Machka 

Yeah, I know this is early, but today was a holiday down here.
So ... tell us about your weekend cycling adventures (whatever a weekend is for you), or your cycling adventures on other days surrounding the weekend.
Where did you ride? Who did you ride with? How far did you go? Any other highlights?


[HR][/HR]


Thursday -- Royal Hobart Show Day: I'm madly studying for a final exam, and was up till 2:30 am this morning, but I was able to get a bit of extra sleep, and then Rowan and I went for a 32.78 km bicycle ride near Seven Mile Beach ... some of the flattest terrain in the area.

Beaches ... lunch at a Banjo's ... and cycling.

And for a little while, there was no staring at a computer screen!!

Jakedatc

Thursdays are my early day at school and it was 70F here today so i did 54mi with 3200' solo since everyone that would have gone was at work. peak foliage, quiet roads and short sleeves. I'll take it this time of year. cold is coming.

Machka 

Gotta love that!

Machka 

Saturday -- no cycling for me today. I wrote a final exam instead. I mean really ... a final exam on a Saturday afternoon? Nevertheless, there I was.


However, I did manage to climb some stairs, and after the exam, Rowan and I went for a short walk along the beach (about 1 km).

smarkinson

Saturday: Needed to get the Strava 120km gran fondo challenge done so got up before sunrise to join a local ride (about a dozen or so riders). I figured riding with some others might break up the monotony a bit. It was 20km to the start of the ride plus the ride itself was about 50km so I still needed another 50km to get the 120km up so I rode to the next town. A bit of drizzle was falling at the end of the 50km ride but it stopped but when I got to the next town the drizzle started up again. I needed to ride down a hill and there are only two roads in town that I you can do this one, either the main road (which would have been packed with traffic on a Saturday morning) or the steep as hell back road. Less traffic but you hit 70kmh in no time. Riding at that speed in the drizzle was a lot like sandpapering one's face. Ouch.

Sunday: Rode 30km and joined up with another ride (about 30 riders). This is an annual ride of 100 miles organised by a local club. The 100 miles is too far for me but the ride passes right by my house so I was able to ride the 30km back with them.

kbarch

Oh, what tortures you endure!
Try riding in sleet!

nastystang

Nothing special got in an hour of riding after work. Been working like mad with no time for it but forced a ride today. A lot like getting some medicine, just what I needed. Hope to go again Sunday but work may interfere.

Jakedatc

Sat: and today back to fall weather. 50F's rode 24mi with the gf on the bike path. in tights, shoe covers, long sleeve and vest. did a bit of CX fooling around with road bikes a park. mostly bopping around the field and up and down a short steepish hills

TrekmanDan

Friday: My wife's friend had a birthday, so she and our 3 y.o. daughter decided to go to the party. That gave me some alone time to myself. Since I've been so busy with grad school, I haven't been on my bike since we took a road trip to Michigan back in June. Anyway, it was about 7:30pm, so it was a bit dark outside, which isn't too much of a problem since I have a Niterider 750. The issue I ran into occurred about 1.5 miles into my ride. I usually ride through a few neighborhoods, which take me to some back roads (<40mph) that not too many people travel on. Well, since I haven't ridden in a while, i didn't realize that there was some road construction in the neighborhoods I bike through, so I had to find a different path. Anxious and eager to get onto my normal route, I turned back around and sped through the neighborhood trying to find another road that'll get me to where I need to go. A minute later, I see an upcoming road that I think might lead me in the right direction, so I slow down to get ready to make a right turn. Since it was dark, I couldn't tell how fast I was going, but I'm guessing I slowed down to about 14-15mph. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize was that there was some loose gravel and sand. So, before i knew it, my whole bike slides and I end up eating it! I fell pretty hard that both shoes unclipped without me even trying. After lying on the ground for about a minute, I attempt to get up and assess the damage. First thing I notice is my right shifter is a bit out of place. Aside from that, everything else looked ok. So, I manage to ride back home, and when I hopped in the bathroom to take off my long sleeve jersey, I noticed that my right sleeve, just above my elbow is soaked in blood. Turns out I got scraped up pretty bad. Also scraped up my right leg, bruised my right hip and got some cuts on my right pinky and wrist. Despite the crash, I've gotta say, I actually felt pretty "alive." While I would love to go out again in the evening, my wife pretty much banned me from doing so... oh well... it was fun while it lasted...

Machka 

Sunday -- 31.29 km on the cycleway, plus a bit extra at the start end. Beautiful ride outward ... but windy on the way back.

indyfabz

Saturday: bout 50 miles on north out of Jim Thorpe, PA on a rail trail. Wish it had been sunny. The colors would have popped.

kbarch

She can't take away your memories.

kbarch

Nice, scenic area!

But wouldn't the colors have been dazzling instead, or spectacular?
(The next person who talks about colors that 'pop' deserves a pop upside the head. As an architect, I've heard decorators use that expression way too many times. Who wants a mere 'pop?' What are we talking about anyhow, bubble gum?)

Machka 

Where we started the ride ...


In our garden before the ride ...

kbarch

Nice - makes the flower itself look luminous. Reminds me of how, Friday morning, the way the sun was filtered through the leaves, it was like I was bathed in gold upon stepping outside under this tree. Felt like a king.

