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

[azfiddle]

I rode a quick 13 miles Wednesday after work - last ride on the Ruby before Thursday's fateful incident with the bike rack. Nice weather, and good to get out the stress of the last week of work before spring break.

Saturday, I did errands in the morning and then got out on the Surly. It was breezy so I planned about 20 miles with less of a headwind on the way home. I was surprised how stable the Surly felt in the wind. I didn't mind riding the heavier bike, but I am really looking forward to getting back on the reconstruction version of the Ruby Weds!.

[Crankin]

Rode my last ride from my house on the hill. 20 miles with DH, on a flattish ride around Concord, Carlisle, and Bedford. DH has not been riding at all for about a month, doing so much remodeling work, so it was like his first ride of the season. It was really nice, about 64 and sunny out, pretty breezy at first, but it died down. Tons of cyclists.
I can't say I'll never ride up the hill again, but at least I won't have to see the 15% driveway.
Tomorrow I go to the gym, Tuesday I will either go to spin (rain predicted) or rest, and Wednesday is moving day. Since we have been bringing everything over ourselves and unpacking as we go, I don't have a ton to do on Wednesday, except unpack the last of the kitchen things that are going into furniture the movers will bring. I will try to sneak out for a short ride, to get away from it all.

[rebeccaC]

Rode the beach bike path with Ellie to Redondo Beach to meet three friends for a ride into the hills of Palos Verdes…..good climbing with great high views of the coastline. We stopped on the way back in Manhattan Beach cuz I was craving a strawberry chocolate galette. I also got an olive flute bread (Looking at the bread being held by and sticking out of both sides of the cover of my handlebar bag made me think of the rides to the boulangerie for a days bread when I was young.) and some cinnamon crunch bagels to take home. 30 miles of pleasant beach bike path interrupted by 26 miles of climbing and descents. Temps were in the 60’s so I wore a ibex merino sports bra and tank top under my jersey which worked perfectly. Now, after a yummy toasted cinnamon crunch bagel, I have to work the rest of today and probably into the night.

eta...

I am really looking forward to getting back on the reconstruction version of the Ruby Weds!.

azfiddle...good to hear you'll have a few days left of your break to ride the new ruby!!!! about the surly...i love my milano commuter, i see it as strengthening me for weekend rides on my seven

[Helene2013]

Considering my tibial plateau fracture 10 weeks ago (now healed) and ortho/surgeon saying past Tuesday I was to resume my life (gym) progressively, we took our cyclocross out yesterday. It was about 10c yesterday but very windy. Today a frisky 6c but sunny minimal wind. Yesterday was just 17km. Not bad after being 9 weeks without serious training but physio. Yesterday was only residential sectors to "test" my knees. Today we did 20km but mostly on rural roads. Felt soooo good. I was able to test going on the big cog and did good for 2km. Did not want to push my luck. But I sure feel good now. Working on "renewing" my gym program with PT but for now, we do ave to take it easy. Don't want that healed fracture to crack again.

[ny biker]

I did my first post-work hill ride of the year last Wednesday. I was overdressed -- thought temps would be dropping into the 60s but it was still above 70 for much of the ride. It did get cool near the river, though, so I wasn't really uncomfortable and even if I was I wouldn't have minded because it's a small price to pay for great weather. My legs were killing me from the hills but I managed a normal average speed.

I thought I'd be riding yesterday (Sunday) on a club ride, but the forecast called for rain showers in the late morning/early afternoon so it was cancelled. I was tired so after the ride was cancelled I went back to bed. And then slept for more than four hours. Then spent the rest of the day in my pajamas. What can I say, last week was a bad week and I was feeling unmotivated. Tonight I will use the indoor trainer. I've said it here so I'm committed -- no laziness.

[Crankin]

Back to normal March weather. Rainy, raw, in the 40s. The weekend looks dry on Saturday, but with a high of only 39. Sunday is going to rain. I am spoiled now from the warmth, so back tot he gym/hiking.

[ny biker]

Yeah today was low 50s, cloudy and drizzly here. It's supposed to warm up Wednesday but will rain in the evening -- I hope I can get in an outdoor ride before it rains.

So I didn't get home tonight until after 9 pm due to working late and having to pick up some tasty cookies from Whole Foods to give someone for his birthday tomorrow. Then I frittered around for a bit before setting up the bike on the indoor trainer. Finally at 10:09 pm I started pedaling. I did 40 minutes, much of it in a difficult gear. It was a good workout.

[emily_in_nc]

Nice little 13.5 mile utility ride into town for a couple of hardware store items from the campground we have spent the last couple days at in northern Florida. 70s with a fantastic tailwind on the way back.

[rebeccaC]

Nice little 13.5 mile utility ride into town for a couple of hardware store items from the campground we have spent the last couple days at in northern Florida. 70s with a fantastic tailwind on the way back.

you know you're always making me envious of your lifestyle/attitude.......

[azfiddle]

I'm on spring break, but awaiting delivery of Ruby #3 - now going to be ready Friday. They needed a different bottom bracket But I really don't have time to ride tomorrow and Thursday due to the St. Patrick's Day gigs lined up.

