Riding in the New Year: January!

[ny biker]

Well alrighty then. We had amazing spring-like weather yesterday, up to 70 degrees in spots. It was windy and somewhat humid, but still a great day to get outside. I planned to do the usual evening hill ride after work. So of course after several days of quiet nothingness at work, all hell broke lose yesterday afternoon and I didn't leave office until 8 pm. And that was before I finished everything I needed to do. By the time I got to the community center where I start the ride, topped off the tires, wondered if I was wearing too much, yada yada, it was 8:30 when I rolled out. Yes I was wearing too much. It was in the 60s and did not cool down at all while I was out, as it often does as night. But by taking off my gloves and toe covers and rolling up my long sleeves, I was able to stay comfortable the whole time. I rode 17.6 miles and my legs felt every inch of elevation gain after about a month off the bike. But it was rejuvenating to feel like I was riding in springtime.

(After I got home I logged onto my work pc and finished up the stuff that I still needed to do. But it was almost 11 pm by the time I got home -- I left the bike and half the gear in the car. Oh well, there's time enough to sleep while the freezing rain is falling tomorrow.)

[north woods gal]

Wow! 70 degrees in January? That would actually be considered something of a disaster, here, given our dependence on winter sports. With our 10" of snow, this last week, it's been one big winter sports party, up here. Have to say, though, it's only January and I'm dreaming of riding, come spring, when the snow is gone. Oh, how I would love riding without getting all bundled up like I was on an expedition to the north pole, right now. 70 degrees seems like such a far away thing at the moment. Sigh!

But I have been riding, almost daily, out on the roads for at least four or five miles on the fat bikes and combining that with some daily skiing or snowshoeing, so I am getting out and having fun. Did four miles on the bike and another 4 on the skis, yesterday.

[north woods gal]

Hubby has been working on a project to install wood flooring the spare bedroom, this morning, the last room in the house that has carpeting. (Carpeting is impossible to keep clean with our dogs and our outdoor lifestyle.) Unfortunately, by helping him rip out the old carpeting, my allergies about floored ()me. Finally had to get outside and get some fresh air.

Decided to actually see how fast a fat bike can go, so did ten miles around the area on our snow packed roads, with several hills putting me in the lowest gear. Really pretty stoked that I was able to push the Surly Pugsley as fast as I did. Actually managed just a hair under 12 mph for an average speed. Now, that's pretty doggy for a road bike, but I'd say pretty respectable for a fattie and on snow pack, at that.

Was also fun to get out on the Pug with its steel frame and more traditional MTB geometry. Just love its no frills, just basic bike style. Might be a little silly to talk about a fat bike being a classic and traditional, given that fat bikes are still relatively new in the bike world, but, hey, after all, the Pugsley was the first commercial success as a fat bike. It's the one that started it all. Picked it up, earlier in the year, only slightly used from a pal. It's a 2016, the last year for the Pug as a complete bike. It's now only available as a frame. Couldn't pass it up.

[azfiddle]

I did a full week of commuting last week, and Saturday took the day off from cycling to take a group of students birding (Sandhill cranes, hawks, waterfowl). Then Sunday it rained all day, so no riding. Today I rode just about 20 miles. It was definitely a casual ride, interrupted by a long walk in one of the parks to look for a few birds with my husband, who met me there with the car. I think the high was 58 today, and a lot of clouds so it never really felt warm.

[ny biker]

Ha. AZ, your weather on Monday was our weather here today. It did feel warm in the sun when I left the house this morning but was cloudy with a brisk NW wind when I got to work. So I've got everything here for a post-work bike ride, but with that cold wind I am lacking the motivation. I am leaning toward an indoor workout tonight instead. I do wish there was a good flat route that I could ride instead of the hills that I usually do, but I don't know any around here that are low-traffic. I might start playing around on ridewithgps to see if I can come up with something that will work. Regular hill rides are good but sometimes I just want an easy flat ride.

[north woods gal]

We're in a warm spell of sorts, with highs in the uppers 30s all week and even some rain in the forecast. That's definitely not good for skiing and it pretty much puts me out of action on the frozen snowmobile trails I've been using to go off road with the fat bike. The good news is that some of the county roads are showing enough clear pavement, now, to maybe, just maybe, allow me to do a little road work with the regular mountain bikes or maybe even one of the gravel/road bikes. If not, the fat bikes are still an option and have been riding them every day out on the slushy roads. Love my fat bikes. If not for them, I'd be stuck indoors on the trainer for my winter riding. Yuk!

