October rides...

[emily_in_nc]

Ooops, I had said I would start this thread, but I totally spaced on that!

I did 30 miles yesterday, and it was hard-fought, as we've been having significant wind. Yesterday's forecast went from 10-20 mph ENE to 15-25 mph during the time I was riding. We had head- and crosswinds heading out, and at times it was like riding through quicksand! The way back was screaming fast fun, though, as it was mostly tailwinds and nearly effortless heading south and west! Fun fun!

The only difficulty there was the last 3/4 of a mile, where we have to head back east on a highway bike lane. As the wind had built during the course of the ride, it was a tough ending to the ride!

This morning I got up with full intentions of riding until I checked Weather Underground and saw that they'd upped today's wind forecast to 20-30 mph! It was already gusting hard at 8 am, and I drew the line at riding in that. GOOD decision. DH headed out, and in addition to the wind (which bothers him less than me), he got rained on twice as brief but heavy bands came through from the Atlantic. I was so thankful I had stayed home!

Tomorrow is supposed to be the same as for winds, and it's our usual day off anyway to do laundry and run errands, so that will work out fine. I hope, hope, hope the wind will have died down some by Thursday, as I really want to ride!

[ny biker]

I would have skipped riding too, Emily -- I hate wind, and it can be dangerous at times.

I was going to ride tonight after work, to take advantage of the relatively warm weather. But yesterday I noticed that my eye was very red, like I'd burst a blood vessel somehow, maybe sneezing? Anyway it seemed to be clearing up this morning but then looked worse again this afternoon (possibly from more sneezing -- it's still ragweed season). It doesn't hurt so I don't think it's anything to worry about, but I figured it would be better to take things easy tonight.

[emily_in_nc]

Hope your eye is better, NY!

Today is another crazy gusty day here (sustained 21-22 mph, gusts to 30 mph). Last night I saw on the local weather that there was a high gust of 37 mph in our area. Whew! Tomorrow is supposed to be slightly less windy but much more chance of rain, even in the mid-late morning, so I may not get to ride again until Friday.

[Crankin]

Wind is one of my least favorite things, even if I am not riding.
So, we did have more summer like temperatures, today, but nothing like last week, thankfully. It was the kind of day that tested my ability to know how to dress for a ride. It was 57 when I left, and was predicted to go up to 65 or so for the duration of the ride. Full sun, light breezes. So, I wore knee warmers, a ss jersey with arm warmers, and a sleeveless base layer. The arm warm warmers were off at mile 4.5, but I started feeling overheated from the base layer, despite unzipping my jersey, no head cover, and regular gloves. I think it was because the jersey I wore is slightly thicker than most ss ones; not a thermal lining, but heavier fabric. I like it for fall and spring, generally.
The sweatiness contributed to an overall crappy ride, in terms of how i felt. Legs felt dead, which makes my back stuff hurt. Not acute, just pulling. Anyway, it was gorgeous out, so I am glad I rode. At the point I took my arm warmers off, i decided to change my route, and went over to the area where my last house was, in a not direct way, as I was already on the other side of the highway that splits my town and the next town. Once I made this decision, I had one climb (shady) and a long downhill/flat return home. I've been noticing a lot about traffic patterns on these rides. Where the area near my old house gets tons of commuter traffic at rush hour, after 9 AM and before 4, it is quiet. Now, i have continuous busyness between my house and West Concord, just under 2 miles. It's flat, though. If I go in the other direction, it's busy, too, but opens up getting to quieter stuff. It is actually easier and closer for me now to head over to the town I used to live in, when I first started riding, which is noticeably quieter, than when I first moved to Concord. But, the fact is, there are just more cars. The economy is booming here, but with so many people working from home, they are out all day long!
I rode 17 miles, then met a friend for lunch, and went for a haircut. Rest day tomorrow, and I need to rethink my rest days, with my new gym class schedule.

[ny biker]

It's definitely been hard to figure out how to dress for the weather lately. Usually for daytime rides in the 60s I am comfortable with a long sleeve wool base layer and a short sleeve jersey. Then I might add a vest and arm warmers which gives flexibility in terms of an extra layer. But the last couple of rides I did were too warm for the base layer, which you can't take off in public. For the ride I planned last night I was going to wear a normal-weight (not fleecy) long sleeved jersey, figuring I could add a vest if needed. But when I went outside it was much cooler than I had expected, cool enough for the wool base layer.

I really want to do more kayaking before the cold weather sets in but I think it's even harder to guess what to wear for that this time of year -- it's exercise but not as strenuous as cycling, if the sun is out it can get quite warm, but if you get wet you can be very cold and uncomfortable with temps in the 50s-60s. I'm figuring some combination of my cycling tops, jackets and tights or knickers will work, but am really not sure.

[rebeccaC]

On Sunday we welcomed Oct with a 63 mile ride…the first 26 miles of the first days ride of the upcoming Young Survival Coalition's Tour de Pink with a side ride into the northern Santa Monica Mountains. Some good climbs on the route and a harder climb into the SMM's. After a great descent to the Oxnard valley floor (knowing we needed to ride back up it took some of the fun away) we stopped at the CSU Channel Islands campus in Oxnard, where i do some grant work in bioinformatics with a few grad students, to take a nutrition break and stretch. A good ride and I now have a good feel for the hardest part of the first days ride. Some short rides with just moderate climbs left in my training plan and I’ll be ready for the tour. Looking forward to the hopefully full 3 days of riding and being with kindred spirits wanting to help fund services for young women going through breast cancer. The thought of doing this ride really helped in my working through my journey this year...glad it's finally almost here and i that i feel good enough to participate!!!!!

[ny biker]

That's great, Rebecca!

I rode about 18 miles last night. Started late again, somewhere between 9 and 9:30 pm. Finished around 11:00. I really like riding late when everyone is at home and the roads are empty except for a few dog walkers. Another ride in which I was deceived by the weather -- it seemed chilly at first so I started wearing a vest and arm warmers. Within a couple of miles I had to stop to remove them. It was in the low 60s but very humid, which made a big difference. Soon enough I will need to layers so I'm not complaining!

Emily, I think that rain you're expecting is from yet another tropical storm. And I think we might be seeing rain from it early next week. We haven't had any rain in quite a while, but I hope we don't get anything really heavy since that tends to cause flooding.