November Rides

[north woods gal]

Our early snow is gone, already, thanks to temps never getting down to freezing, overnight and some rain. Not talking about a heat wave, here. Temps still holding in the 30s and no sunshine, either.

Took advantage of the snow-free trails to ride the Surly Krampus 29er+ while I can. Almost collided with a big 6 point buck deer. Whew! We usually only see bucks during the rut and the rut is in full progress. See does, every day, but rarely bucks. Beautiful animal.

[Crankin]

No riding today. We skipped the crappy hotel breakfast and went to a lovely French café for brunch. Nice and simple, real French omelet. It was cloudy and slightly warmer this morning, after a very chilly evening, when we walked back from my birthday dinner. That was spectacular, in a restaurant that is in a rennovateed church. Portland has more cool restaurants every time I go there and the people are friendly. We drove home after brunch, so we could relax and read the paper, shop and do laundry at a leisurely pace. I have been having a usual sinus/aches, GI thing on and off for a couple of weeks. I got through the weekend, though and now I feel better. Now DH is saying he is feeling off, too.
Our weather roller coaster continues. Tomorrow is going to be 70, rain, and then increasingly descending temperatures. Next Saturday is our rescheduled 42 mile ride on the south coast of MA/RI. The predicted high is 38-40 . Now, I have the proper gear for these temps, but I wonder if any of the participants do. We have 6-7 people signed up. My friend, Lamar is doing the registration for this ride, so it's up to him to call it. We already cancelled due to rain in October, so I am sure he will want to ride. DH and I are fine with it, but I am not going to drive 75 miles if only 3 people show up!

[ny biker]

Be careful NWG! And happy birthday to Crankin. I've modified my weekly night ride several times to eliminate stop signs on hills, especially at intersections with main roads. There are enough things to pay attention to in those situations in order to remain safe, without having to worry about clipping in and out.

Speaking of clipping in and out, I bought new shoes today. They're a different brand (Shimano) which I'm told tends to have a wider toe box than the Bontragers that I'm replacing. But I think I also got them a size larger than the old ones. They might actually be men's shoes; I need to look at the box. They are "last year's style" so I got them at half price. I'm not thrilled with the color -- black -- because my super pale legs look ridiculous in shorts and dark shoes, and black will be hotter in the summer. But then again they won't look filthy like the old white shoes, so pros and cons. Anyway. Now I need to make a fit appointment to get the new cleats put on them, and to discuss the knee pain I've been having in case the old worn cleats were not causing it.

[north woods gal]

Will do, NY. I take collisions with animals while MTBing, seriously, given that I have had close calls with deer on some of my fast downhill runs and given that fact that bikers and other outdoor folks have been killed when colliding with wildlife. Recently, a guy in an ATV up here collided with a black bear on a back trail and died when he was thrown from the vehicle.

I do keep praying that you'll solve the pain thing. You're on the right track, though, with experimenting and testing different things. Always amazes me how even a tiny adjustment in all the fitting parameters can make such a big difference when we ride as to efficiency and comfort. Seems like I am forever adjusting something on my bikes as I ride the trails. For sure, just a change in shoes makes a difference in bike fit. The more I ride, the more picky I get about the right adjustments.

[Crankin]

I switched to Shimano shoes from Sidi about 6 years ago. It made a big difference. I do not have wide feet, but the Sidis were just too constricting for me. My feet were burning and hot after like 3 miles. I still have this on longer rides, but not badly, and I can loosen my shoes to make it go away. I need new shoes, too. I am waiting for the new version of my shoes to come out, during the winter. DH bought the new men's version, which is out. He got the screaming hi viz green, but I am not sure if I want to do that. I agree, NY, though that the white shoes seem to have run their "in" phase. Mine look awful. I am ready to go to another color. I loved my red Sidis, but I have not seen red in any Shimano style.
I am feeling better, but I decided to do the right thing and not go to boot camp this morning. Since it was 63 out at 5:15, DH and I went for a fast 2 mile walk in the neighborhood behind our condo. I used the new headlamp we bought a couple of years ago, but I haven't used. It is so much better than the old one. So peaceful out, only one car and one runner. I will rest tomorrow and on Wednesday I am doing a club ride that I have not done, although they've been running it for years. It starts and ends at a Bonsai garden, and we eat there afterwards, with sandwiches the leader's wife picks up for us. This ride includes a 3 mile dirt road and lots of hills in the area I first lived in when I moved to MA. This includes riding by a very smelly pig farm that my kids saw on their first school bus ride here... a shocking thing for 2 kids from the never ending development in Tempe, AZ!

[north woods gal]

Never got above the freezing point, yesterday, so my trails remained frozen hard. Kind of cool. With all the rain and snow we've had, I could hear the ice crystals breaking up under the tires as I rode. Sounded like I was riding over Rice Krispies at times. Even better, the trails were super fast, probably the fastest they've been this year.

[emily_in_nc]

We're hogging all the warm weather down here in Florida, NWG! It's been hot and humid, with foggy, cooler mornings. Have done our usual trail ride the past two days, and lots of folks were out and about on the trails. Snowbirds are arriving in Florida daily, so even weekdays on the trail are busier than they had been, but not enough to be a problem (no kids, anyway!) Went over 2800 miles on the year today and looking forward to hitting 3000 in the next couple of weeks!

[north woods gal]

Good for you, Emily. Even without your injury, earlier in the year, that's impressive. As for the cold weather, at least it's more the norm for us, this time of year. Was getting a little spooked with that heat wave we were having earlier, this fall. Anyway, got two of the fat bikes setup with studded tries, so let it snow.