[Crankin]

We've had drizzle all day, some slush, temperature around 35. Still misty out and there's a good chance of black ice in the AM. Of course, the day I go to the gym at 5:30. I just went out and put ice melt down on the front step, walk, and around my car. It's only .8 mile to the gym when I leave my street, and that will be treated by the town. I's the .2 mile of my condo's street that is privately plowed/treated. Today, they were out at 5 am, but it has not been the case before this. I went to spin today, that makes it 2 days in a row.
I will probably go x country ski Friday, leaving to go up to Windblown from work around 11:30. It takes about an hour. I don't care if I only ski for 1.5 hours or 2, maybe. They had 5 inches of powder and will be open. If I go then, it will be nicer, cheaper, and less people.
Going to be 45- 50 here on Saturday. Will definitely be out on the road on my bike.

[emily_in_nc]

I haven't been posting my Florida rides here since it's just the same old, same old (!!!) Gorgeous weather, temps in the 70s, lovely 30-35 mile rides about 4x a week. It's supposed to get much cooler next week, but not by anyone's standards here!

[north woods gal]

Hey, send some of that same old, same old up here.

We're getting some of that odd rain/freezing rain/slushy weather that Crankin is getting. Not good for snow sports and not normal for us in January. If it continues, though, I may get enough thawing to push the fat bikes back on to the deep woods trails. In the meantime, rained all day yesterday, so said the heck with it and had a nice workout indoors on the trainer. Rain in January! Just nuts.

[Crankin]

It's 50 degrees out!
DH and I went for a 17 mile ride, starting out at 46 degrees. I was pretty much dressed correctly and we waited until the sun came out. The roads were actually not as gross as I thought and really no water on the road. The ride had a bit more climbing than I remembered, but just small ups and downs, but enough at this time of year to make me want to not hammer. DH is recovering from a bad cold and said he wanted to go slowly, but he just never has an intuitive idea of his speed and he never looks at it while riding. After the third little climb where I was going at what would be my in summer shape speed of 12-13 on these climbs I yelled! He wasn't really going fast overall, but I need to build up. Anyway, pleasant, and any ride in January or February is a bonus. I didn't see as many other riders as I expected, but we stayed away from Concord Center, which is a destination/start point for a lot of riders.
We also made the decision to do a cycling trip to northern Spain this year. It's the "Coastal Camino" route, from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela. In all honesty, I am not doing it for the pilgrimage aspect, but we love the company that leads it, we love Spain, and it is cool enough in northern Spain to cycle there in the summer, as opposed to Andalusia, where I almost died from heat in May. The trip is at the end of June, so I now have a goal and I need to silence the negative voices in my head.

[emily_in_nc]

That sounds like a great trip, Crankin! More and more of my online contacts have gone to Spain recently; really makes me want to get there someday, once we're dogless for a bit, so we can stay longer than we would leave Paisley. I may get tips from you at that point!

[north woods gal]

Had to cut my fat biking out on our ice and snow covered roads a bit short. This is the fourth day in a row with temps in the high 30s and all the ice is now covered with water. Very, very dangerous. For the first time, this winter, actually had the big fat tires slip just a little bit while climbing some hills. I do have experience with this stuff, but didn't feel like the risk was worth it. Finished up with some indoor work on the trainer.

[north woods gal]

Well, just isn't in me to quit, so tried again out in the slick black ice, today. This time, though, went with a different fat bike for the sake of different tires to see if that would make a difference. It did. Yesterday, rode the Blackboro with the Surly Lou tires. These are a great snow tire, with tall aggressive lugs, but I figured those tall lugs weren't getting me enough tire contact with the ice. Today rode the Norco with the Maxxis Collosus tires. These are a shallow lug tire with more widely spaced lugs. Makes for low rolling resistance, so a very fast hard surface trail tire. Did the trick. More pavement contact, so no slippage at all on the same patches of ice. Tires do make a difference.

The Norco is a great ride, anyway. It rides more like a nimble trail bike than a fat bike, even fun to ride on pavement. I suspect this one will be my main mountain bike for trail work when the snow is gone.

[emily_in_nc]

You are amazing NWG! I would so be using the cold, ice, and snow as an excuse to work on indoor projects! Heck, I even use "cool" days here in Florida as such.

Today was super blustery and windy with a cold front coming through later today, so we did exactly that, I painted while DH did some woodworking projects around the RV. It would have been too much wind to ride in. Supposed to get some pretty wicked thunderstorms in the early evening tonight (hopefully no tornadoes), and then much cooler tomorrow. I plan to do more painting. Tu-Th look good for rides, then another cold front comes through. I see more projects in my future!

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Emily. Just remember, though, that's where I bonked from heat, this summer, on our visit to Florida. Probably just as well that I stay up here where I belong.