April Rides

[Crankin]

I decided not to go; it is just starting to not be foggy and I know when the dew point is high and the temperature just above freezing, that's when black ice happens. It will be 40 at 11, so I am planning to do the ride DH and I are going to lead on the 28th. If I ride from home, do the ride, and go home, it's about 30 miles. It's all in the local area, so I can bail if I get wimpy or hungry. There's also food options near the end of the ride, in case I can't make it home without lunch. I ate a big breakfast,in anticipation of riding, so I probably an get by with just eating my Lara Bar.
Weather is going to be wacky over the next few days. I may commute tomorrow, but I could get wet on the way home. I am hoping for Friday to be a car free day, except for grocery store, which I can't do with the bikes I have now, or until they build the bike bridge over the highway, to get to my preferred store. I plan to ride to the gym early AM, ride home, and then ride to work for my group, then do a ride in the afternoon with DH. DH and I will ride early Saturday, as a front is coming through and my granddaughter is getting dropped off here at 12:30 for a few hours.

[north woods gal]

Sorry for not being clear on our late spring, Crankin. No, not hurting, physically, not in any way. In fact, still doing my usual daily riding and feel great, physically. Will be going into summer (if it ever gets, here) in great riding shape. Just hurting, mentally, for lack of being able to see any green grass or anything but snow on the ground. I just need to be patient.

Crankin, you are spot on not to ride under those foggy and ice conditions. I've had to do it at times when I was commuting and had no other options, but no way would I do it, otherwise.

Speaking of snow, my trail riding on my snow covered trails has actually been pretty good after getting them cleared after that last snowfall. Haven't had much melting, since, so the packed snow base hasn't turned to ice, yet. That won't last long, with temps supposed to get into the 40s, today and some rain, tonight. That's, okay, because our local paved roads are all dry and clear, now. With another big storm coming, soon, that won't last long, either, but I've found the best way to handle this relentless winter thing is just to take it one day at a time and ride where I can. Let tomorrow, as they say, take care of itself.

[north woods gal]

As I mentioned, earlier, I'm in the process of tuning and changing some things on the bikes to take my mind of our endless winter. Here's a few.

One thing that has really helped is changing from standard straight bars on some of the MTB/fat bikes, to bars that have a little sway or bend back. With my short arms I've always had reach problems with standard flat bars on MTBs. Changing to bars with some sweep back towards me, the rider, has been a great change in comfort and handling for me. Why I didn't do it, sooner, I don't know.

Getting the degree of bend for the particular bike and the way it's used is a little tricky. I've found that for very technical trail riding, too much of a bend makes for slower handling, so there is such a thing as too much bend/sweep for that kind of riding. For road work with flat bar bikes, though, a lot of bend works just fine.

Another one I've been playing with is the type of seat I'm using on the fat bikes that I'm strictly using for snow work. Now, don't laugh, but I've found that ditching the skinny and racy unisex factory 5" wide saddles for a big fat and wide and cushy 7" wide old lady saddle that I had laying around, is a good thing on a snow bike.

The problem with snow riding is often getting up on the bike and started when riding in the snow. If the snow has any depth, at all, the bike has no roll to it. When you stop pushing to get up and mounted, the bike stops. That means you have only an instant to be up on the saddle and hitting the pedals, hard, to get rolling via the pedals. If you're off in hitting the saddle with your butt square and perfect, you don't get enough force on the pedals to break though the snow and start rolling. (Imagine having to start from a dead stop in something like loose sand.) Standing on the pedals is not an option, either. That only results in the rear wheel spinning under you in the snow for lack of weight on the seat. What that big wide saddle does is give my butt an extra large target, plus a lot of pedal-turning leverage when I hit the seat, for that fraction of second or so that you get to be rolling. And, okay, they are comfy. Just don't tell anyone that I've gone old lady with my saddles.

Anyway, it's always amazed me how changing little things on any bike can change comfort and efficiency. Kind of fun, too, experimenting to see what works best. Anyone else have little tricks to share?

