April 27th weekend rides

[redrhodie]

Just rode north to Portsmouth on this gorgeous day. I did one of the steeper hills, first time this year. Saw bunnies and cows, and chickens (which were out on the road, luckily a low traffic one). One of the roads is still closed from Hurricane Sandy, 6 months ago.

I think I rode around 21 miles. Perfect conditions. All good.

[shootingstar]

Did 32 km. with a load of groceries mid-way. Haven't gone to that store this past winter because of icy conditions on bike path. (No interest trying the roads in this area during winter).

Wind was gusting from different directions depending which direction I was cycling. Gusts up to 50 km. / hr. Thereafter I didn't want to go back out. Thank goodness for the grocery weight to keep me rooted in place.

[murielalex]

I got in two 45-mile windy rides along the ocean this weekend, which felt great considering only a few weeks ago I didn't think I would be able to ride much anymore. I'll be finishing up physical therapy this week, and am really happy with how well things are going. I lost a lot of muscle in my down time, and it's not coming back quickly, but I feel good, am having fun again, and am not going to worry about it. I have my first metric century charity ride of the season in two weeks, and I feel ready. Yay!

[Crankin]

I did 28.5 miles with DH and 3 others, testing out a new route we developed for our club's bike rally. Weather was perfect and the others loved our new route. After 20+ years, we have instituted change. One of the other leaders who is helping us is just the nicest person in the world and we work well with him.
Today, we went to see the Book of Mormon in town, after brunch at the bistro at the Ritz. We promised each other we would ride, which was hard to do at 5:00 PM, but it was sunny and 72 degrees. We rode 9 whole miles at a very fast pace.

[gocard]

Just completed a 34 mile ride. Next week is my Tour de Cure ride! Should be fun riding through gorgeous vineyards, I can't wait!

[TrekDianna]

Did the Monster Cookie Metric Century today....mostly sunny, but threatened rain. Luckily it didn't.

[MGM]

Just rode north to Portsmouth on this gorgeous day. I did one of the steeper hills, first time this year. Saw bunnies and cows, and chickens (which were out on the road, luckily a low traffic one). One of the roads is still closed from Hurricane Sandy, 6 months ago.

I think I rode around 21 miles. Perfect conditions. All good.

Was that Portmouth, NH? Or RI?

Did 25 miles on a charity ride in very pretty country in NJ. Turned out to be a lovely spring day!

[ny biker]

48 mile charity ride yesterday. Way more hills than I was prepared for and a good 15 miles longer than any other ride I'd done since last fall, but it was in one of my favorite areas to ride, near the Chesapeake Bay, and the weather was great.

Early in the ride a Maryland State Police officer pulled me over and told me to move to the shoulder of the road. I responded by asking what I was supposed to do when the road had no shoulder, as was the case here. We had a nice chat about safe road position for cyclists when there is no shoulder and the lane is not wide enough for a car to pass with the legally required 3 feet of clearance without crossing the center line.

[eofelis]

I haven't done many long rides lately. Mostly commuting to work (5 miles) and riding around town.

Finally got out to do a proper road ride today. We rode the Rim Rock Drive of Colorado National Monument. A crown jewel ride here. Many ride it regularly. Google it! (look at images)

We rode with some friends who brought their tandem bike. The gal wanted to try my Specialized Ruby bike and suggested I try riding on the back of the tandem. I'm a tandem newbie and the tandem captain was good to ride with. She enjoyed my go-fast bike (we ride the same size bike) and it was fun on the tandem for a little while. My bf and I aren't likely to get a tandem.

About halfway over we met up with some other friends who came up the other side. They turned around and rode the rest of the way with us. There were lots and lots of riders up there today.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day. No wind, 70-80F. We rode about 45 miles.

Here is a picture. I'm the one on the left with my road bike.

