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

[rebeccaC]

Nice overcast morning ride on the beach bike path south to breakfast and conversation with friends and then an afternoon challenge on some hills I like to do occasionally. Lots of riders doing the steep hills there on a Sunday.











We have a lot of nice 20-30%+ gradient hills here for a good challenge
This one is 32% and part of a series of similar hills in the area. I also had to carry an extra 2.25 lb's of camera up the hills to get photos to post here ....The hills in this paticular area are good technique and mental strategy training for some of the 1-4 mile 11-16% climbs in the San Gabriel, Santa Monica and Sierra mountains. One aspect of riding in California that i like is the vast varying challenges, easy to insane, you can find in climbing and rides.

[Sky King]

Well my photo's just can't do justice We finally were able to do the ride we wanted to do last week though. Great to be out. Plus the plants that are blooming in town aren't in the desert so my head got some relief.

[ny biker]

Beautiful blue sky, Sky King.

It turned out that I could have ridden outside yesterday, but I didn't. It was cold (40) and gray but the roads were dry. But every time I checked the forecast to see if I could sneak in an hour or so outside, it said rain was imminent. Then a while later I'd look outside again and there had been no rain, but the forecast still said it was minutes away. Oh well, I'm really over the whole bundle-up-for-cold-and-gray-weather thing anyway.

So after a day spent on the couch watching Formula 1 and trying to find photos and useful info on cork flooring on the internet, I fired up the dvd player, set up the big tower fan in front of the bike on the indoor trainer and started Coach Troy's Tuscon/Mt Lemon workout. It was an hour and 22 minutes long. I assumed this meant a very long period of "climbing" with a cool-down "descent" at the end, not a full 1:22 of climbing. But I was wrong, the whole thing was just put it in a big gear and pedal pedal pedal. This was actually pretty dull. I did turn off the dvd's background music and substitute my own, which helped immensely. I was no where near the recommended gear because my right knee can't handle it, but I was still in a gear that made me work, enough that l had to stop twice to rest for a 1-2 minutes. After 60 minutes of pedaling I stopped. I am feeling it in my quads today, but I think I prefer an interval-type workout.

Even after 1:22 of climbing, Coach Troy was not at the top of the mountain. There's another separate workout on the dvd that goes from where he stopped (Windy Pass, I think it was called) up to the top. If it's shorter then I might try it at some point.

[azfiddle]

NY Biker- that's my territory there!

That would have been Windy Point- mile post 14. It's still a lot further to the top! The first available water is still up at about mile 21, but at least you start getting into the trees at mile 15 or 16. The last two miles you would have had, between Bear Canyon and Windy Point is brutal on a hot day because it's an exposed slope, and can be quite hot even though it's over 6000 feet above sea level!

I rode to 7 Cataracts (mile 9) on Saturday. I posted a pic on the pictures from rides thread.

Oh and it would take me much longer to get there than your video, depending on where it starts (if it starts right at the base of the mountain or at the shopping center 5 miles away). But I am very slow- averaging about 6 mph or less on the climb! Probably 5 hours to the top, including my rest stops.

[ny biker]

Yes I thought of you -- I assume it's more interesting to ride in person than on the dvd! I've only ridden up mountains once, on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, and I averaged about 5-6 mph there. It's really a different experience from the shorter hills that I'm used to. I have friends who like to ride in the mountains in southwest Virginia but so far I have declined to join them.

[Crankin]

I don't do so well with longer climbs, like in the west. I can do short and steep, mostly because that is what I am used to. I'd love to try Mt Lemmon, though.

[azfiddle]

Mt. Lemmon is mostly a steady 5% grade, with a few places that are a little flatter and a few that get up to 6-7%. I find I just need to have the right mindset to do it. Slow.

[ny biker]

One thing I remember from Skyline Drive was being numb from the saddle. It was perfectly comfortable on other rides but not good for the constant upward incline. If I were going to do a long climb again I'd think about tilting my saddle nose down a bit. Also I had other cyclists to talk to for part of it, which made the ride more pleasant.

[Crankin]

Yes, those grades don't sound horrible, but I did just a 10 mile climb in Spain, with similar grades. I felt like puking and had cramps in my calf so bad that it took 2 years to recover, it was so tender. It wasn't hot out and I had plenty of food and drink. There just aren't places like that around here.
And, I was going about 4 mph on that one. I was definitely not mentally ready. This was a cat 3 climb on the Vuelta. But, my usual speed on a hard climb is about 6 mph, so AZ, we are very similar!

[Sky King]

Cork Floor - just do it! We were home builders for 20 years. Had cork in our bathroom and laundry room and installed in a friends family room. so wonderful on the feet!

Beautiful blue sky, Sky King.

It turned out that I could have ridden outside yesterday, but I didn't. It was cold (40) and gray but the roads were dry. But every time I checked the forecast to see if I could sneak in an hour or so outside, it said rain was imminent. Then a while later I'd look outside again and there had been no rain, but the forecast still said it was minutes away. Oh well, I'm really over the whole bundle-up-for-cold-and-gray-weather thing anyway.

