March rides.....riding into the days of the Spring equinox

[Crankin]

Had a pretty good 24.5 mile ride with DH today. First one from the condo. DH tripped on a root on a little connecting path from our neighborhood to the next one (we were behind our house), and twisted his ankle and his knee yesterday, when we were taking a walk. So, we did go really slowly, which did not bother me. He was fine, but had pain unclipping. I had a planned route based on a ride I had looked up, but we really didn't have enough time, so I altered it. Found a nice way to get to places where we like to ride, with an easier crossing of the highway and no having to deal with tourists in Concord center anymore. Yay.
We rode into Boxborough and Stow, and then headed back on a main road, which is flat, but usually very busy. We could have returned much more quickly, but this was nice. Most of the return trips back to our new place are flat for the last few miles, which is a joy for me, after 10 years of a 10% grade.

[azfiddle]

Sounds great Crankin.

I finished my two weeks of spring break rides today. From March 12- March 27 I rode 385 miles (that even surprises me!). 66 miles on the Surly LHT for errands or when I was waiting for my bike to be put back together, and the rest on the Ruby. Longest ride: yesterday, about 64 miles, biggest climb was on Friday when I rode up Mt. Lemmon to Windy Point (4500 feet of elevation gain). Lots of 20-30 mile days around the east side of Tucson on bike paths and near Saguaro NP. A few days were pretty windy, but overall, the weather was great.

Now I get to get back into the swing of school!

[Crankin]

I took a little ride by myself around noon today. I just wasn't feeling it to drive 20 miles to do a 25 mile group ride. I know it's fun to explore new places, but I just wanted to chill. I started out a different, and hillier way than Sunday, and ended up doing just under 16 miles. It's nice that I am much closer to roads that I love to ride on, closer to roads I first started riding on. It was about 51 when I started, and I was dressed just a bit too warmly, as the real feel kept showing it was going to feel colder.
I've deduced that nothing around here is truly flat, and my legs felt dead, but I still enjoyed it. Saw a few other cyclists, not many. When I got home it was 59 out and I was hot! So, basically, I found a good short, early AM or after work ride. It feels further away than the 15 mile loops I did from the house, mostly, I think because I was riding very near to the house I used to live in before I moved to Concord.

[Catrin]

Sounds like a lovely ride Crankin, glad you found a future regular route!

[ny biker]

Catching up... I had a good post-work hill ride on the 30th. Got started later than usual, again -- I need to focus more on getting out of work on time so I don't end up finishing the ride at 10 pm. It was in the high 50s and I was overdressed with a lightweight wool base layer, windstopper base layer and fleecy long sleeved jersey. I stopped after a few miles and took off the windstopper layer, and after that I was more comfortable. (It's interesting how differently I need to dress for a given temperature in December or February vs late March or April. Yesterday I went for a walk. It was cool and in the 50s after a cold windy night, and I ended up taking off my jacket and just wearing a long sleeved t-shirt with a short sleeved t-shirt over it. A couple of months ago I would have been cold without the jacket at the same air temperature.)

Anyway. After a sedentary Easter weekend I did the same route that I had done the previous Wednesday night. After this I will need to add some steeper hills so I can continue to build fitness for the Tour de Cure.

And I guess that does it for March!