Winter Riding Thread (December-February) Outside and Inside

[emily_in_nc]

DH and I rode the West Orange bike trail north and east today. We'd expected a pretty, warm day, but instead got an overcast, blustery one, and even though it was warmish (65-70), it felt cooler due to the lack o'sun and the wind. Since it's a US holiday, there were lots of other cyclists out on the trail for a Monday, and nearly all had cycling jackets on except for us, since ours are back in NC. Once we got warmed up, though, we were fine in shorts and bike jerseys.

DH's front brake cable frayed and nearly broke clear through, and he bought a replacement in town on the way back, but it doesn't fit (there's a little dongle on one end that doesn't match the one on his cable), so he's had to walk the 2 miles back to town to try to get one that will work. I felt so bad for him. He had already removed the bad cable so didn't dare ride his bike back, plus he'd already changed out of bike clothes.

The headwind on the way back made for a challenging ride, and my quads feel like we climbed quite a few hills because of it. 31.25 miles.

[rebeccaC]

part of my ride to the base of the eastern sierra nevada's….some perfect desert weather this time of year. got down to the H 50's to L 60's as i got closer to the mountains though. Lots of very lightly traveled side roads in the mojave which can create a quiet solitude feeling when riding especially with the landscape.. wildflowers coming up ftw……there is a 10+ occupant tortoise burrow close to where we are doing our work. We hiked over to it and the females are starting to come out. a one day el-nino storm came in today with some real gusts of wind. i had no thoughts of challenging weather gods and enjoyed listening to the storm as we worked. ellie and i are going to do a long ride in death valley this weekend so i'll have a couple of good rides on this trip.

.

[emily_in_nc]

Wow! That last photo is particularly stunning, Rebecca, but all are amazing, as always.

[Crankin]

OK, I went to spin class today, first exercise in recovering from the crud I've been dealing with. Well, I guess the 2 hikes in sub zero temperatures in Vermont should count, but no cycling, indoors or out in 2 weeks.
Class was empty, as it's school vacation week here and the "drama queens" were not there. I made sure I moderated my intensity (don't want to faint and get in the police log) and it went pretty well. Since the disease was not in my lungs, it's more the increased effort I am concerned about, as I still feel tired when I get up and earlier in the evening. Anyway, I have felt much worse after doing a class, and I did pace myself, which is hard for me. Had half a banana on the way home.
It is going to be about 50 on Saturday and Sunday, so I will ride outside. Feels like winter never happened.

[ny biker]

OK, I went to spin class today, first exercise in recovering from the crud I've been dealing with. Well, I guess the 2 hikes in sub zero temperatures in Vermont should count, but no cycling, indoors or out in 2 weeks.
Class was empty, as it's school vacation week here and the "drama queens" were not there. I made sure I moderated my intensity (don't want to faint and get in the police log) and it went pretty well. Since the disease was not in my lungs, it's more the increased effort I am concerned about, as I still feel tired when I get up and earlier in the evening. Anyway, I have felt much worse after doing a class, and I did pace myself, which is hard for me. Had half a banana on the way home.
It is going to be about 50 on Saturday and Sunday, so I will ride outside. Feels like winter never happened.

I'm glad you're on the mend. I wish I could say that it feels like winter never happened ... I've been finding the bad weather to be downright depressing. Like literally I spent this past Monday in my pajamas watching TV, unable to work up the energy to do anything else, while outside the snow turned to freezing rain that coated everything in ice. I'm mostly okay if it's cold and sunny but I just can no longer handle the feeling of being trapped indoors by winter storms. I think it's actually a combination of things -- when you add snow on top of stress at work and these damn perimenopausal mood swings, it just becomes overwhelming.

They've been saying that tomorrow will be sunny and warm with highs in the 60s. I planned a club ride with a stop at a bike-friendly deli that has outdoor tables. Now the Weatherbug app on my phone is saying it will be cloudy all day. Unfortunately when Weatherbug says the weather will be worse than every other local forecast, they are usually right. Meanwhile someone else has posted a ride at the same time as mine in an area where everyone but me loves to ride. The upshot of all this being that I suspect no one will come to my ride.

I hate feeling like this, I hope spring gets here soon.

(Sorry to be such a downer. I'm going to go look at photos of flowers and blue skies now.)

[Crankin]

You are right, NY, the way you feel is not just the weather. I was away last weekend, during the really freezing weather (-21 in Vermont, where I was), so despite being sick, I did get out for the 2 hikes, when it was between 0 and 20 degrees. We haven't had more than 4 days where I had to stay inside when I had planned to go outside. In fact, I rode 3-4 times in January outside, which I haven't done in 2-3 years. I feel like there's been no winter, because i haven't been able to enjoy the winter sports I love. Even when we went to the Mt. Washington area last month and than last weekend, the conditions for nordic skiing were either barely acceptable, or non-existent. My normal cold weather season is to keep riding until about the middle of December, with more hiking and gym in November and December, and then snow sports in January and February, maybe the first 2 weeks in March. The season here is very short and I just can't go up north every weekend. I feel like this weather is neither good for skiing or cycling and I have been at the gym too much. Can't get excited about my first ride of the season in March, because I haven't stopped riding outside.
I couldn't live somewhere where it was warm all year because of this. I like the change in activities.

[emily_in_nc]

Here ya go, NY! It has even been a little below normal here in Central Florida, but I did get these photos (unfortunately no blue sky) on today's bike ride. I love love love Redbuds as they are such a harbinger of spring in North Carolina. Here in Florida, spring comes a little earlier!

Attachment 17962 Attachment 17963

31.5 miles in fairly windy, mostly overcast conditions. Temps in the upper 60s.