November Rides

[marni]

Wow, great stats Marni! 450 miles in just 2 1/2 hours!! ��

woops pardon my dislexic fingers. Obvously it was 45 not 450! Even 45 in 2 1/2 hours is pretty stypendous for me, I must have had a lot of tail wind or a total lack of wind 'cause I know I wasn't going up hill or down.

[Crankin]

NY, I suspect the knees are from 2 things: The amount of lunges, squats, jumping I do 2X weekly at the gym comboned with using the compact. My Guru has the same compact gearing +1 lower cog as my new bike. I also noticed the knee issue when I first started riding the Guru, and it still happened when I switched back and forth from the bike with the triple. But, not as much, over time. I just have to keep telling myself using the small ring on the compact is not the same as the granny on a triple (which I have no issue using!). You have to use the small ring on the compact a lot more, there's a lot more switching back and forth. My sweet spot with the compact gearing is a combo that is just a teeny bit cross chained; hence I try to use the next one up, which is harder than I am used to. Hopefully, I'll get used to it, since now this is all I have.
I've been using Speedplay Xs for 10 years. I had SPDs on my first road bike and switched over when I got the Trek 5200 in 2004. I have Speedplay Frogs on my Guru, so lots of float on both bikes. My sense is if I stopped the stuff at the gym, the knees would not hurt, but really, I am not doing that much there and just with baby type weights of 6-16 pounds. I just have to get my body used to it. It's not pain, just achiness around the outside of the kneecap from the medial point, around almost the whole way, but not on the top.

[BlessedB]

Did a lovely 28.5 with girlfriends on Saturday, (LOTS of wind), plus an additional 10 miles looking for my iPhone, which slipped out and disappeared. Sunday only did 20, but for whatever reason (wind even worse) it felt like 40. Too sick to ride so far this week, but hopefully by Friday can get in a few miles at least - just itching to ride! This is prime riding season in Florida; I can't believe how much easier it is without the summer heat and humidity.

[marni]

40 very windy miles in 3:00 hours. The brief tailwind we had allowed me to coast down off the freeway overpass and the 1/4 mile to the stop sign without pedaling. On the other hand it was peaking at 19 when we headed back into it. Gotta love the flat Texas prairie and the howlin winds.

on the other hand that gives me another 125 miles or more week.

[Crankin]

So, only in New England would I be x country skiing yesterday (awesome) and riding today. It was warm (50 ish), but the roads were in so-so condition from our recent snow. We didn't get that much here, but it is melting. Didn't want to take the new bike out, but I want to test some changes I made. So, I settled on a 14 mile ride that had lots of hills.
Upside is, I spent more time in the small ring and my knees are fine. Going to put the saddle height back to where the shop had it, after raising it a snitch. Jury still out on the Oura, but, with the very, very slight tilt up in the front, I only felt mild pressure in my left glute and nothing when I finished riding.
The LBS will call me when my 2nd bottle cage comes in and I will discuss the saddle with them when I bring the bike there for them to put the cage on. I hope I have at least a couple of more rides out side this year. Apart from the saddle, the bike still feels just dreamy smooth. I did clean my bike when I got back, which is a miracle for me.

[ny biker]

Due to a schedule change at work, I ended up going back to my original holiday weekend plan of driving back here late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, instead of making the trip on Monday. The weather today was warm, in the 60s with sun, so I forced myself out of bed for a club ride this afternoon. The route was 31 miles and very flat, and the pace was fast, which was okay for a while, and then I really wanted to slow down but couldn't because everyone else was riding fast. I finished with an average speed of 15.4 mph, which was about 1 mph faster than I had expected. Afterwards a few of us went to nearby coffee shop, where I had a nice peppermint hot chocolate.

Much of the route was on the shoulder of busy roads, and there was lots of broken glass along the way. So I give a thumbs up to the Mavic tires that came with my Ksyrium Equipe wheels, because they made it through without any problems.

And so November is done and dusted; meteorological winter starts tomorrow. We're expecting some roller-coaster weather this week, and I don't know yet if I'll be able to ride outdoors. I guess I should get the indoor trainer out of storage, just in case.

[Owlie]

Got out for a ride with BF's family yesterday. 10.28 (or thereabouts; I didn't pay attention to the mileage before I set off) miles. Good weather (though there wasn't as much wind as usual, so my long-sleeve base layer got a bit warm after 30 minutes or so), relatively little traffic, and I actually remembered to eat this time.