April Rides

[Crankin]

I had a meeting at a school on my "day off," so I couldn't go on the club ride. Probably a good thing. So, after lunch, I rode 7.2 miles to meet 2 friends for coffee in west Acton. Now, these were the same exact roads for the first part of my Saturday ride, when I felt great. Today, my legs are toast. I think the commuting is going to take some getting used to, even though I keep thinking "it's only 10.4 miles round trip." Last night, I wanted to throw out my pannier on the way home! Anyway, after the coffee, I made myself go a very long way home (14 miles), mostly uphill. While I did get my average up on the return trip, to what it was Saturday (still not great), I was hurting. Plus, I was kind of overdressed. By the time I got to my neighborhood, I had unzipped my jersey and and I took my jacket off and tied it around my neck, as well as taking off my gloves and light head cover. I would not have got up the hill with that stuff on.
21 miles. Wearing my compression tights, which haven't seen the light of day in a couple of years.

[ny biker]

Well, sometimes you just have a bad day. Hopefully that's what you had on Wednesday. Though you may find you need to alter your workout schedule to accommodate the bike commutes without wearing yourself out.

I finally got out for an after-work ride on Wednesday. This was the first week since Daylight Saving Time started that we had decent weather.

Since I am now working at a different office that is farther from home, I have to drive to a small park that is near my old office and start the ride there. (There are no good places to ride near the new office, and besides I really like the route near my old office.) However I have an ongoing problem getting out of work early enough to do the things I want/need to do in the evenings. Something always seems to come up at the last minute. So I left work later than I wanted, then got stuck in traffic caused by an accident. I ended up exiting the highway early and using back roads I've learned through cycling. Yeah bikes.

Though I was starting later than I wanted, it was still light out for about half the ride. I did a slightly shorter version of the usual route. I think it was about 16 miles total. There are lots of short hills, and some are quite steep, so my pace is always a bit slow on these rides. But I was happy that I averaged close to my normal pace, even though I'm not riding nearly as much now as I do during the summer.

The weather was pleasant, in the 60s. After sunset it felt a bit chilly. But I was generally comfortable with Shebeest capris, a long sleeved base layer and short sleeved jersey. I added a wind vest and windproof gloves near the end. No booties, no thermal tights, no caps or ear warmers or windproof jacket. It was so nice.

I was very happy afterwards.

[Fredwina]

I did a whole five miles, with the furniture getting here yesterday
300 junk bikes. There was supposed to be a freeway(I-40) built through here,but it was blocked:

Back side of the Memphis zoo:

Levitt Shell, where a 19 year old Elvis Presley gave his first concert as an opening act for Slim Whitman:

This is supposed to be a guitar:

[azfiddle]

I got out Weds after work, but only because one of my cycling team buddies who also started the coaching program said "I need to ride". Wind were 20 with gusts to over 30 which usually more than I want to deal with. When we got to the start, she said, "I only came because you said you were going to ride". Ha ha. But anyway, we rode the loop at Saguaro NP, which is somewhat sheltered from the wind and it wasn't too bad. Then we did 3 extra miles back and forth to the picnic ground to work on our cadence.

Today I rode in to work and will get in 20-22 miles depending on my route home. At least they are only predicting winds of 17 with gusts to 26 (headwinds) on the way home.. Well, the DH always says: "More exercise!".

[ny biker]

Fredwina, it took me a minute but I can see the guitar. That's neat.

[Fredwina]

Thanks
I went downtown and back. Not getting much with the job search and taking care of Mom (life is never easy)
Memphis Belle:

Kinetic sculpture from bicycle wheels:

Main st. downtown:

Who's this guy?

[salsabike]

Great pictures, Fredwina!

[emily_in_nc]

I love that bicycle arch, Fredwina -- thanks for posting!

We made our way back from Patagonia, AZ to Prairie Village, KS over three days March 31-April 2, so no riding those days, just a lot of driving -- and two "spring forwards" during the trip. Ouch!

Yesterday after a morning re-stocking at Costco, we had a nice ride in the afternoon with temps in the mid-60s and climbgin to the low-70s. I couldn't believe how strong I felt. I guess the hills and higher elevation of southern Arizona and lots of Feb/March miles really made a huge difference as riding here felt so EASY. Average speed didn't reflect that with all the stops and turns in this urban/suburban environment, but it was a fun 25 miles.

