November Rides

[Sky King]

Oh my gosh, we actually rode on pavement this weekend, on unloaded touring bikes. What a treat. We closed the shop an hour early on Friday, took the tear drop, the bikes and the truck and drove to Cambridge Idaho. The Weiser River Trail passes through Cambridge, and is mostly dirt and gravel but we opted to stay on paved roads for a change. Camped at Mondo Hot Springs - note they also have a hostel and host quite a few bike riders. We road Hwy 71 toward Hells Canyon and the snake river. A climb of 15 or 16 miles and then a 6 mile drop into the canyon. We didn't go all the way to the river but stopped at a fun little store and cafe. Even though they'd technically stopped serving breakfast, they did so for us. The climb out wasn't horrid - we were laughing as so much of our riding has involved hike a bike lately it was nice to pedal the whole ride! All in all was a 50 mile trip with wonderful weather - topped out at 58 degrees. Tons of wild turkey and these crazy apple trees are scattered all along the road - not an orchard, all the sudden there is just an apple tree in amongst the pine and aspen. The soak after the ride was lovely.

[emily_in_nc]

No riding today as it was chilly and breezy and we had to run a bunch of errands (two home improvement stores, mainly), but bike-related and fun, we went to Performance Bicycle for our annual visit and bought a few needed parts and accessories. Most was boring stuff like tubes, etc., but I got a pretty heather pink bike top (not a fancy road jersey but more of a quick-dry casual t with one back-zip pocket) and nice black socks with a cool pink/purple butterfly to go with it. I don't wear much pink, but I have one pair of bike shorts with pink stitching and only had one sleeveless top to wear with them, and this top was half off, so...!

I was actually looking for a long-sleeve jersey to wear on cooler-weather rides, but they were all black, some with just a bit of brighter colors as accents, but I wanted high-viz. Lots of short-sleeve mostly black jerseys too. What's with this? Sure, it looks good, but I want to be SEEN, thank you. I did see a great high-viz yellow one on the clearance rack, but it was in XXL, which wouldn't work for me.

DH got a nice new Bell helmet in high-viz yellow, a scullcap, and a pair of shorts.

Fun.

[north woods gal]

For those on a budget looking for tops and hoodies that would make a good choice for bike clothing, good old Wal Mart carries a lime of Active wear by Danskin that is 100% polyester and it comes in a variety of hi-viz colors, even some with selective accents. Tops run about $10. Designed more for jogging and not bike specific fancy label stuff, but it works.

[emily_in_nc]

For those on a budget looking for tops and hoodies that would make a good choice for bike clothing, good old Wal Mart carries a lime of Active wear by Danskin that is 100% polyester and it comes in a variety of hi-viz colors, even some with selective accents. Tops run about $10. Designed more for jogging and not bike specific fancy label stuff, but it works.

This is true. I actually have one of their long-sleeve high-viz yellow tops and am wearing it in my TE profile pic/avatar! It has faded quite a bit as I've worn it so much for running and cycling. But it's very thin with no rear pocket, since it's really not made for cycling. This time I was looking for a zip-up warmer jersey with back pockets, to wear over a sleeveless or short-sleeve jersey. My DH has a great screaming orange one like this made by Louis Garneau. Performance had some of the same brand for women, but they were just too black for me. I will end up looking online. I don't need it immediately, but I suspect there will be some chilly riding days even in Florida this winter!

Sorry for the brief hijack -- this should really be in the Apparel thread.

[north woods gal]

No problem. It's not like there are thousands of us posting, here, so a lit bit of wandering off topic doesn't bother me.

So, back on topic. Rode my Trek Stashe MTB (surprisingly decent on pavement) over to our local town hall to vote, this morning (only a bit over a mile), then back home for a nice long workout on my trails around the house. Still have a few trail additions (rocks,boulders,logs to climb) that I want to do before the snow falls, but feel very fortunate the weather hasn't figured out it is November. Blustery, this morning, but temps in the 40s which is still above average. Hope to finish the day with another good trail workout.

Have to say, this has been quite a remarkable biking year for me. I've conquered a lot of my fears about riding more difficult technical MTB trails and have learned how to ride over things like logs and rocks rather than go around them (my usual play it safe me). Much stronger and adept on the steep climbs, too. Can't believe that I've been MTB riding all these years and never learned this stuff, but really never had access to these more technical trails, before. Trails in most areas I've lived, before, were tamer, by comparison. Old as I am (mid 60s), still never too late to learn, I guess. Sure is fun, though.

[emily_in_nc]

Have to say, this has been quite a remarkable biking year for me. I've conquered a lot of my fears about riding more difficult technical MTB trails and have learned how to ride over things like logs and rocks rather than go around them (my usual play it safe me). Much stronger and adept on the steep climbs, too. Can't believe that I've been MTB riding all these years and never learned this stuff, but really never had access to these more technical trails, before. Trails in most areas I've lived, before, were tamer, by comparison. Old as I am (mid 60s), still never too late to learn, I guess. Sure is fun, though.

That is remarkable and admirable! I am still a total wussy on technical MTB stuff. When I got my first MTB ten years ago, I tried to ride some trails that were above my skill level -- actually, at that point anything off-road was above my skill level -- fell a few times, banged myself up, and backed off. I hated the bruises, scrapes, whiplash, and other pains. I continued with the MTB but really riding just gravel roads and double-track trails that had some tough climbs and fast descents but no switchbacks, rocks/roots, logs, etc. That is still what I prefer. Since we are traveling full-time and not always near medical care in case the worst were to happen, the risk is just not worth it to me. But I totally admire those who do it!

[ny biker]

Emily, if you're near an LBS that carries Trek/Bontrager stuff, they have been really pushing hi-viz apparel and accessories this year.

I can't believe you guys are 2 pages into this thread and I haven't posted yet. But then I never got around to posting my last few October rides, either. Things have been busy at work as we adjust to doing the same amount of work after 20% of the staff was laid off. And last week we learned that we're being sold again -- this will be my 7th employer since I started working on this project 16 years ago.

Luckily for the sake of my sanity I have been able to get out riding. Went for the weekly hill ride last Wednesday after work. It was nice, cool but not cold, and uneventful except for the guy in the pickup truck who told me to "get out of the ****ing road, you ****ing idiot." If I'd had a chance to reply I would have said, you must be new here. Because I was riding in one of the bike-friendliest areas around here, where there are lots of cyclists on the roads, and in fact the guy had just turned off of a road with bike lanes. Anyway he braked a few times like he was considering stopping, and there happened to be a police car parked on the side of the road just ahead of me, so I stopped behind the police car and let him drive on. There was no one in the car, but you couldn't tell that in the dark. I took out my phone, checked my email, and finished the ride.

On Saturday we had great weather, sunny with temps in the 60s and blue skies. I led a club ride, 47 miles, near the Chesapeake Bay. Thanks to the weather we had a good turnout. I had a flat near the start, must have ridden over something sharp though we didn't find anything stuck in the tire. A couple of the people in the group stopped with me, and several others who had ridden ahead turned and came back after being passed by a friendly driver who told them that someone in the group had stopped. So I had lots of expert help in changing the tube and getting back on the road with no further incident. It was a nice ride overall. Afterwards I drove around exploring some roads I'd like to include on a future ride before heading home.