April rides

[ny biker]

I could never do a breakfast ride -- I have to eat a couple of hours before riding or else I'll pass out. I'd have to make it a "Breakfast II: The Sequel" ride.

We had a big all-class ride scheduled for Saturday morning, with routes of different lengths for different ride categories all starting at the same place and sharing a rest stop. I was supposed to lead one of the rides. It's in a pretty flat area, which is not ideal for the training I need to do right now, but I figured that pushing myself to ride fast would make it useful. But then the weather intervened and we had rain in the morning, so the ride was postponed for a week. The forecast for the next day did not look inviting -- under 50 degrees and windy -- but the Saturday rain was expected to end by early afternoon. So I made plans to do an afternoon ride with a friend. We used a cue sheet from a ride we had done about a month earlier, 36 miles with a decent number of hills including two that are steep. I'd say it seemed slightly easier than when we rode last month, but not by much. So I still have work to do! There were a few random raindrops near the beginning and the sun was behind clouds more often than not, which kept things on the cool side. But pollen levels were down thanks to the rain, and overall conditions were good for a nice ride.

I considered riding again on Sunday, either joining a friend for a short ride or just easy pedaling on the indoor trainer while watching TV. But instead I decided to go out for a walk.

The all-class ride is rescheduled for this Saturday, and right now the forecast says cold and windy. I don't think many people will show up if conditions don't improve -- people who don't usually ride through the winter won't have the gear or the motivation to ride in the weather we're currently expecting. I mean, I do ride through the winter and I'd rather not go out on a cold windy day, especially when the forecast for the next day is much better. I'm actually struggling with the commitment I've made to lead rides like these, because I have no say in whether or not they get canceled when the weather is bad.

[Crankin]

NY, when I do a breakfast ride, I eat a small breakfast before the ride, like whole grain cereal with almond milk and fruit, and we plan to eat the real breakfast at a place not too far from home, so we don't have to ride far on a full stomach. Or, if the breakfast is in the middle, we make sure we have digested a bit, and proceed slowly at first.

[emily_in_nc]

20 miles in the neighborhoods + one rural road around my mom's place on a gorgeous spring day. Started out in the upper 50s, ended around 70 degrees. Sunshine, low humidity, and light winds that started picking up at the end of the ride. Gorgeous azaleas & flowering trees everywhere. Lots of green green green. Doesn't get much better!

Due to a large number of RV projects plus family time plus cooler than usual spring weather many days, we're only getting in around one ride per week while in NC, but I guess that's enough so we don't fall completely out of cycling shape. We're still hiking around the very hilly campground daily and doing some workouts inside a couple of times a week.

[pericat]

We went for a short ride with the dog this Sunday; he's getting on toward 11, so going at dog speed is not fast. But he's not bad, paces really well for short bursts. We were in the middle of the island, on some Crown lands, pretty rough in spots. It was lovely weather; almost summery. Stopped to listen to some wrens, and then to nibble chocolate while lying about on moss in the sun.

[azfiddle]

Pericat, that sounds lovely!

[ny biker]

Your dog looks like a nice riding companion.

[pericat]

Thank you! He's a good buddy; he makes me go slow enough to hear the birds.

[pericat]

It was! We like to go out that way on weekends once the drier weather starts. Take dog and bike into the middle, then flop onto moss and read, nap, eat a bit of lunch or apples. There's a dogwalking group that comes through pretty regularly while we're there, so we'll be invaded by the furry masses as they go and have to batten the lids on any edibles...

If I get this right, this is a pic from last year, high summer in the woods, that's my partner:

[rebeccaC]

We went for a short ride with the dog this Sunday; he's getting on toward 11, so going at dog speed is not fast. But he's not bad, paces really well for short bursts. We were in the middle of the island, on some Crown lands, pretty rough in spots. It was lovely weather; almost summery. Stopped to listen to some wrens, and then to nibble chocolate while lying about on moss in the sun.

that sounds like a wonderful use of a bicycle

Did a ride into downtown L.A. for a long work meeting yesterday. Low 70’s and 46 miles of easy gliding through the day mostly on bike paths and ending with a sunset at the beach and dinner with Ellie. Cooling down to the low to high 60’s the next few days. Looking forward to kayaking the sea caves in the Channel Islands National Park for a relaxing weekend.

[Catrin]

Pericat - that really sounds like fun!

Here? Meh...cold and miserable for April. If I had known spring was only going to last a couple days then I would have paid more attention to it.

[khg]

On Sunday my husband and I did the Emerald City Bike Ride here in Seattle--it was a sold-out event of 7,000 cyclists. We got to bike a newly-constructed highway bridge across Lake Washington that is not yet open, and then a section of I-5 that was closed to traffic for the event. We got to play on the freeway!

As one might expect with a ride of 7,000 people, there were some madhouse moments, but the whole thing was so much fun! Biking on the closed interstate was the best part--4 freeway lanes worth of space makes one heck of an awesome bike lane! It ranks up there with some of the coolest things I've done on a bike.

The new lake bridge:


Now THIS is what I call a bike lane!


Obligatory selfie to prove we were there: