Machka 

First weekend of March, and first weekend of autumn. Autumn started March 1 ... so ... Happy Autumn! However, I think there are some of you looking forward to spring now.

Anyway, now that it is autumn (or getting closer to spring), tell us about your cycling adventures this weekend (and/or on the surrounding days). Have you been able to get out for a few decent rides lately?


Friday - just a little bit of walking. Despite the beautiful (although a bit on the hot side) weather, we have not been able to cycle much in February due to a rather unsettled life situation just now. However, hopefully things will settle soon.


Saturday - swimming in the outdoor pool in a neighbouring town. The swimming complex there is great! I'm sure we'll be back. I did 700 metres which is the most I've ever swam, and Rowan did 1100 metres.

Then we got out for a 22 km ride in the early evening when the temperature cooled a little bit.

JasonCarp

16 deg. here. trainer 2 hrs.

aztimm

Met up with a local bike forumite (well he met me out where I live) and we did an Around the Mountain ride:
https://app.strava.com/activities/42832325

Had about perfect weather. Sunny and about 50F at the start, still sunny and around 65 or so when we finished. A little breeze, but not too serious.

When I do this solo, I usually only go halfway up South Mountain. There's a saddle, and I'll usually just go to there, then do another road in the park called San Juan trail. We split, he did an extra bit toward the top, but I had agreed to meet him up top. So I did...if I hadn't though I don't think I would have gone all the way up.

It was certainly nice to do a ride like this with someone else.

kiddcline

39 degrees here, 43 miles, feet got a little cold but worth it.

alexaschwanden

I did 8 miles to get some exercise this weekend, i need to rest for mondays big ride.

Virten

My first c4 race - 36.2 miles. About 32 miles post race ride. Didn't too bad in the race but definitely have a lot of interval work to do.

valygrl

Frostbite time trial, Mid-pack again, crap wattage, don't know what is going on my training plan isn't working.

YOJiMBO20

Are the equinoxes different in the southern hemisphere than the northern? We still have about 20 days until it's officially spring.

Anyway, yesterday I did a short 23.5km ride with 355m of climbing to get a feel for the new bike.

Today was a longer 65.6km ride with 811m of climbing, still feeling out the new bike.

Both rides were in a nice wintery ~80F (26C)

wrote4luck

A bit chilly today in NC, did 31 miles on a very hilly route. Did a 7 mile ruck run with a 50lb ruck yesterday, so my body was a bit sore today.

RoadMike

Friday: Quick ride into town for some appointments, spent some time at the bike shop, then took the long way home. 21 miles, 815 ft elevation gain, temperature between 35F and 40F. Wind 6 to 10 mph out of the North West.

https://app.strava.com/activities/42732237

Saturday: Left at around 12:00 to explore the riding south of me, intended on doing about 40 miles but ended up detouring to the west to add a little challenge to the ride. Ended with 66.1 miles and 5122 ft of elevation gain. Temperature between 33F and 37F Wind 10 to 15 out of the North West

https://app.strava.com/activities/42855100

caloso

Missed my favorite local group ride this morning (had to cook breakfast for my daughter's slumber party), so I had to go out and bury myself solo with 5x5' plus tabatas. Good stuff.

MarkThailand

It is hot and humid here in sunny Thailand - but, rain clouds are cooling things off a bit.

Saturday - I rode 100 km in 3 hr 40 min - it was sunny, hot, and humid, 83 F when I started my ride at 7 am and 93 F when I finished at around 11 am. The 4 liters of drink mix went fast and I had to drink another half a liter of cold water on the car ride back. And, there was a good strong wind blowing into my face for half the ride so I got to ride in the drops a lot.

Sunday - I rode 85 km in 3 hr 10 min - it was cloudy and cooler at 79 F when I started but I decided to end my ride just as it began to rain. And, it has been raining pretty hard on and off now almost 6 hours.

My goal for March, because of the 10 weekend days for biking, is to ride 900 km.

Tomorrow, I will swim my usual 30 laps (1500 meters). I have been told that my swimming time of 50 minutes for 1500 meters is slow. I agree - but I did not bother to explain that my freestyle swimming stroke is a no-kicking, no-legs movement swim taught to me by tri-athletes as way to rest the legs. I find it a good way to relax my shoulders and stretch my back after my biking weekends.

Mark

Machka 

Exercise today ... 8 km of walking, 20 km of cycling
And it was HOT. Up around 30C.
Now I've got a really bad headache ... perhaps a bit of dehydration.

