Weekend Rides!

[redrhodie]

The rain in the Midwest is heading here tomorrow. I'd probably be able to get out early and miss it, but at 4:30 this afternoon, I thought, why risk it? I was supposed to be taking a rest day, but I got on the bike at 4:45 pm, and got in a quick 18 miles. Glad I did it! Now I can concentrate on my very large pile of bike laundry tomorrow, and otherwise rest.

Yesterday I commuted. 29 miles.

[nolemom]

I was able to ride Friday, Saturday and Sunday in absolutely perfect Florida weather. Light breezes, warm temps and beautiful sunshine. The best thing is it appears the meds, stretches and massage therapy are helping to tame my sacroilliac problem. I felt the strongest I have in months and managed 133 miles for the weekend.

[Roadtrip]

I woke up with a migraine, so the planned morning ride wasn't to be... by the afternoon I was feeling a little better, so we got out I did 12 miles yesterday. I had wanted to go a little further, tho the saddle didn't agree with my plans, so I turned around after six miles and "limped" back to the car.

I kept slipping forward on the saddle to where I ended up on the horn and it caused me a good amount of pain.. I'd shift back only to slip forward again as soon as would tried to put any decent amount of power down. I ended up raising the saddle about 3/4" and it helped somewhat, tho I did keep slipping, plus my underside was already yelling at me.

I just decided the #*$& WITH IT and hammered the six flat miles to the car setting my land speed record of 21mph... so my sensitive areas only had to endure the saddle for a short while, tho my hands were numb when I got back to the car because I ended up holding myself back on the saddle with my hands.

Today I took the bike into the shop that I intend to have my fit at and asked if there was anything that could be done prior to my fit appointment and the fitter said I could move the saddle forward to see if that helped until the official fit... so we'll see!!!

Shannon

[indysteel]

Is your saddle level, Roadtrip? I'm not sure moving forward will help but you might check if it's level from front to back. How long until your fitting?

[westtexas]

catrin, butt btr chamois cream in a purple and yellow tube, makes small packets that you can carry in your jersey pocket for a mid ride relube. One packet fits easily into a snap pack size sip lock and for me is good for two relubes or 100 miles. If you keep it in the snack pack, you can open it, use half, squeeze the rest down to the bottom of the packet, fold the top over and throw it back in the snack pack for the next time or ride.

I am really curious now... exactly how does one relube mid-ride? I mean... if you're anywhere people might see you squishing some stuff down into your skivvies... I just have a very awkward and probably embarrassing image in my head!

[Roadtrip]

Is your saddle level, Roadtrip? I'm not sure moving forward will help but you might check if it's level from front to back. How long until your fitting?

Sorry if this is long.. not meaning to hijack this thread... my weekend rides recently have been trying to adjust to the new road bike and tinkering with fit. The fitter wanted me to get some miles on the Ruby before we did the fit.

The saddle (Brooks B17 Standard) is ever so slightly tipped upward, in the thought that it would keep me back (perhaps I'm wrong), tho I kept sliding/moving forward and when I did... the nose was then elevated and irritated the soft tissue... DOH.

My reach didn't feel short. My arms were slightly bent as they should be and not locked out. I've been reading here that some of the ladies prefer the wider B68 and have considered that one, just don't know if that's what I need.

B17 (current saddle)
Length: 275mm
Width: 175mm
Height:65mm

B68
Length: 260mm
Width: 205mm
Height:62mm

I tried the B17s which has a length of 242mm and I know I DIDN'T like it at ALL. It was too short.

Fit appt in likely in the next week or so... the guy who normally does the fit is also the store manager and normally doesn't work Saturdays and it's hard for me to get in for a two hour meeting during the week; I work M-F... He's going to try figure out something where he'll work with me to get the fit done on a Saturday.

I did mention that I thought my handle bars where too narrow and he did a measurement on me today and my shoulders are 46cm and the bars on my Ruby are 40cm, so we went ahead and ordered new bars.

Shannon

[jelee1311]

I finally got out yesterday after being too sick to ride for 10 days and it was so great. The sun was shining after sooo much rain,my bike computer is broke so I wasn't tempted to push hard because I didn't have any numbers to guilt me to go faster. So I rode a slow(I think) 12 miles and I enjoyed seeing all of the cherry trees that have bloomed. It made me so happy to know spring is here and some day it will stop raining.

[Catrin]

Sorry if this is long.. not meaning to hijack this thread... my weekend rides recently have been trying to adjust to the new road bike and tinkering with fit. The fitter wanted me to get some miles on the Ruby before we did the fit.