A front blew in (and I do mean BLEW) in overnight, and today it was overcast and cold with a strong northwest wind. Windchill in the 30s in the afternoon. From wearing shorts and short-sleeve jerseys yesterday, today I bundled up for a walk in wool, gloves, a scarf, and hat. Hoping to get out for another ride tomorrow as the temp is supposed to warm up a bit in the the afternoon -- and we should see the sun. Spending the entire winter in the south has made chilly early spring weather difficult to take!

[Crankin]

I commuted yesterday. The compression tights did their job Wed. night, as I went to bootcamp on Thurrdsay, and my legs felt fine yesterday (well, there was that little 10-15% climb with a packed pannier, on the way home). Today we are presenting at our club's bike workshop. Four hours of telling people that you don't wear underwear with bike shorts . Seriously, I love doing this, but it's 4 one hour workshops, plus a lunch when people always ask lots of questions. My allergies are going nuts, my head is full, and I hope I don't lose my voice today. I had thought I might go on a short ride after this, but I am taking a rest day, so I can do a long ride tomorrow.

[ny biker]

I just came home from a 42-mile ride with a few friends. It was breezy but the sun was warm (I think it was just about 60 degrees) for most of the ride. The only real chill was during our two rest stops at parks on the Patuxent River, with the breeze coming off the water. When we started I was wearing a windbreaker and had wool leg warmers covering my lower legs, but I switched to a vest after a few miles and removed the leg warmers about halfway through the ride. We finished just in time -- some clouds rolled in while I was at a nearby deli getting a sandwich, and it pretty chilly without the direct sun.

We saw some daffodils and some purple wildflowers but the big tall trees are still bare. I'm still eager to see the leaves come back, even though I know the pollen will be unpleasant.

Our pace was a bit slower than usual today, since one friend is dealing with some knee troubles and we're all still getting back in shape after the long cold winter. But it was a nice ride, with good company and nice rural roads.

[azfiddle]

Today was ride up Mt. Lemmon. I don't always know how far I'll get- today I was trying to do standing intervals while climbing, and needed to go further than the two friends I was riding with at the time (our group splits up as it starts climbing). I ended up making it to the overlook at Seven Cataracts, a little over 5000 ft. I remembered to take some pictures for a change.

[rebeccaC]

Santa Monica Mountains for a 68 mile ride. Perfect weather for climbing, which must have been the reason for the more bicyclists than usual, especially on Old Topanga Road.

[emily_in_nc]

Today was ride up Mt. Lemmon. I don't always know how far I'll get- today I was trying to do standing intervals while climbing, and needed to go further than the two friends I was riding with at the time (our group splits up as it starts climbing). I ended up making it to the overlook at Seven Cataracts, a little over 5000 ft. I remembered to take some pictures for a change.

Good job! We drove up to see the beauty of Mt. Lemmon when we spent Feb. in Tucson but just did not feel conditioned enough to attempt riding it. If we'd had another month in Tucson, then perhaps. But I could see how incredibly difficult it would be.

[emily_in_nc]

Today we did a 31-mile urban ride on the MTBs -- five miles to the Indian Creek Trail, 21 miles of trail (got stopped by deep mud in KCMO), five miles back. I pulled a real dumbazz move and left my bike seat bag open after our rest stop for a snack, and my phone popped out at some point on the ride. I did this exact same thing in Belize, so you'd think I'd know better!

We went back but could never find it, and calling it went straight to voicemail, so either it fell out on the road and got crushed by a car, or someone picked it up and was furiously using my minutes (I had a lot). So, I had to race over to Walmart to buy a new phone (Net10 prepaid), call and have my number and minutes transferred over, and all is well now. I lost my contacts but didn't have many as I am not a phone person. Fortunately DH has most of the same ones I did. And the new phone was only $20. Just one of several reasons I only have a cheap, dumb phone and not a pricey iPhone! I'm way too accident-prone.

Aside from that, it was a great 31-mile ride, a little chilly (50s) but sunny. Supposed to warm up a bit over the next few days. Come on spring!

[colorisnt]

Emily, wow. That's good that it wasn't much to replace.

Beautiful stuff, RebeccaC. What camera are you using? I am going to start bringing the DSLR on some rides in my trunk bag soon. But we need to have some pretty weather first. Today, we did just about 20 miles on the road and trail. Tomorrow, I think we will do about the same. We stayed on the MKT until the washout area. Bad flooding screws up the trail big time.