Machka 

Mid-August ... still lots of time to get the summer cycling in if you're in the northern hemisphere ... while here in the south we're just hoping for a bit of spring on the horizon. Whatever the conditions ... tell us about your cycling this weekend!

Machka 

Saturday -- Rowan and I set off a small group of cyclist on a 400 km randonnee (long distance cycling event) in northern Tasmania at 7 am, and spent the day, and on into the night, supporting them.

We've been working on this route and planning this event for some time ... and are pleased to report that it was a success.

We had wild weather like we have not seen in a long time on the Friday night. Roaring wind, thunderstorm, and about 19 mm of rain! This was, of course, a little bit of a concern for us as we were going to set riders off first thing in the morning. The weather information promised it would all move on ... and thankfully it did. Saturday morning was a clear 8C with some wind but nowhere near what we had the night before, and the day turned out to be quite nice. The night was clear and a bit chilly, but the riders were prepared for that ... and wind had dropped to near calm so they didn't have that to contend with.

The route is what I call "Tasmanian Flat". That's different from "pancake flat" or "Manitoba flat" where there's 586 metres of climbing over 400 km. "Tasmanian Flat" is, for example, 3000 metres of climbing over 400 km.


Sunday -- Rowan and I cycled our Nouveau Une permanent route and thus completed our August Petite Year Round Randonneur. It's a nice route consisting of mostly quiet roads.

Distance: 52.6 km
Elevation: 396 m
Moving Time: 2:33:06
Elapsed Time: 2:43:19

Speed: Avg: 20.6 km/h | Max: 53.6 km/h
Heart Rate: Avg: 146 bpm | Max: 168 bpm

jimday1982

Found out this past Friday that instead of only one wrist fracture, I'm actually dealing with three! Back in a splint for at least another two weeks - that'll make for a total of 7 weeks off the bike. Judging by the pain and my inability to really move my thumb though, wouldn't surprise me if I'm off for a total of 12 weeks or so.

That said, no riding for me...again

wipekitty

After taking it easy for a bit, I finally got back to more normal (for me) mileage this weekend.

Friday: I didn't feel like a ton of climbing, so I went out on the ridge, down by the mountain bike trails, up to a scenic overlook, and then back to town. I ran into some gals riding home from the Friday MTB ride, and chatted with them for a bit. 31.2 miles, 1,447 feet.

Saturday: I decided to head over to Minnesota and do some exploring! The original plan was to head over the bluffs and back down to Winona, but I left a bit too late. Plan B was to ride back down to the Mississippi River and head back to Wisconsin that way. There was construction...so Plan C involved going back up and down through the bluffs. 64.9 miles, 2,539 feet. I met my two goals: 100K, home by 7PM.

Sunday: I made it out of bed for a weekend group ride. We did a hard hill and two easier ones. 53.7 miles, 2,936 feet.

woodcraft

After last weekend's Club event, this was the worker's ride- lightly supported for the volunteers.

With not-quite-there conditioning, I planned to take the DC slow- doable because there's no time cut-off.

The battery gods were not smiling- power meter didn't pick up, Garmin 500 died prematurely, & light made it on fumes.

Lots of stoppage time- helped change a tire, & pull the rider back to a group, fixed another's fked up speedplay cleat, and several bathroom stops.

Nice day with some headwinds, mostly solo riding, & starry night.

199 miles (including ride to start), 15,500' ~15:46 moving, ~19:16 overall.

Two small snakes, skunk, deer, & two big meteors.

Interesting not having mileage data for the latter part of the ride, calculating how many miles left etc.- the mental games,

but on home turf so mainly just wondering if/when the headlight would suddenly go out.

alexaschwanden

Friday relaxed all day
Saturday 48 miles
Sunday 53 miles

kbarch

Finally got around to fixing a flat and cleaning the chain on the fixed gear yesterday and took it out for a modest little one-hour ride - mostly flat, with a couple of ramps to keep it interesting, but overall relaxed.
Today was mega-group ride. Not a big ride, just a big group. Mostly regulars, but a few new folks, some of whom made it the whole way, while a few of the regulars dropped early. The first ten miles or so it was like a peloton. Fortunately, there was little to no traffic coming the other way on the road through the park, but it was super annoying when guys would spread out across the road - well onto the left side, chatting up a storm without passing, as if it was a one-way street. In contrast, from about mile 30-50 of the 55 mile ride, when we were down to about 15 from 27 at the start, we finally managed to trust the leader and ride in a straight, single file! Well, at least the folks in front of me did. There are three or four regulars who evidently don't understand that the rider in front has the best view and will pick the best line - always half-wheeling, going the wrong (or unnecessary) way around road defects, etc. - but they were behind me. I pretty much behaved myself, only once charging past everyone on a slight incline - had only intended to bridge a couple of gaps created by the riders in front of me, but you know how once you get going.... The rest of the time, I just practiced keeping a set distance from the rider in front of me. It was a good ride. Didn't put on quite enough sunscreen, though; so I've got a couple of burnt patches on my forearms, and some circles where the backs of my new gloves are open.

