April Rides

[north woods gal]

We made the news? Cool. Today was one of our local elections and my husband and I are poll workers. Just a nice thing to do for our little township and we get to meet a lot of our neighbors. Anyway, some of our voters had been down in Texas and Florida for the winter and just got back in town, all nice and tan, to boot. You can imagine some of their comments when they came back to winter.

I did try some biking, today, out on the roads, but they hadn't been plowed, so didn't get far trying to peddle though the deep snow. Real work out, but, hey, I get to add another day to my snow riding list, even if it is April.

[Crankin]

No riding for me, until the weekend. Rain all day tomorrow, with a "line" of severe storms coming through at 4 pm, of course the time I have to go out and drive to see a long term client at his home (I've been with this young man since he was 13 and he's almost 20 now!). So, I'll go to spin/core class in the am and spend the day doing stuff I need to get done. Looks like the weekend will be sunny, but cold. Where did spring go? I heard it might be until the end of next week until it reappears.

[emily_in_nc]

We made the news? Cool. Today was one of our local elections and my husband and I are poll workers. Just a nice thing to do for our little township and we get to meet a lot of our neighbors. Anyway, some of our voters had been down in Texas and Florida for the winter and just got back in town, all nice and tan, to boot. You can imagine some of their comments when they came back to winter.

nwg, there are several folks from Wisconsin in our RV park. I don't know them personally but do see the license plates. So far they have not left to head north, and I can't blame them!

They did mention on the Weather Channel that it was election day there and that some folks might have a difficult time making it to the polls due to the bad weather. Glad you were able to make it for your poll worker job!

[north woods gal]

nwg, there are several folks from Wisconsin in our RV park. I don't know them personally but do see the license plates. So far they have not left to head north, and I can't blame them!

They did mention on the Weather Channel that it was election day there and that some folks might have a difficult time making it to the polls due to the bad weather. Glad you were able to make it for your poll worker job!

We actually had a good turnout, despite the weather. Our little township is very civic oriented. Good people. To me, that's a must for a place to live.

Spring? What spring? Amen to that. Will spend most of the day shoveling - again - and then maybe more snow, tomorrow. Will be a struggle to get above freezing, al week.

Sheila, I saw that Surly Midnight Special. Would have made it to the top of my list if they had gone Shimano instead SRAM and while being able to go 700x42 on the tire size, still not my idea of a plus bike. Love the color. Be a great pavement and hard surface gravel bike. Would cost an arm and a leg to convert it over to Shimano, though. NO regrets on the ECR. Much better choice for this country, up here.

Now that Bridge Club, though. Hmmm! HereI go, again.

[north woods gal]

I'm lucky that Surly's geometry is generally a good fit. Some brands are not for me.

Sheila, as for stack and reach, don't forget that what you see listed in specs for the Surly's is the frame stack and reach. That's always lower and shorter than what you get after you add in the fork top tube height, stem and handlebar. That's your handlebar stack and reach, the actual stack and reach after you set up the bike with those parts. Changing the stem length and rise, for instance, is a very easy way to change actual stack and reach. Can also do it with the handlebar style. Even going to wider tires can change actual stack. In the end, of course, you can drive yourself crazy studying specs, but it's still no substitute for a test ride. Anyway, just a thought.

Spent the morning cleaning snow off our long driveway. Took a break and a short nap to recover, then grabbed one of the Norco fat bikes with studded tires and checked out the neighborhood roads. They had been plowed, so overall, rideable with the fat bike. Temps right around the freezing point. Some patches were already clean and dry, others were slushy and puddled, some still snow covered and some a touch icy. No problem for the fat bike. Did a bit over 10 miles of laps. That's actually a good workout, given that our area is all hills. No flat runs at all.

Got home and started cleaning the bike, only to discover that the bike was covered with icicles. Temp was just right and I did ride through a lot of open water. A bike covered with icicles is not something you see, everyday. Parked the bike in the living room on top of some towels to let the ice melt off.

[ny biker]

Someone at work was telling me yesterday about his new mountain bike. He's a runner/crossfitter but is having fun on the bike. His parents live someplace cold and snowy and apparently they use a Snowdogg to make trails for fat biking on their property. Of course this made me thing of you, NWG!

As for me, I can't remember the last time I rode my bike. A month ago maybe? I was patient with the cold March weather but now am just really annoyed. It will be another week before we get a warm up. We have the occasional warm day but they are all days when I have to work or have other obligations (like going out of town for Easter).

Yesterday started warm, then got cold and very windy after it rained. There were ominous dark clouds with the rain, the kind you usually see for summer thunderstorms. I'm actually feeling nostalgic for summer thunderstorms, that's how annoyed I am with the cold! Anyway today is mid 40s, sunny and a bit breezy. It feels like a cold breeze on my face but I was comfortable walking out to my car without a coat. So I am going to layer up and attempt a bike ride tonight.

I am staying at an airbnb this week while my condo gets new floors. It's actually in a neighborhood that is on my traditional post-work hill route. I'd like to start the ride from the airbnb instead of my usual ride start (a community center that's farther west), but it's at the bottom of a big hill. I am in such bad shape right now, I need a flatter start. So it's back to the community center for me. I just hope I have all my gear -- it was so hectic packing stuff up before the floor installation began that I could have easily forgotten something. (Yes I brought my bike to the airbnb -- I had no place else to put it while the work is being done. The mountain bike can go out on the balcony but not the road bike.)

[north woods gal]

Hope you can get out and ride, N.Y. I think we're all feeling the blues with this late spring we're having. I expect late springs, up here, of course, but this winter has been so relentless, not giving an inch. We have more snow on the ground, now, than we had a month, ago, and that was a lot of snow, then.