Dalai

Saturday - Raced on the track in the afternoon. Scratch, Keirin and Points. 31km including warming up and down...

Sunday - Had to be in Warburton today, so decided why not fit in a quick ride. So rode two laps of Mt Donna Buang - climb which is 16.8km at 6.4%. Ended with 70km total and 2138m vert...

valygrl

Of course not, the equinoxes are a fact about the solar system, "autumn" is a description, whose definition varies across the world.

ThinLine

Yesterday was 43 degrees F did 24 miles at 21.7 mph. Today is 36 F plan to do 24 miles. 50 miles for a cold weekend.

StephenH

Did a 400k brevet yesterday. We started in Cleburne, Texas, down southwest of Dallas, went out to Glen Rose, on to Bluffdale, to Lipan, up to Palo Pinto and to the turnaround in Mineral Wells. This is a hilly route, and goes over several of the most notable hills I normally ride over. We made pretty decent time, and got back in about 2:30 AM. It was cold at the start, cold at the finish, and cool in between, but we dealt with it.

Carbonfiberboy 

Sunday we took our tandem out on our usual group ride. Five tandems and a gaggle of singles. Very warm and sunny for this time of year. Temperatures between 44° and 50° F. Had a great ride. Came in just behind the fast group. Rode solo most of the way to avoid peloton behaviors which have gotten out of hand in the last few years. All local club rides at moderate pace and above have been plagued with this. Leadership just can't seem to deal with it any more. If one has to spend the whole ride whipping, what's the fun of it? Impractical, anyway. Too many new riders? 50 miles, 2300'. Good to get out on the bike after having been sick for a couple of weeks.

alexaschwanden

Today i rode 60.6 miles , and i was pretty tired by the end of it but 210 miles for the week is good.

Virten

Sunday recovery ride: 27 miles

eja_ bottecchia

What a difference a day makes...24 little hours.

Yesterday (Saturday) I had one of my worst days on the bike. I had spent the previous night fighting an asthma attack that just would not quit. I should not have gone riding on Saturday, but my friends were going on a nice ride to Westlake Village (CA). The weather was hot, dry and there was a constant stiff breeze...like I said I should not have gone out on a ride.

During the entire ride it felt like I was pedaling squares. I was constantly out of breath, as if a giant anaconda had wrapped itself around my chest tightening its grip with every breath that I took. I kept reaching for my inhaler...but it did me little good. I had to struggle just to keep the back of the group in sight. To make matters worse I did not drink enough water during the ride which, combined with the dry hot air, made my legs cramp.

Like I said, I should have stayed home.

I rode almost 40 miles under those miserable conditions; I have never been happier to get home than I was at the end of Saturday's ride.

Fast forward 24 hours to Sunday's ride. The asthma attack was gone and I was feeling and breathing a lot better. So I headed out to my default ride...Neptune's Net and back. The hot, dry winds were gone to be replaced by a cool, moist marine layer. Heading out to PCH I felt strong; the anaconda was gone and in its place were a couple of turbo chargers pumping cool, salty ocean air into my lungs.. I rode 68 miles to Leo Carrillo beach and back and felt fantastic all the way there and back.

Like I said, Sunday was a great day to ride.

alpha_bravo

Rode 30 miles today in bright sun and 78 degree weather. The only bad part was the wind... my god the wind.

evan938

https://app.strava.com/activities/43025394

I called this one "The Motivational Ride"...about a month or two ago, I was having a conversation among friends I ride with and made a comment of "I've found the best way for me not to get dropped on group rides is to ride faster, that's what motivates me"...to which a couple guys I ride with (who are both MUCH stronger riders than me) made remarks of "I'm up for taking Evan on a "motivational ride"".

Well, they were supposed to go to a spring tune-up race a couple hours away today, and once they got down there, 15 min before the race was due to start, they cancelled it due to snow. They came back and called me to come ride 30 minutes later (i had JUST woken up), i raced to get a bite to have something to burn off, get dressed, drive to our start point about 10 min away, barely made it. I knew I was gonna get my ass kicked since it was me and the 2 of them. they toyed with me for the first 5-7 miles dropping me repeatedly, then a few more times through the ride. the super cold weather definitely didn't help (prob 30* F average), and i was hurting all day. I did it to myself though, i knew it was coming. hoping it prepares me for spring/summer.

jbchybridrider 

I managed to look at my bike this weekend, Think I might have touched it too?

Machka 

Yep.

Here in Australia ... Autumn starts March 1, Winter starts June 1, Spring starts September 1, and Summer starts December 1. It's somewhat more in line with what's actually happening seasonally.