[Crankin]

I can see how those saddles would help in your particular situation, but otherwise, I see them as instruments of torture!
So, I rode 22 miles and it was all suffering. I am chalking it up to not sleeping well last night and allergies. The bigger hill on the ride we are leading was OK, I mean it's hard, but I was going a speed OK for the beginning of the season. It's everything else! Every little rise or roller and some the flats felt hard. After the big hill, there's a nice downhill, where I could have headed straight home, but I did the next part of the ride, through a development, with a hill that always puts the hurt on people when we lead. At times, as sweep,I've had to go ahead, so as not to crash into a rider. That's not going to happen in 2 weeks, unless I am feeling exceptionally strong. I then pushed it, to get to the next downhill and after that, went off of the route and headed toward home.
It was really nice out, sunny, no wind, and about 45. One guy passed me and when I looked down at my speed, I was going 13.5 in a place where it's usually 15-18 . That's the problem with riding on roads that you know so well. I did wear the new gloves I bought Saturday, and they were good, when I thought I might be cold. So, it was smart to not go on the group ride, although the weather was ok by 10;I never could have kept up.
Debating whether to ride to work tomorrow. There's a 45% chance rain at 5 when I leave. I can stand it for 2.5 miles, but, I may just take a walk when I have a break.

[emily_in_nc]

LOL...Crankin, we really were separated at birth: I bought new bike gloves Saturday too! It was my birthday, actually, so these were a part of my gift from my DH. I got these two t-shirts too -- at the LBS! Check them out (along with the gloves in this photo):



I like an LBS buyer with a sense of humor.

I did end up riding today. If I were single or had a DH that didn't ride, I am sure I would have bailed with the north wind, but I felt too guilty when I saw DH getting his stuff ready. We waited until 10:30 to head out, and it was chilly at the start (60 degrees...I know, we're wimps!) with the north wind. I had on leg warmers, arm warmers, and my wind jacket, all of which I thought I was done with for the season.

An hour in, I peeled off all the extra pieces, and after a few minutes of feeling chilly, I was fine the rest of the ride. We had a headwind the whole way out, and I was slow as mud (averaged 12.9 mph), but once we made the turn and had a nice tailwind on the way home, I ended up with a 13.5 average overall. Not my best, but given the wind, I'll take it. 35.7 miles in total, and I ended up glad I did it after all. Thanks to DH, who keeps me honest.

I got the laundry done when we got back and managed to grab lunch while the clothes were drying -- at 3pm!

[Crankin]

I *need* those t shirts. What brand are they?
Ha, my average was lower, but I have deduced I just am tired. DH is away and I stayed up reading way too late last night. I hate it that I need so much more rest now.
I keep DH honest with how often we ride, but he keeps me honest with the speed. Today was an example; I rarely ride more than 15 miles alone anymore, mostly only early AM rides, so it was an accomplishment to me.
We have a busy weekend coming up and no totally free weekends until May 12. All good stuff, though. Let's just pray to the weather gods.

[north woods gal]

... Let's just pray to the weather gods.

Sounds good to me. Add mine to the total.

As for those seats, Crankin, not to worry. I have so many layers of leggings/long underwear/bike shorts when I ride in the winter that I have plenty of padding.

Can you believe it? Temp hit 50 degrees, today. I swear, I could actually see the snow melting. Okay, maybe not, but a lot of my trails are now mud where they were ice and snow, yesterday. rain, tonight, so maybe more melting. Then it's snow and more snow for the weekend. Oh, well.

Worked on my 2008 year Trek 8000 26" MTB, this morning. Got it tuned up and took it out for a spin on the pavement. Almost forgot what a completely different animal those skinny 26x2" tire MTBs are than the fat bikes. Lots of fun to be able to accelerate so rapidly and turn on a dime. Really enjoyed the ride. I've come close to selling this bike, several times, but I am so glad I didn't. It has lots of sentimental value for me, not to mention I did a lot of upgrades on it. I really do think it's a shame so many brands are no longer carrying 26" wheel MTBs.

Trek 8000 with Norco fat bike for comparison.

[emily_in_nc]

I *need* those t shirts. What brand are they?

Next Level Apparel. I bet you can find them online, The pink one was half price because only Smalls were left. They do run quite small, though. I had to get a Medium in the purple one with the round neck, to fit my shoulders. I normally wear an XS or 2P in most tops, so just be advised. I was able to get by with a Small in the pink one as the v-neck widened the shoulders a bit.

[Crankin]

Thanks!