So after a day spent on the couch watching Formula 1 and trying to find photos and useful info on cork flooring on the internet, I fired up the dvd player, set up the big tower fan in front of the bike on the indoor trainer and started Coach Troy's Tuscon/Mt Lemon workout. It was an hour and 22 minutes long. I assumed this meant a very long period of "climbing" with a cool-down "descent" at the end, not a full 1:22 of climbing. But I was wrong, the whole thing was just put it in a big gear and pedal pedal pedal. This was actually pretty dull. I did turn off the dvd's background music and substitute my own, which helped immensely. I was no where near the recommended gear because my right knee can't handle it, but I was still in a gear that made me work, enough that l had to stop twice to rest for a 1-2 minutes. After 60 minutes of pedaling I stopped. I am feeling it in my quads today, but I think I prefer an interval-type workout.

Even after 1:22 of climbing, Coach Troy was not at the top of the mountain. There's another separate workout on the dvd that goes from where he stopped (Windy Pass, I think it was called) up to the top. If it's shorter then I might try it at some point.

[ny biker]

My usual speed on a steep climb is 3 mph! I laugh when joggers pass me.

Sky King I definitely want cork floors -- I think they will help with some of the noise issues in my apartment. My problem is finding a color/texture combination that I like and that looks good with my wall colors, furniture etc. in both the living room and bedroom. Admittedly I am being picky, but I don't want to spend all that money and then hate the way my house looks. I've been looking at some samples of cork with a wood grain image imprinted on it. There's one that is the perfect shade of brown, I just can't decide if it looks too fake, like bad laminate. I've been dealing with four different flooring installers who are experienced with cork. They're all so nice and helpful, I will feel bad have to choose only one of them!

[azfiddle]

It was supposed to be windy today- so I rode out early to vote, go to the store and bank- just 6 miles or so on the Surly. They decreased the wind forecast (20 mph sustained with gusts to 40 mph) but it looks like it will still be pretty breezy in a little while. Tomorrow should be a little cooler and much calmer.

[ny biker]

High winds can be frustrating and tiring, but if they're too high they can really be dangerous. I've been blown sideways a couple of times, fortunately was able to stay upright.

After several days that were cloudy/rainy/cold enough for my down coat and a cool breezy morning today, we finally have warm sunshine again here. I skipped the gym last night because I was very tired so will try to make that up tonight, then tomorrow am looking forward to a good ride after work.

[Crankin]

I went on a great group ride today. I did the shorter version (26 miles), which was enough, as it had some tough hills in the second half. I really had to force myself to go, as it was sprinkling and 50 out when I left, but after studying the hourly forecast for hours, I made myself get out the door. The dreary skies made for a small group (it's too early in the season for fair weather cyclists), of which we had 7 and the long ride had 10. We left from a guy's house in Carlisle, near Great Brook Farm, and basically rode into Chelmsford and Westford, where we paused at the Butterfly Museum, where we chose not to go in. Then, we were in Tyngsboro, the town I first lived in when I moved here. I have a love/hate relationship with the place, but we were in my old neighborhood, exactly, and all I can say is this is where it got hard. We rode on my old street just a bit, as there is a dangerous, curvy downhill right where my house is, so we went on a parallel street that is extremely rural, complete with a pig farm. The first day my kids rode the school bus (ages 5 and 8), they saw this, smelled it, and asked what the hell kind of place we had moved to ? The worst of the hills were over, but we had a few more back into Westford and then we were pretty much almost back.
My speed was high before we started climbing, but I stayed behind the leader on the hardest climbs (albeit, a bit behind on the worst one). I did hit my fastest downhill speed today, that I have only done once before, which is very wimpy, at 32 mph.
It was good because nothing hurt. Not my stomach, my hip, or any other annoying thing. I didn't feel tired, either. It seems like the stars align once in a blue moon! Joined the group for a nice lunch at a pizza place where I had a chicken salad so big I hope I can eat dinner.

[ny biker]

So the weather was not great but the ride went well, Crankin -- often it is worth it to force yourself to get out there despite what you see and feel when you first step outside.

I rode almost 19 miles last night. As I've mentioned before my weekly hill ride is easy to alter based on how long I want to ride and how steep I want the hills to be. Normally at this time of year I'd be doing the shortest, least steep route, but I've got to get in shape fast and besides these outdoor rides are helping me get rid of the winter blahs once and for all. So last night I incorporated a couple of steeper climbs that I didn't do last week or the week before. My legs were tired at the end and still tired this morning, but I still felt better than I did a couple of weeks ago. So, continued progress. I got a late start due to stuff at work and needing to deal with some health insurance/flexible spending claims that must be filed this month. As a result I didn't finish the ride until 10 pm. I'm pretty sure it was my latest night ride ever. The weather was cooler than I thought -- temps in the 60s but I guess since we had several days where it was cold enough for winter coats, the ground was still pretty cool. No problems though since I remembered to bring my Big Bright Orange Tote Bag of Extra Layers, and all I needed was a wind vest.

The only issue last night was the pollen -- either it is sky high or the antihistamine eye drops I'm using are not working. I think there must have been a bunch of trees that I'm very allergic to near the ride start because I was miserable for the first few miles. After that things calmed down but still not great. I've been wearing glasses instead of contact lenses for night rides lately. But if this is how my eyes are going to be reacting to pollen this spring I won't be able to wear contact lenses with regular sunglasses for daytime rides. Which means I'll have to wear my prescription sunglasses, a pair of giant heavy Wayfarer IIs that I got back in the early '90s. I think it might finally be time to look getting prescription Oakley sunglasses...