Machka 

Did you cycle this weekend? Tell us about your rides ... where you ride, who you ride with, what it's like where you are ...
If you cycled inside, or did some other sports, tell us about them here too.



Saturday -- 89.6 km to a neighbouring town and back on the tandem.

We set off at 10 am with the temperature at about 14C under a sunny sky with winds around 20 km/h gusting up to 40 km/h. The temperature rose to about 16C which made for a lovely cycling day. We had the wind against us on the way out, but more or less a tail wind on the way back. And our route included several climbs to add to the challenge. This is the longest distance we've ridden since April 1, 2012.


And it's great to be back on the tandem again.

StephenH

A friend was wanting to do some hill-riding, so we did the 200k Goatneck route. It was a beautiful day, a little windy in the afternoon, but flowers were out, it was cool, and altogether a great ride, lots of fun.

alexaschwanden

Awesome. i have a question, so when someone says that they did 200k, 400k, 800k, is that in one day? Or week?, or month? Thats alot of miles(120,~240,~480).

Machka 

One day ... roughly.

It's Randonneuring (have a look at my website, in the signature line, for links to descriptions of Randonneuring, stories, etc.)

The rides in Randonneuring, called Randonnees (or sometimes Brevets, although a Brevet is actually the card that gets signed at designated controls along the way), have specific time limits, including all breaks (such as toilet stops, food stops, sleep stops if necessary, etc.), as follows:

200 km - 13.5 hours
300 km - 20 hours
400 km - 27 hours
600 km - 40 hours

On those 4 distances, Randonneurs have to maintain a minimum speed of 15 km/h, including all breaks they might take along the way. So ... the 400K and 600K might not be completed in one 24-hour day (although, if you're a fast rider, they might), but they are all one ride.

There are some Randonneuring distances which are shorter, and these are usually called Populaires ... they might be 50 km, 100 km or 150 km, and are often ridden in the winter in preparation for the longer distances. They also have the 15 km/h minimum speed.

And there are longer rides ... usually 1000 km and 1200 km. Again, these are all one ride, but their minimum speeds drop when the ride goes over 600 km, so the 1000 km distance has a maximum ride time of 75 hours and the 1200 km has a maximum ride time of 90 hours ... done all in one ride, including all breaks.

calgary_jim

Yet another day riding in the basement. Boring, tedious and necessary.

Dalai

With daylights saving over, I've been hitting the Mt Dandenong climbs after work in the dark. Saturday enjoyed the same climbs in the late afternoon light; ending with a solid 90km in the bank.

1 in 20 climb - extremely popular 6.8km from the Basin to Sassafras



Continued over the mountain to Montrose and then turned around and ascended back up the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road to Olinda.

Montrose shops with the west side of Mt Dandenong in the background



Looking East over Silvan Reservoir from Kalorama



Sunday - rest day

BykOfALesserGod

I climbed a road that averaged 14% with some sections going over 20%. Rises 700+ feet in 9/10ths of a mile.

https://app.strava.com/segments/635336

danielrbaer

Did 3 ~30 mile rides Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for a total of 160 miles for the week with 7,500 ft. of elevation gain.

alexaschwanden

Today i did 53.7 miles with a friend and i applied at Performance Bike shop in los altos. I hope i get the job.

bianchi10

I did 25 miles today and even though i was excited to get out on my bike, my body just wasn't feeling it once I did. That felt like 60 miles with 80mph headwind! I hate those days

Ferrarif2002

I did the Tour To Tucson (Tempe to Tucson-114 miles) group ride on saturday with Lifetime Fitness. It was a great example of how to run and support a long ride. All the staff were awesome, it was such a great time.
https://app.strava.com/activities/49811116
This is the 4th year they've had this group ride and I encourage anyone close to the metro phoenix area to try and go next year!

This time around they offered a Sunday morning ride up Mt Lemmon. Its been on my "to do" list for about a year and since I never get down there I figured this would be a great chance to cross it off.
https://app.strava.com/activities/49961361
The full climb is just under 6,200ft in 27.7 miles. We started a little further out so it ended up being 65 miles with just under 8,000ft.

So all said and done over the two days I covered 179 miles with just over 11,000ft

It was such a great weekend, with an awesome crew from Lifetime Fitness and to top it off with Mt Lemmon was the icing on the cake!