This is a pic of one of the fat bikes alongside a typical section of my trail, taken this morning, April 5.


Yes, I'm still trying to keep my main trail sections clear, not so much for riding, now, but for the sake of being able to use them, sooner, when we do get some serious melting. Then, of course, we'll have some serious flooding if things melt too fast. In the meantime, I'm riding out on our roads which get plowed on a regular basis. This year was an experiment to see if I could keep riding trails, all winter, by using the snowblower and the shovel. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but, honestly, I doubt I'll being doing it, again. Not worth it. Spent more time clearing trails than actually riding them. Next winter, I'll just ride out on our local roads and let the road crews have all the fun clearing snow.

[rebeccaC]

Someone brought homemade cookies and, even better, homemade bagels with cream cheese into work today. They are wonderful, and though it's a tough requirement, I will power through each type; I know my numbers will be perfect in the morning.

...

emily...West Coast!!!!!!....more accurately L.A. for awhile and then the northern ca and southern or coasts ftw!!!!!

ny...good to read you're doing the flooring and +1 on nwg ...any ride can be a good ride!!!

[rebeccaC]

thanks all. I do indeed feel blessed to live where i do. Emily...happy belated birthday wishes!!!!!....and there are some really nice RV parks in that area too for your west coast trip
...and Sheila/nwg...you were both on my mind on parts of the ride so you were both kinda there too and...we do have a spacious guest en suite bedroom!!!!!

[rebeccaC]

Whoa…three posts in a row about improving weather…….glad to hear it.

NY…..maybe I missed it but how did the floors come out?

Emily….30A looks like our 26 mile beach path…ours may be less crowded because of its more isolated location right on the beach for the majority of its length but it can also be too busy going through parts of venice and santa monica during the day, especially weekends and summer times. A couple of miles on quiet side streets and alleys can get you through both areas, quicker and easier than riding the path, and then back to a much less crowded path for the final 8 miles north. Here is the part of the bike path that goes by the back of our building and then for 16 miles going south on the least populated part of the path. Most of the path has a separate walking path which does help some.



I run 26/1.5's on my urban bianchi commuter and luv them for city riding and not so well paved roads/alleys.
....just commutes for me….a nice rain this morning made it interesting

[rebeccaC]

good to hear paisley is better!!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve ridden my fixie, so this week I’ve commuted everyday with it. The different technique and thinking came back quickly and i even pulled off an awesome backwards dismount off the saddle and the back of bike into holding the saddle and walking ……anyway it’s fun to switch it up now and then…and this getting later light ftw!!!!!

Rode the bike path south and back for 15 miles total to let the ocean clear my mind and do some good intervals…..

[ny biker]

We've gone from gray 40s on Monday to sunny, breezy 70s and 80s on Thursday and Friday. I rode last night after work. It was 73 when I started and 72 when I returned. I started out in tights, vest and arm warmers because the breeze felt very cool, but within a few miles was cramming the extra layers in my handlebar bag and riding in shorts and short sleeves. The breeze did have me concerned and thinking that maybe I should have ridden the night before when it was in the 50s. But luckily my route was mostly sheltered enough for me to completely forget about it until after I got home and needed a jacket while unloading the car.

As for that route -- I did my old hill ride, for the first time in about a year I think. I was very slow, even on the flatter roads near the end, but was able to get up all the hills without too much burning in my quads. One negative was that I'm still having issues with chafing from my shorts. Unfortunately I think it is because my shorts are tighter than they should be due to weight gain over the past few months. Getting back to regular riding should help to lose a few pounds, so I'm hoping this is is a temporary condition. (Okay really I must do more than hope! I'm making progress cutting out the afternoon and evening snacks, too. And sometimes I go crazy with "healthy snacks" like dried fruit so I have stopped buying those foods. I swear I am addicted to dried cranberries so it's not easy...)

Tomorrow we're in for another 80 degree day so I'm planning a club ride. It will be longer than I'm really ready for but I will be content to just ride slowly and appreciate all the trees that have begun to flower.

[emily_in_nc]

NY, so glad you are finally getting your new floors installed, and I hope you love them. I know we chatted about about cork and other possibilities, as I'd also been looking into them for our motorhome. We haven't done anything about it yet, as we're not sure how long we'll be RVing, and don't want to spend a lot of $$ if we're not going to do this long-term, but I do get so annoyed at our super shiny laminate floors that get chipped so easily! I try not to look too closely. I hope you love your new floors!

Today's ride surprised me. After some very warm rides lately, a front came through yesterday, bringing chilly northeast breezes, plus lower humidity (not complaining about that!) to central Florida. I couldn't believe that in April I was having to pull on my warm Terry Bolero and my wind vest! I had already packed all that stuff away, and thought I was done with them for the season. I wore wool socks but did not go to leg warmers or tights -- I refuse to do that in Florida in April. Was able to pull off the extra layers part-way through and enjoyed a nice tailwind on the way back, so it felt warmer. Still, only 73 degrees, breezy, and low humidity at the end of our ride made today feel a bit more like February in Florida than April.

I know, I know, I can't complain. No snow, no ice, and by afternoon I'm back to hanging out in shorts and a t-shirt, all our windows open, and feeling fine! I suspect in a month I will wish for days like this.

[north woods gal]

Emily, will you be staying in Florida over the summer or do you two plan to do your usual traveling? Honestly, after this winter, I'm wondering if we shouldn't do the snowbird thing.

[emily_in_nc]

nwg, that is a gorgeous photo -- all that clean white snow! I would love to ride those beautifully groomed trails if I didn't have to feel the cold!