[azfiddle]

Friday- the once a week commute to work- 20 miles RT.
Saturday- a ride with my women's "team" - some folks went about 45, but 4 of us went just more than a metric century- 63 miles to the Biosphere north of Tucson.
Sunday- rode from my house to the Cyclovia event- streets closed to vehicles for about 3 1/2 miles, and many fun booths and activities along the route. My DH drove there with my fiddle and I played at contra dancing "flash mob" event at one of the activity "hubs". It was a very cool event.

[velo]

I really wanted to get in rides three days this weekend Fri - Sun but Sunday was drizzling and 60*F all day, so no ride. That was OK because we took dd to see a play instead. Got in just shy of 50 miles on Fri and a little over 25 miles on Sat, so I was happy enough. Saturday was one of those aggravating days where there was no wind when I went out and then starting blowing about 15mph into my face on the way back. But I'm not going to complain because we finally have some decent temps and I don't work today (Monday), so I'll get to ride as long as I want. I'm ready to leave the 40's and 50's behind and today should be some of the nicest weather we've seen here. Yippee!

Azfiddle - that event does sound very cool. Fun!

[Crankin]

Eofelis, when we went to the graduation at Mesa State last year, I was one of those people who had never heard of the Colorado National Monument. We only got to do some hiking, but my former exchange student "son" trained there all of the time. We got to see him take team pictures up there one day, when we happened to be driving by and saw him riding toward the monument.
That part in the tunnel looks a little scary, though.

[eofelis]

Eofelis, when we went to the graduation at Mesa State last year, I was one of those people who had never heard of the Colorado National Monument. We only got to do some hiking, but my former exchange student "son" trained there all of the time. We got to see him take team pictures up there one day, when we happened to be driving by and saw him riding toward the monument.
That part in the tunnel looks a little scary, though.

The name "Colorado National Monument" doesn't really give many clues as to what kind of area, magnificent red rock canyons, it really is. Years ago when I first drove through the Grand Junction area on the interstate I saw the signs for it and assumed it was just some sort of roadside marker for the Colorado River, or something like that. Unimpressed, I kept on driving.

Many other people also think this way. There has been some push to rename it to a National Park that might draw in more visitors.


The tunnel on the east side is a long uphill tunnel and it scares me sometimes. Even though we have to have a red blinky tail light on our bikes I don't feel very safe in there. I either wait at the tunnel entrance for a long break in the car traffic and them sprint through the tunnel (going anaerobic!); or on days that there is a lot of car traffic I motion a vehicle to stop and ask them if they will follow me through the tunnel for a bit of protection. People are happy to help me out for a few minutes there. Going the other way, downhill, that tunnel doesn't bother me much. I do get a bit of vertigo cruising along in the dark in there. The west side has two short tunnels and they don't bother me at all, though the pavement in them is quite bumpy.

[Catrin]

I've not been able to ride much at all yet this year, and am looking nervously at the calendar as I've a 100 mile charity event the end of June!!!! I will have 24 hours in which to do it however, so that helps. Am really hoping I can finagle some riding this week, even it is is only for 10 miles - I REALLY want to ride! Heading to a conference next weekend though...

The Colorado National Monument sounds beautiful! Sounds like a good place to ride! That tunnel does sound scary though.

[Norse]

Finally, a weekend where it wasn't snowing, sleeting or freezing rain! Whoo-hoo! The temp skipped past the 50s and 60s and shot up to the 70s this weekend (of course, we have cold temps and rain/snow mix forecasted for later this week ) On Saturday I did the Lake Minnetonka loop which is about 32 miles leaving from home. While the temp was in the low 70s, there was still snow in scattered piles and ice on the lakes.



Yesterday, I headed out to one of my favorite ride areas - the rolling hills, open countryside, wide shoulders and horse country out West. A stiff southerly wind was blowing a constant 20-30 mph, but it was mostly a crosswind and I planned my ride so that the last part home would be a tailwind. The ride totaled about 31 miles.