Easily the best cycling weekend I've ever had

Element GT

Getting into the bike scene after several years off. Friday I conquered a hill section that killed me a couple weeks ago (1.6mi 620ft) so I was pretty stoked! Today I was having a great ride (and about 1mph faster average speed, I was thinking new shoes?) until I got the dreaded flat a couple miles from home. Certainly much less fun to replace on the side of the road than in my room. oh well.

(22mi 1750ft) https://app.strava.com/activities/49634409

(19mi 200ft) https://app.strava.com/activities/50019910

Machka 

Sunday - upper body workout. I helped Rowan unload firewood from the van, and moved boxes around in our office.

89.6 km is the longest we've ridden in a year, and I was feeling it ... sadly out of shape!! But building up again.

cuda2k

Still getting my legs back after being off the bike with the collar bone break last fall, figured I was up for the 40mi route a few friends were doing in southern Grayson county on Sunday, however I had forgotten how the hills got a bit more than rolling up that way. Add in the planned mixed gravel/backroad route with the necessity of fat tires and by the end of it I was toast.

speedwobbles

Seems like everyone's getting some decent weather now. Saturday was absolutely gorgeous and I put in about 2.5 hours in the Ardennes. Sundary morning I watched the start of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, then in the afternoon I rode the first few km of the race before cutting over to about 25 km from the finish then riding along the course to the top of the Côte de Saint Nicolas to watch the riders come by.

oespinoza83

BP MS150 (Texas)
Sat - 102 miles
Sun - 74 miles

vwchad

Had plans to go do 50 miles with three friends on Sunday. The weather when we started out was less than perfect, so I took the cross bike that is fendered up, but put some road tires on it. About 3 miles in the weather started to take a turn for the worse and we decided to alter the route to avoid what looked like even worse weather. Well, that didn't work so well, it dumped on us, HARD. The sky opened up and pounded us for about 10-12 miles. The best part of the ride, and what made it all worth it, was my buddy getting a flat. He was using CO2 and the cartridge stuck to his hand. I have no idea what made him decide to do this, but his first reaction was to try and lick his finger to unstick it! As he went to touch his tongue to the frosty cartridge we all yelled "Nooooooooooo"! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. His tongue and fingers were ok, but it was quite the site.

In the end, 20 soaking wet miles. 2 hours after getting home, the sun came out and was beautiful the rest of the day.

MetalPedaler

Sunday- 22 mile ride on the local rural roads to a nearby town. Weather was PERFECT-O-mundo- 60*F, little breeze....partly sunny- everything was blooming....stopped and petted/gave biscuits to several nice bow-wows.....saw cows, horses, chickens, ducks, geese. I did the route in my fastest time ever, and the hills had minimal impact on me. In all, it was one of my best rides in the just-over-a-year since I started riding! Oh, and it was nice and quiet and there were few cars!

rearviewbeer

59 miles, out to Hagg lake and back. Was thinking to take pictures as it was very picturesque, will remember next time to do so. I was a little beat yesterday...

Carloswithac

I did 45 miles for Tour de Cure on Saturday and rode 50 miles with my friend yesterday.







Carlos

bikecrate

The weather was a little strange. It looked like it was going to rain all weekend, but we only got a sprinkle here and there. Saturday I went back to the Upper Tampa Bay trail for 40 miles and Sunday I rode another 40 miles out to Thonotosassa, which is Native American for “land of a thousand trailer parks”.

rumrunn6

thinking about extending my 7 day work schedule indefinitely and selling my bike. how can I justify sleeping and playing when I need the extra 300 a month I make working every sat

billh92109

Did MLBC Saturday - 101(?) miles and 9000+ feet, some 20% grade in there... Nasty. Still kinda tired...

dobrado

75 mile group ride, with a few climbs: https://app.strava.com/activities/49995316

I've never ridden so fast in my life, as I did on the way back!

dstrong 

I'm in maintenance mode. We're selling our house and trying to find another, so most of my time (and mind) are occupied doing that. I've ridden so few miles so far this year and am just doing a standard 24 mile route from my house on the weekends. Rode it yesterday, in 72 degree weather with a light wind. I was stronger than the previous week so that was good. I'm looking forward to being able to increase my mileage but now is not the time.