November Rides

[north woods gal]

We did officially get down to zero, last night, so I guess it's safe to say winter has arrived. That, and we're forecast to get another 1 to 3 inches of snow, overnight. The NWS predicted there was a 50/50 chance in our location to have a colder and snowier winter than normal, so it's safe to say the money is on the colder and snowier, at least so far.

My ride, yesterday, wore me out faster than I expected. Think I overdid it on bundling up with the leggings. Really hate those things, but have to have them in our winters. Of course, busting through 2 inches of crusty snow takes it's toll, too.

'Tis the season. Oh, well.

Oh, forgot to mention. Saw turkey tracks in the snow, yesterday. Two of them were wandering around on our trails. We do have them in the neighborhood, but they usually hang around up in the highlands. Only see them in our area, now and then. Cool!!

[emily_in_nc]

Cool about the turkey tracks, NWG -- but the low of zero, not so much.

I won't complain, but after wearing a sleeveless jersey for yesterday's ride, a "cold" front blew through, and today it was three layers on top (all thin) and into a stiff north wind with overcast skies. Felt downright wintery -- for Florida, that is. Temps in the 60s, so I know that is balmy for most, but given the wind and lack of sunshine, it felt pretty darn chilly after the 80s with sunshine we've been having!

Ended the week with a 38+ mile ride yesterday and 35+ ride today.

[Crankin]

I don't think my riding for 2017 is over, but it was 21 degrees when I got up. We went to a concert last night with the friends we were supposed to lead the ride with today; the wind made it feel like Vermont in January. Not complaining, though, as I wore my North Face long puffy coat and my big infinity scarf for the first time, and we parked quite close to the entrance. It's a jazz benefit for a charity that provides education in Quito, Equador. We went last year and were astounded by the talent of the band. This year, they had a singer from the Berklee College of Music, and the jazz ensemble from the HS where my kids went. So much talent, of which I have none!
Planning a hike today, up the "mountain" we rode by, when we did that tour of the conservation lands on our bikes.

[ny biker]

I am ready to ride tomorrow. It's supposed to be slightly less cold but I think with little to no sunshine, which means more layers will be needed.

I feel like I have to commit here in order to force myself to get out there. The hard part is usually convincing myself I'll be comfortable after I take off my nice warm ski jacket and start pedaling.

I had the cleats put on the new shoes today. The shoes are a size larger than the old ones, in order to give me enough room in the toe box. After looking at the old cleats and shoes and discussing my foot and knee issues, the fitter decided we should try adding a couple of spacers to the pedals to allow my feet plenty of float without hitting the cranks. He also raised the seat, since it was too low. I don't remember if I lowered it in an attempt to make the new saddle more comfortable; it's possible that the seat slipped down when I went over a bump due to the clamp not being quite tight enough. Then he checked angles and alignment using a plum line, video of me pedaling with dots marking the location of certain bones in my hip and knee and another video with a laser level pointed vertically at my lower leg.

Now I must get out and ride to see what feels good and what needs further adjustment. Of course with the holidays coming up and winter weather making an unwelcome appearance, it may take a while to log enough miles to get everything sorted. But at least we have begun. And my Woolie Boolie socks should fit inside my bike shoes.

[Crankin]

DH and I rode about 19 miles today; didn't start out so great, when we went downstairs to get ready and DH had a flat. He was all suited up, so he had to undress and change the flat, which delayed us by 15 minutes or so, then he had to put on all of his winter gear. Anyway, it was close to 2 when we got out. Went out in a different direction, which involves a short hill after about 3/4 a mile. Let's just say my legs were screaming from yesterday's hike. But, after that, it was OK. When we left it was 39 degrees and I was a bit sweaty, although my toes were cold, even with Woolie Bullies and winter shoes. We headed out through Maynard and Stow, to our old stomping grounds in Boxborough, where there is much less traffic. After a short rest, we headed on to the second part of the ride, where it started getting cooler and I was not so sweaty. Lots of shadows at this time of year, and despite full sun, the sun was going down already, around 2:45-3. Got home around 3:15, tired, but glad I went.

[ny biker]

Okay so on Friday I took the regular cotton sheets and blanket off the bed and replaced them with flannel sheets and the down comforter.

