October rides: put a little color into it.

[north woods gal]

Drizzle or even light rain I can take - if i dress for it and if I'm in the mood. Of course, I have the luxury of staying close to home and doing all the biking I want, so I can deal with rain a bit easier than most. Today was a good example. Woke up to a light rain, mist and fog, but it stopped mid-morning, so hubby and I did our neighborhood ride, then I did a full 5 miles of laps on our wet trails, then followed that up with a couple hours of hard work on the trails, clearing roots and rocks off the trails that might be a safety issue when riding the standard tire MTBs. Grueling work, but I get a smoother and safer trail doing it.

With our wet trails the last couple days, I've been riding the Krampus with its "low fat" (3") tires. Have rekindled an appreciation for this bike, now that I've put those wider tires to good use on our wet trails (now covered with wet leaves in places). The Krampus is no race bike, but it is solid, stable and, especially, safe when conditions aren't the best. I did get the gearing right on this one, too, for my trails. It can be a little tricky matching the gear combo on a single speed to where you plan to ride the bike. All in all, the Krampus is a very useful single speed in my growing collection of single sped bikes.

Nasty storms with heavy rain and a lot of lightning moved in, this afternoon, just as I finished with the trail work. More to come, tonight and tomorrow, so the Krampus will probably be put to work, again. Could ride one of the regular fat bikes, too, but I'm kind of hooked on riding single speed.

[ny biker]

It's been summerlike all week and I love it.

I rode last night after work, about 18 miles. My speed was very slow and I'm not sure why. I was in a bad mood all day and had to stop several times because the chain was making a weird noise. I couldn't figure out why. I have had problems ever since the bike shop guy replaced it a few months ago. Anyway it seemed to shift okay last night, it just didn't sound right. There was more traffic than usual which did not help my mood, and one driver in particular was a total jerk, honking and passing close while I was making a left turn. Overall not the best ride.

I'm planning to lead a ride on Sunday. It's supposed to be sunny and in the 80s. No complaints from me!

[Crankin]

So beautiful out this morning, when I went to the gym. 57 degrees and dry/clear. Two days of this, and then some of the same (but cooler) warmth that NY is getting on Sunday.
So, last week I signed up to join a meet up group called Metrowest Active Retirees (or not). I am trying to branch out, in preparation for retirement, still a couple of years off. But, I haven't had a great track record of going on group rides with my Wednesday group this season (4, maybe) and I've only led 2 rides for AMC and gone on one other local one, and 3 AMC rides out in western MA, which of course, are led by my friends. Signed up for a ride on 10/17, in a very hilly ride west of here, only 19 miles. First, I was put on a wait list; I questioned the restriction on size, stating I was not familiar with Meet Up ways... one of the participants gave me her spot, saying she "had to practice going up inclines." She seemed to be a younger person, as the group is basically open to anyone who can do stuff during the week. We shall see. The stated average is right in my ballpark, but a few years ago, we had AMC leaders cross posting our big event rides on Meet Up, leading to people attending who just didn't have the skills or proper bikes for riding in a hilly area. I had a woman fall over and bleed profusely before my ride even started! We ended that practice. Anyway, I would rather be slowed down than dropped, and hopefully, I will find new people to play with.

[north woods gal]

If what we get, up here, is a taste of what you folks to the east and south will be getting, you better enjoy that nice weather while you can.

Had some really nasty storms, the night before last, but yesterday, the sun came out after a very cold night in the 30s and dried things up a bit. We had errands in town, so we didn't get around to doing our usual neighborhood ride till late afternoon. That's probably a good thing, though, since things had dried out a bit. I then grabbed the Log Lady and did a full 5 miles of laps on my trails. The leaves were dry enough, so no traction issues at all, and, of course, the Log Lady is a race bike and a really, really fun to ride trail bike. Maybe too fun, though, in that it might tempt me to ride it when trail conditions call for a fat or a plus bike to be safe.

More rain, last night and, again, very cold temps, though just warm enough to avoid having it turn to snow. Rain and cold, today, too, so it may turn out to be one of those indoor riding days for me. I hope not. Yuk!

Our trees are at about max color, now. Lots of leaves falling, too. Big job ahead clearing my trails.

[ny biker]

It's been summerlike all week and I love it.

I rode last night after work, about 18 miles. My speed was very slow and I'm not sure why. I was in a bad mood all day and had to stop several times because the chain was making a weird noise. I couldn't figure out why. I have had problems ever since the bike shop guy replaced it a few months ago. Anyway it seemed to shift okay last night, it just didn't sound right. There was more traffic than usual which did not help my mood, and one driver in particular was a total jerk, honking and passing close while I was making a left turn. Overall not the best ride.

I'm planning to lead a ride on Sunday. It's supposed to be sunny and in the 80s. No complaints from me!

I just cleaned the chain, and I think I know the cause of the weird noise. There are rough edges on numerous links, no doubt as a result of being jammed between the cassette and the spokes last Sunday. Most of the nicked up parts are on the outer edge, but some are on the other side which comes in contact with the cogs. So it looks like a(nother) new chain is in my future, even though this one is only a few months old. I was planning to go to the bike shop tomorrow anyway, to get a closer look at the Checkpoint gravel bike.