jamesdak 

Saturday - Just 30 miles on the smmmmooooootttthhhh riding Bob Jackson. I sorta forgot how nice this one is. I wasn't trying to run too fast but just made a game of running down and passing any cyclist ahead of me. Something was creaking/clicking on it though so I need to sort that out. Attacked one short sprint but only ran it up to 33 mph with more left in both the legs and the gears. I was feeling to "cramped up" in the hips on this one to sprint all out. I'll try another sprint on this next time I take it out but keep my hands on the hoods instead of in the drops to see if that frees up my hips.



Sunday - A little over 50 steep and windy miles. Was going to take out the Ventoux but at the last minute decided to take the Tourmelet. Wound up starting with some short but steep climbing with the one going over 19%, ouch! Oh and another bee sting in the temple within the first mile. This has been the worse year for me and bee stings while riding. I have to admit that after riding the Basso Gap Friday and the Bob Jackson yesterday this Tourmelet was a bit rougher riding. You can certainly tell it's running a straight CF fork over a nice curved steel one. This one does have the 30mm Williams System 30 wheels so maybe that's part of it too. The hard winds certainly did blow me around a bit today.

Oh and shameless plug, rocking the sweet Wickwerks 53/34 chain rings today. The best shifting set of chainrings I have by far!

atwl77

Saturday: Rode to the FLBS, intending to get a new set of White Industries T11 hubs. Was advised it was more cost-effective to build a new wheelset around the hubs instead of rebuilding the existing wheel, so I spend the afternoon watching and learning about building wheels and rode home in a new set of Pacenti wheels with WI hubs.


Sunday: Solo ride to the beach. This is a popular stopping point and/or destination for local cyclists, but the usual route covering 60-65km one-way had badly-paved roads and heavy traffic. Recently I learnt a new route that goes through the quieter countryside roads so I opted to give that a try instead. Plotting the route via RideWithGPS gave me 73.8km one-way.


I nearly had to abandon after 30km into the ride after starting to experience some discomfort around my lower right back. Stopped at the nearest petrol station to have a snack, a toilet break and to check by Camelbak to see if maybe I had some straps adjusted wrong which affected my posture. Well, whatever I did, the back pain stopped after that.


After reaching my destination, on the leg home I decided to take a short detour to climb a nearby hill that includes this segment with a non-insignificant ~20% stretch of road. Ouch. But apparently it has become "tradition" for some cyclists to also do this climb whenever they go to that beach. I can see why now -- it's probably some kind of dare to see how many suckers take the bait, lol.


Rode home under the hot sun with tired legs after that. I brought 2L of water in my Camelbak and 750ml Gatorade in my bidon and actually managed to empty it all out before reaching home, due to the heat. Had to pop into a nearby petrol station to buy a bottle of 100 Plus in order to continue the journey.


Moving Time: 6:31:53
Distance: 153.8km (almost a century, and I've never done a century so far )
Avg Speed: 23.6km/h
Elevation Gain: 532m

Machka 

Monday -- 54 min on the spin bike (23 km) plus a walk to the university.

bikecrate

Saturday I went to Weedon Is. for 40 miles. I got caught in another downpour on the way home. It was raining buckets. I also got within a yard of being left hooked. The driver has the same car as me (Honda Element). It has a wicked A pillar blind spot. My loud shout of "STOP" saved me again. Sunday I felt horrible. Still having issues with my sciatica, but generally was really tired. I cut it short at 33 miles.

Ogsarg

The usual loop around town with a small detour to get in 41 miles with about 1k climbing. Gradually getting stronger on the hills but progress is slow.

LainfordExpress

Still getting back into it, but I did my "long ride" Saturday AM - 25.9 mi at only 15.1 mph. I use the Ballona Creek path through Culver City and Venice to Marina del Rey, then take the strand South to the Manhattan Beach Pier. I felt super fatigued this week. Last week I did it at 16.5 mph and felt better afterward. It just felt like I was fighting the wind the entire time.

Sunday, on a whim I decided to try the Expo Metro Line Bike Path through Palms and Santa Monica. It is a beautiful path with exquisite new asphalt and pretty low traffic. I soon found out why... you have to stop almost every block to for crosswalks! Despite riding at about 16mph, I was only averaging about 11.5 mph because of having to stop every 200 yds or so. I came back on surface streets (mostly Venice Blvd - where only one motorist tried to kill me) and was much happier. Ended up with 16.5 mi at a 13.2 mph. Felt good about that speed because of all the stops. My actual moving average was around 16.5 mph.

Sunday's ride was also my first time not wearing headphones (I usually ride almost entirely on limited access paths not public roads). I honestly didn't miss them. There was plenty to keep my attention in the world and inside my own head.