The saddle (Brooks B17 Standard) is ever so slightly tipped upward, in the thought that it would keep me back (perhaps I'm wrong), tho I kept sliding/moving forward and when I did... the nose was then elevated and irritated the soft tissue... DOH.

Have you measured your sit-bones yet? Perhaps you have, it just wasn't in the post.

[azfiddle]

It has been gorgeous here- maybe a little too warm, with temps getting up over 85. I rode Friday and Saturday on my new ruby- everywhere I've gone has been "the first ride to _____________ on the new bike". Friday my DH had the day off but since he still can't ride because of his accident, we drove up to Saguaro National Park and he followed me around the 8 mile loop road to get photos of me and the new bike. Then he stuck around to take more pics at the park while I rode home. Not too far- about 16 miles.

Saturday I decided to ride partway up Mt. Lemmon. It's not super steep, but a long climb. It's 2500 feet at the base, and you can ride up to the summit at about 9000 feet.

I planned to go just to the first big vista point, but it was going so well I rode 5 miles, up to about 4200 feet, where there is a fee station. Almost everyone passed me (nothing new there!) but when I pulled back out from the vista point, I was just behind a group of triathletes with their own training car. I exchanged a few words with the guys in the car and actually caught up to the group and drafted with them for about half a mile.

I took Sunday off to take a hike with my DH and friends instead.

[maillotpois]

azfiddle - I really want to go up Mt Lemmon some day. Sounds like a great ride.

I did a 300k Saturday and it rained for 275k of it with hail and wind gusts as well. A lot of people DNF'ed - seasoned randonneurs. I have probably done stupider things, but I can't think of any right now. It was my slowest ever 300k by almost an hour.

[Jo-n-NY]

First weekend of 2011 that I was able to get in riding both weekend days. Saturday was quite windy and cooler than predicted for a 17 mile ride.Sunday was the first club ride out of the bike shop my dh works at for 27mi. With an early morning start time the temps were only 34 degrees but without wind it was not bad at all.

I feel like our cycling season has officially began although Friday it hit 70 today is rain mixed with wet snow As they say, March is "unpredictable"

[andiewest]

I enjoyed two relatively spring like days of riding. On Saturday I went for an 80k (50 mile) ride. Had my first flat tire ever. My riding partner helped me change it. I really need to figure that out. Unfortunately, I am not very mechanically inclined, but I think next time I will be able to do it on my own. The 50 miles was my longest ride ever. I started the day with sore quads, as I had done a lot of isolations, squats and lunges at a circuit class on Thursday. My legs were fine during the ride, I just didn't have a lot of zip.

DH and I went on Sunday for a lovely 20 mile ride. The sun was shining, the kids had spent the night at grandma's and all was right with the world! I thought that I would be hurting from the previous day's ride, but I felt fine. DH was even impressed with how quickly I made it up the two hills we did. My new specialized Amira and my stronger legs are almost making hills something I look forward to.

I am doing a metric century on April 3rd, and am beginning to feel less anxious and more confident that I will finish.

[withm]

20 bright sunny and flat miles on Sat which only made the 20-30kt NE winds even worse - no valleys to duck into to get out of the wind.

We stopped for a break where something seemed to fry our wireless computers. When I got home, my computer said we had ridden something ridiculous like 150 miles at 49mph ave speed. In 2 hours. Hmm, something ain't right? I took the head off, reset the whole thing (well I still hadn't changed the time so knew I had to dig out the directions and deal with that anyway). Here's hoping that will be the end of that problem. My friend's computer also went nuts but she hasn't said if she fixed it yet. We have ridden together for years, same bikes, same computers, and we never had this problem before. The display is nice and bright, so I don't think it's a low battery problem. I'm thinking some sort of wireless interference from the store's computer system?

[azfiddle]

Maillotpois- I think randonneuring is it's own special kind of crazy no matter what the weather, but you probably get a lot of good stories to tell...

C'mon down to Tucson. There is a completely supported ride up to the top of Mt. Lemmon in the beginning of May- a good thing as water isn't widely available in many places. I haven't ever ridden the entire thing- but have gone from milepost 1 to milepost 5, and from milepost 11 to the very top. (I did cheat and ride all the way to the bottom that day....)

[nscrbug]

andiewest - If you just did a 50-miler this past weekend, you will have no problems finishing a metric century...it's only 12 miles more, so don't fret it. You'll do great!