I have ordered the hybrid from the rewards company, and have been contacted by their supplier (a bike shop in Connecticut) about frame size. I told them I was planning to trade the bike in toward a different one, and they offered to handle the trade up for me. I appreciate the offer, but want to do it through my LBS for several reasons. I also sent an email to my bike club offering the hybrid for sale. I don't want to deal with Craig's list and don't think I'd have success trying to sell there based on the prices of bikes currently listed there. If no one from the bike club wants it I will do the trade-in at the LBS.

[north woods gal]

Good luck on your bike swap/trade, N.Y. and let us know how it works out. I get it about wanting to handle things through your local shop with folks you know and trust.

We are in one of our yucky weather patterns and probably will be for another week. Yup, cloudy, dark, cold with a little rain or drizzle, here and there. Anything but great riding weather, but, as usual, we ride, anyway. Did our usual neighborhood ride, yesterday, in drizzle and light rain. (Our neighbors must think we're nuts and they may be right. ) I finished with a good long hour workout on our wet and, slippery with leaves, trails. All riding was with my aluminum Norco fat bike for the sake of safety and also to avoid getting my steel bikes soaked.

Out on the road with the fat bike, I could just barely keep up with my hubby on his fat bike. Looks like I need to do more fat bike riding out on the roads, since I plan to get though our winter and all the snow by riding the fat bikes mostly on the roads. I'm really bummed out about this upcoming winter, though, now that I've developed an addiction to my much faster and lighter single speeds. Not sure how I will handle it all. Quite a change for me, because I'm usually optimistic or at least neutral about winter. For the first time in years, I'm wishing I lived in a place where I could ride regular bikes in the winter. This is depressing.

There's such an amazing difference with the faster and lighter bikes, though, and that's the problem. I can ride the Gunnar or the Log lady on our neighborhood rides and make my hubby look slow on his fat bike. I end up waiting for him at the top of every hill. About the only thing the Gunnar and the LL have in common with the fat bikes is that they both have wheels.

[ny biker]

Fat bikes might not be your preference, but put them next to the indoor trainer and they might look pretty good. Maybe once the weather really goes downhill the fat bikes will feel more fun to ride.

[north woods gal]

You're right, of course. Ride the fat bike outdoors, even in the snow, or ride the trainer indoors? The fat bike wins every time.

Another dreary day, weather wise, but the woods are so beautiful in all their color. Just a treat to be outdoors, no matter what the weather. Did 13 miles of pavement on the Gunnar, then finished up with another 4 on the trails, doing laps with the Log Lady. Found a couple of problem spots on the trail, so did do some repair work, afterwards.

[Crankin]

What a weekend.
We left for the Pioneer Valley around 10:30, delayed about half an hr, because DH discovered my GPS was again not working. Got to our friends' house and we ate lunch, and debated about our choice of activity. It was 58 degrees (not really cold), but raw and windy. We decided to hike yesterday and ride today. So, off we went to the Holyoke Range, with the 7 sisters peaks. We did 2 peaks, very strenuous, my short little legs requiring me to scramble, using my upper body. When we started, we were going to take a trail a little different than the one we actually took, to descend, as our original choice would have meant a 6 hour hike, and it was already 3 pm. So, we started down. It was not really steep or technical, but covered with small rocks. I was moving at a good clip and I must have tripped on a rock. Not only did I go down, but I rolled a bit. I thought I would stop, but the last little bit of the roll, got the bottom of my knee/top of my tibia, on the same side where I had my bike crash. And I had a cut on my other arm. I knew nothing was broken, but my leg hurt and I felt a bit woozy. So, after sitting for awhile, we continued, I used a stick DH found to use to help me balance. I could see that the rocks were kind of wet, probably the reason I tripped. After about another mile or so of this descent, we got to the flat part of the trail. Very muddy, with stream crossings. I picked up the pace and was fine, although I knew my leg was stiffening. We had to walk out on the road for the last mile, which made it worse, as it was uphill. But, we got back to the house and I cleaned up, iced my leg, where I discovered it is just below my knee, and it's just stiff. The bruising is minimal compared to my bike crash. I didn't have my Arnica with me, so my arm is bruised, but the cuts are minimal, too, with Bacitracin.
Had a crappy night's sleep, after a fun evening though, of food and wine. The day dawned cloudy, humid and already 65 degrees. I had no idea how I would do, but we set out around 10:45, already 73 degrees. I felt crappy, but it mostly from too much wine and not enough sleep. I got over it, though and we had a lovely ride from Whately, to historic Old Deerfield, where we stopped and ate a snack. Farms, hills, and rivers were the theme of the day, and we rode just under 30 miles. Thankfully, the sun stayed in, until we got back. We showered, and the 4 of us headed out for a late lunch, and then we headed home.
Now resting on the couch, used my Arnica, and iced my leg. I have tomorrow off and all I am going to do is ride to a new gourmet farm market, around 10 miles round trip.