Since then I have struggled to get out of bed in the morning. It is just. so. cozy.

So I got a late start today. Then had to get all the winter gear together -- warmest booties, wool cap, chemical toe warmers. Made sure the big orange tote bag of extra layers had a complete inventory of arm warmers, leg warmers, extra socks, glove liners, neck gaitors, various jackets and tights. Had to put plastic wrap inside my new shoes under the insoles to cover the vent holes and then make sure the warmest booties would fit over the larger shoes. (They do, but barely.) I finally started riding around 3 pm. I decided to start at the shopping center where the LBS is located and ride on a rail trail, so it would be easy to shorten the ride if anything hurt. After less than five miles I decided it was too hard to unclip the right foot. I had to turn my foot way too far. So I turned around and headed to the LBS where they lubed the cleat and moved it out about a millimeter. After that it still didn't seem 100% right but I was able to clip out easily enough.

It was cloudy and mid-40s, not too cold actually. I was sweating when I got to the LBS and then was cold when I started riding again. This time I went the other way on the rail trail, rode for a few miles and then turned onto a road with a big hill. This is the start of a 30-mile ride that I do from time to time. But I didn't plan on doing the whole 30 miles (it was 4 pm by this time, less than an hour until sunset). Instead I improvised using roads from the beginning and end of the 30-mile route. I did have good lights with me and was wearing some clothes with reflective bits, since I had a feeling I'd still be riding near sunset. In all I think I rode about 22-23 miles.

So, all the changes we made yesterday with new shoes and cleats plus adjustments to the saddle height and handlebar tilt were generally good. Nothing hurt. My heels were hitting the cranks sometimes, but not always. If the weather holds I will do another test ride in a few days, with more hills.

[north woods gal]

Atta girl, Sheila. That ride with what you're wearing is part of the MTB attitude to just get out and ride, though I suspect most of us diehard MTBer's do wear bike specific clothing, anyway. I sure do, but have been known to ride in jean short and sandals in the summer. For my really cold weather riding, though, I get much stricter about using bike specific winter clothing, though XC ski clothing doubles, nicely.

Beautiful day, today. Highs only in the 30s, but sunshine and the snow laden woods are truly glorious. Just enough snow to make pedaling harder, but not enough to drag you to a dead stop when you don't pedal. Trails are too slick to actually walk, safely, but not to fat bike, safely. Amazing how the fat bikes can easily handle conditions that are too slick for safe walking.

[Crankin]

Get some microspikes, North Woods! One of the greatest inventions of all times, in my book, and such a simple thing. I needed them to walk down my driveway to get the mail, before I moved. Just don't get the Yak Tracks brand, which break and generally don't work that well. I wouldn't be able to hike in the late fall/winter/early spring, when there is no snow, if I didn't have these. Sometimes, there's just enough crusty snow and ice to need them, but not enough for snow shoes.
When I went to the gym this morning at 5:15, I saw a rider with a front light as bright as my "big boy" one. Glad there is someone as crazy as me. No, I was not riding today, but I am not done with 5 am rides yet.

[Crankin]

Microspikes are things you pull on over your hiking boots, so you can walk/hike on icy trails or roads. Northwoods was saying she couldn't walk the trails, but could ride her fat bike.

[north woods gal]

I do use pull over crampons over my boots to walk the trails in the winter when things get really treacherous and, of course, they're built in to my snowshoes. Kind of clunky, though. Might look into those micro spikes. Sounds like a great idea.

The fat bikes aren't 100% slip proof, of course. Still have to know how to take tight turns and so on when fat biking on the slick stuff. Also, when things get nightmare bad, I do have two fat bikes set up and ready to go with studded tires. One is for hard pack snow and clean ice. Has shallow lugs to keep more surface area close to the snow pack/ice. Runs very fast. The other is a deep-lugged monster for chewing though the deep, slushy stuff, but it's a slow beast to run.