Still, I got in two days in a row of flat rides on the Surly on the bike path near me- about 17 miles each day. I'll get in a good ride Friday.

[rebeccaC]

My mother is visiting for a couple of days. She, Ellie and I rode to breakfast this morning and then my mother and I rode to the getty museum. 31 miles interrupted with some great visual art. A good day of exercise and just being with someone I love…….

[khg]

My mother is visiting for a couple of days. She, Ellie and I rode to breakfast this morning and then my mother and I rode to the getty museum. 31 miles interrupted with some great visual art. A good day of exercise and just being with someone I love…….

That's one of the best kinds of riding Rode around Mercer Island with my dad last week--had a lovely morning with him, raindrops started coming down just as we got to his house, and I was completely drenched when I got home. He thought it was pretty hilarious! (To be honest, so did I!)

[ny biker]

Catching up... I had hoped to do my weekly hill ride after work on Wednesday, which was a warm sunny day, but a rain shower came through at my usual ride time. The forecast looked pretty good for Thursday so I rescheduled. It was sunny and in the 60s during the day. Thursday was crazy at work because the electricity went out in the entire neighborhood during the late afternoon. I waited around for about an hour, then decided to leave. Just as I started my car the lights came on inside the garage. Then they came on in our office building. So I went back into work to finish up some things that needed to get done -- I figured it was better to put them behind me than have to work up the motivation to finish them after the bike ride. But the end result was that I left work later than usual, about 7:20. Before leaving I changed into my bike clothes -- lightweight long-sleeved wool base layer, hi-viz short-sleeved jersey, Gore knickers with windstopper fabric on the front.

When I walked out to my car I was cold. A breeze was blowing in the from the northwest. Oh well no big deal, I have lots of jackets and arm warmers and leg warmers and vests and windproof gloves.

So I start driving to the community center where I start the ride. (There's no good safe place to ride near my office so I drive part of the way home, stop and ride the bike, then drive the last few miles home.) As I'm driving I realize that I left all the extra layers at home. I keep them in a cheerful orange tote bag and forgot to put the tote bag in the car when I left for work. Hmmm. I could go home, put on more layers and ride around my neighborhood. But then again I do keep a few things in my regular gear bag which I do have with me, so maybe I can improvise something. Most importantly I remembered that my windstopper fleece booties are in the gear bag in the same compartment as my shoes. This is key because I have abnormally cold feet and nothing covering my calves. So I stuck with plan A and went to the community center. I put on a pair of arm warmers (over the base layer sleeves) and a fleecy long-sleeved jersey on top of everything, and put the booties on my shoes. I also had a pair of full-fingered gloves. I stuffed a lightweight windbreaker into my handlebar bag just in case. Then I started the ride.

It actually went well. The booties and fleece jersey kept me quite comfortable (except for two fast downhills near the river where it's still pretty cold at night). It was actually a good experiment because I've had trouble figuring out when to wear the fleece jersey. It's hi-viz pink with lots of reflective bits so it should be an outer layer, but it does nothing to block the wind. Well it turns out that if it's cool but not too cold, I can wear it with two layers underneath.

My Garmin battery died early in the ride so I don't know the exact mileage, but I think it was about 17 miles. My legs were pretty tired by the end but not as tired as they were the previous week. Progress!

Yesterday (Saturday)we were going to do a 46-mile ride in northern Maryland. All week long the weather forecast said sunshine with temps in the 40s for Saturday, cold rain and light snow on Sunday. Then on Friday morning the forecast changed to cold rain for most of the day on Saturday. So no bike ride. I've already got the bike set up on the indoor trainer and later today I plan to do Coach Troy's virtual reality ride up Mt Lemon. I've had the dvd for a couple of years but have only done the McLain Loop, not Mt Lemon. But I signed up for a hilly metric in early May so I need to get some good training time in this weekend, so Mt Lemon it is.

[Crankin]

Moving has knocked me out. It was bright and sunny yesterday, but it felt like winter. Got up to 43 at one point, but when I had to decide whether to ride or do something else, the weather said real feel of 34. I knew it felt colder when I went out to go shopping. Anyway, DH and I decided to do quick hike up Gardner Hill in the Stow Town Forest. Used to mountain bike there, and have done a lot of snow shoeing there, too. Now, it's closer. It was lovely, and it looked like they had done a significant amount of trail work, as the main trails were wider and cleared. Once you hike up the hill, it's like you are in another world. Anyway, one of the cool things was, as we were entering, we saw 3-4 maybe 12 year old boys coming out of the woods on mountain bikes. It's so rare to see kids doing any kind of endurance activity, it made me smile. No video games and no parents hovering.
Our hike was short, but it was 40 minutes of heart pumping. I still feel like a truck hit me, but going off to spin class in an hour. Snow tonight...

[azfiddle]

I just wanted to say I love reading about every one's rides. I don't always respond to them personally, but it's such a nice snapshot of what we're all doing on our bikes, our adventures and what kind of weather there is around this diverse country.