March rides.....riding into the days of the Spring equinox

[Crankin]

I did a 15.5 mile ride that I've done to death...
It was 42 and brightly sunny out. May have been a tad overdressed, but, I unzipped.
I need to be kinder with myself at this time of year, but it felt hard, the little hills especially. Considering how much I've been at the gym, and the fact that I have ridden through winter for the first time in 3 years, you would think it would be easier.
Lots of cyclists out today, too.

[rebeccaC]

Interesting commute this morning, high 40’s, torrential rain, BIG thunder/lighting even causing car alarms to go off, 25+ mph wind, 15ft surf, getting me way out of my comfort zone…..is that all you’ve got El Nino??? Stopping at Intelligensia for some oolong tea and a cherries and creamy chocolate gateau basque helped. Castelli Donnina rain jacket, Marmot rain pants, Izumi shoe covers and Ibex wool rain cap ftw

The weather is suppose to be back to the 70’s tomorrow and then storms again at the end of the week….thinking it’s going to be a crazy March!!!!!!

[ny biker]

To be honest, Rebecca, the conditions you describe are well within my "too dangerous for cycling" parameters. I'm glad you made it without problems.

I had five club members join me for the ride I led yesterday. It was a similar route to one that I did in early January and frankly the weather was better then -- the temps were the same on both days (mid 40s) but in January we had lots of sunshine whereas yesterday was very gray and cloudy. For the first few miles I was worried that I wasn't wearing a warm enough jacket. Fortunately I was more comfortable after we got going, and the sun made a surprise appearance twice during the ride. In all it was 34 miles.

The last few miles were on a rail-trail. When we reached it one member of our group said that we should go ahead because she planned to slow down. So we went ahead. When we reached the end, we waited a long time before we saw her. She had started to feel dizzy from dehydration so she stopped at one of the many benches along the trail and finished off the water in her water bottles. So two good lessons there -- first, it's easy on colder days to forget that you still need to drink enough to stay properly hydrated, and second, I should have gone back to look for her rather than waiting for her to arrive at the finish.

We're enjoying nice warm spring weather this week. I'm not putting the Windstopper booties and Amfib tights away yet, but I am hopeful that I won't need them again for a long time.

[rebeccaC]

NY...The thunder/lightning was the only difference from earlier rides I’ve done in some of these el nino storms. The thunder actually caused some shaking for a few seconds and hearing car alarms going off was really different. The lightning/thunder started a little before sunrise, just after i left home and I wasn’t expecting it. The lightning gave off very bright flashes in the dawn light but was off in the distance coming from a group of cumulonimbus clouds so I wasn’t too worried about that. Being warm and dry is what matters most to me....i see the weather as just an interesting adventure

My ride home on the beach bike path part was a LOT calmer, in the high 50’s with a nice sunset but still some wind (lots of wind ripples in the sand from the morning)…..both rides made for an interesting commute today

[Crankin]

Did a 31 mile ride with the group today; it was 57 at the start and 77 at the finish . Had the arm warmers down after a mile and took my knee warmers off at mile 12.6, when we stopped at Great Brook. I felt pretty good today (a miracle for me). It was mostly the "big boys" out today and I was able to keep up, albeit they are not that fast compared to real fast. The real fast riders, who are in the invitation only group I got sucked into, also started at the same time/place, but they were off to ride 68 miles for someone's 68th birthday. Not ready for that, and probably never will be with those guys.
We had one traffic altercation, which could have been really bad. Thankfully, I was near the back and bunch of riders were turning left onto a side street, from a busier street in Acton. Not a highway, but a busy road. They kind of moved over to the left abruptly, but they were together, but they didn't signal. A dumb azz tried to pass them, as they were moving and turning, and 2 of the riders had to make evasive moves. Of course, he was a jerk, but I never assume anything and if they were on a ride I was leading, I would have really laid into them for not signaling.
I felt really tired at the end, but I came right home and ate, as I have to go get my haircut, so I couldn't stay for the lunch at Verrill Farm.

[rebeccaC]

Rode in Oxnard to take some photos…just a relaxing day, wandering, no place to be, just gliding through the afternoon….don’t know mileage, temps etc…ended the ride with a sunset. Good day

[azfiddle]

I rode a quick 13 miles Wednesday after work - last ride on the Ruby before Thursday's fateful incident with the bike rack. Nice weather, and good to get out the stress of the last week of work before spring break.

Saturday, I did errands in the morning and then got out on the Surly. It was breezy so I planned about 20 miles with less of a headwind on the way home. I was surprised how stable the Surly felt in the wind. I didn't mind riding the heavier bike, but I am really looking forward to getting back on the reconstruction version of the Ruby Weds!.

[Helene2013]

Considering my tibial plateau fracture 10 weeks ago (now healed) and ortho/surgeon saying past Tuesday I was to resume my life (gym) progressively, we took our cyclocross out yesterday. It was about 10c yesterday but very windy. Today a frisky 6c but sunny minimal wind. Yesterday was just 17km. Not bad after being 9 weeks without serious training but physio. Yesterday was only residential sectors to "test" my knees. Today we did 20km but mostly on rural roads. Felt soooo good. I was able to test going on the big cog and did good for 2km. Did not want to push my luck. But I sure feel good now. Working on "renewing" my gym program with PT but for now, we do ave to take it easy. Don't want that healed fracture to crack again.