Oh, yeah, tire styles and setting the right tire psi to match the conditions is a much needed skill for fat biking. These tires run at very low psi, typically 5 or even a touch less in the winter to about 10 or 12 for the max in the summer, so even one or two psi makes a huge difference in the way the tire performs. Regular bike tire gauges aren't accurate enough, either, so I use a special low psi gauge that only goes up to 30 psi. Even have to be careful to wait until the tires cools to air temperature in cold weather before measuring pressure. Tires will lose pressure going from a warm house to winter cold. Go too low and you get a pinch flat when running with inner tubes. Another reason I'm going tubeless when I can with the fatties.

Okay, more than anyone probably wanted to know about fat bikes, but they really are different. I'll shut up, now.

[Crankin]

I really don't think I am going to get one, because it just doesn't snow consistently enough here, and the ones I want (Trek or Specialized WSD), that will fit me are not cheap. I will probably try it at a nordic center this year. When it snows, I want to be x country skiing. Plus, if I was fat biking around here, I'd be on fairly difficult trails. I cannot see putting fat bikes on the rack, to drive 2-4 hrs. to get up north, or to western MA. Does this make sense? Given my poor experience with mountain biking, I think getting something else for my 3d bike would be better.
What that will be, I don't know. It's pretty much between a gravel/dirt road bike, a city type bike, or a cheap mountain bike to do both of those.
Northwoods, I used to use snow shoes to go out on hard packed trails with just a couple of inches of snow. It did seem like overkill!

[Crankin]

I haven't thought that specifically, Sheila. Frankly, it's not in the budget right now. I am leery about buying any of the Salsa/Surley type brands after trying a couple out at Harris Cyclery a few years ago. Not only did the bikes not feel right for me, there was a kind of weird reverse snobbism in the shop. I feel bad saying that about the hallowed home of Sheldon Brown and it has nothing to do with buying a fat bike, but after almost 20 years of riding, I have found that I feel comfortable on a very small range of bikes. Plus, I really think I would not use a fat bike enough to even justify a 1500.00 or less bike.

[north woods gal]

Crankin, you do what works for you. Wouldn't ever suggest, otherwise. Love my fatties, but, yeah, if you have to throw one on a rack and drive for a couple of hours to really make the most of one, not a great choice. Oh, for sure, you can use them on roads, too, and I do use my Pugsley that way, but it's still most at home back in the woods.

Got a chuckle on that Surly comment. Definitely right on that retro snobbishness thing. Have experienced it, myself. Gets a little nutty, for sure. As a Surly fan, I take it tongue-in-cheek, though. I know better. Have the latest and greatest in modern design MTBs/fatties and have a couple of Surly's, too. I know the difference. When I really want to fly, it's not on the Surlys. That's not their niche.

Our weather continues to be snowy, but at least the temps are holding in the 30s. It'll take a lot more to push me indoors on the trainer.

[north woods gal]

Took the Surly Krampus (steel 29x3 bike) out on the pavement for a spin, today. Our pavement is now snow free, so plenty safe, and I'm running easy rolling Knard tires. Very refreshing ride after all my trail work in the snow and mud with the fat bikes, this month. Weather is still winter-like, with drizzle and temps in the 30s, but figured I better ride clean pavement when I can, now. Last week, our local paved roads were snow covered and will be, again, soon.

Of course, I still had to try riding the Krampus on the trails. It is a great trail bike with the Knards when the trails are dry, which is definitely not the case, right now. Slipped all over the place in the slush and grease (mud on top frozen ground). Way wrong tires with the Knards. Took the Krampus back to the house and got a fat bike. Still had to go easy in the turns and keep those wheels in the vertical, but the fat bike took it all in stride - as usual.

[Crankin]

I actually did a group ride today. 35 miles, just local roads, but mostly in the opposite direction of most rides I do.
There were 40 riders! A lot of the very fast people, who do not ride in the stated style of our group. But, they stayed just ahead of our leader for the first half, then took off, and reappeared when we regrouped. I felt good until about 8 miles from the end, I volunteered to arrow a turn. I had to wait awhile until the sweep came, as the group slowed a lot. Then, it was a hill, the sun went in, and I should have eaten. I struggled to get past this slow group and finally got on the flattish main road back to the start. I was dying! At one point, I was going around 11.8 in places my speed is usually 17-18. I had also found a headwind. Got back to my car and when I stopped, I realized i needed to eat. Drove to the Indian restaurant, where we celebrated our coordinator’s 75th birthday.
I am
Exhausted.