ButchA

Got back a while ago from a nice leisurely 35.05 mile ride @ 15 mph (avg) speed, and hit my driveway at the 2hr 20min mark.




Edit: Look close at my old Fuji... It was balancing very carefully on its left pedal against the concrete curb!

Machka 

Beautiful area!!

jtaylor996

Well, my ride today was epic Rule #9 and Rule #5 .


I thought since it's dried out since yesterday I won't have to do miles underwater anymore, so why not go down the Campion Trail in Dallas?


No biggie getting there, when I get to the trail head I see a "closed" sign pushed off to the side. I thought, great, I don't have to be pushing all these closed signs out of the way myself then.
About 2 miles down the trail I come upon the wreckage of what must have been a tornado. At least 30 trees down. A lot just turned over, but some snapped 6' up the trunk. Only wind can do that!











I got through that with only a little mud on my cleats from where I had to go off trail. No biggie.




After that things were clear for a few miles, just the usual storm debris everywhere (twigs, softball sized and colored fruit thingies, etc).


And then, I got to the part where it was like a mile and a half of mud.


I got through it once, and took a pic of my muddy road bike:



On the way back, at the start of the muddy portion, I took a pic of the mud:



Shortly after taking that pic I finally crashed in the mud. First crash on the new bike. It's ok, just one of the hoods is not straight anymore, I think it'll buff out. Other than a bruise on my hip and shoulder I'm fine as well.


From that point on the ride went full rule #5 , as the bike was so muddy I had zero brakes, and I was carrying around about 10 pounds of slick clay mud all over my right side. It sucked, but I eventually made it to the LBS (just a few miles from the house) where I had them meet me out back with a garden hose...


But yeah... we got some rain in Texas. Sheesh!

roccobike

Cooler weather here in NC. A little hard on the breathing. Still rode at a 17.3 average over 45 miles.

netman9718

My wife and I rode 20 plus miles today. Had a flat at the 15 mile mark and hit the reset accidentally upon getting my bike back in action. We rode the Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife area today which is near our home. Wearing summer cloths days are over. The north wind was stiff today.

bikecrate

My road bike woes continue...during the week I stopped by the LBS to get the FD looked at. Not a big repair, but they did pull the cable out and essential started over with the adjustment. I asked them to check the RD too since this was the start of the whole shifting issue. He checked it out and said all was well. I was skeptical, but decided to try it out on Saturday. I got about 3 miles out when it started jumping all over in the rear cassette again. I limped home, grabbed my trusty hybrid and at least got in another 25 miles or so. I think it was a total of 35 miles basically around Davis Is. Sunday I went around Picnic Is. to Davis Is. with the hybrid. I was so annoyed I wasn't on my road bike I took it out on some other roadies by passing as many as I could. It was actually a fun 40 mile ride. Later in the day I looked a little more carefully at the road bike and it turns out this whole mess was caused by a broken chain link. I'm lucky I got home on Saturday. There was very little holding the pin in place. I've had the oddest string of repairs this past summer/fall with this bike.

kbarch

Saturday was a bust. Nice day, but I slept in, missed regular group ride and ran errands instead.
Yesterday, group ride cancelled due to morning rain. Dug up some old motorcycle jeans and took out the armor for an urban adventure on the fixed gear. Needed to turn in the sample saddle that had been on it since I got the bike. For some reason I thought I might practice low speed stuff like track stands and hopping off, but that wasn't happening. Struggled up some hills on the way to the GWB, and was dismayed by how much more poorly I was doing compared to a few days before when I managed the whole climb without losing momentum/having to get off and walk. There were a couple of new aches, too.
Turns out, the seat post had slipped about 30mm! Refit with new saddle made all the difference - ride home was fine! Round trip just shy of 35 miles.

Stratocaster

My wife and I are planning to be up there in the next week or so. Hopefully it will be nice enough for a ride.

This weekend for me? - I participated in my first group ride. It was slated as 40 miles (39.25 by my count) with 2,300 feet of climbing. Very nice scenery in eastern, PA. Enjoyed the company, as I've obviously been riding solo up to that point.
I was under-dressed, but held up well enough in the 50-ish degree temps. Glad I finally jumped into a group ride!

Carbonfiberboy 

Led a Moderate Cascade bike club ride on my single on Sunday. 40 miles and ~1800'. I've only been outside on a bike twice in the past 6 weeks and was sick for a whole month, so I felt pretty good about even being able to do that. Had 10 days of roller riding and gym work to start getting back in shape. Could already go hard for 10 seconds at a time! Anyway, kept the group together and everyone had fun and got a good workout. Next weekend we'll try a VT1 ride on the tandem. It's gonna be a long way back. No weight gain though, so that's helpful.

TJKnight

10/24/15: Oceanside Double Century: Beautiful weather, though a bit hot on the Montezuma Grade climb. The route went from Oceanside, CA down to Encinitas, then up to Julian, down to Borrego Springs, up to Lake Henshaw, and back to Oceanside. A wide variety of scenery and some great backroads with very little traffic. The support was awesome. I'll definitely do this ride again.