know how long it took me to get to that intersection on my former commute....

[emily_in_nc]

I feel so very fortunate reading posts from those of you who live north. We enjoyed another upper 60s-70-degree day yesterday, and I rode 40 miles on my road bike for the first time in over a year (I think). I've done that distance on my MTB a couple of times in the past year but am not sure about the roadie since I haven't been tracking my miles until this year when I decided to get back to tracking on bikerides.com.

It was windy but nice, and I enjoyed wearing my new high-viz quick-dry top I picked up at Walmart for a cool $8.97. It's Danskin brand. Normally I don't shop at Walmart for athletic wear, but it was an impulse buy since I had no long-sleeve high-viz stuff and wanted to make sure drivers could see me while riding around here. Although the vast majority of this ride was on the road, we rode a short stretch on the packed sand of the Padre Island National Seashore -- beach bikes would be really fun here!

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[ny biker]

I feel so very fortunate reading posts from those of you who live north. We enjoyed another upper 60s-70-degree day yesterday, and I rode 40 miles on my road bike for the first time in over a year (I think). I've done that distance on my MTB a couple of times in the past year but am not sure about the roadie since I haven't been tracking my miles until this year when I decided to get back to tracking on bikerides.com.

It was windy but nice, and I enjoyed wearing my new high-viz quick-dry top I picked up at Walmart for a cool $8.97. It's Danskin brand. Normally I don't shop at Walmart for athletic wear, but it was an impulse buy since I had no long-sleeve high-viz stuff and wanted to make sure drivers could see me while riding around here. Although the vast majority of this ride was on the road, we rode a short stretch on the packed sand of the Padre Island National Seashore -- beach bikes would be really fun here!

Attachment 16888

I am jealous!!

Yesterday was the halfway-point for meteorological winter -- 45 days down, 45 to go. (Meteorologists track the seasons by calendar month -- winter is Dec 1 - Feb 28 (or 29), spring is March 1 - May 31, etc. I like to celebrate the arrival of spring on March 1, rather than waiting for the equinox.)

I have tentative plans for an outdoor ride this Sunday, to test out the new AmFib tights.

[emily_in_nc]

Another 40-miler to the national seashore and back yesterday. Almost a carbon copy of Tuesday's ride -- stiff breeze on the way there and nice tailwind on the way back. Temps in the upper 60s with bright sunshine. Today is a bit cooler, upper 50s, with a stiff NE breeze. DH is doing a recovery ride as he did 55 miles yesterday. I just did a 45-min walk/run on the gym treadmill and some light weights today as I had no desire to fight the wind on a cooler day. And my butt is tired of the saddle, so it's nice to have a break.

I was really pleased not to have any pain yesterday from my nearly 9-year old pelvic fracture. It continues to ache at times when I ride, mostly when I do a lot of hills or don't get off the saddle to stretch frequently enough. Yesterday was a good day, especially for the amount of time in the saddle (3 hours).

Hope everyone will be seeing warmer weather soon!